Knowing that not all internet traffic should be sent through VPNs for various reasons is critical.
The first reason is to avoid having all your traffic from the same place. When you use a VPN for all your connections, censors can see that all your traffic enters and leaves a single address.
This can make it easy for them to block your VPN server IP address or even get you in trouble for bypassing their censorship. So it’s essential to be strategic about how you use VPNs and only use them for certain types of traffic.
In addition to the issue of 1:1 traffic, there are other reasons you shouldn’t use a VPN for all your internet traffic. Many apps and services are hosted within the borders of a specific country.
With more countries requiring data residency, the internet is becoming a collection of isolated islands.
In the case of Iran, many local apps and services need you to turn off your VPN. Also, it’s like traveling back and forth between different countries to get your coffee from two blocks away. So using a VPN for all your internet traffic can be inconvenient and unnecessary.
There are other important reasons why you should only use a VPN for some internet traffic. For example, it can be suspicious for fraud controls on banking and shopping sites to see that you are logged in from another country.
The abuse of VPNs has caused some sites to block them outright. Even simple things like Google searches can be affected by it.
Those who game might notice an increase in latency because their mom takes a longer and more circuitous route to get their coffee.
To Connect or Not to Connect, That is the Question
Suppose you consider connecting and disconnecting from a VPN as a workaround for the above issues. In that case, you should know that it can quickly become a hassle.
It may seem simple initially, but switching between VPN and regular internet connections can be tedious and time-consuming. Additionally, not all devices may have a VPN client, and older devices or TVs may not even support proxy servers.
Installing VPN software and configuring each device to use a VPN can take an entire day if you have a lot of devices at home.
A VPN router can solve all of those issues.
