IP Address:

No matter what you’re doing on the internet, you need an IP.

Your IP is a unique identifier that any device on the internet can use to communicate with you.

In this way, your IP identifies you, which may not always be desirable. That is why some people use VPNs and proxy services.

A VPN will change your IP, making it seem like you are connecting to the internet from a different location

Your Connection Relies on Many Layered Systems

Your connection starts on your computer, before first travelling through your Internet Service Provider (ISP). Your ISP then transmits the packets you want to send to their destination in as few hops as possible. If your in Canada and you are sending a message to your friend in Australia, your connection might first cross under the pacific ocean along the great fibreoptic cables that connect each contintent to a data center in Japan. From there your packets would then be routed down through SEA and eventually to your friend's computer in Australia.

A VPN Adds Additional Connection Hops

Imagine you're sending a piece of mail from Canada to Australia but you don't want the person in Australia to know it came from Canada. In that case maybe you'd send the mail first to an associate (VPN provider) in Japan. Your associate could then simply repack your mail in a larger envelope addressed to Australia with a return address in Japan. Then anyone who inspects the mail between Japan and Australia would have no idea it came from Canada originally.

You wouldn't send mail from Canada to Australia without passing through a third party in Japan who repackages your mail, so do you really want to browse the World Wide Web (WWW) without a VPN?

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