Mobile Internet has not only confidently won the lead among all methods of viewing content and communicating in social networks. He continues to break away from the ‘pursuers’, and every year he takes an increasing share. And the trend hasn’t gone unnoticed by attackers – hackers, spammers, and other nasty characters. These two factors explain why mobile VPN is also becoming more important.
Many owners of Apple devices are intimidated by setting up a VPN on the iPhone: this procedure is associated with something complicated and difficult for an ordinary user. But using popular applications, you can set up a VPN in a few clicks, including for iPad and iPod Touch.
What Is a VPN, and Why Would I Need One?
VPN, or virtual private network, is a reliable way to protect the data that you transfer over the Internet. Technically, VPN is a separate encrypted channel within a shared global network. When you connect to the Internet via a virtual network, you use the same sites and applications, but as if on top of the connection provided by your ISP. This means that a working Internet is required for a VPN to function.
After installing the virtual network on your device, all data that you transfer will first pass through a secure channel to the VPN server, and from there go to the open Internet. Thus, neither the provider nor the attackers will be able to see which pages you visit, and your data, for example, passwords, will be reliably protected from theft.
How to set up a VPN for iPhone or iPad manually?
For a better understanding of the VPN activation process, it is worth considering the manual configuration method. As a VPN service, we will use L2TP / IPsec technologies, embedded in iOS software, as well as the free ExpressVPN project (more information on this service you can read in the ExpressVPN review).
The whole setup process consists of a few simple steps:
– Go to the “Settings” application.
– You need to select the “VPN” option (or “Basic” => “VPN”).
– If you have not configured a VPN before, then this section will only have the “Add VPN Configuration” button. Click on this button to continue.
– After clicking on the “Add VPN Configuration” button, you will see a menu for setting up a VPN connection. The first thing to choose from in this menu is the VPN connection type. Specify “Type” – L2TP.
– In the “Description” field, write an arbitrary name for the connection.
– After filling in all the fields, you will need to enter the address of the VPN server through which you want to access the Internet. To get it, open expressvpn.net/en/ and notice the large Public VPN Relay Servers table and the L2TP / IPsec column. It is possible to use only those servers that have a green checkmark in this column.
– After making your choice, copy the address lines or the IP address of the server from the ExpressVPN website (the first option is recommended) into the “Server” field.
– In the fields “Account”, “Password” and “Shared key” write the word “VPN”.
– After filling in all the fields, click the “Finish” button.
To start using the virtual network, in the VPN settings menu, switch “Status” to “On”. If everything is in order, you will see the corresponding indicator on the top bar.
How to turn off VPN on iPhone?
If you enabled VPN on iPhone using settings, then to disable it, just go to settings again and click on the VPN switch. In this case, it is not necessary to delete the created connection.
If you connected to the VPN using the application, then you need to disconnect through it. In this case, shutdown via settings will not work.
Setting up a VPN using special apps
The same can be done even easier using the free Betternet app. This is the easiest way to set up a VPN on Apple devices. After installing and launching it, you will find only two buttons: Connect and Disconnect.
With the only tap on the screen, you can start a connection via VPN or disconnect it and start using the Internet directly. Many people wonder why it is free. If in the case of manual configuration, we are talking about an academic project, then Betternet can be helped by installing free partner applications from the App Store.
The notion that only hackers and attackers need encryption is fundamentally wrong. Confidentiality of data transmitted via the Internet has long become a norm and necessity because information is expensive and privacy is inviolable.
