Technology has erased geographical boundaries in the virtual world. Sadly, there are lots of factors that prevent the physical world from keeping up. Most content providers still put the geographical limitation to its content even though it is distributed on the Internet. Many applications, books, music, and movies are available for those who live in the U.S. but not to the users from another part of the planet – and vice versa. To overcome that problem, we need VPN; and Betternet is one of the most recommended ones.
Why VPN?
Unblocking the geographical limiter is one of the reasons we need VPN (Virtual Private Network). Another one is to protect our privacy from prying eyes. If we think about it, how can a content provider determine who can access what? There’s a location tag to every IP address that we use to access the content. To put it simply, anybody can trace where exactly you are coming from by looking at your IP.
This is both cool and scary at the same time. Websites (and Internet companies) collect statistical data by mining this information: what are people looking for and where do they come from. If you are concerned about your privacy, and you should be, you would want to use VPN to protect it.
Virtual Private Network will help you conceal your privacy by rerouting your IP; it makes it as if it comes from another location. Instead of going from A directly to B, your connection will go from A to C (and D and E …) before reaching B, where C and the rest are your VPN nodes. Your content provider will see your connection coming from an approved location and give you access.
Why Betternet?
There are many VPN services out there, but most of them come with a hefty subscription price and very limited service. Finding the good and free VPN service is as difficult as finding a four leaf clover – it’s rare, and you must be very lucky to stumble into one.
This must be your lucky day to stumble into Betternet. This VPN service seems too good to be true, but it’s true. Betternet is simple to use, requires no registration, available for almost every platform, and free forever. It doesn’t keep a data log nor show irritating ads.
How, you might ask, can Betternet provide such service for free? It makes money by offering free sponsored apps and videos in the mobile app. Every time you install a recommended app or watch a video, you help Betternet cover the server cost. It also offers a Premium version with more features to cover other costs such as dedicated servers and server locations.
Using Betternet
Using Betternet is as simple as installing the app for iOS or Android, adding an extension for a Chrome or Firefox browser, or installing the Windows software. A Mac version is coming soon.
Let’s look at an example from the Betternet Chrome extension. First, install it from the Chrome web store.
Then click on the Betternet logo to bring forth the window. Click “Connect.”
That’s it; you are connected to the Internet via a Betternet VPN server. You can find the server location at the bottom of the pop-up window. This is the information that your content provider will see.
I tried Betternet to connect to an affiliate program that will only accept US citizens. The site always redirected me to its local site that has no affiliate program, but I could go through using the US server of Betternet. I also successfully created another Twitter account using Betternet for iOS and Safari mobile in my iPhone.
There are many more usages of VPN, and you can count on Betternet to help you. Can you think of another way to use VPN? Have you tried Betternet, or do you have other alternatives for free and good VPN? Please share using the comments below.
