I Tested a VPN for 24 Hours. Here's What Actually Happened [2025]

You Don't Need Hollywood Drama to Care About Your Data

There's a moment you realize your phone knows everything about you.

Not just what you search for. Not just your location. It's the millisecond between when you think about something and when you see an ad for it. It's the way websites remember you from a coffee shop three countries away. It's the feeling that your data isn't yours anymore.

I spent 24 hours with a VPN enabled on every device. Phone, laptop, tablet. Everything routed through encrypted tunnels to servers thousands of miles away. The experiment wasn't about hiding from governments or bypassing Netflix geofences (though both happened). It was about understanding what actually changes when you activate a VPN—separating the spy-movie paranoia from legitimate privacy concerns.

The results surprised me. Not because VPNs are magical shields. They're not. But because the real story is far more nuanced than "turn on VPN, problem solved."

TL; DR

• VPNs hide your IP address from websites and ISPs, but they don't hide what you do online from the VPN provider itself
• Web tracking still happens through cookies and fingerprinting, even with a VPN enabled
• Speed degradation is real but tolerable, averaging 15-35% slowdown depending on server distance
• Geofencing works as advertised, letting you access region-locked content from anywhere
• The biggest benefit isn't privacy theater—it's ISP visibility, preventing your internet provider from seeing your browsing habits
• Most people vastly overestimate what a VPN protects you from and underestimate what it doesn't

What Exactly Happens When You Turn On a VPN?

Here's the thing most people get wrong: a VPN doesn't make you invisible. It just changes who can see you.

Normally, when you visit a website, the path looks like this:

Your Device → Your ISP → Website Server

At each step, someone sees something. Your ISP sees every domain you visit. The website sees your real IP address and general location. Your ISP can sell that data to advertisers or hand it over to governments. It's legal in most countries. Most people don't even know it's happening.

With a VPN enabled, the path becomes:

Your Device → Encrypted Tunnel → VPN Server → Website Server

Now your ISP sees encrypted traffic going to the VPN server. They can tell that you're using a VPN, but not what websites you're visiting. The website sees the VPN server's IP address, not your real one. Your location appears to be wherever the VPN server is located.

But here's what changes: the VPN company now sees everything. Every website you visit, every download, every API call. You're trading visibility from your ISP for visibility from the VPN provider. Whether that's a good trade depends entirely on how much you trust the VPN company.

During my 24-hour test, I connected through VPN servers in seven different countries: the United States, Singapore, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Same device, same habits, completely different apparent locations.

What I noticed immediately: websites didn't care. They didn't block me. They didn't flag my account as suspicious. Everything loaded normally. Some sites showed regional pricing (Netflix was different in each location). Some showed different ads. But functionally, nothing broke.

That's because VPNs have become so common that blocking them would mean blocking legitimate users. Companies handle this through fingerprinting—tracking you through cookies, browser characteristics, and behavioral patterns—rather than IP blocking.

The Privacy Paradox: What Actually Gets Hidden

I'll be honest—the privacy benefits are more limited than marketing materials suggest.

Your ISP can't see which websites you visit. That's the biggest win. In most countries, your ISP is legally allowed to sell this browsing data to third parties. Some ISPs inject tracking pixels into unencrypted websites. One major US carrier was caught using "supercookies" to track users across different devices. A VPN stops all of that.

But once your traffic reaches the VPN server and leaves the encrypted tunnel, it's visible to whoever runs that VPN service. If the VPN company is keeping logs (many claim they don't), they could theoretically see your activity. If they're running ads themselves, they're already tracking you. If they get hacked or subpoenaed, your data could be exposed.

This matters because you're swapping one privacy risk for another. The question isn't "Does a VPN protect me?" It's "Does a VPN protect me better than the alternative?"

Most of the time, yes. VPN companies have stronger incentives to protect your data than ISPs do. Their entire business model depends on trust. But that's "better" relative to ISPs, not "completely private."

During my test, I noticed something else: cookies still tracked me across websites. I logged into my email account while connected through a US VPN server. Then I switched to a Singapore server and visited the same websites. Websites immediately recognized me. Advertisers showed me the same ads. My browsing history was completely transparent.

This is because cookies store data locally on your device. A VPN doesn't touch them. If you want real anonymity, you'd need to clear cookies constantly, use private browsing, and enable more advanced tracking protection.

But most people don't need true anonymity. They need privacy from their ISP, from casual tracking, and from being profiled based on their browsing patterns. For that, a VPN is genuinely useful.

