Surprising Reasons to Use a VPN at Home: More Than Just Privacy

[@askleonotenboom]

✅ Watch next ▶ Can My ISP See I’m Using a VPN? ▶ kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y2mbmJyjaNymaqM

[@montebont]

They don't care. Your provider only sees an IP address on the network/link level of the protocol.

[@rootcanal7188]

can you recommend some VPNs? Thanks.

[@askleonotenboom]

@@rootcanal7188 I haven't done exhaustive research across all of them, but I use Proton VPN, and have used TunnelBear in the past.

[@rootcanal7188]

@@askleonotenboom Thank you!

[@ajeeli_travels]

I love the way you explain things taking all scenarios and uses into account, great job, subscribed !

[@msun12000]

Another use case is to host a VPN service at home to allow a friend or relative living abroad to connect and appear as if resident in the home country. A VPN server can be easily set up on some brands of routers. It can also allow secure access to one's own home network.

[@michaelballance1893]

Netflix somehow always knows I'm using a VPN. A VPN here is useless for hiding my location.

[@randyriegel8553]

Few years ago my ISP gave me a warning about Paramount Pictures sending them a letter because I downloaded "Days of Thunder" (25 year old movie) off of Pirate Bay. I forgot to use my VPN to change my IP address LOL. Learned my lesson. Don't forget to use your vpn for certain things.

[@jarrodnewman0514]

yeah... I got a similar letter warning a few years ago from my ISP for downloading Star Trek Voyager😅🤣

[@fatbikejamie]

I know I'm an unusual case but here's one way *I* use one of my in-house VPNs from inside my house... My primary PC is configured to use a PiHole to block al manner of things I want blocked. On the rare occasion I wish to bypass the PiHole for some reason, I just connect to a VPN I have configured to go straight through to the web. Faster/easier than disbaling the PiHole's blocking for that duration... and also maintains the blocking for the other devices that rely on it. Outside the house I connect to my in-house VPNs - some are configured to utilise the PiHole (blocking outside the house is awesome!) or to bypass it depending on what I need. great video. Cheers!

[@askleonotenboom]

Cool solution.

[@BillTxn]

I have used VPN for several years and have been quite satisfied with it. Recently, however, some websites refuse admittance if they detect the VPN in use, such as financial institutions. While they are HTTPS-encrypted, I am less comfortable when I must switch off my VPN to use those sites.

[@MrPir84free]

Choose a provider that allows you to split tunnel / make exceptions for the sites that you can't go to over the VPN. Surfshark, ProtonVPN, and a number of other services have this feature although it's called different things per. And there are browser extensions that can do the same.. In essence, everything but the selected traffic would still go over the VPN, minus the exclusions.

[@raylopez99]

I found switching servers using the VPN often does work. The bigger VPNs (I used to use ExpressVPN but switched to Mullvad due to the latter's pristine service record for privacy) will have so many servers that constantly change (I think they use virtual servers that change every day or so) so that you won't be blocked for long. I recall once a bank blocked me for using a VPN then an hour later I was able to go through with another server.

[@sirjohng1]

My VPN supplier uses RAM for its service which prevents hackers getting in to your system, no hard drives involved SO , a great security defence for your system. Why was this not mentioned about good VPN's? Then use a free private browser which deletes all your browsing history by default if you set it to when you leave it.

[@richardpargot1840]

What about some sites not allowing access when they are aware you are using a VPN. Example - No Boring Cars says page can not be accessed. Turn off VPN and access allowed.

[@askleonotenboom]

That's an issue, for sure. If your VPN provider allows it, try a different exit point.

[@MrPir84free]

A number of VPN providers allow their user base to exclude certain sites from going over the VPN. For example, it's an option in Surfshark for example... ProtonVPN has a similar feature, but it's under "Split Tunneling". If you set up the VPN on a router such as OpenWRT, there's an option called Policy Based Routing that you can use to select which traffic goes over the VPN or not over the VPN. Surfshark also has a feature that works with various browsers - a browser extension where only traffic on a particular browser profile is encrypted.. Want one that is not, spawn a new profile without the extension loaded and voilla. Be aware that the exclusions per "APP" are different. For example Prime Video, with Surfshark requires exceptions, usually about a dozen URL's that need to be excluded from going over the VPN. But haven't had to set any exclusions for Prime Video over ProtonVPN.. So, there's lots of ways of getting around the issues.. Choosing a different VPN exit point MAY work, or it may not. Selecting an overseas exit point may block the content completely..

[@michaelcorcoran8768]

Yeah, there's definitely downsides, you can always turn off the VPN temporarily. It's probably not necessary to always use a VPN. I find some sites will just give you endless capture requests But it's absolutely vital, people say. Anyways, if you ever want to do something like torrent. From a privacy perspective to me, it's valuable. I guess if you're genuinely doing stuff, that would be like a legal or potentially damaging for your ISP to find out. But to me the big use case would be if you at least want to have the option to torrent stuff. I guess Tor browser is not an option for that or at least not a good one.

[@fatbikejamie]

Not all "VPN denial systems" are terribly bright. You might find that if you host your own VPN on a service like Linode for $5/month you can configure your VPN to use something other than the "standard" VPN port(s). Pick some random port number, or look at the list of reservations and find something funny and not at all VPN-related. That way you hide your IP/location/whatever *and* no casual observers of your network traffic will even know you're using a VPN.

[@harveybc]

Yep. My bank won't let me connect when going through a VPN. Funny in that the reason for using VPNs is security. But then I can't connect to that bank with any browser except Edge.

