Should you always
keep your VPN active?

A VPN protects your privacy, increases security, and may also give you a better browsing experience by bypassing blocked content and regional blocks. However, under certain circumstances, it may also be better to turn off the VPN. So when is it best to keep your VPN active and when is it better to turn it off?

When to leave your VPN active

• While you are actively using the Internet, for example, when you are Internet shopping, reading the news or other activities where you would prefer not to be tracked.
• While you are using online services where you want to avoid, if possible, that other users or the service itself can learn your IP address. This could simply be online chat, for example, where a malicious user wants to find out your IP address in order to find out your location, hack you or simply carry out a DDOS attack against you.
• While you are using public networks or Wifis. Here, the encryption of the VPN prevents your data traffic from being read or manipulated.
• A VPN can also help you save money, for example because a provider offers its product cheaper for users with an IP address from a certain country.
• If you want to bypass certain restrictions in your local network or regional blocks, so-called geoblocking.

Bypass content blocks and annoying firewall settings

• If your available data volume is very limited, you should make sure to use the VPN only when you really need it. Encryption will generate more traffic and thus consume your data volume faster than without it.
• If you want to surf particularly fast or just need the lowest possible latency. A VPN always causes some loss in speed and latency, because the encryption as well as the obfuscation of the IP address consumes additional resources.
• On mobile devices, it can also be helpful to use the VPN only selectively if you are very concerned about your battery life. Since the VPN requires additional resources, it also increases power consumption and thus reduces battery life.