Speed: The Trade-Off Nobody Talks About Honestly

Every VPN company claims "no noticeable speed loss." They're lying.

I ran speed tests before and after enabling the VPN. Here's what I found:

Distance Matters Enormously

Connecting to a US server from the US: 15% slowdown (82 Mbps → 70 Mbps)

Connecting to a Singapore server from the US: 38% slowdown (82 Mbps → 51 Mbps)

Connecting to a European server from the US: 22% slowdown (82 Mbps → 64 Mbps)

The further the server, the slower the connection. This makes sense. Your data has to travel physically to another country before it can reach its destination. That takes time.

The slowdown matters for some activities. Streaming video? Usually fine—most people don't notice until you drop below 25 Mbps. Online gaming? Can be problematic, especially if you're playing competitive shooters where latency matters. Video conferencing? Depends on your base speed. If you're starting with 50 Mbps and lose 35% to the VPN, you're now at 33 Mbps, which is cutting it close for high-definition video.

But here's what surprised me: most web browsing felt identical. Scrolling through sites, loading pages, even watching YouTube worked flawlessly. VPN companies have gotten really good at optimization. The slowdown is real, but it's usually not noticeable unless you're doing bandwidth-heavy activities.

One variable I couldn't control: VPN server load. During peak hours (7 PM to 11 PM), speeds were consistently worse. A server that delivered 70 Mbps at 2 PM delivered 58 Mbps at 8 PM. This varies by provider and by server. Premium VPN services handle load better, but they cost more.

The Geofencing Reality: It Works, But There's a Catch

This is where VPNs deliver exactly what they promise.

I'm not going to pretend I wasn't curious about regional content. Connected through a UK VPN server, Netflix showed me British shows that aren't available in the US. Prime Video had different movies. YouTube's recommendations changed. Some services even showed different pricing.

Here's the thing though: Netflix knows this happens. They've written detailed terms of service saying you can't use VPNs to access content outside your country. They don't actively block all VPNs, but they block the most popular ones when they detect them. Every major streaming service does.

This is an arms race. VPN providers detect which IP addresses Netflix is blocking and rotate them. Netflix detects the new addresses and blocks those too. Some VPNs stay ahead. Some get blocked completely. No VPN can guarantee consistent access to geographically restricted content because streaming services actively fight against it.

But for other uses, geofencing works perfectly. I accessed US websites while appearing to be in Denmark. I used banking sites designed for Singapore from the United States. Regional news sites worked seamlessly. Unless you're specifically trying to beat streaming service blocks, geofencing "just works."

The more interesting use case: testing how websites behave in different regions. I visited the same news site from five different countries using different VPN servers. The layout was identical, but the ads were completely different. Advertisers are using geofencing to target specific countries. A VPN lets you see exactly how that targeting works.

What VPNs Don't Protect You From (And People Assume They Do)

This is where my 24-hour test got educational.

1. Malware and Hacking

A VPN doesn't install antivirus protection. It doesn't patch vulnerabilities. It doesn't stop you from downloading infected files or visiting compromised websites. If someone sends you a phishing email with malware, a VPN won't stop you from opening it. A lot of people think VPNs are cybersecurity tools. They're not. They're privacy tools.

I intentionally visited some sketchy websites during the test (safely, in a virtual machine). The VPN didn't stop me from accessing them. It just encrypted my traffic so my ISP couldn't see where I was going. If those websites had malware, a VPN would provide zero protection.

2. Phishing and Social Engineering

VPNs don't verify that websites are legitimate. You can still fall for phishing emails. You can still type your password into a fake login page. A VPN just hides the fact that you visited a phishing site from your ISP. That's literally it.

During the test, I received legitimate phishing attempts in my email. The VPN didn't filter them. They weren't encrypted by the VPN in transit. Email encryption is separate from VPN encryption.

3. Your Own Account Activity

Once you log into an account, you're identified. Facebook knows it's you. Google knows it's you. Your bank knows it's you. A VPN hides your IP address, but it doesn't hide your identity if you're logged in. Some people think a VPN provides anonymity. It doesn't—not when you're using personal accounts.

I logged into Gmail while connected through a VPN in Singapore. Google immediately recognized my account. It showed me my recovery phone number and all my previous logins. The VPN made no difference because I was identified through my Google account, not my IP address.

