What is a VPN

And, more usefully, what it does not do.

A VPN is a tunnel. Everything your device sends goes into it, comes out of a computer somewhere else, and only then reaches the internet.

Who sees what

Without a VPN, your internet provider sees every address you connect to. With one, they see a single connection to your VPN company and nothing more. That company now sees what your internet provider used to see. You have not removed the watcher, you have chosen a different one. Pick a company you would be comfortable trusting.

It covers the whole Apple TV

tvOS cannot send one app through a tunnel and leave the rest outside. When the VPN is on, every other app on this Apple TV goes through it too. That is Apple’s design, not a shortcut we took.

Switching it on affects everything on the device. Switching it off is one click, in the same place.

What it will not do

It does not make anything legal that was not legal before. It does not make you anonymous, your VPN company still knows who you are. And it will not speed up a stream that is slow at the source. Often it is slightly slower, because the traffic takes a longer road.

So is it worth it

If your internet provider slows down video, a VPN often fixes that. If you travel and a channel only works from home, it can help. If you simply do not want your provider logging what you watch, that is reason enough. Outside those cases it adds a step for nothing.