What if you wish to work remotely from someplace that isn’t your own home, however you’re unsure your boss will allow you to?
Properly, the smart factor is to debate the probabilities along with your firm. However in case you desire to simply let sleeping canines lie, then you could possibly select to work remotely from anywhere whereas hiding your location.
Whereas I’m not particularly recommending this, I’ll be sharing a number of methods right here to take care of your privateness whereas working from wherever, whereas trusting you to conform along with your firm laws.
As a journey blogger, I’m fortunate to have the ability to work for myself. However I’ve shared work journeys with mates whose employers with ambiguous distant work insurance policies. Decided not to attract the Eye of Sauron of their company head places of work, my mates needed to ensure their IP handle wouldn’t reveal their true location, so I helped them arrange some options.
To be clear: sure, it is attainable that your boss (or whomever) is watching you. Utilizing your IP handle (a collection of numbers with dots), somebody can simply hint your location when you’re logging in from out of workplace.
However… there are additionally methods of constructing this unimaginable.
3 options to maintain your privateness
The three options listed right here all depend on VPN expertise. A VPN allows you to entry the web by a secured encrypted connection that may be routed through a server wherever on this planet.
Consider it as making a secret tunnel by the web out of your gadget to an endpoint someplace. To anybody your exercise on-line, they received’t see the place you’re tunnelling from, they are going to solely see the placement the place it popped out.
For instance, I might be bodily in Belgium, however use a VPN connection to make it seem like I’m within the UK.
Public vs non-public VPNs
The primary two options under contain utilizing a public VPN. That is by far the best to arrange, but it surely’s not at all times 100% watertight.
Whereas your actual location will probably be hidden, the truth that you’re utilizing a VPN will nonetheless be seen. So somebody may not be capable of ask you, “hey, why are you logging in from Hawaii?”, however they could nonetheless ask you, “hey, why are you utilizing a VPN?”.
I imagine the probabilities of getting that query are nonetheless fairly slim, however a very nosy IT division could be retaining monitor of public VPN servers.
Solely the third answer (utilizing a non-public VPN) will probably be utterly foolproof in supplying you with complete privateness.
Resolution 1: use VPN software program
Problem: straightforward
The best approach to masks your location is to make use of VPN software program.
All this takes is putting in an app in your pc (or no matter gadget it’s good to use the web with) and subscribing to a month-to-month VPN subscription.
The explanation that it’s a paid service is that encrypting and rerouting your web connection takes loads of assets. Whereas there are a few free VPNs on the market, they’re usually very unhealthy and provide you with very gradual connections.
Personally, I’ve used ExpressVPN, Tunnelbear, and NordVPN. I like NordVPN essentially the most by far because it’s extremely inexpensive whereas providing excessive speeds and tons of places. When utilizing their VPN, I’ve simply had a number of video streams operating concurrently (e.g. Zoom and Netflix) with out difficulty.
use a public VPN:
- Create an account and subscribe at NordVPN.
- Download the app in your gadget or browser
- Within the app, choose a location from which you need to seem
I like to recommend utilizing the app in your working system (e.g. Home windows or MacOS) and never one of many apps that works along with your web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and many others.). That means it is going to handle your complete web connection and never simply your browser exercise.
Utilizing this VPN software program will be certain that nobody can know your actual location by checking your IP handle.
Resolution 2: get a journey router
Problem: straightforward/reasonable
There could also be conditions the place you need to use a journey router in your VPN as an alternative.
For instance:
- If you wish to share the identical VPN connection throughout a number of units (laptop computer, cellphone, and many others.)
- If you’re touring with different individuals who additionally need to use the VPN
- In case your work pc doesn’t permit you to set up any apps
- If your organization already makes use of a company VPN (you possibly can’t have two VPNs on the identical time on the identical gadget)
Once I went on a distant work journey with some mates, a few of whom didn’t need their location recognized to their employers, I bought a small journey router that works seamlessly with my NordVPN subscription.
I purchased this GL.iNet GL-AR300M Mini Travel Router. It was solely 30 Euros (about $35 USD) and but it did every thing it wanted to do and not using a hitch.
