What is a Mobile VPN and Why Do You Need One?

Did you know that VPNs also come in mobile versions for your smartphone, tablet, or other devices?

In the right situations, a mobile VPN can be the perfect solution to security risks and traveling woes. Let’s look at how it works and why you might need one.

What is a Mobile VPN, Anyway?

A mobile VPN is designed to provide all the same features that a traditional VP service can offer, but designed for mobile devices, especially smartphones.

Making sure a VPN is prepared for the mobile world does require a few changes. First, it needs to be as seamless as possible when moving around – in other words, the app needs to be able to offer continued protection when moving from Wi-Fi to data connections, or between different Wi-Fi networks as people move around, without failing or requiring a reconnection.

Since mobile devices tend to have less memory and often don’t have access to the same amount of bandwidth as wired connections, mobile VPNs are also designed to be as efficient as possible, compressing data as much as possible while also using less memory and processing power (which is easier on your battery, too).

Finally, these apps are optimized for smaller mobile screens with menus and tools that you can use without a mouse and desktop display.

Many major VPN providers offer mobile versions of their apps for all kinds of platforms, including iOS and Android, so it’s not difficult to find a mobile VPN, although you may need to spend some time deciding what features are most important to you. Here are common situations when they are most useful!

Protecting your Data on Public Wi-Fi

You may have heard this by now, but public Wi-Fi is notoriously unsafe to use. It typically has limited security options or no security at all (the “guest network” option isn’t especially safe to use either if hackers have access to it), and when you join a network with lots of people in a public area, the chances quickly rise that someone is trying to hack connections and intercept data.

Certain improvements coming with Wi-Fi 6 will help with public Wi-Fi security, but ultimately public Wi-Fi connections are always going to include more risk because of their nature. That’s where a mobile VPN steps in with better encryption that can make it very difficult for any hacker to intercept data or hack your connection. If you’re traveling in an airport, spend a lot of time on café internet, or regularly visit large arenas and stadiums, you really need a VPN for your mobile phone.

Easy Syncing Across Multiple Devices

We mentioned that popular VPN services offer both desktop and mobile VPN options for customers. But this has another big advantage besides simple compatibility: It means that all your VPN settings and features will sync easily across all your devices, even if you are moving from PC to smartphone.

This becomes particularly useful when you are enabling extra VPN features, or choosing to whitelist specific sites and services to bypass VPN encryption. With syncing between your various VPN apps, these settings will carry over no matter what device you’re using, so you only need to set and change them once to protect your whole ecosystem of online electronics.

Corporate Data Protection

Companies currently have a large number of employees working from home or working on the go as they visit clients. That means a lot of mobile device use…which becomes a problem when employees need to send sensitive information to each across a variety of different networks (which may or may not be properly secured). The last thing a company wants is for valuable data – especially customer data – to be lost to a hacker or competitor.

That’s why many corporations have decided to require VPNs that work with mobile devices for all employees working on the go or from home. This enables the corporation to guarantee a higher level of data protection even if it can’t guarantee immediate network security for its workers. They also use VPNs to protect VoIP calls which could otherwise be open to eavesdropping!

Access Regionally Restricted Content

This feature is beneficial for commuters and others who use their mobile devices to pass the time while traveling. That usually means streaming plenty of videos or playing games, but in many cases regional content restrictions make this harder. In these cases, content is geo-restricted to a particular country, and if you are in another country you won’t be able to view it.

It’s a frustrating tactic, but VPNs can help by allowing you to pick regions and servers to connect from. This routes your connection to a country where the restrictions don’t apply, allowing you to view that content at last. Limitations may still be imposed by governments or ISPs that don’t like VPNs, but it’s still an effective solution in many situations.

Router Versions of Mobile Apps

VPN providers may also make mobile VPNs available in a version that you can install directly on your router. This is an excellent option for those who want to protect their mobile devices at home (especially for families) without needing to install a VPN app in every device and make sure those apps are always enabled. With the router version, you can simply install the VPN on a compatible router: Since there’s little danger of a hacker intercepting a home Wi-Fi connection, the router encrypts all data heading out of the home or coming in and helps ensure privacy and protection without as much busy work.