This list of 21 Tricks You Didn’t Know You Can Do With a VPN serves as a quick reference guide to show anyone who browses the Internet all the things you can do with a VPN.

The items below show you most of what you can do with your shiny new VPN account (which can be had for around $4.80/mo with the KFireTV discount).

Stream on and stay safe!

Use the list below as a reference for all the cool features and “VPN tricks” an inexpensive-yet-powerful VPN account gives you.

1.  Stay safe when using Public Wi-Fi

Hackers love to prey on unsuspecting people who use public Wi-Fi hotspots (like at Starbucks or McDonald’s).  There’s a huge security hole in the “http” protocol, which is the technical name for “websites that don’t use encryption”.

So basically, if you hop on WiFi at Starbucks and use a website that starts with “http” instead of “https”, then a hacker has a very very good chance of seeing all of your data.

Watch my YouTube demonstration video to see exactly how hackers perform this type of “public WiFi hotspot attack”.  After watching the video, you may be convinced of how essential a VPN is for your security.

2.  Prevent websites from tracking your info (IP address, location, etc)

By this point, you should know that many websites track much of your information.  In fact, one report showed that over 60% of website have Google trackers “lurking” in their background.

To eliminate this type of website tracking, turn on your VPN for instant anonymity.

3.  Stream movies in Kodi without worrying

Love Kodi?  Then protect yourself by connecting to your VPN before you stream.

Q:  Why?

A:  Because the legality of streaming is fuzzy right now in the United States – and downright oppressive in the UK.

So make sure nobody’s gathering data on you now which they could use in the future to prosecute you, fine you, or cut off your Internet access.

Don’t let ISPs mistake your legal streaming content with content they’ve deemed “unsuitable for streaming”.  Switch on your VPN.

4.  Use App Stores & Apps restricted to certain countries

Yes – the Google Play App Store and iTunes App Stores have different versions depending on where you’re signed in from.  And furthermore, an app store in one country generally won’t let you sign up for that app store if you’re in a different country.  So here’s our VPN trick to sign up for a foreign app store on your smartphone (Android or iOS):

1. Connect to a VPN server in the country of your choosing (Canada, for example)
2. Then create a new Google account (for Android) or iTunes account (for iOS devices like iPhones and iPads)
3. Now log out of your Google / iTunes account on your smartphone/tablet
4. Then log in to your new Google / iTunes account.  As long as your device starts out and remains connected to the VPN in a foreign country, the app store should work just fine for you.

Pro Tip:  I used this trick to install and download “Live Olympics Broadcast” apps from Canada because the U.S.A. was not streaming the Olympics for free!  The result was that I watched the entire Olympics for free, even though my country does not broadcast the games freely.  Great success!

5.  Connect to your school’s network from your house

If you attend a school, you can likely connect to your school’s VPN remotely to make it just like you were on campus.  This does a few things for you, including but not limited to:

• Get access to online resources available only in your University’s intranet (aka “network”)
• Use your school’s Internet connection for browsing, doing homework, streaming videos, or whatever you need (but nothing illegal, of course!  Please respect your school’s Internet connection & IT team)

6.  Watch Blocked YouTube Videos (“Blocked in Your Country”)

If you’ve ever gone to watch a video on YouTube and received the message “This video is blocked in your country”, you can fix that with a VPN.

Simply switch on your VPN, make sure your VPN is connected to a UK VPN sever, and play the video again.  Most videos unplayable for USA viewers are viewable by United Kingdom viewers.  So a UK-based VPN server will help a US-based viewer watch blocked YouTube videos in their country.

Additionally, this works for any other country combinations.  For example, if you’re in Canada, you can use this trick to watch videos from any country on any streaming service (YouTube, Vimeo, etc).

7.  Prevent hackers from targeting you specifically

Like marketers, hackers love to gather peoples’ data to target them.  Serious hackers target individuals on a personal basis every day without the individual ever having any idea.

Q:  How does the hacker do this?

A:  They gather your data using various methods because your data is not secure until you use a VPN.

So make your Internet data completely secure so hackers can’t target you like this.  Use a VPN when you browse the web, check your email, or do anything and everything online.  This is not a joke or a false recommendation!  This is real-deal, top-level security for you.

8.  Get More “Sources” in Kodi

You can view more Sources in Kodi by connecting your VPN from your Kodi-viewing device (such as Firestick, PC, or Android).

Q:  How does this work?

A:  The servers used by Kodi addons will show you a list of Sources after you select a stream to watch.  This list of sources is entirely dependent on the inner working of that particular Kodi addon!  The fact is that many Kodi addons don’t display all the Sources to you!  For example, if you’re in the USA, a Kodi addon may only display the “USA” sources to you.

To view the UK sources and all available sources, connect your Firestick to VPN (or any other Kodi device) to display all the “Streams available”.

9.  Eliminate Bandwidth Throttling

Your Internet Service Provider throttles your bandwidth.  This means that they limit the speed by which your Internet connection transfers data.  And they do it because of the particular things you download.