4. HTTPS Website Content

If a website uses HTTPS (the "s" in "https"), the connection is already encrypted. A VPN can't "double encrypt" it. The website's server gets the same data whether you use a VPN or not. For HTTPS websites, the privacy benefit of a VPN is that your ISP can't see which website you're visiting (they can see the domain in the TLS handshake if they're looking). They can't see what you do on the website.

But here's the thing: most major websites use HTTPS now. So for most of your browsing, the VPN's encryption benefit is minimal. It mainly hides the fact that you visited the site from your ISP.

The Real Vulnerability: The VPN Provider Itself

Here's the part that matters most, and almost nobody talks about it.

When you use a VPN, you're trusting that company with your traffic. Completely. Everything you do online (except HTTPS content beyond the domain) is visible to them.

Some questions worth asking:

Do they keep logs? This is huge. Some VPN providers claim they keep "no logs." Others claim "minimal logs." If they keep logs, they can be subpoenaed. Law enforcement agencies around the world have successfully forced VPN companies to hand over user data during investigations.

Where are they located? If a VPN company is based in a country with strong privacy laws (Switzerland, Iceland), they're less likely to comply with requests from US or UK authorities. If they're based in the US or UK, they could be forced to cooperate.

Who owns them? VPN companies owned by larger tech companies (even reputable ones) might have incentives to use your data for other purposes. VPN companies owned by venture capital firms might be under pressure to monetize user data eventually.

Are they audited? Some VPN providers hire third-party auditors to verify their no-log claims. Audits can be independently verified. Others claim no logs without any external verification.

During my test, I didn't have access to the VPN provider's internal systems, so I couldn't verify these claims myself. But I did research what third-party audits exist for various providers. Some had legitimate, published audits. Others had no verification whatsoever.

This is the fundamental problem with VPNs: you're trading one trust relationship for another. You're trusting your ISP less and your VPN provider more. Whether that's a good trade depends on which provider you choose.

The Uncomfortable Truth About Data Brokers

This is where my 24-hour test really got interesting.

Even with a VPN, your data is still being collected. Not by your ISP. Not by the websites you visit. By data brokers you've never heard of.

You installed an app? That app might be sending your behavior data to a data broker. You visited a website? Third-party trackers on that website sell your visits to data brokers. You received a targeted ad? Advertisers are buying data about you from data brokers to show you those ads.

A VPN doesn't stop any of this. Data brokers don't work through your ISP. They work through apps, websites, and advertising networks.

I wanted to test this, so I enabled ad blocking and third-party tracker blocking while the VPN was active. Then I visited the same 50 websites I'd visited without those protections. The difference was staggering.

Without ad blockers: I counted 347 third-party tracker requests across 50 websites. With ad blockers: 14 tracker requests got through.

Neither of those numbers includes trackers that run through first-party cookies or your own accounts. That's just pure third-party advertising tracking.

None of that was stopped by the VPN. All of that would have been stopped by browser privacy settings.

This is the part that nobody mentions in VPN marketing: a VPN might actually be less important than your browser privacy settings. You can enable "Do Not Track" in Firefox. You can install u Block Origin. You can enable Enhanced Tracking Protection in Firefox or Privacy Sandbox in Chrome (when it launches). None of these require a VPN, and they all prevent tracking that a VPN can't stop.

Corporate VPNs: The Completely Different Animal

I should mention this because it's completely different from consumer VPNs.

My company provided a corporate VPN for accessing internal systems. This is not the same as what we've been discussing. A corporate VPN encrypts traffic to a specific company's network. It's designed for security between your device and one particular server.

Consumer VPNs route all your traffic through their servers to protect privacy. Corporate VPNs route specific traffic to a company's network to provide secure access.

With my company's VPN, I could access internal databases and files as if I were sitting in the office. It worked perfectly from my home, from coffee shops, from airports. But I also noticed something: the company could see everything. They could see which internal servers I accessed. They could see my typing speed. In some cases, they could see my screen.

That's not a privacy tool. That's a security tool with built-in monitoring. Which is fine for business purposes. Just understand that if you use a corporate VPN, your employer has significant visibility into your activity.

This is relevant to the bigger picture because corporations sometimes advertise their internal VPN systems as privacy tools. They're not. They're security tools with monitoring built in. Don't confuse the two.

The Bandwidth Question: Are Free VPNs Worth It?

Free VPNs are incredibly popular. Millions of people use them. Here's why I'm skeptical.

