Whether you are looking to hide your browsing data from snooping ISPs. You do not want advertisers to gain access to your information when it’s sold by your internet provider. Or you want to access geo-locked websites and services that may be locked out of your country because of copyright or free speech concerns. In this article, we will talk about How to Setup and Use a VPN on Android Device. Let’s begin!
A VPN can be a great investment and not just for your PC. Mobile carriers are just as bad as ISPs about tracking your mobile browsing data. Especially if you are using an Android phone, where it is easier to pre-install applications on devices that read and track your data and usage. Protecting your phone’s data usage, both from your mobile carrier and your ISP over WiFi, is a good idea no matter who you are. And on Android, there are a couple of different ways to do it.
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How Does a VPN Works | Use a VPN on Android
Whenever you connect your computer (or another device, like a smartphone or tablet) to a VPN, the computer acts as if it is on the same local network as the VPN. All your network traffic is sent over a secure connection to the VPN. Because your computer behaves as if it’s on the network, this allows you to securely access local network resources. Even when you are on the other side of the world. You will also be able to use the Internet as if you were present at the VPN’s location, which has some benefits if you’re using pubic Wi-Fi or want to access geo-blocked sites.
When you browse the web while connected to a VPN, your computer contacts the website via the encrypted VPN connection. The VPN forwards the request for you and forwards the response from the website back through the secure connection. If you are using a USA-based VPN to access Netflix, Netflix will see your connection as coming from within the USA.
Business Supplied VPN | Use a VPN on Android
Open your smartphone’s settings app, either by using the shortcut in your notification tray or by launching settings from the app drawer. When you are in your settings app, find the “Wireless and networks” category of your phone and select “More” at the bottom of the menu.
Android has support for VPNs built into the operating system, and it’s under the “More” menu where you will find the options to set it up. Click the “VPN” option to continue to the next menu. That depends on your phone, you may have some different options for VPN setup. On the Galaxy S7 edge used for testing, options were offered for both Basic VPNs and Advanced IPsec VPN. If you are not sure which to use, contact your network administrator for more instruction. Then this guide uses the Basic VPN Menu.
In the top-right corner of your display, select “Add VPN.” Some phones or software versions may use a plus sign (+) instead of words.
You will receive a pop-up menu that displays areas for you to enter the VPN information. That your company should provide if you are using this for work. You will enter a name, along with a server address, a type of VPN (there are several different types). The encryption method, along with your username and password. If you intend on leaving this VPN on at all times. Check the option for an always-on VPN.
Well, you may receive a notification when a VPN is active on your phone. This is normal and is there to alert you to any suspicious activity on your phone if. Such as, you had not set up a VPN and your web traffic was getting redirected through an unknown source. You can enable or disable your VPN at will via this settings menu.
VPN for a Specific App | Use a VPN on Android
In our testing, TunnelBear proved to be great for beginners and experts alike, for a multitude of reasons. While some advanced users might find the app too simplistic. TunnelBear accurately defining and explain what the app was doing in layman’s terms. Using a cute bear animation to show the system of “tunneling” described above. The app promises to side-step geo-locks for your favorite programs and websites worldwide, hide your IP address and location information from every site you browse, and even keep your public WiFi browsing safe and secure from prying eyes and hackers.
Upon opening the app (and create a new account, if you do not already have one), the main app display will load. That will show a map of your current country, along with several illustrated tunnels running to different countries. At the top of the display, you will see a switch; at the bottom, you will find a list of countries to which you’re able to connect. Select the country of your choice or just leave the app on its default connection and then flip the switch. Android will prompt to alert you that you are connecting to a VPN and ask for your permission. Allow the app to activate, and that’s it the bear will “tunnel” its way to a nearby country, and you are now connected to a VPN.
Testing | Use a VPN on Android
TunnelBear offers its users both free and paid VPN services. However, the free version is only limited to 500MB/month bandwidth. On a good note, their VPN software uses the industry standard (strong) OpenVPN protocol, as well as 256-bit AES encryption. Unfortunately, their VPN connection speed is a little slow compared to other VPNs like ExpressVPN or NordVPN.
Is it still a good choice when we compare it to the other VPNs out there?
The company is based in Toronto, although its 350+ VPN servers spread throughout 22 other countries all around the world. That includes servers in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia as well.
Speed | Use a VPN on Android
When we determining the speed of an internet connection, we measure three things:
- The download speed is the rate at that you can pull data from a server to your device. The higher this number is, the faster your internet connection will be. We actually measure it in megabits per second (Mbps).
- The upload speed is how quickly you can send data from your device to others. The higher this number is, the faster you will be able to send files and upload things. we measure it in megabits per second (Mbps).
- The ping is how long it takes your connection to respond after you have sent a request. The lower this number is, the faster your connection will be. We actually measure in milliseconds (ms).
When we connected to TunnelBear’s Australian server, our speed remained almost the same. My download was 12.25 Mbps, our upload drop a tiny bit to 0.75 Mbps, and our ping increased to 54 ms. I did not notice a difference in the overall speed of my connection on this server.
When we connected to TunnelBear’s US server, our download speed dropped to 4.90 Mbps. Our upload speed was 0.83 Mbps, and our ping increased to 277 ms.
Further | Use a VPN on Android
When we first tried using TunnelBear to connect to Netflix from a Canadian location, We were able to load their Canadian library—the availability of titles such as Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World proved that. But selecting any title returned a network error, and I was not able to get any further in the app.
The second time we tried using Netflix, we had enabled “GhostBear,”. That is designed to make my encrypted connection appear more like standard data. This time we were able to load information about both my account and we select the movie. But when we hit the “Play” icon, Netflix had different plans for my evening. It seems that the encryption TunnelBear was offering was a bit too much for Netflix to figure out what to do with, and once we had disguised the VPN as a standard data connection. Then they were able to identify the VPN connection. Netflix is famous to be one of the toughest services to crack with a VPN
Lat lines | Use a VPN on Android
TunnelBear is secure and also very easy to use. It offers great connection speeds, and some very useful privacy tools, Such as its GhostBear mode.
Unfortunately, it was not able to bypass Netflix US’ VPN block. So, if streaming is your main concern, I’d recommend trying a leading vendor instead. However, if you have security-mind, or looking for a VPN that works in China, TunnelBear may be the best choice for you.
Conclusion
Alright, That was all Folks! I hope you guys like this Use a VPN on Android article and find it helpful to you. Give us your feedback on it. Also if you guys have further queries related to this article. Then let us know in the comments section below. We will get back to you shortly.
Have a Great Day!
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