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VPN l April 23, 2021

Cool things you didn't know you can do with VPN

Most of you use Smart DNS Proxy VPN to secure your internet browsing, unblock social media such as Facebook and to bypass geo-restrictions on streaming sites like Netflix, HBO Max, Hulu, etc. But we are not going to talk about all of that today. We’ll talk about little-known stuff, some tips and tricks that some of you might not have heard of before.

Here are some cool things you can do with VPN along with real-world examples. Sounds fun? Let’s begin.

1. Get more from ‘free’ services

There are a lot of websites that let you view a limited number of articles or search results per day before you have to pay. 

For example, we often use the website called AppBrain which reveals Android app insights, but you only get 5 free app searches. And after that, you have to pay. This is fine if you're using the service regularly, but you have to use it just for one day.

In that case, you can turn on Smart DNS Proxy VPN and switch to a different server. These sites track each user by their IP address. If you switch your IPs using a VPN, and open the website in a new private browsing window, they'll treat you like a brand-new visitor. Although, we highly recommend paying for the service if you’re going to use it more frequently. 

2. Bypass game blocking in specific country

Just like HBO Max, Peacock and Hulu, that are country-restricted, there are certain games that are released for a specific country, and even if you are willing to pay for it, you won’t be allowed to play them due to licensing issues. 

For example, if you try to access Nvidia GeForce Now outside of its 71 supported countries, you’ll be greeted with the “GeForce Now is currently not supported in your region” message.  Now, this is just one example, there are many games on Android and iOS as well that may be blocked in your country. For example, PubG in blocked in India and Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is only available in the US so if you want to play it in, say, Latin America or Asia, you simply can’t do that.

To overcome this, you need to need to switch to Smart DNS Proxy VPN, download the gaming app and start playing. To find a detailed video, click on the YouTube card in the corner of the video.

3. Research your competition 

If you do research on the Internet, this one is especially useful. 

For example, we make YouTube videos and blogs around the topics that we believe more people are looking for people all around the world. Say, how to get Netflix US. But there is a problem - Google. You see, Google shows personalized results. In the video, you can see a side-by-side Google search result of the same keyword on incognito, but you can see the results are different; there is a quora and different videos, while the other search result from the country of Australia has none of that. So, if you want to make content for, say, Australian audience, you need to know what search result they would see. For that, you can switch your SDP server to Australia and so on and so forth. 

4. Torrenting websites

Bit torrents are quite popular. And while these can be used for illegal copyright-violating downloads, there are also plenty of legal use cases, such as downloading a Linux distro, or open source software like LibreOffice. 

However, even if you use torrent for legal activities, you may get noticed by specific agencies – such as MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America), the NSA (National Security Agency), the GCHQ (The UK’s Government Communications Headquarters), and more. 

Thankfully, SDP comes with a special torrent-based server build-in which will protect you from these prying eyes. Of course, we highly recommend using torrent for legal purposes only. 

5. Bypass unnecessary tax

This is the littlest known use of VPN. So, as you know, if you buy something online, you have to pay taxes on it. 

For example, say, if you’re buying an online service like ahrefs (which basically lets you analyze website performance), you can see the one-year subscription costs 999 USD, which is fair enough. Now, if you change your country to that of Europe like Sweden, then there is a 25% tax on top of it, which is like 215.90 euro on top of it. Similarly, if you switch the country to India, there is an 18% tax in form of GST, so you have to pay 180 USD more. 

Now this would make sense if you have a registered company where you’ll be able to claim back the extra tax as credits; however, if you are an individual, or a student, or even an expat, then you can consider using a VPN and switch your country to US, which doesn’t have extra taxes involved. Obviously, we highly recommend consulting a financial adviser first. 

Well, that’s our list of cool things you probably didn’t know your VPN can do. Let us know how you find it.

As always, thanks for reading and watching, see you in the next one and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel.

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