Tunnelling to cheaper prices

Recently there has been a bit of a buzz about VPN’s. You may not have ever used one before, or even know what they are, but on occasion, they are incredibly handy. Why so? Well, last article we considered geo-locking. For those that missed it, geo-locking is something larger corporations use to force higher prices for digital products like software or music and movies, on people in specific locations, such as Australia. And in this article, we’ll discuss one way on how to bypass it and tap into cheaper prices: VPN’s. 

VPN stands for ‘virtual private network’ and can be used to mask your location using a ‘tunnel’. So how does it work? Consider if I had dug a tunnel between my neighbour’s house and I. If I never used my front door, and only entered and exited through my neighbours door, an onlooker might conclude that I lived in that house. 

In the same way a VPN creates a ‘tunnel’ between a host (your “neighbour”) and you. This host can be in another country, such as America. To any online service, as far as it can tell, you are also in America. It has no idea about your tunnel or that you live in Australia. Thus you bypass the geo-lock and have access to the pricing that the other country may have. For online services like Netflix, iTunes, Adobe or Microsoft subscriptions, you can also get cheaper pricing. 

Keep in mind that swapping countries can have other effects, like different Terms and Conditions or laws applying, so you still may to be cautious. But if you regularly use an online service and know that it’s cheaper in another country, perhaps a VPN is the way to go. 

Remember to speak to your local IT specialists about any issues you may be having.