Ensuring your anonymity online, and getting around regional restrictions on content is one of the most asked for things in an Internet that is fast becoming increasingly accessible, and similarly unsafe. There are an assortment of administrations that you can use to keep your online personality covered up, and to get to locale bolted ; the most imperative being VPNs, Smart DNS, and Proxies. Be that as it may, what precisely are these administrations? How would they function? What’s more, when would it be a good idea for you to pick one over the other? If you’re asking yourself any (or all) of these questions, read on to find out the differences between VPN, proxy, and Smart DNS:

What is VPN, Smart DNS, and Proxy

• A VPN, or Virtual Private Network fundamentallycreates a private network that is available over the Internet (public network). It permits users to communicate as if they were directly connected over the private network, when they are, in fact, communicating over the Internet. VPNs are extensively used by companies that have to allow remote employees to access the private network, and are also used as a way to get secure, encrypted access to the Internet.

• Smart DNS is a server that is especially configured to readdress users to a proxy server. Unlike VPNs, which forward all internet traffic via tunnels, Smart  DNS onlyforwards very specific traffic. All other traffic is permitted to travel through the Internet as it would without a Smart DNS, VPN, or Proxy server. As such, SmartDNS servers are mostly used to access online streaming websites that restrict their content to specific countries. In such cases, the Smart DNS server tricks the website into thinking that the user is retrieving the website from an suitable location.
• A Proxy server, is fundamentally used tomaintain anonymity  over a network. Every web request you send is first forwarded to the Proxy server, which then transmits it to the server it was planned for. This makes the receiver server think that the Proxy server sent the original request, therefore keeping the user anonymous. When the server replies to the Proxy, it sends the reply back to the user.

Differences Between VPN, Smart DNS, and Proxy

VPN vs Smart DNS

VPNs and Smart DNS services are frequently used for same purposes, such as accessing geo-restricted content, however, the way that both these systems work is basicaly different:

• AVPN sends all your internet traffic through a tunnel that is destined to mask your IP Address, whereas Smart DNS usually only routes the traffic that is connected to determining your geographical location.
• WhileVPN provides encryption of traffic, and hides your IP address; Smart DNS does not do either of those.
• AVPN uses a tunnel to make it appear as if you’re accessing the Internet from a different location. Smart DNS, on the other side, uses a different method. It changes your DNS to fool websites into thinking that you’re accessing them from a different location, often one that falls within their list of “eligible locations” to access them.
• Smart DNS is often faster than VPN, because, different VPN, it doesn’t have to route your data through a distant server.

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VPN vs Proxy

VPNs, and Proxies, both make it appear as if you’re accessing the Internet from a different location, than you actually are. However, that’s all there is to similarities between the two. There are certain differences, as well:

• A Proxy resembles a man-in-the-center. Your PC sends information to the Proxy, and it advances it to the Internet, going about as though it is the wellspring of the demand. VPN, then again, works at the framework level, and catches all your network traffic, and routes it through the VPN tunnel.
• proxies simply hide your IP address, they don’t give any encryption, at all. VPN, then again, encrypts your Internet traffic, and communitate with the Internet.
• Since Proxies don’t encode any information, and they basically change the IP address that is appeared to websites, it is pretty easy for someone to snoop in on your data, and it’s not even excessively troublesome, making it impossible to discover your real identity. As a general rule, Proxies don’t strip any identifying data from your network, with the exception of changing the IP address. A VPN, then again, vigorously scrambles the activity beginning from your PC, which makes it extremely secure, and in this manner, it keeps somebody from snooping in. In case you’re utilizing a VPN (a great one), not even your ISP will have the capacity to get a gander at your traffic. The same can’t be said for a Proxy.

• However, since Proxies don’t encrypt any data, the overhead is low, and inertness is least. A VPN, then again, has a considerable lot of overhead, because of the preparing power required to encode information. It additionally ordinarily brings a great deal of inertness into the association. This is basically the cost you have to pay for a solid VPN.

Smart DNS vs Proxy

On their face, the two services might look similar, but they are very different. Here are some of the important differences between Smart DNS and Proxy:

• AProxy hides your IP, and changes it with its own IP address, so websites don’t know who’s really tiresome to access the data. Smart DNS does no such thing. It simply tricks the websites into thinking you’re from a location that is eligible to access their data.
• Smart DNS can unblock major websites from a number of different countries at the same time, since it does not based on changing the IP address. A Proxy, however, can only unclog access to a single country at one time.
• Smart DNS also has a higher speedthan Proxy. This happens because Smart DNS doesn’t do anything except hide traffic relevant to your geographic location, permitting the rest of the traffic to flow through normally.