[@msc8408]

Another good use for a VPN is streaming radio stations online. There are some radio stations that will not be accessible unless you appear to be from their local area. One example is 93.6 Jam FM from Berlin, Germany thru Tune In app. I have to appear to be from Germany to listen to the station through that app, otherwise I will be blocked from listening to this station when I don't use VPN service from the United States of America.

[@rayhumphrey6191]

Radio net is a better app

[@tossedsalad4669]

I wouldn't admit if I had connected to my bank bank via an open Wi-Fi hotspot without vpn regardless of https. there are a larger variety of attacks possible. First someone might spoof the ssid. 2nd even if you connect to the correct ssid, others see your dns queries in the clear (even on https)... making you subject to dns spoofing. it's not safe.

[@stigekalder]

Great walk-through right to the point - bravo !

[@liowyew]

Why some websites know we are using VPN and thus block our access?

[@askleonotenboom]

Depends on the website. Some don't want to be accessible outside of a country. Some take VPN usage as being suspect for various less-than-legal reasons. There's plenty of reasons, but it really depends on the specific site.

[@montebont]

Thanks Leo. You pointed out the 2 use cases (public hotspot and geolocation) very well. That (IMHO) is all there is to it.

[@stevencooper2464]

I regularly use a VPN at home because my ISP throttles my connection to some sights. However, I have found that some sites will not let me in if I'm using a VPN: lately I can't get to USPS tracking site if I'm using a VPN; and some sights block me based on which VPN server I'm connected through, eg. KZbin will not let me post comments if I'm connected to my VPN's Chicago server (I'm connected through San Diego right now). Using a VPN has become, is becoming, something of a two-edged sword.

[@MrPir84free]

I'm posting right now, over Proton VPN. I've also posted using Surfshark, and ExpressVPN. Many VPN clients allow you to specify sites that are to "go outside" of the VPN, so that most traffic still goes thru the VPN except those that you don't want; Surfshark does; ProtonVPN does. This can also be done easily on a router using OpnSense or OpenWRT ( OpenWRT is easier to configure ) . To me, it sounds like you need a different provider..

[@deemat100]

Very helpful. Thank you!

[@michaelcorcoran8768]

I'm irritated Google just got rid of the VPN as part of offering of Google one. It was a nice value add and now they're ending at June 20th. Then I have to decide if I want to keep using one. I got to go shopping. Choosing a VPN is rough because the deals are terrible unless you buy annually which locks you in

[@raylopez99]

Mullvad VPN has a good reputation, one of the best in the industry, and they allow you to pay monthly and from what I can tell no discount (or extra fees) if you pay monthly rather than annually. I switched to every six months simply because I was tired of re-entering my credit card information every month. The only downside is Mullvad doesn't have as many servers are Express VPN.

[@jjolla6391]

I can't believe that you omitted to mention that your VPN exit node is effectively your ISP too

[@The4Crawler]

My VPN service allows 5 connections so I have one set up on my router and it has an option to switch individual hosts over to that connection. Then I run one on my NAS, if needed and have the connections available for use on mobile devices. I use the router VPN connection for geolocation purposes for connecting to Eurosport for bicycle and cross country ski racing which is not covered much by the US media. Also handy for that random KZbin video that pops up "not available in your location". Those are a bit tougher as you have to do some searching to find out what locations it's available in.

[@francosilvestri123]

Thank you for the informative video, Leo. Do you speak Dutch?

[@askleonotenboom]

een klein beetje

[@francosilvestri123]

@@askleonotenboom Very good 👍

[@maltesetony9030]

You would also use a VPN when torrenting. Though bear in mind, a VPN will NEVER protect you from snooping gov agencies!

[@MrPir84free]

Debatable. They cannot trace traffic if the server runs entirely from ram, i.e. nothing ever written to disk. And there are providers that provide such a service.

[@ljacobs357]

And what Government agencies are snooping.

[@maltesetony9030]

@@MrPir84free Providers such as whom?

[@4245italy]

VPN is also useful to encrypt your email.

[@JosephFallon]

Good stuff Leo - thank you.

[@raylopez99]

Yes but I wish he would talk a bit more about how an untrusty ISP can snoop on your data as a "man-in-the-middle" (I have the basics down, stuff like they can tell which sites you are connecting to and they can "spoof" a site to trick you into thinking it's real and then you can log into it and the man-in-the-middle can see what you are doing, but apparently cannot steal your password, but I'd like more information on the mechanics, though it might be beyond the scope of Leo's target audience)

[@Flexin010]

My isp gave me a router where i can put my vpn settings in it. Pretty cool.

[@synen]

How about to hide your activity from your ISP?

[@askleonotenboom]

Of course. I mention that in the video I believe. Did you watch?

[@synen]

@@askleonotenboom I did watch Leo, will watch again, a bit of ADD issues. Thank you.

[@franciscohorna5542]

also without a vpn yer ip is exposed but not with a vpn with vpn ip is hidden

[@AweSome-m5f]

Vpn confused me, to many website cannot access, some site said is not available in your country, i think the website more smart. Then for what i do subcribe vpn if not use it because cannot full access website. Example i try to watch videos on youtube, said this video not available on your country. Lol.

[@infinite88588]

What's a good vpn to use and what free vpn can you recomend until you can afford paid vpn.

[@davinp]

There are some videos on KZbin that are region-restricted, so you could use a VPN to watch them

[@synthwave7]

Will you do some videos on AI ? CoPilot, Gemini, ChatGPT - I cannot live with them anymore.

[@JoshuaTrenge]

I used VPN and could not access many known good sites… I finally turned it off and left it off… no more problems.