A VPN company pays for server bandwidth, infrastructure, support, and development. If they're offering it free, they're making money some other way. Either they're selling your data, showing you ads, or both.

I tested a "free" VPN for one hour during my 24-hour experiment (yes, I know this skews my data a bit, but I wanted to see what the experience was like). Within five minutes of enabling it, I saw ads in the VPN app's interface. The speed was noticeably worse than premium VPNs. Customer support wasn't available.

After the hour was done, I researched what that company does. They've been investigated multiple times for data collection practices that go far beyond what a responsible VPN should do.

If you're using a free VPN, understand what you're paying with: your attention (ads), your data (they're selling it), or both. In most cases, a free VPN defeats the purpose of using a VPN, which is privacy.

Paid VPNs aren't perfect either. Some have been caught logging data despite claiming not to. Others have servers in countries with weak privacy regulations. But at least with paid VPNs, you're their customer, not their product.

Real-World Threats a VPN Actually Addresses

After 24 hours connected and researching threat models, here are the actual threats a VPN reduces:

Public Wi-Fi Interception

When you connect to public Wi-Fi, anyone on that network could potentially intercept unencrypted traffic. With a VPN, they can't. Even on unencrypted Wi-Fi, your traffic is protected. This is a legitimate threat. Coffee shop Wi-Fi, airport Wi-Fi, hotel Wi-Fi—all of these are environments where packet sniffing is technically possible.

A VPN genuinely solves this problem. Without one, you should assume that unencrypted HTTP traffic on public Wi-Fi could be intercepted. With a VPN, that's not a concern.

ISP Tracking

Your ISP can see your browsing habits. They can sell this data. They can throttle traffic based on what you're doing. A VPN prevents all of this. Your ISP sees encrypted traffic to a VPN server and can't see where you're actually going.

This isn't theoretical. ISP data collection is a documented practice. A VPN genuinely prevents it.

Government Surveillance

In some countries, governments monitor all internet traffic. A VPN makes that monitoring less useful—though not impossible, especially if the government also controls the VPN provider. But in open democracies where governments can't legally monitor all traffic, a VPN protects you from more targeted surveillance based on your IP address.

Targeted Ads Based on IP Location

Advertisers can target you based on your apparent location. A VPN changes your apparent location. Targeted ads might decrease. This is a minor benefit, but it's real.

ISP's Ability to Inject Data Into Your Traffic

Some ISPs used to (and might still) inject tracking pixels or supercookies into unencrypted traffic. A VPN prevents this completely. Your ISP can't modify traffic they can't see.

These are real benefits. They matter. But notice what's not on this list: protecting you from malware, hacking, phishing, or data breaches. A VPN doesn't solve those problems. It solves a different, narrower set of problems related to ISP visibility and geographic spoofing.

What I Wish I'd Known Before Using a VPN Full-Time

After my 24-hour test, here's what surprised me the most:

VPNs are useful, but not for the reasons marketing suggests. The real benefit isn't that you become invisible or that you gain total privacy. The real benefit is that you change who can see your activity. Sometimes that's worth it. Sometimes it's not.

Speed matters more than I thought. For someone who streams video or games online regularly, a VPN might be frustrating. The slowdown isn't huge, but it's noticeable. For casual browsing, it's irrelevant.

Geofencing works, but it's not foolproof. You can access region-locked content, but services actively fight against this. Whether it works depends on the VPN provider and the service.

Your browser settings matter as much as a VPN. Enabling tracking protection in your browser, blocking third-party cookies, and disabling targeted ads does almost as much for your privacy as a VPN does. And it doesn't slow down your connection.

The VPN provider's trustworthiness is the entire point. A bad VPN provider is worse than no VPN. A good one is genuinely helpful. Choosing which one matters more than turning a VPN on or off.

VPNs aren't a magic solution to security problems. They solve specific problems related to ISP visibility and location spoofing. They don't solve malware, hacking, phishing, or bad security practices. Don't use a VPN as an excuse to skip updating your software or ignoring security warnings.

When You Actually Need a VPN

Based on my test, here's when a VPN is legitimately useful:

You use public Wi-Fi regularly. Coffee shops, airports, hotels—these are environments where a VPN adds real protection. Your traffic is encrypted, and nobody on the network can intercept it.

You want to hide your browsing from your ISP. If you care about your ISP not knowing what sites you visit (and why shouldn't you?), a VPN solves this problem completely.

