The vast development of social networks requires new communication methods to keep the audience’s attention. Streaming videos when the person is doing any activities online (playing video, answering the audience’s questions, cooking, etc.) is viral nowadays because they can provide a significant profit.
These streamers use different platforms – some of them are YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, TikTok, Bigo Live, and Mixer. The most important technical requirement, besides the availability of a device to access the Internet, a microphone, and a video camera, is a stable high-speed Internet connection.
If a streamer thinks about his cyber safety, then the question of anonymity arises. In this regard, one of the most accessible solutions is to choose a VPN.
What is VPN
VPN (Virtual Private Network) is the unified name for technologies creating one or several networks above the normal user’s Internet connection from the standard provider. These VPN networks propose to their users different cyber safety measures: encryption of Internet traffic, change of IP address (the unique Internet address of each user), change of geolocation, to avoid a decrease of Internet speed from an Internet provider, to avoid firewalls.
Some bonuses to technical safety anonymous measures are using geo-restricted content in your region, safe use of torrents and online games, and attending marketplaces from the most beneficial country. For sure, for any good service that will not sell your registration and traffic data, you need to pay. Also, you need to correctly choose the VPN specialized for streamers and your available software and hardware and properly install it.
Why do streamers have to use a VPN?
Streamers, like any other Internet user, should think about hackers tracking and losing accounts because of their actions. This is much more important than for average users, as generally linked with a lot of preparation efforts and loss of income. A streamer provides a lot of personal data to a massive auditory during the online translations that can be used against him.
The most crucial advantage of a VPN is a change of IP address to prevent tracking, which helps streamers:
- To protect from unnecessary advertisers and marketing research.
- Preventing digital fingerprint collection creates a detailed profile on the Internet.
- To trespass censorship and regional sanctions (this is important for worldwide streamers).
- To hide your activity from the Internet provider usually stores all your traffic.
- To stream safely from any place worldwide where the Internet is available without limitations (including using public Wi-Fi).
- To stop the collection of visited websites (you do not want your audience to find your hobbies and preferences).
VPN will not secure from all phishing attacks or attacks on your accounts; if your authentication credentials have already been stolen, it will not replace antivirus. Moreover, a VPN will not protect your device from internal threats and repair some technical mistakes on your hardware; if you know about this, first contact an IT specialist accordingly, and only after that download a VPN. Otherwise, it is a useless loss of money. As with any other service, it has pros and cons, but it is still a good solution for a streamer.
Recommended types of VPN for streamers
For each streaming platform, you should choose the recommended type of VPN for better functionality, but anyway, there are general rules for choosing a VPN streaming service:
- Wide choice of servers around the world to have access to a vast mass of content (it should be many servers within each country; otherwise, the load on some popular servers will be too high).
- Safe and stable Internet connection.
- Transparent registration politics with the minimum required personal data provided.
- The chosen VPN service should have full access to your streaming platform.
- Complicated encryption politics (256-bits and better)
- Usage of safe protocols (OpenVPN, L2TP)
- Possibility to change the IP address from time to time
- Kill switch.
- Several supported devices can use VPN simultaneously (for complicated streams with a close connection to the audience, it is crucial to have several online devices).
- User-friendly interface (this feature is important for all users and is essential).
- No storage of logs and traffic (the VPN company should not be registered in 14 eyes countries)
- Technical support 24/7 with quick response time.
The most popular recommended VPNs that satisfy all streamers’ requirements are ExpressVPN, PrivateVPN, CyberGhost, and NordVPN, and VpnToolBox will help you choose the best one. The price starts from 2 $ per month of subscription. Most trustable VPNs propose trial periods or a guaranteed period of money return. Any expenses on VPN services should be considered an investment in your streaming business to increase the audience further.
The connection to any VPN service includes several steps.
- Subscription to paid VPN service (free VPN is strictly not recommended because of weak anonymity politics and unpredicted end-users of private information).
- Download the VPN application on your device.
- Install the application directly following all instructions; incorrect installation will create breaches in your safety. The manual settings adjustment per your software and Internet provider might be required.
- Connect to VPN service. The possibility of turning off/on manually the VPN is essential for controlling your traffic. At this stage, your VPN service can propose to use a server in the desired country.
- Successful use of all Internet resources and making streams.
Conclusion
Millions of Internet users already recommend VPN services for all purposes; even multi-national companies use them for remote access to the corporate network. It is also a good solution for streamers. In addition to all safety issues, you will acquire an additional bonus: access to all Internet resources without censorship and geo-restrictions.
You can buy all marketplace goods with significant discounts no matter where you live. With a VPN service, you can even start a stream from public Wi-Fi without worrying about data loss. If you are afraid that a VPN decreases Internet speed, you should think that without a VPN, you can be a good target for hacker attacks. VPN hides the IP address and provides you with a new one that helps with tracking. The price of VPNs from various providers is different; you should choose based on the required features that you need. Some advanced IT specialists can create their VPN for maximum safety and control of encryption.
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