There is an ongoing debate on whether or not decentralization is the way of the future. Of course, crypto is leading the way for decentralization but many other technologies are also emerging with decentralized versions. One of them is VPNs.
Centralized VPNs
First, let’s look at how traditional or “centralized” VPNs work. When you connect to a website, you first connect to your Internet Service Provider’s server and then they connect you to the server that the website is hosted on. This is a simplified way to look at the internet.
When you use a traditional VPN, the connection between your Internet Service Provider and a website gets routed through a secure tunnel via the VPN. This changes your IP address to the IP address of the VPN server. VPN companies have servers all over the world so you can make it seem like you are connecting to a website from almost any country. Also, VPNs are there to make your connection more secure so you are not vulnerable to malware attacks, phishing scams, etc.
Many people that use a VPN feel like they are cruising through the internet anonymously. But people forget that the VPNs that they are using are owned by companies and you are accessing their servers so they would have access to your data. Most top VPN companies do not log your information but, in the end, you are trusting the word of a corporation. This is where decentralization comes into play.
Related Article: Best Crypto VPN - Keep You Safe and Secure.
What is Decentralized VPN?
A decentralized VPN is the exact opposite of a centralized VPN. In the example above, we showed that a traditional VPN needs to access a VPN company’s server to work. With a decentralized VPN, there are no company servers. So how does it work then?
A decentralized VPN, also called a dVPN, is a service where individual users provide the server instead of a company. In this case, the server is called a node. A node can be a traditional server but it can also be a computer, laptop or even a phone.
Usually, if you participate in a dVPN service, you get the ability to participate in their network for free. Some services will actually pay the “node” owner for participating in their network. These payments often come in the form of cryptocurrencies.
So why would a user let some random stranger access their “node”? It does seem strange at first. Am I letting some stranger across the world access my laptop? The answer is no. They never get access to any of your devices. Their traffic is just rerouted through your address.
With a decentralized VPN, there is no central company that is controlling the data or the servers. It is individuals like you and me all across the world that are contributing the server network.
In my personal option, this is the future and there are a number of companies that are already leading the way.
If you want to know more about dVPNs, you can read our article here: Best Crypto VPN - Keep You Safe and Secure.