Why is your browsing safer with Hotspot Shield VPN? – Computermatics
Without HotSpotShield the fast and secure VPN, when you browse the internet, did you know that you are leaving a digital footprint across all the websites you visit? This is because websites are tracking you. They do this so that they can see what pages you visit on the site so that they can then use that data to redesign the site or create articles that get more clicks based on what pages you spent time on (and so must have read).
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Or they can use your activity to serve up ads that may interest you whilst you browse the site. For example, if you go to a news site and read an article about Tesla then you may find that the next time you visit the same site there are ads for the Tesla Model 3 in your area (because of cause they know your location because location services is enabled on the device you use to visit the site).
After all, we are living in a world where we are tracked, either directly or indirectly, whether we like it or not.
What is a VPN?
But you can take steps to stop this from happening. And this is by using a VPN. And in this article, we’re going to explain why you should use Hotspotshield VPN as your best choice for internet anonymity. But first, for those who don’t know, a VPN (or virtual private network) is essentially a piece of software that allows you to create a secure connection to another network over the internet.
This means that, for example, when you are sat in Starbucks and you use their free wifi, the connection isn’t secure, so anyone can essentially track you and see what you are browsing using that connection.
With a VPN this adds a layer of security and means that nobody can see your browsing activity.
Why should you use Hotspot Shield VPN?
Now HotspotShield is in a crowded market. VPN’s are now big business. And HotspotShield advertises itself as the fastest and most secure VPN you can buy – but does it deliver? Well, thanks to the fact that it uses a unique network protocol for its connections (known as Catapult Hydra) it does live up to what it says. You do get the fastest connection speeds without minimizing on your security.
But you also get additional security benefits too.
It gives you a robust encryption and stops your DNS from being leaked. DNS is like a giant internet phonebook and allows the internet to convert the website that you type in to your browser (e.g. www.google.com) to its unique IP address that is running that site so your device knows what to connect to in order to allow you to visit the site), and if it leaks then sites can tell you are using a VPN because your real DNS is not being hidden properly.
Plans and Pricing
It also offers malware protection too. And, as you might expect, it comes in a Free version and a Hotspot Shield Premium Account (paid) version. The free version gives you access to one location to connect to (USA) and a limit of 500MB of data to traffic. It also has ads too and neither the free version nor the paid one comes with any type of adblocker.
For most people, 500MB is not a lot of traffic. Most people will burn through this easily, which is why upgrading to the Premium service makes perfect sense. The Premium version costs approx $8 – $9 per month, (at the time of writing). For that you get access to servers in over 70 countries to connect to, can use your account on up to five devices, 24/7 support and a superb 45-day money back guarantee. So, whether you choose to pay per month or per year you are getting a good deal.
Furthermore, you can install Hotspotshield on all your devices. There is an app for your Windows PC, or Mac, as well as your phone, with Android and iOS support too. Not only is there a proper desktop app but there are also extensions you can add to your web browser too, e.g. Google Chrome.
The downside is that Hotspotshield is not compatible with devices outside of these. So, it can’t be used on your AppleTV or your router or your Xbox One or PS4 for example. The Windows app also has no option to quickly disconnect either (call it a kill-switch). These are just minor blemishes though on what is, overall, a good package when it comes to a VPN.
Real-world Testing
Now you may be wondering what are the real reasons to use a VPN and will Hotspotshield support all of them? We already mentioned that a VPN stops you from being tracked on unsecure public connections, such as at airports or coffee shops, but there’s more. You may want to use a VPN to access content or websites that is not specifically available in your country (e.g. to visit the US version of an app store to get more apps) and Hotspotshield works great at allowing you access to country restricted websites and services.
Another example, although possibly not legitimate, is downloading torrents. Torrents are not just illegal movies, music, games and TV shows. There are plenty of great legitimate torrents out there that contain useful stuff. But, because downloading torrents has a bad reputation, and because people are afraid of being tracked whilst doing it, using a VPN is ideal to hide your connection and make yourself more secure.
Hotspotshield works fine whilst downloading torrents and correctly masks your location with a minimal drop in speed and performance too. You can happily fire up Hotspotshield, choose the country whose server you want to connect to and then suddenly your computer thinks you are based in that country and your IP address and DNS correctly reflect that and then you can start downloading to your heart’s content.
And you can relax knowing that your connection through Hotspotshield uses AES 256-bit encryption to secure the traffic for your connection. It also constantly changes the encryption key of your connection which basically means that if your connection is somehow compromised, the data you generate whilst browsing remains encrypted.
Hotspotshield allows you to hide your internet activity from your ISP. Typically, without a VPN, your ISO can always see the websites you visit, even when you browse in Incognito mode. But with Hotspotshield you don’t have to worry about this any longer. And it also stops Google from tracking you as well and allows you to get around websites that may be blocked by your work or school/college. If you use VOIP services such as Skype, then Hotspotshield adds an extra layer of security to your calls too.
In Conclusion
Now we must get to the one thing that doesn’t work. First, Hotspotshield is a great VPN for what you pay for and what you get. But the one thing it doesn’t do, and to be fair, a lot of other VPN’s don’t offer this either, despite their best marketing, is allow you access to content restricted services such as Netflix.
What this means is that you can’t use Hotspotshield to access the UK content or US content of Netflix if you are outside of that country. It also can’t allow you to access BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu if you are not natively in their country of origin. Oh, and it won’t work in China either for those who are thinking of trying it there.
But it does help protect and keep you safe online, it provides good value for money and is easy enough to install. They also provide great customer service, available 24/7 via live chat, or through email or visiting their help centre. We were impressed with how friendly and fast their staff responded to our questions and they answered thoroughly too.
So, if you don’t mind that you can’t access streaming services and you just want a VPN you can fire up whilst browsing online that won’t break the bank then Hotspotshield is the perfect choice for you. Take the free version for a test drive and you’ll see why we were impressed with it so much that we immediately upgraded to the Premium version, we are sure you will too.
Have a happy, safe and secure browsing experience, away from prying eyes, on all your devices – thanks to Hotspotshield VPN.