You're in a country with heavy internet censorship. Some countries block access to websites. A VPN can bypass these blocks by making your traffic appear to come from a different country.

You want to test how websites look in different regions. Developers and marketers do this. A VPN lets you change your apparent location without traveling.

You're sensitive to targeted advertising. If you don't like being tracked by advertisers, a VPN combined with browser privacy settings significantly reduces tracking. Your apparent location changes, and your IP address is hidden from trackers.

Building Your Own Privacy Strategy

The honest answer is that a VPN is just one tool in a larger privacy and security toolkit. Using only a VPN and ignoring everything else is like putting a lock on your front door but leaving all your windows open.

Here's a more comprehensive approach:

Layer 1: ISP-Level Protection This is where a VPN comes in. It hides your browsing activity from your ISP. You don't need an expensive VPN. A decent one costs $5-10 per month. Pick one with a good privacy policy, a clear jurisdiction, and published audits.

Layer 2: Browser-Level Privacy Enable Enhanced Tracking Protection in Firefox, enable Privacy Sandbox in Chromium browsers, or use Safari's Intelligent Tracking Prevention. Block third-party cookies. Install a tracking blocker like u Block Origin. This prevents most advertisers from tracking you across websites.

Layer 3: Account-Level Security Enable two-factor authentication on important accounts. Use a password manager. Create strong, unique passwords for each service. Don't reuse credentials. If one service gets breached, it doesn't compromise your other accounts.

Layer 4: Device-Level Protection Keep your operating system updated. Keep your applications updated. Don't download suspicious files. Don't click suspicious links. Don't run your computer as an administrator all the time. Run periodic malware scans.

Layer 5: Network-Level Security Use a firewall. If you're running servers or services, secure them properly. Don't forward ports unless necessary. Use a router with regularly updated firmware.

A VPN is Layer 1. It's important, but it's not the whole picture. If you skip the other layers and just enable a VPN, you're not actually private or secure. You're just hidden from your ISP while remaining visible to everyone else.

The Future of VPNs and Privacy

Based on trends I'm seeing, here's where VPNs are heading:

DNS Encryption Becoming Standard

DNS queries show which websites you're trying to visit, even with a VPN. DNS-over-HTTPS and DNS-over-TLS encrypt these queries. Major browsers are starting to enable this by default. In a few years, most traffic will be encrypted end-to-end, and VPNs will become less critical for hiding your browsing from ISPs.

QUIC Protocol Reducing VPN Advantage

QUIC is a new internet protocol that includes encryption by default and is faster than traditional protocols. As more websites use QUIC, the speed advantage of using a VPN (or disadvantage, depending on implementation) becomes less relevant.

Regulation Changing VPN Legality

Some countries are restricting or banning VPNs. Others are regulating them. We might see a future where using a VPN in some countries requires licensing or enables additional government monitoring. The free-for-all era of VPNs might be ending.

Browser Privacy Features Making VPNs Less Necessary

Chrome's Privacy Sandbox, Firefox's Total Cookie Protection, and Safari's Intelligent Tracking Prevention all reduce tracking without a VPN. As these features improve and become standard, the privacy benefit of a VPN decreases.

VPNs won't disappear, but they might become a more specialized tool rather than a universal privacy solution.

The Bottom Line After 24 Hours of Testing

I spent a full day connected to a VPN. I tested speeds, privacy, tracking, geofencing, and actual usage. I researched threat models and privacy practices. Here's what I actually believe:

A VPN is useful for hiding your browsing from your ISP. This is a legitimate benefit that most people should care about. Your ISP has no business knowing what websites you visit.

A VPN doesn't make you invisible or completely private. It's one tool for one specific problem. It doesn't solve malware, hacking, phishing, tracking through cookies, or account-based identification.

The VPN provider matters enormously. A trustworthy VPN with published audits and a strong privacy jurisdiction is worth $10/month. A free VPN that sells your data might literally harm your privacy.

You should use a VPN combined with other privacy practices. Browser privacy settings, strong passwords, two-factor authentication, software updates, and careful browsing habits all matter more than your VPN choice.

Most people oversell how much a VPN protects them and undersell how much their browser and accounts matter. You're not a spy thriller protagonist being hunted by governments. You're probably being tracked by advertisers and your ISP. A VPN stops the ISP part. Your browser settings stop the advertiser part. Together, they genuinely improve your privacy.

That's not Hollywood drama. It's real protection for a real threat.