VPN Articles and News

What is Mobile VPN? – Total Security And Privacy On The Go

By Paul Liu
Thursday, February 21st, 2013

Mobile phones and devices are fast becoming the preferred medium to access the internet. Thanks to the advances made in the mobile communication technology as well as the popularity of smartphones and tablets, it is now possible to always remain connected while on the go. However the use of mobile internet comes with its own set of security challenges that must be addressed if you want to keep your personal details safe and remain protected at all times.

As opposed to a fixed line broadband connection, the underlying connection parameters are continuously changing in case of mobile devices. When you are moving, your mobile device is continuously looking for cellular networks, Wi-Fi hotspots and private networks to provide you seamless internet connection. The frequent changes of networks and connection parameters can expose your personal details such as passwords, credit card details, banking details to unscrupulous elements like hackers and bots. In order to protect your personal data, it is advisable to use a robust security solution such as a mobile virtual private network (VPN) which is specifically built to protect mobile internet connections.

What Is A Mobile Virtual Private Network?

Mobile VPN refers to a technology framework that allows mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets and laptops to access the internet through a secure tunnel while providing total security and anonymity. The technology also allows you to bypass ISP censorship and government regulations and access your favorite sites from anywhere without experiencing any lag or delay. The technology is fast enough to support streaming, downloading and VOIP activities and secure enough to protect your private data at vulnerable Wi-Fi spots at airports, coffee shops, book shops, restaurants and shopping malls.

There are several reasons why traditional virtual private networks meant for computers cannot be used for mobile devices. A traditional virtual private network cannot survive disruptions in connectivity and is likely to disconnect or time out and expose your personal details in case of network outages. A mobile VPN, on the other hand, is built to handle frequent network and connectivity changes, survive network outages and deal with battery problems while providing total security and seamless internet connectivity to the user. Due to such built-in security features, mobile VPNs are often used in mission critical industries like service management, public safety, hospitals, home care and utilities among several others.

The mobile VPN providers use L2TP/IPSec, PPTP or SSL protocols to secure their networks. While these protocols are not as secure as the OpenVPN protocol, they provide adequate security to mobile devices like iPhones, iPads; Android, Windows, Symbian smartphones as well as Windows, Linux and Mac based laptops and PDAs. The mobile virtual private networks assign a logical IP address to mobile devices which doesn’t change irrespective of the frequent changes in the physical IP address happening due to changes in network and connection technology.

While choosing a VPN solution for your mobile device, it is advisable to choose a provider that offers specialized plans for mobile devices. There are several reputed VPN providers such as HideMyAss, IPVanish, Strong VPN, PureVPN, Express VPN etc. that provide excellent VPN plans for smartphones, tablets and laptops. When it comes to mobile internet security, you simply cannot take chances with your data and it makes sense to invest in a reliable mobile VPN plan.