What is VPN on iPhone

I use a VPN service when I connect any of my devices, including my iPhone, to a wi-fi network that is not mine (e.g. at the library or coffee shop). I use it to prevent others on that public network from eavesdropping on my web use when I am using non-secure websites or communications.

Yes, you can use a VPN to view regionally restricted content, and yes, you can try to use a VPN to evade the NSA, but those shouldn't be the main reasons you use it because it won't be perfect for those uses.

The main use should be to secure your Internet connection from hackers. VPN is commonly used by businesses to give employees and contractors access to corporate resources without exposing it to hackers.

I do agree that more users should be aware of the vulnerability of their devices on public wifi networks, and therefore VPN does not necessarily fall into the category of "if you don't know, you don't need it." It's odd to see some users so paranoid about viruses and hackers with their laptop, but then they pull out the phone and put it on public wifi and don't even worry about that fact that their phone is just as vulnerable.

A few things to add to Peter Buttler's and others' comments.

I am a frequent traveler. If I had (1) an unlimited data plan; (2) never used wifi for connecting to the internet outside my home network; and (3) had a recent, high quality router with encryption activated at home, I might feel ok without VPN.

Generally, data over a phone carrier is safe. The opposite is true of public wifi. I would never use public wifi without the protection of VPN. You are virtually guaranteed that in cafes, hotels, etc., your transmissions will often be intercepted. Look in Consumer Reports, AARP newsletters, etc., etc., for more warnings if you need them.

There are many VPN services free and paid. I have probably tried 10 or more. For a while, I used Private Internet Access (PIA) because one fee covered my PC laptop, iPhone, and iPad. Also, I was sold on the idea that they don't keep logs of your internet connections. As I later realized, this really only matters if you are afraid of a government investigation of your activities. I am not. If the NSA or other government agency wants to track me, they'll do it with or without VPN. What I care about is the non-government bad guys intercepting and reading my transmissions.

The problem with PIA was that it was very unreliable for the Apple devices. It would cut out without warning, or after waking from sleep, and I might not realize it for a while. The problem with some of the free VPNs is they may be difficult to set up and use. Could be ok for me, but not for others in my family. I needed something I could set up and forget on their devices.

After some trial and error, I found Cloak. It has an easy, "set and forget" app for iOs. When I first boot up, it will block my connection until it connects and activates. If it somehow drops the connection, it won't let me accidentally continue with an unprotected connection.

Of course, Cloak costs money. I pay $3/month on their mini plan. That allows unlimited devices and 5 gb data per month. It has been enough for me and my wife. Unlimited data bumps up to $8/month on an annual basis.

https://www.getcloak.com/plans-pricing/

I wish Cloak could be used on Windows. It is much better than PIA.

Final note: There are limitations on what any VPN can and cannot do. Many VPN providers overstate (at least, by implication if not outright misrepresentation) the protection you get. I appreciated the Cloak FAQ explaining those limitations. https://support.getcloak.com/faq/introduction-cloak-vpns/#how-does-cloak-work-un der-the-hood

See also their explanation of the difference between security, privacy, and anonymity.

https://blog.getcloak.com/2015/03/30/security-privacy-anonymity/

VPN a Virtual Private Network is a secure network, created over the public internet connection to enable the users hide their identity over the worldwideweb. Some websites are blocked in specific countries so by using VPN you can unblocked those websites.. if you are internet user and want the secure connection you can use iPhone VPN service.

@oldshep59... As micjustin33 points out, it is for setting up a Virtual Private Network. There is tons of info on this subject of what it is technically and what it represents in terms of the growing need for methods to either use proxies and/or VPN encrypted messaging in order to protect ourselves from groups and our government from infringing on out Freedoms. VPN is one such tool. So in a sense it's not a short answer. It really can't be limited to just what a VPN can do for you, without also discussing why would we even need it which is more of a political discussion since VPN deals with Freedom Protection.

IF i may, since we dint know your reason for asking or how techy you are, I would research this on several levels. First visit the EFF or Electronic Frontier Foundation (eff.org) for a background on our eroding privacies and ideas on how to protect them technologically with things like VPN. Then I recommend Googling VPN and setting up a Proxy plus various anonymous email ideas to at very least help stop spam on the lower end to protecting yourself from prying eyes as needed.

but lastly, I see you don't have any points and if your name is any clue about your age and from there that you might be new to computing or Apple or Discussions, if so to any, I want to mention that KiltedTim's reply to you was out of line IMHO and not indicative of the free helpful open exchange of ideas that we Apple users pride ourselves in which the Discussions Forum has portrayed famously since it was created.

