Why is a VPN for UAE important?
When it comes to using a VPN in general, people will always assume that the most important thing that a VPN provides is convenience. The convenience of being able to easily access any site you want. This is true for UAE as well, but there is much more to it than just that.
First of all, a VPN is important as it will encrypt your data online and your browsing habits by giving you a different IP address that cannot be traced back to you. In UAE, as we have already mentioned, this is very important, because it does happen from time to time that the authorities punish people (with a fine in most cases, but in some rare cases with jail time as well) for doing things online that are forbidden. With a good VPN, you will always be able to efficiently mask your IP and thus the authorities will never be able to track you down. In that way, you would be able to do whatever you want online.
For some people in UAE, being able to visit certain blocked websites is important because of their work, so using a VPN is a must. People like journalists can’t get all the information that they need because the government blocks access to certain news sites like the ones that come from Israel. Most other people simply want to use Skype or any other VoIP apps with ease. Yes, Skype, WhatsApp, and many others are banned in UAE. This mostly comes from the fact the UAE wants to help local VoIP app business to succeed. However, this is of no concern to the regular people who are used to using Skype or WhatsApp. With a good VPN, they can, and so can you.
Furthermore, a lot of the content that you can easily find on most streaming sites in other countries is censored in UAE. If you use a VPN, you are able to go around this by appearing to be in another country. With so much content being geographically locked, using a VPN is becoming a necessity if you want to see everything you want to see. That’s not the case only in UAE but in many other places all around the globe. But it’s very true that this is more useful in UAE that it is in other countries. So if you want to use US Netflix, UK iPlayer, Australia Ten Network, or anything else, with a proper VPN, you will be able to do exactly that with ease!
How to use a VPN in UAE
The good thing here is that you can use it just like you do in any other place. The only difference here is that you need to be careful with which one you use, because, as you already know, using a bad VPN can get you discovered in UAE and you can get in trouble if you have been using it to visit websites that are forbidden and browsing content that’s censored.
First of all, you need to realize that using a free VPN in UAE is a big mistake. Don’t get me wrong, I wish it were because I want to sell you a VPN, it’s really because free VPNs don’t have the resources to worry about everything and provide you with enough protection in UAE. It’s easy in places where the government doesn’t care or they simply don’t have any laws about VPNs, but in UAE, that’s not the case. So it’s much safer to spend a few bucks per month and gain protection and a lot of other advantages than to risk it by using a free VPN service.
Furthermore, even a paid VPN can be bad in UAE, because it lacks a good encryption method, or it uses a bad protocol, or something entirely different. You need to be careful here and we will tell you all the things you need to look for before you buy a VPN in UAE later in the article. If you don’t really want to get into it, you can just take a look at our recommendations for the best VPNs in UAE and pick the one that suits you the most. We were careful in reviewing enough VPNs and picking the ones that will provide you with more than enough security, privacy, speed, and everything else that’s important for a VPN in UAE and in general.
Key UAE VPN Questions and Answers
- Are VPNs legal? Are they legal in UAE? You have probably assumed by now that this is the most important question concerning VPNs in UAE. VPNs are legal, and they are legal in UAE as well. But their use in UAE is a little bit of a grey area, and no one is really sure what’s true. What we can safely tell you is that yes, there were rare instances when VPN users were fined for visiting banned sites via a VPN, but in an overwhelming majority of cases, the authorities turn a blind eye to the use of a VPN for illegal purposes. This is probably because there are simply too many people in UAE, both citizens, and foreigners, who regularly use a VPN in order to text or call a relative over Skype, place a bet or two on many gambling sites, read something that might be considered anti-religious, and much more. So in short, if you use a good enough VPN, you will be completely safe.
- When I get to UAE, can I download a VPN there? Yes, you can, but since they are a legal grey area there, it’s safer for you to download it before you enter the country.
- Will a VPN slow down my connection? To an extent yes. But most good VPNs (and especially the ones which we recommend) slow it down so little, that it’s barely noticeable. Even such unnoticeable lags are necessary due to the very nature of VPNs. The data needs to pass through a VPN server, in addition to all the regular things it does, which takes time, so the tiniest of lags are basically unavoidable.
- Can I use a VPN on my phone? Yes, of course. You can use a VPN on basically any device as most VPNs offer their apps for PCs, laptops, smartphones, tablets and more.
- If I use a VPN, will I be anonymous? No, unfortunately, you won’t. A VPN can only provide privacy by masking your IP, but it can’t offer anonymity.
- Since my data passes through VPN servers, won’t they be able to see what I’m doing? Yes, technically they can. But most VPNs don’t keep logs of what their users do as that actually defeats their purpose.
Things to look for before buying a VPN
- Don’t use a free VPN, like we previously mentioned. These just don’t have the money to provide all the proper security a paid-for VPN can.
- A strong OpenVPN encryption. Most VPNs use OpenVPN, but it’s very important in UAE to get a VPN that definitely offers this.
- A killswitch feature. Make sure your VPN of choice has it. The killswitch is basically a feature that automatically shuts down your connection when a VPN suddenly loses connection (it happens from time to time, just like with everything) and is thus not able to protect you. This feature is very useful in UAE as you will never accidentally be left unprotected.
- Stealth mode. Since you will mostly be using your VPN for things deemed illegal in UAE, a stealth mode is a very useful feature a VPN can offer. It effectively makes the very use of a VPN concealed, so the government won’t even be able to see that you have a VPN IP, besides the fact that they already can’t see your own IP.