Further explanation:  If your ISP suspects that you’ve (even once) downloaded copyrighted material, they’ll limit the speed of your Internet connection.  Many times, this is the why you go to watch a movie on Netflix or Kodi – and it just won’t play without buffering.  So use a VPN to eliminate the chance of your ISP throttling your bandwidth.

10.  Make ALL Your Downloads Anonymous

No matter what you download, you’ll love the max-level security that a VPN provides to your downloads.  Every single thing you download (while connected to your VPN) is anonymous.

11.  Shop on Websites in Other Countries!

Shopping websites first get your location from your Internet address (aka “IP address“).  Then they either allow you access to their site or disallow you access to their site.  Or many times, they’ll “redirect” you to whatever version of their website matches your “supposed” country (like eBay).

To take control of this, use a VPN to make it look like you’re in any country you want.  The world’s best VPN provider has servers in almost every country on Earth.  Live in the USA but want to use eBay as if you were a Canadian?  Switch on your VPN and shop away, eh.

12.  Get Airfare Discounts for Other Countries (* not fully tested yet)

Shop airfare prices from a foreign country and you might see some discounts!

13. Connect to your home network from a remote location

Advanced users can set their VPN up on their router and connect to their home networks when away from home.

14.  Reduce the number of sales calls you receive by preventing marketers from gathering your data

Telemarketers are tricky folks:  they gather data relentlessly.

• Then they use that data to target you as a “likely candidate” for purchasing their service/products.
• After that, they hound you with sales calls, emails, and even message in Instant Messaging apps.

To prevent this type of “manual tracking” by humans, use a VPN.  The fact is that many of these marketers automatically use their own websites to gather your data – then they target you with that collected data.

Switch on the VPN to keep this from happening.  And BOOM – fewer sales calls.  Enjoy.

15.  Post to Forums anonymously

If there’s a Forum you’d like to submit a post/comment to, then do it while connected to a VPN.  This is particularly useful when commenting on a “dark” forum (a forum you don’t necessarily want to be associated with as far as browsing history is concerned).

Many power users always connect to a VPN before commenting on any forum that has content regarding Bitcoin, dark web material, high-profile Internet usage, and other ways of using the Internet.  Connecting to your VPN before placing a comment or post on any site prevents your data from being tracked.

16.  Eliminate the chance of your ISP tracking your every move

Your Internet Service Provider (“ISP”) tracks your every move by default.  They log every download and every web page you scroll through.  This is true until you use a VPN to hide your IP address, your transferred data, and your location.

17.  Prevent GOOGLE from tracking your data

There are many ways that Google tracks our data.  In fact, it’s recognized that Google is more of a “data gathering engine” than a Search Engine.

Either way, the most prevalent mechanisms by which Google tracks us are as follows:

• Our Google searches are obviously tracked, so your only option for avoiding this type of tracking is by using a no-tracking search engine like DuckDuckGo.
• Furthermore, Google Chrome web browser tracks your Internet usage.  To avoid this, install the “Do Not Track” Chrome Extension or use a different web browser.
• If you’re logged in to your Google account using Chrome, then Log Out to prevent Google from tracking your activity on the user-account-based level.
• To add the best level of protection from Google’s trackers, use a VPN.

Using the methods above, you can quickly elevate your level of information security regarding Google’s tracking.

18.  (Webmasters & Techies only)  Test your website(s), apps, and online projects from “Other countries”

If you’re a webmaster, an app developer, or someone who needs to test something with a browser visit from a foreign location, then use a VPN.

Just like when you watch a blocked YouTube video with a VPN, you can use the same trick to test your own website / app using a “visitor from a foreign country“.

19.  Trick websites into thinking you’re 2 or more visitors

Websites track clicks and visitors based on IP address, mostly.  So for example, if you visit a website and answer a poll, it’s likely you can only submit 1 vote because the website logged your IP address.

To circumvent this, one could theoretically connect to their VPN (thereby giving them a “new” IP address) and cast a 2nd vote to the poll.

Although we at KFireTV do not at all condone this type of “cheatery“, we do believe in 100% availability of information.  So we couldn’t leave this one out for information purity’s sake.

Furthermore, this point is closely related to the other point in this list about “testing your own websites and apps”.  If you have your own website, you could use your VPN to test against this type of IP address obfuscation.

20.  Connect to & Use Social Media Anonymously

Most experienced Internet users know that Facebook and other top social media sites track our data like no other.

So, we can start to prevent this by disallowing Facebook from seeing our IP address, location, and other data they gather from our IP address.

Just connect to your VPN before you use Facebook (or other social media sites)!

It’s that simple.  Facebook can’t see your IP address if the IP address they see is that of your VPN server (and this is the case once you’re connected to your VPN).

So enjoy some degree of “IP address/location”-based tracking while looking at memes/cat videos on FB.

21.   _________________________

What else can we use a VPN for?  Let us know in the comments below, especially if you feel we missed something!

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