The Internet isn’t a safe place. Every day, people get scammed, computers and devices corrupted, and identities stolen. But most people don’t regard the Internet in the same way they’d approach “real-life situation.” For example, you’d take precautions before visiting grocery store late at night. You might park near a well-lit area and you’d make sure to look around before getting out of your vehicle.

But the Internet feels safe. Since you aren’t in a dark parking lot, the Internet must be a cozy place where nothing bad can reach you.

But that’s not true. And this is exactly why you should use a VPN. Whether you are playing porn games, mainstream games, shopping, or what have you, a VPN can help safeguard your activities.

Let’s look at how.

Benefits of a VPN

A VPN is a critical online safety measure. There are a number of awesome VPN services out there, we happen to use Hot Bot as our VPN. Again, lot’s of top VPNs are available. You just need to do your research, or try Hot Bot.

There are many reasons to use a VPN while gaming. Let’s look at some of the most popular.

Protect Your Identity

When you do anything online, your identity is at risk. Your identity is a sacred part of your life that will influence numerous life essential things, like buying a house, a car, or getting health care. When nefarious character steal your identity, it can take years to fix.

A VPN helps encrypt your connection to websites and apps. By encrypting your connection, they are unable to access any of your information. This can also help prevent ad trackers from hijacking your info.

Many top VPNs use 256-bit encryption, which is virtually impossible to crack.

Data Throttling – Gamers, Listen Up

So you’ve probably heard that your ISP can downgrade your bandwidth and service speeds on the fly. Yep, when they need to save on data transfers, they can simply turn you down.

When you play games, having a fast, responsive connection is critical.

This is where a VPN comes in handy.

Your ISP can’t track your bandwidth usage and cap you. So if you’re gaming up a storm, you won’t have your ISP turning down your speeds or capping your service. At least, a VPN can help stave off such activity.

Prevent Censorship

A VPN hides your location, no matter where you are gaming.

Many regions restrict gaming content. When you turn on your trusty VPN, fear not, the gaming company can’t see where you are located. And thus, they can’t restrict content.

This can also help if you want to watch, say, a streaming service abroad. Or, if you are in the United States but want to view a streaming service’s UK lineup. There’s lots of reasons to let a VPN help you circumvent censorship.

Protect Your Data

We are in a day and age where big companies want to leverage your personal data for all types of purposes. Some want to use it to customize ads while other organizations may sell your data for a profit.

When a company can’t access your personal IP address, they can’t get to your personal data. They need your IP address in order to get to your coveted browser surfing history. Knowing what websites you access and what searches you perform is critical, incredibly profitable information for these companies.

Which VPN Should You Use?

Again, we use Hot Bot. Their what is a VPN article does a good job detailing exactly why you should use them.

There’s a lot of big fancy VPNs out there, though.

Pricing is a big decider in which VPN to use. But the most important aspect is speed. When you turn a VPN on, it creates a new layer and that can slow down your connection. Most VPNs, such as Hot Bot, only slow you down a tiny bit. But some VPNs that use cheaper networks will result in a much more dramatic slowdown.

Using a free trial can help you decide which VPN is right for you. Before you turn on the VPN, perform a Google speed test. After the VPN is on, perform the same speed test again. If you don’t lose much speed, that’s a good thing.

By comparing and contrasting, you can figure out if the VPN is reducing your speed too much. A good VPN barely shaves any speed off your connection.

By using a VPN for gaming, you reduce the chance that your data becomes compromised, your speed becomes throttled, or your personal data is sold. You can help prevent phishing schemes and circumvent regional censorship. It is always important to make sure your Internet connection is safe before downloading a game, or even playing one in a browser. There’s lot of nefarious minded characters out there looking for the weakest of the bunch. By activating a VPN, you elevate your status and become a much less likely target.