VPNs get talked about a lot, sometimes as a privacy tool, sometimes as a workaround, and sometimes as a magic fix-all. The truth is, a properly set up VPN is a critical piece of business infrastructure. If your company has remote workers, multiple locations, or access requirements that go beyond a single office, a VPN isn’t a luxury, it’s part of doing business securely.
Let’s break down four real business use cases for VPNs and why a “free” one is almost always worse than none at all.
1. Site-to-Site Communication Between Offices or Partners
If your business has more than one location — whether it’s a branch office, warehouse, or off-site server — you need a secure way for those systems to talk to each other. A site-to-site VPN creates an encrypted tunnel between networks so that devices can communicate like they’re on the same LAN, even if they’re across the country.
And this isn’t limited to internal needs. In some cases, you may need to set up secure access to a partner company’s internal systems. One customer had a major client that required access to a specific server deep inside their network. We coordinated with the client’s IT team to stand up a dedicated VPN tunnel—secure, controlled, and compliant.
2. Access to Internal Resources from Outside the Office
Some of your most important tools should never live on the public internet. File servers, internal dashboards, intranet apps — none of them belong on a wide-open port. A VPN lets your team access those internal systems safely from wherever they are, without poking holes in your firewall or relying on insecure workarounds.
It’s one locked, private door into the office, no matter where you're working from.
3. Working Around Geo-Fencing for Remote Teams
Some tools and platforms are restricted by geography. That’s not a problem, until your team member in another country suddenly can’t log in to a critical system. In those cases, a VPN can route their traffic through a U.S.-based server, letting them work just like they were sitting in the office.
It’s not the most common use case, but when you need it, it’s the only thing that works.
4. Protecting Remote and Mobile Workers on Untrusted Networks
This is the one that gets overlooked the most—and it’s also the biggest risk. If someone on your team connects from a hotel, airport, or coffee shop, they’re on an untrusted network. Rogue hotspots, spoofed Wi-Fi, and eavesdropping are very real threats.
A VPN creates an encrypted tunnel for everything their device sends or receives — not just web traffic, but every app, every background sync, every service call. That means even if someone is watching the network, your data’s still safe.
But Doesn’t HTTPS Do That?
HTTPS is good—it encrypts traffic between your browser and the site you’re visiting—but it doesn’t cover everything. Not even close.
- DNS lookups can still be exposed revealing what sites you’re trying to reach.
- Not all apps use HTTPS and some use outdated or broken implementations.
- Metadata still leaks including what sites you're talking to, for how long, and how much data.
- Public networks can spoof or intercept traffic, especially when SSL stripping attacks are in play.
A VPN solves these problems by locking down your entire connection—not just what’s happening in a web browser.
Why Free VPNs Are Worse Than None
We’ll keep this short: Free VPNs are a bad idea. Always.
If you’re not paying for it, you’re probably the product.
Most free VPNs:
- Log your activity and sell it to third parties
- Inject ads or content into your traffic
- Use weak or outdated encryption (or none at all)
- Come bundled with spyware or tracking software
- Can’t be trusted to protect sensitive business data
- And critically, they offer zero management
You can’t control who’s using them, when, or how. No user management, no logs, no oversight. That makes them completely unusable in any business setting.
They’re slow, insecure, and give you a false sense of protection. Don’t use them. Ever.
What a Business-Grade VPN Should Give You
If you’re doing this right, your VPN solution should provide:
- Centralized access control – Add, remove, or audit users as needed
- Modern encryption protocols – WireGuard or OpenVPN with AES-256
- No logging policies – Privacy by design
- High reliability and speed – Because people still have to get work done
Bottom Line
If your business connects people or systems across locations, or if your employees ever work outside the office, you need a VPN that’s secure, manageable, and built for real-world use.
Want help building a VPN solution that fits your business? B’more Secure IT can help you set up a secure, efficient system that protects your team wherever they are.