If you were offended, surprised or confused in any way with his response, please ignore it and possibly him. His response is not how we Think Different here And his reply and lack of help have no business here whatsoever.

Please don't let his reply curtail your use of Discussions and asking questions that you need help with. 99% of the time you will receive sincere concerned helpful replies to your questions as you'll see. I apologize for his misuse of how we pride ourselves on the amazing open cooperative resource we have in Discussions.

All the best to you.

Steven

I did a quick search and found this site specific to VPN and iPhone in case your question here was prompted by the VPN preference setting in Settings > General > VPN

Try this for starters in addition to eff.org. https://www.bestvpn.com/blog/9058/5-best-vpns-for-iphone-2014-edition/

On a practical note, I tried several VPN providers for my iPhone and iPad. A top-rated one, Private Internet Access (PIA), which works fine on my PC, was a dud on the iphone. It kept disconnecting without warning. That meant I could be doing a login somewhere in a public place, like an internet cafe, with no idea that my passwords or emails were going out unprotected.

I finally switched to Cloak. It has a good integration with iOS so, once installed, it has been very reliable. I would never travel without it. That includes visiting friends whose home systems could be compromised.

For you security techies, I don't remember Cloak's policy on logging. I agree with one poster that if the NSA is after you, your little security measures will be useless. So logging doesn't bother me except in principle. I care about hackers and thieves. That's why I always use VPN.

Hi All,

In today's modern world its very important for all of us to stay connected to internet to perform all our day-to-day task whether it is checking emails,social websites, browsing, downloading using our phones, for all that we need an active internet connection and sometimes we use public WiFi for these purposes. Public WiFi provides us unlimited bandwidth, but during this your favorite Iphone may get accessed by some cyber criminals and can threatens your security and privacy issues, and your Iphone is more prone to strong viruses and malware. The best way to avoid all this is to use a VPN for your Iphone that is not only secure, but also within your budget. I personally use VPN for my Iphone and stay safe and enjoy benefits of public WiFi whenever I need.

Let me start from the 2nd question where you ask that do I need VPN for my iPhone, so my dear i will suggest you no need and i will suggest you yes you need VPN. In fact its depend on you if you are willing to unblock or access geo-restricted website then you will obviously need a VPN and sometimes you will be in threaten when you will connect your iPhone with public Wifi without using VPN, it might be caught of stolen your personnel data from your iPhone so be careful what you need. Further more you ask "what is vpn on my iPhone" and if i am not wrong you want to ask about the best iphone VPNs that you should use in your iPhone so my dear if you need to get a low cost but quality VPN then i will suggest you take an account from ivacy otherwise Express and PIA are highly recommended VPN providers.

No offense Tim, but I couldn't disagree more. Privacy issues at one time weren't much of an Internet issue for the common man, until the Patriot act and the NSA monitoring anyone they choose without a court order. Point being, that even for those who feel they have nothing to hide, many would say our rights to privacy and the spirit of our Founding Fathers as detailed in our Constitution are quite at odds. but many people don't understand the issues, and others the technologies available to help protect our intended privacy. So whether one is not up on the loss of privacy we face, it's potential problems even if you live a 100% legal transparent life! or the various tech protections available! the last thing those in the know should be doing is holding back answers to a sincere question about things as VERY important as VPN.

Moving away from privacy and Oldshep59's VPN request for a second, if your lack of help plus a modicum of chiding and condescension is odd for someone with almost 38,000 points. Tim, if everyone who doesn't know something who asks for help is shot down in the manor you treated Oldshep59, the human race would never advance beyond what we each know.

How is it that an obviously involved Discussions contributor like yourself, chose the blow off a sincere request from another Forum member and about possibly one of the most important issues facing our Freedom today. Frankly KiltedTim, given your level of points, I'm surprised at your reply and example you've shown to others that Discussions might not be the safe, open, source of help, information and support many of us depend on, and that Apple intended, our Freedom notwithstanding.

ANd and not to mention, how could you abuse someone who has 0 points and might be older either born in 1959 or 59 years old? If Oldshep59 is in fact a newbie, getting slapped by anyone here, especially an old timer with 38,000 points sends a very poor and a bit abusive message to someone looking for help. I hope Discussions doesn't degenerate to your style of response. Yours was polar opposite to the spirit and environment we love and depend on. Please be more thoughtful and kind to others or don't reply at all. Thank you.

