Do I Need a VPN to Use Tor?

Tor is an anonymising network which was designed to protect your privacy while you’re on the internet.

It’s a brilliant tool, and for the most part, it works perfectly well. However, as with any other piece of technology, there are some scenarios where it falls short.

In this article, we’ll run down the scenarios where you might need a VPN to use Tor, as well as explain why.

Using Tor With A Limited Connection

If you’re on a metered connection or if you live in a country where bandwidth is comparatively expensive, using Tor can strain your internet provider’s limited resources – resulting in poor speeds or even connections that hang up for a while.

Keeping your digital footprint anonymous while using Tor becomes considerably more difficult when your internet connection is slower than usual. When that happens, it’s like you’re connected to a different network from the one you intended to reach. Most likely, your traffic will be routed through at least one or two additional nodes before reaching its final destination. All of this makes it easier for someone to track your activity and associated costs.

Using A Tor Hidden Service

Tor Hidden Services are a way of providing online anonymity by using a virtual private network (VPN) to connect to a Tor server. While this might sound like overkill, it can be a useful way to mask your true identity online. Let’s say you’re using a public WiFi hotspot at the airport, and you don’t want anyone to know you’re there. A VPN might be a useful way to ensure your privacy while using a site like LinkedIn, where your personal details are required. Or, perhaps you’re in a country which is highly restricted when it comes to the sites you can access – whether due to government censorship or corporate partnerships with the ruling elite.

In that case, using a VPN might be a way to access news websites or other content which is forbidden by your country’s authoritarian regime. The key is to find a VPN provider who understands the implications of what they’re offering and can assure you their services will not be used for illegal activities. If the government is indeed snooping on you, hiding your digital footprint with a VPN is one way of ensuring your privacy.

Protecting Your Personal Data When On A Public WiFI Connection

If you’re out and about, and you don’t want people to know what you’re doing on Facebook or other social media sites – or if you simply want to keep your digital footprint private – then a VPN is an obvious choice. However, what if you’re using a public WiFi connection? Most WiFi hotspots in hotels, coffee shops and airports are free, but the downside is that they are usually provided by unsecure and unauthenticated networks. This means that any information you transmit through these networks is at risk of being intercepted by third parties. If you’re on a hotel or airport WiFi connection, keeping your personal data secure is a must.

To protect yourself when using public WiFi at a hotel, coffee shop or other locations, always enter a password to your WiFi network – even if it’s just a simple one like ‘password’ – and make sure to change it regularly. Changing your WiFi password on a regular basis helps ensure that no one else can access your personal data when you’re on the network. Even better, use a VPN to log in to WiFi hotspots and ensure that your personal data is kept private.

Avoiding Online Snooping While Using Certain Apps Or Services

Certain apps and services can actively track your location and share it with advertisers or governments. Being on the wrong side of these entities – whether for legal or illegal activities – is something you want to avoid as much as possible. In many cases, using these apps and services isn’t optional, and you’ll be tracked online whether you like it or not. If you want to keep your digital footprint private, then it’s advisable to avoid these types of apps and services.

Luckily, there are plenty of VPN services out there that specialize in hiding your identity from online snoops. Many providers are highly configurable, and allow you to determine who can see your activity, and for how long. This is especially useful if you’re using public WiFi in an area where your personal data could be exposed – whether by a nosy coffee shop owner or a government agency.

Using A VPN To Browse The Internet Without Any Hiccups

Imagine you’re traveling abroad, and you log on to a different country’s version of YouTube. Without a VPN, your video will load slowly, if at all – resulting in an annoying user experience. This is why, when traveling, you shouldn’t rely solely on the services available in the country you’re visiting. Always use a VPN to ensure that your traffic is private and untraceable while on the move. When connecting to a VPN, your traffic is often routed through several different countries, meaning that even if you’re on a secure connection when you log in, your digital footprint may be discovered when you try and access a site.

Tor Vs. VPN: What Is The Difference?

To better understand why you might need a VPN when using Tor, it’s important to first know the differences between the two. Tor is an onion router network that conceals your identity by routing your traffic through several other nodes before ultimately reaching its destination. A VPN, on the other hand, allows you to connect to another network which has been configured to encrypt your data and secure your connection – meaning the information you transmit is not only anonymous but also private. In most cases, this is done at the protocol level, ensuring that no one can intercept your traffic.

Another important difference between a VPN and Tor is how the two handle data storage. Your IP address, for example, is hidden on the Tor network, while it is usually allocated to a specific device and is therefore easier to track – especially when you’re using public WiFi. With a VPN, the responsibility of storing and maintaining your personal data often falls to the service provider. The better the service, the less likely you are to run into issues with storage space. 

Now that you have a good understanding of why you might need a VPN when using Tor, let’s take a look at the scenarios where this might happen.

Scenario 1: Using A VPN To Access Limited Content While Over A Limited Connection

If you’re on a metered connection or if you live in a country where bandwidth is comparatively expensive, using Tor can strain your internet provider’s limited resources – resulting in poor speeds or even connections that hang up for a while.

Keeping your digital footprint anonymous while using Tor becomes considerably more difficult when your internet connection is slower than usual. When that happens, it’s like you’re connected to a different network from the one you intended to reach. Most likely, your traffic will be routed through at least one or two additional nodes before reaching its final destination. All of this makes it easier for someone to track your activity and associated costs.

Scenario 2: Using A VPN To Access Sites With Advertising

Do you avoid websites with advertising because you think it’s invasive (like the Yellow Pages) or do you think it’s just generally annoying? Regardless, whether you think ads are annoying or not, they are still a part of the web and using a VPN to access these websites is often the only way to keep your personal data secure. This is particularly true if you are in a country where government censorship is prevalent. Using a VPN allows you access to a wider range of websites, including those with ads, so long as you’re willing to put up with them. This is not always the case, and in countries like China, you might not want to access any websites at all via VPN, as you might end up breaking the law. Finding the right balance between being able to access content and being able to keep your identity secure is something you need to consider, especially if you’re traveling abroad.

Scenario 3: Using A VPN To Access News Websites In The Country You’re In

If you live in a country where the media is highly censored or if you are in a place where the government is actively suppressing information regarding certain topics, using a VPN to access news websites can be a way of ensuring your personal data is not revealed when accessing these sites. In many cases, using a VPN is the only way to access websites with news stories which are relevant to you – whether it’s the news websites of your home country or websites from other countries. Remember: in some places, you can’t access certain news websites at all? Finding the right balance between being able to access content and keeping your identity secure requires a bit of research – especially if you’re traveling abroad.