You also don’t receive all of the benefits of an always on internet connections. “I don’t see that as a benefit,” Great! Then don’t use it, but when you wave that around as some kind of virtue, realize you sound just like the people who used to jump into any discussion of pop culture by proclaiming “I don’t own a TV.”
A VPN is the proper response when some aspect of the network is not trusted, and the network provider cannot be changed. In this case a VPN deals with that problem. Other downsides of mobile data can be dealt with by leaving my phone in my pocket when I need to pay attention to other people or situations, and ignoring non-urgent work emails that come in after hours.
I don’t know what this means. I have an always-on very fast broadband connection at home, with Wi-Fi access throughout the house. I genuinely don’t need mobile data – it’s not a virtue-signal, just a fact. I’m sure if I had it I’d find some use for it, but it would be frivolous. Whereas many of the actual and potential uses for cellular voice are absolutely NOT frivolous, such as picking someone up at the airport or the ability to call roadside assistance or 911.
It depends on what the security concerns are. Clearly, neither banks nor their customers have a problem with said customers accessing their life savings over nothing more than an encrypted HTTPS connection with or without two-factor authentication.
I’d say it’s been a 50-50 mix of voice and text for airport pickups. Text tends to work best when it’s a short one-way message or a very brief exchange, voice is better when there’s more to be said, such as arranging a time and place for a meeting somewhere downtown. Other limitations aside, poking at a tiny virtual keyboard like a crazed woodpecker is not fun!
Maybe this marks me as something of a Luddite, but overall, I’d say the vast majority of my cell phone use is voice, the rest is text, and none at all is mobile data.
I have a paypal bill monthly. It’s less than $25 for two Patreon channels that I support. I’m not thrilled entering my password. Vpn should be safer.
It’s nice Paypal texts me a one-time code when I make online purchases. My password is never entered or put at risk.
I wish that were true signing in to pay Paypal credit.
I wasn’t aware VPN can cause voice call problems. I guess it’s something I can deal with when needed.
I know there are two types of servers. Virtual and physical VPN servers are located in regions with proper internet regulations and infrastructure. PIA lists which is which. Sometimes a physical server can be compromised and seized locally. Virtual is the solution.
PIA and other companies offers a permanent IP option. I probably will pay extra to get one. That’s one less thing that could get my connection questioned.
Why aren’t you using 2FA for Paypal credit? Surely it’s must support it? Using a VPN / proxy server does not seem like a great solution to security worries like this, except as an extra layer when you’re away from home on questionable WiFi.
When I pick up someone from the airport, I use mobile data to monitor their flight for delays and for real-time traffic monitoring in order to ensure I am there on time. Also, most people I pick up from the airport are arriving from other countries and will not be able to utilize voice/text when they land. They will be using the airport Wifi and something like WhatsApp or Signal for talking and messaging. So, if they ended up on a different flight or something, they will need to contact me on such a VOIP service. If I’m away from wifi at the time, I will only be able to receive their call or their message if I have a mobile, “always on” data connection. There are a million reasons why mobile data is useful to people. echoreply is correct that you sound like a luddite claiming you’re getting over on the cellular carriers by not carrying a mobile data plan. The fact that you don’t understand that “always on internet connection” means “always” and not just “whenever I’m at my home or in a building with wifi” is evidence of this. If you have no use for the convenience of mobile internet, that’s great. But you’re not solving a problem by refusing to pay for a service that others find either necessary or beneficial. You claimed this was your “solution”. It’s a solution to a problem you don’t actually have, and it’s not a solution to a problem that actually exists. The solution to the actual problem would be a VPN.
This whose cellular thing is actually a bit of a digression, but I’ll respond, and in a slightly different order, to make my points perhaps a bit more coherent.
There are indeed, and I have no issues with people who swear by their mobile internet access. I’m just not one of them. I don’t need it, and that’s neither a personal failing nor a disparagement of those who feel otherwise. I don’t feel that I have some insidious “win” over my cellular carrier for not carrying a mobile data plan, I just feel I shouldn’t pay for something I don’t need.
Incidentally, a second reason I don’t have a data plan or am not particularly fond even of texting is that my cell phone is a small Samsung J6 which was a freebie from my provider when my beloved flip phone became obsolete due to upgrades to their network protocols. I didn’t even want a smart phone, but it was all they had. I’m OK with it because it’s small enough to easily fit in a pants or jacket pocket. It wouldn’t be good for data, but it fits my use case perfectly.
I do that all the time, using FlightAware from the comfort of my home. So if the flight is going to be an hour or two late, or even delayed overnight, I don’t waste time and effort going to the airport.
Interesting that later on you opine about “a solution to a problem you don’t actually have”, because this is a problem I’ve never had. My most common pickup is my son, who has traveled on business all over the world and used his cell phone everywhere AFAIK, though possibly switching SIM cards when necessary.
Wow! This appears not to be about what I “understand” or don’t understand. It appears to be the fact that some of us have a genuine addiction to the internet, to the extent that we can’t live without it even for the brief times that we’re away from home or work. The iconic symbol of this malaise is kids who seem permanently glued to their cell phones. I genuinely believe that for many reasons, this is a real problem with our present society.
Maybe there are people who don’t have wifi at their work office and they spend a great deal of time working away from an office altogether. Maybe they spend a lot of time on the road or in the field. People might have a need for mobile internet beyond just feeding their addiction. Fortunately you get to spend all but brief periods away from your wifi-equipped home and office. Others spend a great deal of time away from buildings with wifi. Lots of people don’t have cars and need to catch Ubers while they are on the street. They need mobile data for that. Can’t you accept that other people have different needs than you without accusing them of simply being addicted to the frivolous internet?
I work from home 3 days per week, and rely on a VPN to connect to the office. On a typical workday, I have a VPN connection from one of my computers at home which is used to remotely connect to several different systems and virtual machines in the office. I have a virtual machine to build code. I have several virtual machines which are simulating a network of machines used to for industrial control (a main server, various operator consoles, a bunch of controllers, etc). I have other virtual machines which are simulating racks and racks of industrial control equipment. I often connect to the R&D department’s server. I have to put different backgrounds on every system so that I can quickly tell which machine I’m actually doing something on.
And at the same time, I have my laptop on a small table beside me that is running email and teams.
I wouldn’t be able to work from home without a VPN.
I use a VPN on the road any time I’m using hotel wi-fi to make an online credit card transaction. Actually if I’m in a good coverage area I prefer using my phone as a hot spot instead.
I occasionally use a free VPN that has a decent monthly bandwidth limit. I’ve currently only used it once, to download copies of something I had legal access to, but knew that access would end before I had time to download it manually.
I also technically use a VPN on my dad’s phone, but that is a local VPN that forces the use of an adblocking DNS server.
I use a VPN to work remotely from home on my work laptop. I also have a Nord VPN subscription which I originally got to access geoblocked videos, but I haven’t used it in a while; I keep forgetting to cancel the subscription.
I guess it’s something I can deal with when needed.