If you think using a VPN will protect you from NSA monitoring, you're living in a fantasy world.

I did not blow the OP off. What I said is accurate and true for 99%+ of the smartphone using population.

Why you feel the need to resurrect a thread that's been dead for over 5 months is beyond me.

The primary purpose of a VPN is to allow a remote user to connect to a secure private network for access to resources on that network. Using one in an attempt to access systems that are blocked or banned in a particular country is potentially illegal. Using a VPN to hide your identity is more likely to draw attention to you by monitoring agencies, not less.

And if you think that using a VPN to protect yourself from snooping while you access your bank will help, you're horribly misinformed. You're far more likely to have the information compromised by an attack on the back end or somewhere else in the transmission chain than you are of falling victim to a random hacker on the public network at Starbucks.

Tim, lets take the personal out of this. Agreed? My point was meant to say, instead of making the assumption that Oldshep59 doesn't need VPN, or the ones you made about me, or scolding me, you obviously spend a ton of time here and are to be respected as a Level 8. And I don't have to tell you, with that comes responsibility. Folks look up to you. And IMHO it would have been education to just answer his question even if brief or posting a link. Again, your assumption that 99% don't need VPN other than in public networks what the device VPN is for per AppleCare, just telling him would have helped not just him, but all who stumble on this thread.

Lastly, I truly wasn't attacking you, as your response does to me. When I say "No offense" I mean it. It's not a euphemism for, "the next thing I say will be an attack but I'm saying it won't" 🙂

Seriously Tim. You have so much to offer. I've read your posts before. I thank you for your help here which is why I was concerned that if we reply to others and basically shut them down, we might be setting a wrong message and I think all of us are charged with the unofficial responsibility of protecting Discussions and making it the most education and safe place to get free information. I know you know, you have thousands of people who have said so all the way up to your 38,000 points. Pales to my puny 60.

So, to conclude and be clear.Tim, thank you for all your help in Discussions. I'm sorry we had any tiff at all. Hopefully there's something to be learned in how I said what I said to you which didn't make your day, and your original reply to Oldshep and then me.

Friends?

S

Unless you have a specific reason to use VPN, don't bother with it. VPN is a networking protocol designed to create private connections to s specific site or server. You have to have it working on both ends, so unless you have such a connection, you have no use for it.

VPN lets you to access unblock sites and give you online anonymity and encryption. Due to security concerns, threat to online privacy and anonymity one should setup VPN on iphone. You can easily turn it on by configuring VPN into your iphone with few easy steps. http://www.bestvpnprovider.com/iphone-vpn/

I Used VPN purely for pleasure while overseas. I couldn't access some of my favorite tv shows, so used VPN to watch some on my iPad. I couldn't use the TV where I was because I didn't understand the language either.

MTMasonMac. Hopefully you'll find this helpful. There's plenty in this thread that does address VPN but if you still need more, you can start your own thread and word it differently to perhaps elicit the exact aspect of what your looking to know. Or if you have AppleCare call them, or Google VPN as there is wealth of info online outside of Discussions. Word to the wise, you'll get more honey if you don't attack. Discussions has been around for decades now and it is a friendly, usually, environment where most people try to help. We are not paid. We're owners just like you and if any of us take the time to write here, please be aware it's voluntary yet your comment has the air of we need to meet your standards. If you don't find what you want, I've given you, helpfully, other ways to get what you need, but don't demand or assume we have to do it your way. Please be courteous and respectful and please help keep Discussions an open friendly constructive place to post without negative judgmental replies. Thank you. When you start helping others and start building up points, you'll see what I mean more clearly. But with 0 points, no offense, you're not in a position to be criticizing since you've not helped anyone yet. Just sayin'

Your response didn't really answer the person's question. I, too, would like to know what it does, how to use it, etc. I'm not new to iPhone or to Apple products but, I'm not an expert and I don't pretend to be; it is always helpful to know as much as one can about any product.

I hope other, Level 9-er's are not as callous sounding as you are.

Your answer/response was as gracious as can be. I certainly hope you get more points. I would rather have you help me than a very curt, offensive person as KiltedTim. Beginners need help from someone as yourself...someone who doesn't talk down to anyone. All KT had to do was give a helpful, descriptive answer rather than blowing the person off. Perhaps he had a bad day.