▾VPN services are becoming increasingly popular and their usage continues to expand. It's no wonder, as they allow for secure connections to public networks, thereby serving to protect sensitive personal data, secure your communication, allow anonymous surfing, shopping, and communicating over the internet, bypass geoblocking, enable access to servers where entry is only allowed for certain nationalities, and allow watching streaming stations. Encryption and communication through a created "tunnel" simply guarantee privacy - is it possible to use these services on a mobile phone? Yes, it's feasible, so let's look together at the options available.
Why Use VPN on a Mobile Phone?
There are many reasons to use a VPN on a mobile. Originally, this technology was used mainly by companies, as it allowed employees to securely connect to the internal network. Wherever there's internet access, with a VPN, it's possible to use the company intranet, access private company documents, work data, and applications. Since data on a mobile phone is encrypted in essentially the same way as on a desktop computer or laptop, there is no risk of data loss by interception by unauthorized persons or eavesdropping during transmission. Additionally, users often visit various websites from their mobile phones, where without a VPN application, a user could easily be pinpointed with great accuracy to their location and even have their IP address obtained.
Connecting Mobile Devices Including Phones
For mobile devices that have access to corporate resources, it's always necessary to verify one or more parameters for securing performance points, as is commonly done, for example, by a firewall or VPN gateway. Then the mobile device will have direct access to the corporate network using existing security gates and within the corporate security policy. However, some solutions require that before penetrating the corporate network, the mobile device must first pass through a so-called proprietary server (a server with closed code). This, however, brings increased costs, more complex maintenance, and layering of security policy beyond standard practice.
Because employee mobility is important, efforts to maximize the security of remote connections contribute to the development of further solutions, so that employees have good access to internal company emails, can work with the calendar, or surf the web.
How to Get VPN for Android Devices
Since there is a risk that your data on a mobile phone can be obtained by someone unauthorized, or in some countries there is even monitoring of user activities and storing this data for later use or even misuse, using a VPN is suitable even for an ordinary user. Considering that mobile devices have become the most popular and frequently used means of internet access in recent years, concerns about privacy protection are also growing. After all, even the Android operating system itself was designed to collect user data and use it to provide targeted advertising! However, through a VPN, you can effectively defend against these trends. Arguably the best solution from the available options is the use of VPN (virtual private network). Getting and setting up a VPN for a mobile phone with the Android operating system is relatively simple, as there is a large number of providers in the community. The simplest is certainly downloading a free application from the Google Play store. However, with the completely free version, it's necessary to consider that it is the cheapest and therefore not the most sophisticated product. If you want to ensure a really high level of data protection, it pays to purchase one of the paid versions. They usually operate on a monthly or annual subscription basis, and the fee is not high.
Connecting VPN
Since the Android operating system supports some types of VPN, you can use them to connect to an already established network if you have login credentials. Then there is no need to install a third-party application. The correct procedure is as follows:
- First, open the SETTINGS application, click on the NEXT button in the WIRELESS NETWORKS section
- Click on the VPN symbol on the WIRELESS NETWORKS screen
- In the top right corner, there will be a "+" symbol or "ADD VPN PROFILE", click on it and enter your login credentials (provided by the network administrator)
- By pressing the SAVE button, you will complete the setup, and by clicking on the VPN item, you can connect