What Is A VPN & What Does It Do?
VPN stands for “virtual private network,” and it’s a type of software that is designed to encrypt your IP address, so your online identity can be kept private. It does this by redirecting your Internet connection through one of the VPN’s remote servers.
This cloaks your IP address and provides a basic level of anonymization. This is an excellent way to protect yourself when using file transfer and sharing services, chat and even gaming (when latency isn't an issue). VPNs can also be used to access the internet from other countries.
However there's much more at work when it comes to privacy.
Sophisticated Tracking Technologies Go Beyond IP addresses
When it comes to the web ("clearnet"), IP logging is just one of many methods used to track you, follow you around the web and build up a profile on who you are. A few of these methods include:
These technologies are sophisticated and are overwhelmingly used for the purpose of collecting data to build a personal profile of the members of your household. This data is usually used to influence you (via advertising, sponsored posts and articles, streaming ads and so forth). There have been disturbing stories over the years of this data being used by individuals to stalk individuals and hack devices as well.
VPNs don't protect you against any of this.
Streaming Video Issues
Because so many people use VPNs, it is easy to determine when multiple people are sharing a single IP address. Commercial services continually track this information and sell it to streaming video providers, who then block access to these addresses. This is why streaming video often does not work over a VPN.
VPNs route all of your traffic over a distant endpoint. Sometimes this is what you want or need but it comes with a pretty heavy performance penalty. If you are simply someone who wants to protect your devices and family from obtrusive tracking and online annoyances, the speed hit might be too much.
The Battle for Your Mind
For many people, digital tracking and "tailored" advertising are two of the most common threats they face online every day. Armed with knowledge of who you are and what makes you tick, motivated parties push you to buy things you don't need or want, charge you higher prices if they believe you can pay more and most importantly can influence how you think... or even how you vote.
Who pays for this privilege? You do. Both in the amount of data consumed on your network (up to 70% of web data usage can be caused by tracking and advertising), your network speed and the time you waste sifting through annoying ads online.
Winston Filters Out the "Junk" and Provides Protection that VPNs Can’t
Winston is not a VPN. It’s a powerful hardware filter that cuts the bloat out of your network, scrambles your data over multiple IP address and disables most of the technologies used to track you and your family members' browsing activity.
It's meant to run in the background so that you never need to worry about stopping or starting it. It protects all of your devices - including phones, tablets, Smart TVs and yes, browsers - on your network automatically.
After installing it, the average user sees a reduction of about 45% in the total number of requests initiated on their network.
That's important because when you cut the bloat out of your network, you increase your speed.With so many companies and organizations tracking your movements every time you surf the web; your data is always exposed and at risk. Don’t risk it – try Winston today and keep your online activity truly private. And, with our 30-day satisfaction guarantee, there’s no risk, so try Winston today and enjoy the Internet the way it was intended to be – lightning fast, free of ads and safe.