There are various reasons a VPN might not work as expected, and a VPN is not meant to give you total anonymity and security online. Here are a few examples of a VPN’s limitations.
- Some websites and apps don’t want to grant access to people using a VPN, and they generally do this by blocking IP addresses known to belong to VPNs.
- Not all devices are compatible with VPN apps. For example, you can’t download a VPN to your smart fridge. This is why ExpressVPN has created a VPN app for your router, which allows all devices connected to the router to receive the benefits of a VPN.
- Even when you’re using a VPN, websites and apps can identify you and track your activity while you are logged in to those services. For example, if you use Google while logged in to your Gmail account, Google can track your search history.
- When you’re using a VPN, your online traffic is protected with encryption. But your ISP is still able to see that you’re using a VPN, the duration of each connection, and the encrypted data (but they cannot decrypt it).