VPN use has exploded in recent years and we’re now told to use a VPN on everything from our computers to our phones and our tablets to our TV media boxes.
But using a VPN on so many devices come with some important questions and one of those is, do you need a separate VPN for each device?
In this guide we’ll be exploring that question, answering it and giving you all the details and more that you need.
The internet has evolved into a second layer of the world, where we now spend our spare time, communicate with friends and family, share memories, stream, work, and more. However, while it does come with numerous benefits, it also comes with various risks.
This is why VPN use has become so necessary.
Things like online surveillance, hacking attacks, censorship, and restrictions are at every step, which is why you need to protect yourself while online.
The best way to do that is to start using a VPN that will protect your devices. So let’s find out if you need a separate VPN for each device.
What is a VPN?
Starting with the basics.
VPN stands for Virtual Private Network. It is an online privacy, security, and anonymity tool.
It is an application provided by VPN services that can protect your online traffic by hiding it from view and making it unreadable to others. That way, you are the only one who knows what you are doing online.
Additionally, it allows you to mask your IP address, and in an extent – your location, identity, and other details.
Unfortunately, it is a necessary tool these days, and due to all of the dangers, it has grown to become quite essential, and even popular.
Do I need a VPN for each device?
Now on to the important stuff.
It is highly advisable that you protect all of your devices – especially the ones you use daily. So yes, in this instance, you need a VPN for each device.
By doing so, you will be sure that your privacy is safe, and that no one – not hackers, governments, or your internet provider are tracking your movements and online activities.
If you install a VPN on your computer, for example, that doesn’t mean your phone is protected, so it’s critical to install a VPN on each device.
Installing VPNs is easy, and there is basically no device that you cannot use them on.
This includes smartphones, laptops, desktops, tablets, Smart TVs, gaming consoles, and anything else that has a connection to the internet.
While there is no limit when it comes to which devices you can protect, there is a limit on how many devices you can protect with a single VPN at one time.
What are concurrent usage limits?
As mentioned, the number of simultaneous connections that you can establish varies from one VPN to another.
IPVanish, for example, offers the most significant number of simultaneous connections that we can find, 12 of them. That means that you can make one account and protect 12 different devices with it.
There’s no limit to the combinations of devices, that could be six computers and six phones, or four phones, two tablets, two computers, two laptops, two Amazon Fire TV Sticks and so on.
Then, there is StrongVPN which protects ten of them, CyberGhost that can protect seven, NordVPN with six connections, ExpressVPN with three, and so on.
As you can see, there are some vast differences in how many devices you can use one service on depending on the service you subscribe to.
Can I use it on different device types?
Yes, as mentioned earlier, a single VPN can protect almost any device.
For example, if you get an account with IPVanish, you can use it for protecting your laptop, desktop, tablet, phone, router, Smart TV, and anything else you might want to shield from surveillance.
However, you should be aware that VPNs come with dedicated apps, meaning that they already offer apps for specific devices.
For example, almost every VPN has a dedicated VPN app for Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. Beyond that, you need to check and make sure.
However, most can be manually set-up so that they would protect additional devices, provided that you know how to do it.
When will I need another account?
Depending on which VPN you choose, you might never need to get a second account.
For example, let’s say you made an account with ExpressVPN. It allows three simultaneous connections at the same time.
However, you can install their VPN app on as many devices as you wish. In other words, you can have the ExpressVPN apps downloaded on 10 phones and 5 computers.
As long as you only use three of them at the same time, you will be fine.
But, if you need to protect your entire family, that is when you might run into difficulties. Then, and only then, you might need a second account, if 3 VPN apps used at the same time are not enough.
How can I use unlimited devices concurrently?
If you’ve got many devices or indeed a large household, then the best solution could be to combine using a VPN with a router.
Of course, you can manually configure a router to work with a VPN of your choice, but that will require that you know how to do it, and do it properly.
However, most ISP provided routers don’t have VPN functionality and the ones that do are severely underpowered leading to snail-paced speeds.
On the other hand, it is easier to purchase a pre-configured dedicated VPN router, as there is a handful of them available all of varying quality.
Invizbox 2 is a good example, as it comes ready for VPN usage. It will protect your entire connection, regardless of which device you use on the Wi-Fi hotspots created on it or by any devices connected via cable.
InvizBox 2 VPN router
This is the best way to protect all of your devices, and the VPN service will only see one connection from the InvizBox 2, when in reality – you can protect as many devices as your internet speed can handle.
Summary
Protecting your devices is essential, but if you are going to do it, you should do it right, and protect all of them at once.
Protecting only one would mean that you have to limit yourself to solely using that single device, which is unnecessary. Additionally, if you protect one, but use others as well – it’s like you use no protection at all.
With different VPNs, you can establish a different number of simultaneous connections. As a result, you can be safe, regardless of which device you use. And, if you get a VPN router, such as Invizbox 2 – you can protect everything at once, for the cost of only one connection in the eyes of your VPN service.
Try our #1 recommended VPN service provider.
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You don’t need a vpn. Just turn on some form of HTTPS Everywhere… HTTPS is already encrypting your traffic. Also a hacker can still get to you because a good one knows your real IP or all 10 possibilities your ISP hands out per customer to cycle through. There is not a finite amout of ip addresses as seen here in this article.
– https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/internet-now-officially-too-big-ip-addresses-run-out-n386081
Right now corporations are taking advantage of a boom in scamming and hacking instances and seek to gain a profit off of the weakness that the consumers themselves, not the software, make. Just the same as the hacker and/or hacker. Fact of the matter is that most websites offer an HTTPS version of their pages made specifically to protect EVERYONE that interacts with their sites. That being said, a VPN may be a good investment for a backup but I would grab one bundled with anti-malware, anti-phishing, and bone up on the hacking community. I was hacked recently and I have revealed to myself an ignorance I didn’t know I had. If you do buy a bundled package AV/VPN which you will have to because they generally bump heads, do your due diligence and make sure that there aren’t issues with other consumers. My experience, DONT USE NORTON 360 (cant speak for the rest of their packages) or PROTON VPN. During their transition from 4 platform tools to a single platform, they robbed me of a yearly subscription to pay for what was a VPN subscription. Since my VPN subscription was of a higher grade then my E-Mail subscription, when they bundled, they kept me with the higher priced model and did not apologize or offer me any other option but to eat it and now they want me to pay $18 to get into an email i pay $48 to have for a year, and continue to do so or buy another year subscription. NOT TO MENTION! They revealed that they are charlatans and will very easily hand over your VPN information to authorities and probably 3rd partys. NORTON has add popups that ask you to buy a subscription you already have only to stop you from browsing other AV/VPN service sites. Their software also bugged out my buddies android phone and he lost a lot of photographs , his passwords were mysteriously changed without his knowledge and were not stored anywhere he could recover, i.e. their password storage.
short story long, if a vpn makes you feel safer… go for it. It will allow you to stream without throttle, but you could easily figure out how to do that yourself if you know anything about TTL or Request Headers. If one were so inclined 😉
Hi C.W.,
You raise some good points, thanks for taking the time to comment. HTTPS Everywhere is a great extension. It’s worth readers remembering though that this doesn’t encrypt your connection outside of the browser.
So if you’re using an email client like Thunderbird, for example, then your emails would be being sent in plain text unless you’re utilising another encryption method or VPN. Again, thanks for your thoughts.