The number of people using VoIP services has grown to almost two billion – and this data is from 2021, so it’s likely that figure only went up since then. And if you’re one such person who relies on these apps for your communications needs? You’ll be delighted with how much better life will become when connecting through a VPN like ours!
Table of contents
- 1 Why Do You Need a VoIP VPN?
- 1.1 Bypass Censorship
- 1.2 Unblock Firewalls
- 1.3 Secure VoIP Traffic
- 1.4 Avoid Bandwidth Throttling
- 1.5 Bypass International VoIP call charges
- 1.6 To Get a Superior Gaming Experience
- 2 Does VoIP Over VPN Slow Down Speeds?
- 3 Can You Use a VoIP VPN for Skype or WhatsUp?
- 4 How to Use a VoIP VPN?
- 5 How to Pick the Right VPN for VoIP Traffic?
- 6 Bottom Line
Why Do You Need a VoIP VPN?
With a VPN, you can get around government censorship and firewalls to speak freely online.
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is an online service that masks your IP address by encrypting all of the traffic passing through it – meaning there’s no way for anyone nearby or logging onto any other computer in their network access point(s). This makes communication private! Plus with VoIP apps like Skype on our smartphones now, many people use these types services daily without having much clue what they’re doing since most phones come pre-installed with some sorta app called “Viber” which does essentially everything we could want done within range.
So, why should you use one with VoIP apps?
Here are the main reasons:
1. Bypass Censorship
VoIP apps are usually available all over the world, but that doesn’t mean that certain countries simply can’t block them to prevent people from using them. Why does the government need to do this? One of the reasons is that I want to track the conversations of my citizens. This is much easier with domestic communications services instead of encrypted third-party VoIP apps such as Skype and Viber. Also, more oppressive governments (China, North Korea, the Middle East, etc.) may limit access to VoIP traffic so that opponents of the government do not have the opportunity to easily spread dissent. In addition, some governments may block VoIP apps purely for profit. Basically, they want to make sure there is no competition for domestic telecommunications providers. After all, they don’t make much money because the government can’t tax VoIP providers as heavily as they do their own telecommunications. If you are using VoIP over VPN, the service hides your IP address, avoiding any kind of government censorship.
Which Countries Block VoIP Apps?
Although this list may change from time to time, depending on legislation changes in each country, here is a list of countries that currently block VoIP calls.
- Belize – Only offers government-owned VoIP service
- Brazil – Only allows VoIP calling through government-owned services. Brazil Telecom blocks Skype but allows VoIP calling through their own services.
- Caribbean Region – Blocks VoIP and Skype. Countries that use Cable & Wireless (the largest telecommunications provider) are blocked from using Skype
- China – Blocks all VoIP services except those done through China Unicom and China Telecom.
- Cuba – Citizens have little to no access to computers, mobiles are very expensive and the internet connection expensive is too slow.
- Egypt – The National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority in Egypt denied blocking any VoIP applications, but users are facing difficulties to make calls through them without VPN.
- South Korea – Connections with VoIP apps are unpredictable at best.
- UAE – Blocks VoIP and Skype
- Oman – Blocks VoIP and Skype
- Paraguay – Blocks VoIP and Skype
- Jordan – Blocks VoIP and Skype
- Qatar – Blocks VoIP and Skype
- Morocco – Blocks VoIP
- North Korea – Blocks VoIP
- Israel – Blocks VoIP
- Pakistan – Blocks VoIP
Companies and freelancers with at least one static IP and a verification letter from their business, can submit their their application to have their IP whitelisted: https://ipregistration.pta.gov.pk - Mexico – Some ISPs block VoIP services (as they offer their own VoIP service).
2. Unblock Firewalls
You may not be able to use VoIP services at school or at work because your network administrator is using firewall rules to block VoIP services. why? This is primarily due to strict policies regarding the services available to students and staff at some schools and workplaces. They may be requesting administrators to block VoIP apps, fearing that students and staff may neglect to chat with friends instead of studying or working. In addition, some VoIP applications use SIP (Session Initiation Protocol). It relies on a random port number to establish a connection and can conflict with the firewall. As a result, you may have problems bypassing the firewall, even if you don’t have to worry about administrators or policies. Fortunately, you can simply hide your IP address using a VoIP VPN to bypass the firewall that is in the way.
3. Secure VoIP Traffic
Most VoIP apps use proper encryption to protect calls, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t vulnerable to exploitation by cybercriminals. Finally, there was a serious problem with Skype that allowed anyone to eavesdrop on calls on Android. Viber also had a vulnerability that allowed hackers to intercept images and videos. And the last example-Apple has actually confirmed that Facetime has a vulnerability that allows eavesdropping. And that’s not all. We’ve already talked about SIP (the protocol that many VoIP applications (Facebook Messenger, Skype, Apple Facetime, etc.) use to configure, start, transfer, and terminate connections). Now, the problem with SIP is that SIP isn’t really very secure. In fact, SIP wasn’t designed to be secure from the beginning. Experienced cybercriminals can actually hack the protocol because it resembles HTML to some extent. Also, addressing is somewhat similar to SMTP, so the connection header contains information such as:
What kind of phone do you want to call? Details about the device. Caller’s email address. The IP address of the device you are using to make the call. Basically, this is the kind of information that hackers want to get. And don’t forget to log what your ISP can do to monitor and comply with data retention laws, as if that weren’t enough.
