Data security is a major issue these days when we browse the internet. Indeed, as soon as you are connected online, your internet provider knows what you are doing and what pages you are going to visit. You might think this is limited to computer use, but the same is true on your android phone. This is why there are today VPN (Virtual Private Network) or even Virtual Private Network in French, in order to hide your IP address when set up on your phone. The IP address of a computer or telephone is the number that identifies it when we connect to the internet. It’s sort of identity card from our computer or smartphone.
The purpose of this article is to show you how to connect with a VPN on your Android smartphone so that it is properly configured, but also to explain to you precisely what it will serve you.
How to connect with a VPN on Android
- First, go to settings of your android phone, then press the "More… »In the center of your screen:
- Once in settings, click on " VPN At the bottom of the different choices.
- When you are in VPN tab, you may be warned if you don't have a unlock pattern or code. This step will an essential if you want to configure a VPN on your Android smartphone. If nothing appears, just go to the next step.
- Once clicked VPN, you are on this page. You just have to click on the cross at the top right of your smartphone screen:
- From there you just have to enter connection details that you have retrieved from your network administrator to configure it correctly.
- Namely: you can define this VPN as " permanent Which means that you block any connection who would not go through this VPN. In other words it constantly forces your Android phone to secure your connection via this VPN and avoid going through the standard network. You just have to click on the three dots at the top right and select Permanent VPN to configure it in this mode.
Here are the different steps to connect with your Android smartphone over a VPN.
We will see in a second part what are the benefits of such a practice.
Why connect to a VPN on Android
Now that you have connected your smartphone to a VPN, you may also wonder what are all bespoke of such manipulation. Let's review what this brings you:
- An encrypted VPN connection
When for example you connect to a public network, (restaurants, fast-food, cafes, airports etc.) you expose yourself to the possibility that this network uses your personal data for commercial purposes or even more serious, than someone with malicious intent connected to this network tries to you steal sensitive data such as passwords or credit card numbers… With your VPN properly configured, you therefore have a new IP address which locates you elsewhere than where you are physically and therefore you do not appear on the public network.
- Different IP address
As explained in the paragraph just above, when you connect to a VPN you change the IP address of your Android smartphone. This means that it changes the location of it. And this can come in handy when there are connection restrictions depending on the country you are in. If for example you are located in China for work and you need to access content that is blocked through the Chinese network, just connect to a network from a different country (with your VPN you can locate where you want) and thus have access to any otherwise inaccessible content. The same would be true if you wanted to watch a program available only in certain countries.
- Anonymous login
Your connection becomes anonymous when your VPN is configured and therefore allows you to avoid all tracking made by advertising via cookies, and also social media. In addition, and this point also relates to the previous paragraph, your connection is no longer accessible to users of this network, or even governments that could potentially surveiller for various reasons. Last point and this one is however not recommended even if it exists, you can download without risking to get caught by Hadopi!
Conclusion on VPNs on Android smartphones and some market players
So here are the different steps for configure VPN on your Android smartphone and also the different uses of these, when selecting it, keep in mind that a free VPN probably won't provide not the best service even if it seems more attractive. Ask yourself why you use it, sometimes you have to know how to budget when we really need certain things. Be careful however, the reverse is not necessarily true, namely if you pay you will not necessarily have quality service ! So it's up to you to take the time to carefully choose which VPN you're going to use, there are a lot of comparative on the internet so take the time to make your choice.
Here are some players on the market:
| Free VPN | Paid VPN |
| tunnel Bear | ExpressVPN |
| WindScribe | CyberGhost |
| Betternet | Surfshark |
| Proton VPN | NordVPN |
| FinchVPN | PrivateVPN |
