I am not a computer nerd, geek, etc, (and not meaning that as an insult to anyone)

I can use a computer, just not sure of some tech stuff,

anyhoo, ran into an issue while trying to watch a program from the UK, not available on US platforms and a different format etc there, that I cannot figure out,

was suggested to me to use a VPN, and google shows Proton as one to use,

show is on Amazon Prime UK, supposedly

I am a Chrome user, can surf with the best of them, but not ever used a VPN,


pros?
cons?

OMG you may open a vortex in the matrix and die?


and thanks

They are pretty handy. I have used NordVPN for years.

Video content created for the US market is formatted differently than content created for the European market. Most player apps created for US viewers don't support the Euro format(s). I don't think a VPN can help with that. VPNs are all about security - keeping internet assholes from hacking into your devices.

quote:

Originally posted by lyman:
I am not a computer nerd, geek, etc, (and not meaning that as an insult to anyone)

I can use a computer, just not sure of some tech stuff,

anyhoo, ran into an issue while trying to watch a program from the UK, not available on US platforms and a different format etc there, that I cannot figure out,

was suggested to me to use a VPN, and google shows Proton as one to use,

show is on Amazon Prime UK, supposedly

I am a Chrome user, can surf with the best of them, but not ever used a VPN,


pros?
cons?

OMG you may open a vortex in the matrix and die?


and thanks

First a big caveat. I recognize that we are significantly tech challenged.
But, when we have run VPN's for similar reasons we tend to have multiple computer issues.
Loading problems etc. When we turn off the VPN the problems go away.
So while I really like them for security reasons they do not run trouble free for us.

We are using NordVPN on all of our device, which are Apple.

You can select the region you want to appear to be in, such as the UK in your case. I believe all the major VPNs have this capability. It is super simple to go to their app on your device and click on your choice. I normally have it set on "Automatic" and don't mess with it.

For normal use accessing the internet, including most apps other than browsers, it is easy to set up and use.

I have had success with watching a foreign video on BBC by switching to a foreign server.

The downside is a couple of apps are slowed, and a few websites make me check the box that I am not a robot. A few websites get hampered by the VPN's security features, so I go into the app and turn off those features for that website. United airlines is one example, where the VPN popup blocker has to be disabled for the United site. Easy to do, and once you understand that it will happen once in a while, you will know to go to the VPN app to easily fix it.

One odd thing is some cruise ships block your use of their wifi if you have a VPN turned on.

For general security and privacy, imho a VPN is well worth having. They are easy to install and operate.

They're not complete security solutions, but they help there's lots of stuff you can do to further safeguard your stuff just by locking down your browsers.

Nord, Proton, Mulvad, and others are all good VPN service choices. Don't use a free version however, always use a pay-for version of any major name in VPN services.

You can also use different browsers with much better internal security than the majors.

Most VPN services also let you stop various things from ever getting to you, which is a major advantage beyond basic encryption.

Something to try before you pay for one.

Opera browser comes with a free VPN.

I use it all the time.

Not all browsers work with all websites.

Especially after an update.

I have Opera, Firefox and Chromes loaded on my machine.

When I check where the world sees me using Opera today I am in

Hern Labs AB
Services: VPN Server
City: Linkoping
Region: Ostergotlands lan
Country: Sweden

Test it, I just use it for casual browsing.

If you want to test where the world sees you you can use https://whatismyipaddress.com

I am actually in the USA

It is a proxy rather than a full VPN.

It hides your location but does not excrypt your data. But that is all you should need for changing location.

quote:

Originally posted by SIG4EVA:
They are pretty handy. I have used NordVPN for years.

Not the case for me. I figured once I had it my computer was protected. But seemed every time I logged on I had to try figure out how to get it to be active and it seemed like it took forever to find a location? Idk, maybe I did not understand it but did not seem to be user friendly and could not tell if it was working or not.

I found that there are redundant functions between Apple Safari and NordVPN, such as blocking popups and trackers. It seemed at first to stall out loading some web pages. I turned off all the Safari stuff except cookies. I let NordVPN do all the other blocking. Now it runs even faster than before I installed NordVPN.