The normal thing is that you are reading this article browsing a free Internet and without risks or with minimal risks. But keep in mind that you may be located in one of many countries where freedom of information is restricted. Or maybe you don’t want anyone to know what you’re doing while you’re browsing. One of the ways to bypass authoritative restrictions and navigate with much more security, is using a VPN. We explain what it is and what options there are.
The first thing is to know what a VPN is
The initials are English and can be read as Virtual Private Network or what is the same: private virtual network. What we mean by that is that we can surf the Internet by adding another layer of security. Not only so that they cannot detect what we are seeing when we browse, but we can also add a security layer to our router to hide our IP address from outsiders.
The IP address is that number that makes us go abroad so that our machine (Mac, iPhone, iPad…) communicates with other machines and can exchange information. Normally our service provider assigns us a public IP within a range that is also variable. So now I have one and then another. With that it could be enough to be a bit anonymous, however when we go abroad the IP changes. My IP is not the same as the one assigned. The one I want to mask is the one that identifies me.
What it is about is make that public IP as private as possible and for this, an attempt is made to “deceive” our service provider by saying that we are not geolocated in one place but in another. We get the address of that site and we go abroad with that number different from the one we really have.
Why does this network make it safer and more anonymous to surf the net?
VPN is an encrypted Internet connection from a device to a network. The encrypted connection helps ensure the secure transmission of sensitive data. It prevents unauthorized people from spying on the traffic and allows the user to work remotely. The traffic that we are generating is encrypted between the device and the network. During all that tour it is something private. It works for any device that can connect to the Internet.
Does a VPN work for my Mac? How do I install it?
A VPN is a computer program and therefore can be installed on a Mac without any problem. It works perfectly and is compatible with any browser. It is true that Apple can provide safe browsing but it is not the same as a VPN.
There are many alternatives on the market and I have to say that I have tried almost all of them and I can assure you that they all work well, but if I am sure of something, it is that the best, is to pay a subscriptionbecause they are not expensive and you make sure that the service they give you is proper, good and true, sure.
We are going to install it to be able to start browsing with privacy. It’s not difficult and it’s definitely worth it. In fact, I have been using this for years and without problems. The best thing about being able to pay for this subscription is that you install it and you can practically start browsing without problems. Basically because the program does everything by itself. But you always have the option to configure it manually in macOS.
Follow these steps:
- System Preferences> Network. Click on the + icon and we select the VPN
- We enter the data of your VPN provider.
- Create > Fill in the fields corresponding with the IP of the VPN server, the remote ID and the local ID.
- Select authentication settings. Enter your VPN username and password
Once installed and running, i advise that the vpn not run when the devices start. In this way we make sure we know when we navigate under the umbrella of this protection. Thus, resources are also used better. What we can do is choose the servers that work best (over time we can determine what they are) and add them to favorites.
Having a VPN are all advantages. Privacy will thank you.