You may see how small it’s within the image above, the place it’s sitting subsequent to the broadband router of the Airbnb we had been staying.
This tiny router can go browsing to any WiFi sign (or LAN cable connection), encrypt it through VPN, after which make this secured connection out there through its personal WiFi sign.
Setting it up takes a number of extra steps, but it surely’s not too difficult. Right here’s the best way to do it:
- Get the GL.iNet 300M mini router at Amazon (if it’s out of inventory, strive the GL.iNet Creta)
- Plug it into the charger utilizing the USB cable
- Log onto its WiFi sign (the small print are printed on the again)
- Go to the handle http://192.168.8.1 in your browser
- Follow these instructions to arrange NordVPN
Whenever you’ve accomplished the setup, you possibly can have any of your units linked to this journey router. All connections will seem to return from the placement you choose in NordVPN. If you happen to use this journey router, there isn’t a want for any apps.
Can you utilize this if your organization already has a VPN? Properly, it relies upon. Whereas utilizing this setup my buddy, who works at a serious multinational company, was in a position to log in simply positive to their firm VPN and NordVPN on the identical time. Nevertheless, utilizing two VPNs without delay isn’t at all times assured to work, so if that is your state of affairs I do advocate testing this out earlier than you go off to some far-flung vacation spot.
Utilizing a journey router has some extra benefits. As an example, it additionally acts as a WiFi sign repeater, which may also help guarantee a stable connection at your distant work location. One trip house I stayed at had good WiFi downstairs however poor WiFi upstairs; by putting the journey router close to the steps, the web now reached each areas.
The GL.iNet 300M travel router may also connect with 4G or 5G in case you plug in a USB SIM card adaptor. That’s good to have as a fallback choice ought to the WiFi in your distant location allow you to down.
Resolution 3: arrange a personal VPN
Problem: exhausting (however straightforward in case you get KeepYourHomeIP to do it for you)
If you happen to actually need to have most privateness whereas working from wherever, then that is the final word answer.
By utilizing a personal VPN, it is going to truly seem like you’re logging in from your own home. And it received’t be apparent to anybody that you’re utilizing a VPN.
Even a really savvy IT division received’t discover something totally different out of your regular exercise.
Establishing a personal VPN is actually fairly difficult, which is why I’ve by no means achieved it on my own. You’ll needn’t one however two of these GL.iNet routers (or related) and also you’ll have to know a bit about community administration to arrange the configurations on your own home router.
However there may be now a service that does this all for you which of them I like to advocate. I used them just lately and every thing simply labored completely. It means that you can work from wherever whereas tunnelling your connections through your own home after which again onto the web. Anybody checking your connection will simply see that you simply’re logging in from house.
First, I obtained these small GL.iNet routers from KeepYourHomeIP:
I then had a short assist name with them the place they remotely arrange my house web router in order that it will possibly securely cross by the connection.
You may check out their service packages here, which have the benefit of being only a one-time set-up charge, and never an ongoing subscription. For many customers, I imagine their most cost-effective package deal (Economic system Mild) will probably be completely positive. One other benefit of this service is that it’s extremely prone to work even when your organization already has a VPN (although I like to recommend testing it first).
I wrote a more detailed post with my experiences utilizing KeepYourHomeIP in addition to step-by-step directions on the best way to use it.
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So there you might have it, 3 ways to maintain your location hidden whereas working remotely.
I revealed the unique model of this publish through the early days of the pandemic when it went crazily viral. I suppose lots of people had been having the identical downside that I had. I’ve since up to date this publish to incorporate the extra superior answer of a personal VPN.
Do please remember the fact that I’m only a man sharing what’s labored for me! I can’t supply any form of tech assist as that’s past my stage of experience. I’m simply telling you my experiences as a subscriber to NordVPN and having used totally different journey router setups. You probably have any questions you possibly can go away a remark under, although bear in mind I can’t assure that I’ll know all of the solutions, particularly if it’s an especially technical element. If issues are proving a bit too technical for you, I like to recommend utilizing KeepYourHomeIP as they provide devoted assist.
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