What is a VPN and what does it do? | CyberGhost VPN

The abbreviation VPN stands for Virtual Private Network and describes the possibility of “tunneling” your own data traffic in encrypted form through another access point on the Internet. You can think of it like telephone number forwarding. For example, if you are not at home and have set up call forwarding on your landline phone (they used to have that rofl) while on vacation, your landline in Buxtehude will forward the call to you on the beach at the North Sea, where you can then pick up your cell phone to talk to the caller. At first, however, the caller knows nothing about what has just happened technically and thinks he is talking to you at home in Buxtehude unless you tell him directly.

It’s similar with your Internet connection. However, the caller can now be replaced with the Netflix server, for example, and you can leave your landline anywhere in the world you want with just one click. The Netflix server thinks it is communicating with a PC located in the USA, but you are actually forwarding the signal to you in Germany. This allows you to watch series in the original language that are not, or not yet, available in Germany, for example.

Simply put, you can easily change the location of the device you are online with for all services with which your PC communicates.

 

There are various reasons why you might want to do this – for example, to protect your own privacy.

For example, you are a programmer or generally want to test how a website behaves with international visitors for professional reasons… Keyword GEO-IP routing etc…. or you want to be as anonymous as possible on the Internet without your private IP being recorded anywhere (which you have a right to in Germany, by the way!)… If, for example, you google symptoms of illness… Not that someone, for whatever reason, finds out that you might be suffering from an illness… or or or. There are many good and honest reasons why you should be able to surf the Internet anonymously. Other people should simply not be allowed to see that you are intensively informing yourself about sensitive topics.

The second big reason to use a VPN is to encrypt your data traffic!

 

Especially if you log into unsecured WLANs with your cell phone or notebook when you are out and about. This is because it is easy for hackers to intercept all the information that runs via your Internet connection, for example via so-called “man in the middle” attacks. Even extremely tech-savvy people may not notice if, for example, you select the wrong Telekom hotspot at the train station and then accidentally end up on a hacker device that forwards your Internet connection, but may even write down all the information you send and receive unencrypted. A VPN connection eliminates this risk, because the hacker can then write down the data when it is forwarded, but it is always fully and securely encrypted. This means that, in principle, he only collects a decipherable jumble of zeros and ones as data. While most websites are now encrypted, not all are, so it’s always better to be on the safe side. In addition, public Wi-Fi networks often monitor internet traffic. If you need to use public Wi-Fi, using CyberGhost VPN is the best way to encrypt your connection so that no one can track what you do online.

It would go too far at this point to list and explain all possible technical hacking methods, but for the sake of completeness we can mention a few more: DDOS attacks – this allows you to be “blocked”, so to speak, via too many incoming pings, or “Evil Twin” or “spoofing” methods, both of which definitely fall into the criminal sector.

For this reason, most large global corporations require that company notebooks can only be connected to the Internet via their own VPN servers. This means that the company’s own firewalls, for example, can also analyze and filter the traffic for the security of the company network.

1. Unlock content with VPN
   But it’s not just about privacy and security. With CyberGhost VPN, for example, you can enjoy more content. For example, most streaming providers restrict access to their content depending on the region. However, CyberGhost VPN is compatible with over 40 streaming services worldwide, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime or Disney+. This means you can watch whatever you want, wherever you are! This also includes the use of streaming services that are not yet available in Germany, such as Hulu or HBO Max.
2. WLAN Security – siehe dazu hier
3. Stay anonymous in the internet – siehe dazu hier
4. Protection against throttling
   There are Internet providers who throttle the line if it is used very intensively with a certain “pattern”, even if you theoretically have a flat-rate tariff. With a VPN, an Internet provider can no longer analyze the traffic itself because it is encrypted and therefore any existing throttling algorithms no longer apply.
5. Use streaming services and content from abroad, that are not directly available in Germany. You want to watch a series in OV, i.e. in English, that is not available in Germany? (which is often complete nonsense) no problem, switch on a VPN and pretend you’re in the USA and enjoy the series. Of course, you can also do the same with a series that has already been released elsewhere but is not yet available in translation on the corresponding German streaming service. This works perfectly with almost all major streaming services: Amazon Prime, Netflix, Disney+ etc. – no problem at all!
6. Protect your own data beim online Shopping und beim Online-Banking!
   The encryption already mentioned in the first section and the concealment of the actual location make it almost impossible for a hacker to find entry points via the usual simple signal paths and thus steal data from you that could cause you enormous damage.
7. You can avoid price discrimination and book cheaper flights, accommodation and rental cars. You may pay more without realizing it. Some travel websites or booking platforms offer different prices depending on the location. With CyberGhost VPN, for example, you can hide your IP address and change the location to the destination country or another country. You can often find better deals this way, as things are usually cheaper for locals. 

