It's annoying that some of our favorite sites like Facebook, Youtube, P*rnhub etc are blocked in our country. Definitely, you are smart enough to use a VPN app to bypass this restrictions but not all VPN apps are free and even some apps are blocked by your firewalls. So what do we now? Do we keep switching from one vpn app to another just to find the best and reliable one.
I say no. It's time to keep those app in recycle bin and configure your own VPN manually in your Android smartphone.
Before we jump straight to the action, let's have a brief overview of what is VPN and what is does
What is VPN ?
VPN or virtual private network is a private network extension of public networks which let you connect to public networks without revealing your actual location and IP. It morphs your device as it is the part of the virtual network and the website you land on will see the morphed IP and location. We mostly use VPNs to unblock access to certain websites that are blocked at your location due to leagal restrictions. In this method you connect your device with a VPN network by feeding the DNS server address, username, password and some other required details in a VPN client. Once connected you become the part of that Virtual Network which may be located in other countries like USA, Japan etc. Now when you browse the internet , websites will see the new virtual IP of yours and you will able access those websites which are blocked in your country earlier.
Enough talking about VPN. Now let's move directly to the steps to configure VPN in your android device manually.
How to Connect VPN Manually in Android ?
- Open Settings of your Android smartphone.
- Go to Connection and Sharing Menu.
- Go to VPN option inside the menu.
- Tap on the Add VPN button.
- Type a VPN name of your choice. Better to include the country name in it.
- Keep the window open and switch to any internet browser in your Android smartphone.
- Open vpngate.net in your browser. This site has a list of all open public DNS servers.
- Choose any DNS server listed. Say we choose a Japanese DNS server. Copy the DNS hostname in second column.
- Switch back to android settings. Set the type of VPN type to L2TP/IPsec.
- Paste the hostname you have just copied in to Server Address input box.
- Enter "vpn" in IPSec Pre-Shared Key box.
- Save the VPN connection.
- Tap on VPN connection you have just created enter "vpn" in Username and Password fields.
- Check the save login info box and hit connect.
- Wait few seconds. Voila! You are connected to a VPN in Japan
