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Should You Use a VPN for TikTok?
Is there any reason to use a VPN for TikTok? Yes, five reasons actually. Here’s everything you need to know about them, what a VPN is and how it works
14:07 09 July 2020
TikTok is a great platform, and VPNs are awesome tools. So should you use the two together?
Short answer – yes, definitely.
Long answer – yes, you get to enjoy tons of perks. We’ll take a look at them in this article, and also discuss what a VPN is, and how to optimize the VPN speeds you get.
First Things First – What’s a VPN & How Does it Work?
It’s an online service that hides your IP address (so it helps you spoof your geo-location) and encrypts your traffic (makes sure nobody can see your web browsing).
Here’s how it works:
- First, you download and install a VPN app on your device.
- Then, you use it to connect to a VPN server.
- The server and the app establish an encrypted connection (also called a “tunnel”).
- When you browse the web, the VPN app encrypts your traffic, and sends it to the server.
- The server decrypts it, and forwards it to the appropriate website or web app. The web app or website will see the requests coming from the VPN server, not your device. So they’ll only see the server’s IP address.
- Once the server receives the content you requested, it encrypts it, and sends it back to the app on your device.
- The VPN app decrypts the traffic for you so you can view it.
It sounds complex (and it can be), but you won’t notice any of that because it all takes place in milliseconds in the background. On your end, it will just look like regular online browsing.
Here’s What a VPN Can Do for Your TikTok Experience
Based on our research and tests, this is what you can do with a VPN for TikTok:
1. Unblock TikTok
Wait a minute – isn’t TikTok available worldwide?
Well, not exactly. At the moment, it’s actually blocked in India. The government ordered ISPs to block TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps after a deadly border clash between India and China.
And this isn’t the first time this happened. The Indian government blocked TikTok in 2019 too.
But this time around, you can’t use TikTok even if you had the app installed on your phone before the ban came into effect. If you want to unlock TikTok in India now, follow that link.
TikTok faced similar problems in other countries like Indonesia and Bangladesh. It almost got banned in Pakistan too.
Sure, the bans are temporary most of the time, but they’re still annoying.
Well, if that ever happens to you, a VPN can help you bypass the government’s firewalls. It hides your IP address, so the restrictions no longer apply to you.
2. Avoid Censorship
In countries where TikTok was banned or faced bans, you often have to deal with censorship. Basically, to appease the oppressive regimes, TikTok moderators censor certain content that might be considered too sensitive for that region.
For instance, moderators censor “negative content” in Indonesia.
What qualifies as “negative content”? The article doesn’t say, but considering TikTok got blocked in Indonesia because it hosted “pornography, inappropriate content, and blasphemy,” it’s safe to say anything can qualify.
India is another example. Moderators there were asked to censor any content that could be seen as being “against the Chinese government.”
How does a VPN help?
Pretty simple – it can make it seem like you’re in a different country. That should help you avoid censored content. After all, why would TikTok recommend it if thinks you’re in the UK or Italy?
3. See Videos from Other Regions
TikTok recommends videos based on various factors – your language, device information, your SIM card, how you interact with videos. But, sometimes, the app recommends videos based on your region (aka your IP address).
That’s very helpful, but not if you want to see TikTok-ers from other countries in your feed without having to go through the hassle of searching and following each one.
That’s where a VPN comes into play. It hides your IP address and geo-location, tricking TikTok into thinking you’re from another country. So you just need to use a VPN server in the country where your favorite TikTok content creators are, and you should start seeing the video recommendations you want.
4. Use TikTok at School
If you can’t use the app at school it’s because the network admins blocked it on the WiFi network. The school administration probably asked them to do it to make sure you’re not distracted during classes, or that you don’t use too much bandwidth on the app.
Well, if you don’t have enough mobile data or don’t want to use it, you can run a VPN connection to unblock TikTok at school whenever you want. Your connections to the app will get routed through the VPN server, not the school network. So you won’t deal with any firewall restrictions.
5. Stop Bandwidth Throttling
It’s very, very easy to lose track of time while browsing TikTok. Before you know it, two or three hours have passed (if not more).
That’s not a problem if you enjoy binging TikTok in your free time. But it can be an issue if your ISP has a problem with it – namely that you use too much data on the app. If that happens, they can throttle your bandwidth (basically lower your speeds), causing videos to load very slowly and buffer a lot.
Annoying, right?
Not to worry – a VPN can stop bandwidth throttling by encrypting your traffic. Your ISP won’t know you’re using TikTok, so they won’t be able to selectively throttle your bandwidth.
What’s Your Experience with Using a VPN with TikTok?
Were you able to enjoy a smoother experience? Or did you encounter any issues?
Tell us all about that in the comments or on social media. Also, if you have any tips about using a VPN for TikTok, please let us know.