Football fans rejoice! The Euros are underway and the opening games have been a treat. It’s been a festival of football with dramatic games, incredible goals, a literal 16 year old being one of the best players and some fantastic fan displays.
Speaking of the fans, if you’re feeling inspired to hit the fan parks in Germany or at home, or are already on the ground in one of the host cities you should seriously consider getting one of the best VPNs. If you’re an England fan like me, then the game itself is already stressful enough without worrying about your data privacy.
Forget a solid back four, having one of the best VPNs is a fantastic personal defence against attackers, and they’re faster even than Kylian Mbappe.
P.S. It can be expensive following your team, but there’s no excuse not to try the best free VPNs.
1. Suspicious Wi-Fi connections
You’ve heard about false 9’s but what fans really need to watch out for are false wi-fi connections. Tourist hotspots like football tournaments, hotels, stadiums and fan parks are prime territory for phishing scams.
You might think you’re joining a secure public or corporate Wi-fi network, only to find yourself the target of a ruthless cyber attack. If you have any personal data on your phone or do any mobile banking, you could be in real trouble.
Having a VPN active makes you a much harder target for these scammers by encrypting your data. Many of the top VPNs don’t keep logs of your activity either, keeping you even safer.
2. Streaming and commentary
Of course, Germany is a big place, and it’s not like going to the Euros gives you access to every game — you’ll have to watch some on the TV.
While the games are all free across Europe, you’ll want to have the commentary in your language. The best way to do this is by using one of the best streaming VPNs to watch like you’re back home. For example, if you want the English commentary, you can use your VPN to watch the BBC or ITV feed. If you’re from France and after some familiar voices, connect to a French and tune into TF1.
On the other hand, if you’re worried about football overload, then you can similarly use your VPN to catch up with your favourite shows and movies. But booting up the apps for the likes of Netflix, you might be in for a shock.
Streaming services often have different regional offerings, so that amazing show that you’re halfway through back home might not be available in Germany. That’s where one of the best streaming VPNs comes in. Being able to fool the app that you’re watching like you’re back home can help you unwind between games with ease.
3. Peace of mind
When you’re out of the country, things can go a little bit wrong in small irritating ways. Think of it as the digital equivalent of worrying about leaving the oven on. Apps can start to get a bit fussy and frustrating to deal with, especially if they rely on location data.
Having a VPN and setting it to a server back in your home country is a great way of ensuring that everything just works. After all, you don’t want to come back to a parking fine from the airport or have missed dozens of notifications from your smart doorbell. With the right VPN, it’s like you’ve never even left. Leaving you free to enjoy the football without worry.
