Technology has made our lives easier and more convenient than ever before. From working remotely to keeping in touch with friends and family, we’ve got endless possibilities at our fingertips.
One of the biggest advantages that have come with the advancements in technology is the fact that we can subscribe to various entertainment packages. This is a huge step up from the likes of cable TV where you have to pay outrageous prices for channels that you’ll never watch.
Instead, you can pick and choose what is more important to you. From Netflix to dedicated sports streaming services, you can build your custom entertainment package. Did you know that you can get some subscriptions for a cheaper price by using a VPN? We’re going to tell you how, but first check out the best VPNs for cheaper subscriptions in 2022.
What is a VPN?
Let’s first get an idea of what a VPN is. A virtual private network, as it’s also known, is a cybersecurity tool that encrypts your internet connection and masks what you are doing on your device. While your connection is encrypted your device will be secure on the internet, and you’ll have unrivalled privacy. In fact, not even your internet service provider or the government will be able to see what you’re doing on your device.
The feature that most people are after though, is the ability to change your virtual location. This is the feature that’s going to help us to get cheaper subscriptions for various online services. You might be wondering how a VPN can make it look like your device is located in another country.
It all happens at the touch of a button. A VPN allows you to connect to a secure global server in another country. Once you’re connected to a server, your real IP address will be masked, and your device will adopt the IP address of the server that you are connected to.
An IP address is a unique string of numbers that is used to identify your device on the internet. One of its primary jobs is to pinpoint your physical location., therefore if you’re able to change your IP address, you can make it look like you’re accessing the website from elsewhere. This will trick the website into displaying a different version specifically for the IP address that you have.
How to Get Cheaper Subscriptions
Online services are often available in several different countries around the world. However, the one thing that may differ between regions is the cost of the subscription fee that you need to pay if you want to use the service.
For example, if you set your location to Mexico on your VPN, you could end up paying a lot less money for the subscription than if you were located in the United States. Although this does not work with all subscription services — Netflix for example carries the same subscription fees all around the world — it could still be worth a try next time you consider signing up for an online service.
It’s always a good idea to quickly check the prices that you might be able to find in different countries. A VPN will allow you to seamlessly switch from one country to another at the click of a button. All you need to do is refresh the page and check the pricing again.
You’ll know if your VPN is working because there will be a noticeable difference in your web browser. For example, if you’re in the United States and you connect to a server in Thailand, you’ll start to see Thai adverts rather than U.S adverts.
Other Benefits of a VPN
There’s a very good reason why VPNs have become such popular cybersecurity tools in our modern society. It’s not always because they give you more privacy and security, but oftentimes it’s more to do with the fact that it gives the user the ability to change their virtual location.
One of the most common uses for a VPN is to bypass geographical blocking. Geo-blocking, as it’s often referred to, is common in today’s world. It’s most commonly found when it comes to sports streaming, and you may have encountered it on YouTube and Netflix before too.
If we take sports streaming services, for example, there’s a very good reason why geo-blocking has been put in place. These major streaming platforms need to agree to broadcast rights with the sport that they want to stream to their viewers. If we take Sky Sports and the English Premier League, for example, Sky Sports will need to agree that they can only stream their content within the UK. They also need to pay a lot of money to secure the rights to stream Premier League football, so breaking these rules is out of the question.
If you try to access the Sky Sports content from outside of the UK, you will simply be blocked from doing so. The only way to bypass this is to fire up your VPN and connect to a server in the UK — allowing you to anonymously stream your favourite content from Sky Sports.
Netflix has also had its fair share of complaints from users. Many have noticed that the US version of Netflix has a wider selection of content — movies and TV shows — to choose from. This also has to do with licensing rights from the production companies that Netflix must agree with. Again, you can use a VPN to change your location and access new content, however, this becomes a bit more tricky.
Netflix doesn’t like it when its users use a VPN to access content that’s not allowed to be streamed within their region. As such, many premium VPN providers do not work with Netflix. Luckily though, all VPNs are different, so there are some premium VPN providers that pride themselves on having the ability to change your Netflix region. This is something that you need to research before subscribing to your premium VPN.