Middlesex County, Ontario | "You can think of a VPN as a tunnel through the internet...usually encrypted" is a good explanation.
When you "get a VPN" what you are usually paying for is server time. Your tunnel leads between your devices and the server. Anything you do on the internet will go through the tunnel before it reaches the rest of the internet. You can usually choose which country the server is in. Since the tunnel data is encrypted, your ISP can handover all the data they want to authorities, it can't be decrypted, and the VPN provider usually doesn't keep log of anything or is based in a country where they cannot be compelled to provide any info. Because you and thousands of others are accessing the internet from the same server, trackers and ads aren't able to know who is who (they can't see the tunnel part). You can remain anonymous for a few dollars a month. It can also be used to bypass geo-locked content, using a VPN to watch "American" netflix was a thing here for awhile.
A VPN can also be a tunnel between 2 (or more) devices that you own. I have a VPN setup between my autosteer tablets, phone, my home network (PC, printer, barn controls and camera, RTK base station, etc), and some base stations that I manage. That way I can freely login or print or grab files from anywhere. These services can be totally free (Tailscale).
Edited by WildBuckwheat 5/29/2025 09:51
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School me on VPN
