Want to change your IP address? It's totally possible. These are the top 3 reasons to do it, and some suggestions on how to.
There are a number of reasons you might want to change IP online. For the purposes of this hub, I've divided them into three nice categories. If you're curious about why might one want to change the IP address of a phone or computer, you can read the whole hub. If you know what you're looking for, you can skip to the part about that best suits you. The three categories are Security, Privacy, and Entertainment.
EntertainmentThis is probably the most common reason to change IP online. A lot of TV and movie streaming sites restrict users based on region. This mean that an American TV streaming site like Hulu is only available for Americans, and a British TV streaming site like BBC iPlayer is only available in The UK. There are more, but these two are the probably the most popular. There are other non-TV related sites that also have regional restrictions, especially gaming sites from Korea and Japan. Changing your IP can get you access to these games, no matter which country you're in.
PrivacyThe need for online privacy is grossly underestimated. Most people don't give it a second thought to sign into a shared network (public wifi). Even your home computer can be easily spied on or tracked by government/private organizations. Many users write it off as, "Whatever, it's not like I'm doing anything illegal". But would you let someone sit behind you while you're watching TV, taking notes about when you change the channel? Would you let someone check out your fridge and report back to base about what groceries you bought today? I think not. When you sign into the internet with you real IP, you could be exposing yourself to these types of IP advertising and statistic tracking techniques.
SecurityIf you do online banking, business, or shopping online, SSL encryption usually keeps you safe. But even with your standard encryption technology from the sites you visit, there is still an amount of risk involved. Especially if you use these sites in open networks, you could risk getting "side jacked", or having your password/credentials stolen by packet sniffing tools. These are available for free online, and even novice hacker-wannabes can learn how to use them effectively. By disappearing on the network, and rerouting your traffic through a secure set of servers from another network, you increase your online security ten-fold.
How to do itI prefer to use virtual private networks to change IP online. Not only are their security features much safer that proxies (another way to change the IP address of your internet browser), they offer a number of advantages by comparison.Virtual private networks
These are all things that most proxies cannot provide. Though some paid proxy services will allow you to choose your server location, and some do have SSL encryption, you've got to pay for them anyway. While a VPN will cost you $6-$10 dollars a month, a proxy will cost you about half that. Is the difference of $3-$5 dollars a month worth a step down in security, privacy, and reliability? Probably not.
Hulu - American TV shows in the UK
Do you like American TV, but are in the UK? You can access many TV shows by connecting to Hulu outside the USA.
Access Facebook in China 2013
Facebook is blocked in China. VPNs unblock it. It's as simple as that.
Access Facebook in China With a VPN
VPNs are very useful, for a number of reasons. One of these reasons is to unblock websites like Facebook, in China.