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VPN, Smart DNS or Proxy: When to Use What

By now, you must have understood fairly well how these three services differ from each other. Be that as it may, they’re still fundamentally the same as, and the decision of which administration you need to utilize, lies totally on you. All in all, how would you choose which one of these three things to utilize when? All things considered, some basic uses that befit each of these administrations are said underneath:

Why You Should Use Proxy

A Proxy is the  least secure  technique for each of the three. It just conceals your IP, and can’t generally shield you from being distinguished by any individual who is snooping in on the system. You can utilize Proxies in circumstances where you simply need to make the website treat your computer as a different system, each time.. For instance, on the off chance that you play an amusement where you get focuses for rating the diversion server on a website, and you need to do this numerous circumstances. You can utilize a Proxy to make the site believe that an alternate PC is getting to it each time. This can without much of a stretch trick most sites that place confinements, for example, the quantity of evaluations that you can post each day.

Basically, Proxies should only be used for tasks where you don’t need any type of security. As such, it is not recommended to use a Proxy to keep yourself anonymous while accessing the Internet from a coffee shop.

Why You Should Use Smart DNS

Smart DNS is the best alternative to use in circumstances where you simply need to get to geo-restricted websites at the best possible speeds. Along these lines, you can utilize Smart DNS to get to prevalent internet spilling sites that are not yet accessible in your nation. Additionally, on the off chance that you need to get to various websites, where each one is restricted to a different country, a Smart DNS is probably your best bet, as it can unblock access to multiple countries at the same time.

Smart DNS just traps the website into suspecting that you’re accessing it from a location that is eligible to access its content. However, Smart DNS also doesn’t offer any sort of encryption, and is not recommended to be used when you need a secure connection to the Internet.

Why You Should Use VPN

VPN is the most processor concentrated, bandwidth heavy option of all. However, it is also the most secure. As long as you utilize a VPN from a reliable VPN provider, you can be rest assured that your internet traffic will not be spied in on. Even your ISP can’t see what you’re doing on the internet. This high security is VPNs solidest point. Therefore, you should use VPN services when you need to maintain the highest possible level of security while you’re browsing. VPNs should certainly be used when you’re accessing the Internet from a public WiFi network, such as the one at your local coffee shop, or at a hotel.

A VPN can bypass most restrictions located on websites, whether it be from the website developers, or even from your government. VPN can permit you to freely access the Internet without disturbing about being spied on by your ISP, your government, or a man-in-the-middle. If anyone snoops in, they’ll only be able to see encrypted data flowing through the connection.

Best VPN, Smart DNS, and Proxy Services

The only problem with using services such as VPN, Proxy, and Smart DNS, is finding a reliable provider. While there are a lot of providers that give these services, how do you figure out which one is the best? So, here are some of the best VPN, Smart DNS, and Proxy services that you can use:

VPN Services

• TunnelBearis one of the best VPN services. They even have a good free level of their service, which will give you 500 MB of free data every month – a limit you can increase by tweeting at the TunnelBear twitter handle. TunnelBear is very competitively priced, and I would definitely recommend that you give it a try.

Download TunnelBear (Free, plans start from $3.33 per month); (Available for Android, iOS, Windows, and macOS)

• ExpressVPNis another truly great VPN service that you can try. They include unlimited data with any of their plans, and while they don’t offer any free level, you do get a 30 day money back guarantee, so there’s no harm in trying.

Download ExpressVPN (Plans start from $8.32 per month); (Available for Android, iOS, Windows, and macOS)

Smart DNS Services

• Smart DNS Proxyis a actually great option to go with if you need to use Smart DNS to access geo-restricted content on your system. They offer competitively priced plans for their service, and support more than 300 websites and services. They have a trial option available, so you can definitely check it out.

Visit the Smart DNS website (14 days free trial, plans start from $2.07 per month); (Available for Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, Smart TVs, and Gaming Consoles)

• CactusVPNis another website that provides Smart DNS services. They have a 7 day experimental period when you have access to all of the best features, after which, you will have to pay to continue using their service.

Visit the CactusVPN website (7 day free trial, $4.99 per month); (Available for Android, iOS, Windows, and macOS)

Proxy Services

There are a lot of websites that offer Proxy servers that you can use to access websites that are otherwise not accessible in your region. You can use 4everproxy, or dontfilterus to access geo-restricted websites from a Proxy server.

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Use VPN, Smart DNS, or Proxy to Freely Access the Internet

Depending on your requirement, and the sort of service you need to access, you can now make a decision between a VPN, Smart DNS, or Proxy to unblock geo-confied content. You can use VPNs to ensure that your internet traffic is encrypted, and that no one can see the websites you’re accessing on the web. However, since VPNs are inherently slower, if all you want is to access an online streaming website, you should use Smart DNS instead. At the end of the day, it’s completely up to you, to use the service that you think is best suited to your applications.

As usual, we might want to know your thoughts on VPNs, Smart DNS, and Proxy. Also, let us know about your favourite VPN and Smart DNS providers, in the comments section below.