VPN meaning Virtual Private Network is a secure form of a private network that is connected through the public internet. It lets you in through censorship, blocked content, and any website restrictions. VPN also protects from hacking attacks and helps to hide your anonymity. Since your location is determined through your IP address, changing your IP will directly change your location on a private network.
Although you might want to first check if your country allows the use of VPN as few countries deny the use of your VPN and it is considered illegal to use them to change your location. However, most countries do allow their citizens to use VPNs.
So if you are interested in boosting your security, maintaining privacy, and saving money, all this with just VPN as your armour. But if you are unsure about how you can change your location using VPN, below are steps to use VPN. If you are not sure if your VPN is working, you can also check if your location has been changed or not. In the next section of this article learn more about changing your online location.
You need to follow step by step to change your location using VPN:
- The foremost thing to do is choose a reliable VPN. You can go with SurfShark if you are not sure about which VPN to use. Download pages are pretty easy to access and files themselves are lightweight.
- Then download the VPN of your choice and install it on your computer. Once it is installed your VPN is ready to go.
- Open the installed VPN and login into it. If you are using a VPN for the first time then you will be given a list of servers to connect from on the screen.
- You can select the country according to your choice or whatever suits you.
With this, your IP address and location are changed.
Sometimes, few VPNs fail to change your IP location, so if you are not sure if your VPN has worked properly, there are options you can try. You can check it on websites like IPlocation.net. This website will display your visible IP address and if it shows your actual location, then your VPN has got a problem. But don’t need to worry about it as it can be solved. Sometimes cases like this are just a fluke and disappear once you are reconnected to a VPN server. And other times, websites would store your location if you visited them before and buy your sudden transfer. To prevent this make sure to clean your cache and cookies before turning on your VPN and disable any applications and permissions to access your geolocation.
It takes a proper and authentic VPN to change the location. And now you are wondering what makes a proper VPN?
A proper VPN generally has three underlying features:
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A number of simultaneous connections:
It is when a VPN can be used on a lot of devices with a single account that makes it a proper VPN. Many VPNs allow a lot to use on unlimited devices like Surfshark.
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Security and Privacy:
Security and privacy of the network are very important. A proper VPN abstains from keeping logs of your data and also encrypts all data passing through their servers.
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Speed:
A steadfast speed for any network matters a lot. It irritates and annoys any person who suffers from the slow network and buffering. Hence, A VPN that enhances the internet speed is for sure a proper VPN.
Why do you need to change your IP location?
There can be a lot of reasons for you to change your IP location. It could be because you want access to content that is blocked in your country, or want to stream anything that is restricted in your location. You can also need VPN if you need absolute privacy for your data and prevent hacking attacks.
What if your VPN doesn’t help in changing your location
As told earlier, there might occur times when your VPN would fail to serve the purpose of changing your visible location on a network. There are a few things you can do to solve this-
- The IP address might be leaking
Sometimes a VPN shows that it is connected and will be able to see a VPN address but in actuality, there is a slight chance that your real IP location might be leaking. You can confirm this on IPlocation.net and verify if it is leaking.
- A website might recognize
Although your VPN may have changed your location to a new one, a website may have recognized your VPN range and can limit your access to it. To fix this issue, you can switch to another server.
- Geolocation API
Sometimes, few websites and apps use the HTML Geolocation API to get your real location. This can even bypass a VPN if you have used that website before or might have given them permission to locate you. You can change this in your browser settings and switch off the permissions option.