1. Better ping through optimized signal routing – less jitter and optimized connection stability – important! If you want to use it in LoL, you must not establish the VPN connection first when you are already logged in to the client, or when it starts logged in with Windows, then LOL and the Riot Client will complain because it is not possible for the regional IP to suddenly change massively while you are logged in. So first establish a VPN connection, then log in to the client, then everything works.
2. Avoid IP ban with a fixed IP address
   For example, if you are a guest in a hotel and realize that for whatever reason the entire IP of the hotel is banned by Riot (as happened in Korea in 2023 in a hotel), you can use CyberGhost VPN to continue playing League – of course only recommended if you were not one of the culprits that caused the IP ban!
3. Protection against DDoS attacks
   If the bad guys don’t know “where you live”, they can’t send anyone by to block the door – colloquially speaking ;-).
4. Bypass geoblocking – be able to buy games in original foreign versions (e.g. Resident Evil 5 Mercenaries Mode on the Xbox back then comes to mind as an example)
5. Be able to play earlier by changing your time zone through VPN – Play 10 hours earlier because you are on the west coast of the USA through VPN
6. Have the ability to relocate and play with friends from all over the world
7. Take advantage of all the general security benefits that VPN offers

Link to CyberGhostVPN:

https://www.cyberghostvpn.com/GamingAcademy
You can save up to 83% with our link!
You only pay €2.03 for one month – and get 4 months for free.

We have used various VPN services in the past, both professionally, privately and as gamers, and were then actively contacted by CyberGhost VPN to see if we would like to try out their service free of charge. Because the team was so proactive in contacting us and we were already familiar with the tool and everything we heard about it was positive, we tested it extensively.

Things we particularly like about CyberGhost VPN:

Download Hub page in the user account – there you can directly find all download links to all different versions and operating systems that are included in the license. All common operating systems and the most important browsers and devices are supported.

Clear app design in Windows, which also displays the amount of traffic since the connection was established:

There are servers specially optimized for gaming with a ping display:

There are servers specially optimized for streaming apps for different countries:

You only need 1 subscription to use the software on 7 devices at the same time! Absolutely great! Normally this is very much limited to 1-2 devices… So you can really use all your devices at the same time. You get so many devices faster than you think… main gaming PC, notebook, cell phone, work/office PC, second cell phone, girlfriend’s PC, girlfriend’s cell phone… and suddenly you already have 6 devices with which you might want to use CyberGhost VPN.

Generally extremely stable and well-designed Windows app with numerous detailed setting features for more professional use. Just to name one specific example: You can exclude individual apps from the VPN tunnel via so-called “smart rules”, for example if they require real IP usage:

Of course, we also went into League of Legends matches with CyberGhostVPN and mainly tested the ping and connection quality.For those of us who already have a very good internet connection (8-10ms ping), it made virtually no difference in-game, although the additional security provided by the VPN connection is of course a bonus.For some of us who normally have a slightly worse ping (approx. 30-40 ping), we were actually able to measure an improvement to an average of approx. 10ms faster with CyberGhostVPN – without any lags. For others, however, it made no difference. This is very individual, depending on your location and the Internet service provider you use.

Of course, you can also use other VPN software, but we haven’t looked into any other software as much as CyberGhostVPN and can therefore recommend it without hesitation. Don’t forget to treat yourself to the up to 83% discount via our link if you want to book there!

https://www.cyberghostvpn.com/GamingAcademy

So only €2.03 for one month – and up to 4 months for free. By clicking on this link, only you benefit ;-).

Last but not least, we think it’s super charming that CyberGhostVPN gives you a 45-day money-back guarantee! So you can try it out absolutely risk-free and if you’re not satisfied, simply use the money-back guarantee and you won’t lose any money. 45 days is also significantly longer than the statutory 14 days in Germany, which also gives you more time to try out the software before you make your decision. And if you have any questions, the German-speaking customer support team is available around the clock.

We hope our article on VPN has helped you. If you have any further questions on the subject, please leave us a comment below and we will try to respond to each question individually and quickly!