7 Things You Probably Didn't Know You Could Do With a VPN

Besides protecting your web traffic from advertisers, spies, and crooks, the next most common use for a VPN is to circumvent content blocking. Depending on where you live, Netflix may prevent you from watching certain shows. Connecting to a VPN service in another country may unblock those shows for your viewing pleasure. That's also true for Hulu, Sling, and other streaming services.

The chart above shows the best VPNs for accessing Netflix in other countries from the US. If you're looking to stream Netflix but stay connected to a VPN located in the US, we have another guide for the services that play nice with Netflix.

This is a bit of a slippery issue. It's not piracy as I've come to understand it, but it does feel similar. That said, if you're traveling overseas and are shut out of your favorite shows just because of where you happen to be at the time, that, to me at least, seems like a justifiable reason to unblock some content—content that you have actually paid to see.

While my views on this subject may be complicated, Netflix's are not. The company's terms of service make clear that you can only access content in the region where your account was "established." As such, Netflix works hard to block all VPN access, even when you're connecting from a VPN server within your home country. It's a cat-and-mouse game, where the VPN that works with Netflix today, won't work tomorrow.

I've talked a lot about Netflix, but I've experienced being blocked by several streaming services while using a VPN. Whether you're trying to access Netflix, Hulu, or Sling, you should expect some roadblocks along the way.

Sometimes, what's unavailable online isn't because of licensing agreements and unchecked capitalism. Sometimes, it's purely political. The best known example of internet censorship is probably the Great Firewall of China, which greatly restricts what citizens can see and even say online.

A VPN can help in these circumstances. By tunneling from a restrictive country to a VPN server in a less restrictive one, you can effectively subvert local censorship. Even if that doesn't work (and some countries are working hard to ensure that VPNs can't be used in this way), VPNs may still be useful within a country with oppressive policies. If you're a country that restricts the internet and connect to a VPN server within its borders, you won't be able to access restricted content but you may get some modicum of a protection from domestic surveillance.

A big asterisk to this discussion is that I am unwilling to suggest specific VPN services to circumvent censorship. That's not because I don't believe that every person on earth deserves unfettered access to information and the right to self-expression without fear of repression—quite the opposite. My concern is that the consequences of my getting it wrong are far too high for me to be cavalier. I leave it to those better versed in such matters to make those recommendations.

You learn a lot about a person by living with them, and what I learned about my partner is that she loves women's gymnastics. A lot. And as such, she has very strong opinions about how the sport is covered in the US, which is to say she thinks it's awful. Instead of tolerating terrible commentary and overly glib coverage (and a certain broadcast company's stranglehold on Olympic coverage) she uses a VPN to watch coverage from other countries. Other countries, she tells me, have far more in-depth coverage of the sports and far more knowledgeable commentators.

This means that we often run into broadcast companies blocking our access because we're using a VPN. And that means fiddling around with different servers and settings, try to tunnel our way in. It also means that we sometimes have to forego watching events on our TV because Chromecast doesn't work with a VPN. But for my partner, it's worth it.

If you're living outside your native country, you also might just want to hear commentary in your native accent or language, too, or commentary that centers your country's teams or athletes rather than those of the country from which you happen to be watching.

Sometimes, your VPN just won't work the way you want it to. None of your pages will load, or all your downloads will hang, or every site you visit blocks you. It's incredibly frustrating and not unheard of. In these circumstances, you'll probably just switch your VPN off. That's fine, but try switching servers first.

One of the things you're paying for with a VPN subscription is access to a lot of servers. That's partly to provide better coverage for users all over the world, but also so that you can find a server that works better when things go sideways. In fact, checking the server count and geographic distribution of servers is an important part of our VPN testing.

Switching the VPN off and on again will force the client to reconnect and perhaps choose a different server, but some apps let you manually select specific servers to use. So before you switch off in frustration, try another server in your area, or close by, and see if that helps.

When your VPN isn't working right—or, rather, when it's working just fine but everything else is blocking you because of your VPN—the first thing you should do is try switching servers. If that still doesn't work, give yourself permission to turn the VPN off for a while.

Some security wonks would say that I'm a rube for suggesting this, but you're not doing anything wrong by not using a VPN. Without a VPN you're using the web the way the vast majority of people do, and, really, the way it's intended to be used. And it's okay to do that sometimes. Part of practicing smart personal security is building good habits, but good habits can be bent or broken. That's the point. If you're using a VPN nine times out of ten, you're doing a great job already—better than most PCMag readers.

This isn't to say that you shouldn't use common sense. Don't use public Wi-Fi without a VPN if you can't help it. Be conscious of which tasks you're performing, and how desperately important they are. Do you absolutely have to enter that password right now? But if it's the difference between completing an important task and not, just grit your teeth and do it. And then try to get back online with a VPN as soon as possible.

Generally speaking, VPN companies do a good job providing easy-to-use apps for just about every platform. Using a VPN on your phone is just as easy as using it on your laptop, and just a few years ago using a VPN wasn't easy at all. But while some VPNs provide apps for use on streaming devices, you almost certainly can't convince your smart fridge, smart thermostat, or friendly home robot to connect via VPN.

But keep in mind that you may encounter some incompatibilities with this setup. Perhaps your Roku will no longer be able to play Netflix videos, or your thermostat may no longer be able to get online at all. Or maybe it will all work just fine today and then stop working tomorrow. Installing a VPN on your router is definitely not for the faint of heart, and probably best left to the DIY hobbyists.

While the metaphor of the internet as a "global village" has dropped out of favor, the idea persists that the internet is the same experience for everyone the world over. That's just not true. Some countries censor what its citizens can see, and most companies provide a localized experience depending on where you are. Google Doodles, for instance, vary greatly by country. Some people insist that you can get better deals on things, such as airline tickets, if you spoof your location with a VPN. We haven't been able to demonstrate this, but if you're curious, it can't hurt to try.

With a VPN, you can see how the web looks from the country of your choosing. Perhaps it would be eye-opening to experience censorship, or enlightening to see what other countries deem as newsworthy. Simply choose a different VPN server, and experience the web in a new way.

VPNs—and security in general—can be a dry topic, but Lego animation makes it a lot more fun to learn about. For more on the topic you can also read our pieces on what is a VPN and why you need one, how to set up and use a VPN, whether or not you need to use a VPN at home, and which are the fastest VPNs.