Needless to say, government oversight agencies may force businesses to abandon user data. The NSA is already proud to be able to “tap” Skype traffic. This has been possible since 2011. Ironically, Microsoft acquired Skype Communications (the developer of Skype) at the time. And we all know how familiar Microsoft is with the NSA-after all, they were the first companies to participate in the NSA’s PRISM surveillance program. This can happen with all VoIP apps, so you need to use a VPN to encrypt all your traffic. That way, no one can monitor it.
4. Avoid Bandwidth Throttling
If you enjoy using VoIP apps like Skype and Facetime to talk with friends, family members or coworkers on a regular basis then it’s possible your Internet Service Provider (ISP) might throttle bandwidth.
Why? Simply because they consider data used by these applications as “too much” which can lead them into increasing network congestion within their servers leading the voice quality being poor during calls made through this platform such as choppy audio clips where people cannot hear each other clearly graduate from one end of call.
5. Bypass International VoIP call charges
VoIP apps are normally free to use, but you’re going pay if want make international calls. Well who knows what price tag will show up when it’s time for your call? You could potentially save money with a VPN and get different prices depending on where in the world they’re from! For example – Viber Out charges £3 ($4) per minute outside Europe so that would be all gone now since we’re already checking out their cheapest plan which offers unlimited talktime at just S$5/month or less than five bucks every single day
6. To Get a Superior Gaming Experience
If you play many online team-based games, especially if you are interested in competitive games, VoIP calls are a must, so you can better coordinate with everyone.
However, if the government decides to ban VoIP traffic (including in-game VoIP calls), you will no longer be able to play. Needless to say, you may be kicked out of the team because you couldn’t get in touch immediately during the match.
Using a VoIP VPN solves this problem. You can easily play and tune with your friends by simply connecting to a server in a country where VoIP is working well.
Does VoIP Over VPN Slow Down Speeds?
When you use a VPN while on the phone, it can slow down your connection speeds. This is usually only true if there are many other factors involved in playing an important role such as which encryption type or location modifies have been applied by either party to their VoIP call—though these days most providers offer multiple options so this won’t happen very often at all!
If anything does go wrong with one client’s network setup (which happens), then another may come into play depending upon how far away both parties reside from each others’ servers; though even here things will playback back fairly similarly.
Can You Use a VoIP VPN for Skype or WhatsUp?
We had a user who asks us this question. The answer: “It depends on it.”
As it is standing, Skype’s numbers often talk to your friends and family but also the opportunity to save money if you live abroad Is a wonderful opportunity. Skype numbers are only available in certain countries. If you are interested, there will be a list here.
Of course, just connect to the VPN server in the country of this list and get the Skype number.
Yes, but there is a problem here. In some countries, you’ll need to provide Skype with proof of residence, or at least ask someone on Skype for your address.
Therefore, if you cannot provide the proof requested by your company, you may not be able to get your Skype number.
However, if you are trying to get a Skype number from a country that does not meet any of the above requirements, you may succeed.
How to Use a VoIP VPN?
The process of setting up a VPN is easy and takes only minutes. First, you need to find the perfect provider for your needs by checking out their features or criteria such as speed limit per day/ month etc., after which install an app on our device from where we can connect with anyone available server within seconds once connected all that’s left is using voice-over-internet protocol apps without worrying about restrictions!
How to Pick the Right VPN for VoIP Traffic
With so many VPN services available, picking the best one may be difficult. So, here’s a brief rundown of the characteristics that should be regarded as essential for a VoIP VPN:
- Multiple VPN protocols – It’s important to choose a VPN protocol depending on your needs. If you’re looking for high levels of security and privacy, then we recommend using one with high-end encryption level and the latest VPN protocols, like Wireguard. On the other hand, if speed is more crucial than protection–or vice versa!–then there are many protocols available such as PPTP or L2TP/IPSec which offer less robust encryption but faster connection speeds.
- No Bandwidth Limitations – When you’re on a VoIP conversation, the last thing you want is to experience latency because you’ve over the server’s bandwidth limit.
- A No-Log Policy – A VPN service provider that tracks your traffic defeats the point of utilizing VoIP over VPN to safeguard your traffic and data.
- A Free Trial Period – Before making a commitment, you should ideally be allowed to test out the VPN service for free to see whether it works properly for you. This is why a Free VPN Trial is a must these days.
Need VoIP VPN?
HideIPVPN offers a VPN service with military-grade encryption, and high-speed servers with unlimited bandwidth.
Our service comes with shared IP addresses so that your activity can never be tied to one particular user, further protecting your privacy.
We also offer DNS leak protection, a Kill Switch, the latest VPN protocols, and a guaranteed no-log policy.
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The Bottom Line
VoIP applications are tremendously handy, but they may also be unsafe, and governments can simply ban them if they so want.
This is why you should utilize a VoIP VPN. Aside from unblocking VoIP apps in certain regions and safeguarding your VoIP traffic, you’ll also be able to:
- Unblocking in-game VoIP communication will improve your gaming experience.
- Bypass firewalls at work, school, or anywhere else in general.
- Better prices on VoIP subscriptions are available.
- Stop bandwidth limiting from interfering with your VoIP conversations.
Just bear in mind that using a VPN might occasionally reduce your VoIP speeds, especially if you use strong encryption and a server that is too far away from you.