How to Get The Most Out of a Free VPN for Windows

Most Internet users are familiar with VPN technology, but only a few understand its full functionality. Some people perceive VPNs solely as a security technology from the corporate world. Other users believe that only those with something to hide use VPNs. In fact, everyone needs a VPN and it can be useful in various life situations.

So let’s find out how you can use a free VPN for Windows to get the most out of it.

How Does a Free VPN for Windows Function?

Virtual private network, or VPN, technology establishes a safe tunnel for data transfer across any Internet network. It places an intermediary server between you and the World Wide Web. So when you download a free VPN for Windows on your device, your data is no longer sent directly to the recipient’s server. Instead, it is sent to a remote VPN server in an encrypted form.

The VPN server decrypts your traffic and then sends it to the recipient’s server. This allows you to hide your true IP address. Third parties can only see the IP address of the VPN server from which they received the data.

Therefore, a VPN runs as follows:

Decryption of information is possible only on your device where the VPN client is installed and on the VPN server. They are the only ones who have the decryption key. Modern VPN providers use 256-bit encryption, which is almost impossible to break. So you shouldn’t worry that someone who doesn’t have the decryption key will read your data.

This simple technology brings many perks to every user.

What are the Perks of Using a VPN?

The main advantages of using a VPN are increased cybersecurity and online privacy.

By transmitting data in encrypted form, you prevent the leakage of sensitive information. Concealing your IP address allows you to maintain your privacy online.

An IP address is a unique identifier of a user on the network. It is actively used by Google, marketing companies, government authorities, and your Internet provider to track and collect information about your online activities. You may have heard that everything you do online leaves a trace. Therefore, all your actions during different online sessions are linked to each other based on your identifier – the IP address. This allows them to build a whole portrait of the user. A VPN prevents this by removing the key element from this process – your IP address.

If you have installed a free VPN on your device for security and privacy reasons, it’s time to find out more ways to use it.

Unobvious Ways to Use a Free VPN

As you have already learned, VPNs can and should be used to securely transfer data, stay anonymous online, and securely connect to public Wi-Fi networks. However, there are other ways to use it.

1. VPN for Remote Work

With a VPN, you can not only securely connect to your office desktop remotely and share confidential documents with colleagues. You can also work remotely from anywhere in the world while maintaining all the necessary access to your work programs. What’s more, you don’t have to reveal your real location to your colleagues. If your contract allows remote work, you can indeed work from anywhere in the world.

2. For Gaming

There is a myth that a free VPN is useless for online gaming. In fact, in many cases, it is exactly what you need. It allows you to play safely by preventing online monitoring from your game opponents. Sometimes players take the game too seriously, and this is the case when protecting personal data with a free VPN for PC is a must. This way, your opponents will not be able to harm you outside the game. In addition, a free VPN is great for protecting against data leakage due to DDoS attacks on a gaming provider.

And of course, it allows bypassing the IP address blocking in cases of unfair sanctions imposed on a player. Although a free VPN has a smaller network of servers, the IP addresses of these servers are less likely to be included in the stop lists of gaming providers. So this can be a great option that will allow you to continue playing your favorite games and play with friends from other countries.

3. To Save Money on Online Shopping

Online vendors can collect much more information about their customers than offline businesses using marketing techniques. Based on the gathered data, they adapt prices for each customer. These techniques help businesses maximize their profits by acquiring as many customers as possible who make a purchase at the highest price they can afford.

However, if you want to make a smart purchase, you should avoid this information collection about you. Travel, airline, and car booking websites, as well as some digital products, are most known for using such pricing strategies. Among the information that affects the price, the most important is your location and the frequency of searching for a particular product, which is used to assume your buying intent. All of this information is tracked through the user’s IP address. So, if you want to save money on online shopping with a free VPN, you should:

• Clear the cache and cookies on your device.
• Open an anonymous browser window.
• Disable the geolocation function on your device. 
• Connect to a VPN server located in a country with a lower average income than in your country.
• Search and purchase as usual.

In most cases, these simple steps will allow you to enjoy a more affordable price.

4. Prolong the Free Trial

In some cases, the free trial period of a digital service is not enough to assess whether it is right for you. Some online media also allow you to read a limited amount of news per month for free. If for some reason you don’t manage to make a purchase decision during the free trial period, you can extend it. To do this, you need to connect to the VPN server and register a new account. Please note that it is not ethical to abuse this option. However, in some situations, it can be useful.

To summarize, a free VPN for Windows can be useful not only for protection in public Wi-Fi networks and secure data transfer, but also for saving money, online gaming, and remote work. For this purpose, choose a free VPN that does not set traffic and speed limits, adheres to a strict no-log policy, and guarantees reliable 256-bit encryption.