Mobile Device Connectivity
This is a guide on mobile device connectivity.
Wireless & Cellular Data Networks
All right, to begin our presentations for this course, we'll take a look at overall cellular connectivity, as well as some of their features and functions.
[Video description begins] GSM Cellular Connectivity [Video description ends]
But with respect to just connectivity, cellphones use what's known as the Global System for Mobile communication, or GSM for short. And this is a network that consists of various devices, such as gateways, repeaters, and relays, which are also referred to as antenna. Or perhaps even more simply stated, what you and I would most often just call a cell tower. So, of course, our mobile devices connect to the cell towers, which then provide communication and location services. Now, any one tower, of course, has any given range, with respect to how far it is able to communicate.
And that needs to at least overlap with another tower so that there's a little bit of overlap between them. And the collection of all those towers and their associated ranges form what's known as a cell. This is why we call it cellular service.
[Video description begins] GSM Networks [Video description ends]
Now, the cellular networks themselves, again, allow us to use our phones to connect to this network to make voice calls. And, of course, these days, to also send data. Everything now is digital. We aren't using analog signals anymore. So, of course, we can send and receive data, which ultimately translates into the ability to access the Internet. Which, of course, was something that we could not do at all with early cellphone communications. But now cellular networks support various types of service, known as 3G, 4G, and 5G.
Now, the G typically just stands for generation, and the number, of course, is indicative of a version. And there was 2G, and at the moment, I would say 5G is, I wouldn't go so far as to say experimental, but it's not yet out there. It's probably fairly close to being available at the time of this recording, but I don't think you'd find any actual service yet. But each one, of course, just focuses on usually faster rates, a clearer signal, maybe even the ability to travel a little bit farther. But, you know, like anything, they're just trying to to improve the service. But at the moment, I would say 4G would be the standard. 3G would certainly still be very common, but 4G is significantly faster, in terms of data.
[Video description begins] Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Card [Video description ends]
Now, the Subscriber Identity Module, or SIM card, is a little, tiny chip that is inside the mobile device itself. And it's used to establish the connection to the GSM network. The chip contains information about your account, your identity, and your device. And it allows your device to be specifically and uniquely identified on the network. So that when somebody calls you, of course, it knows which device is supposed to receive this call or this data. And every device that is going to connect to the same network has to have a SIM card that contains this unique information. Without the SIM card, you cannot make a connection.
[Video description begins] Airplane Mode [Video description ends]
Now, airplane mode is just a feature of probably just about every device. That essentially just turns off the wireless antenna, which then disables GSM, your standard cellular service, Wi-Fi, usually GPS, and Bluetooth. Now, some of them may be up to the device and/or the manufacturer. In other words, there are some devices that I do know of, for example, that do not disable the GPS when you put it in airplane mode. But again, that's going to vary depending on the device. But it essentially just turns off all of the transmitting and receiving functions.
And, of course, if you've ever flown with a mobile device, they always ask you to put it into this mode so that your device does not interfere with airline communications. But the other useful feature of airplane mode is that because it does turn all this off, if you are flying, your device will undoubtedly lose connectivity to one of the towers. Now, depending on how high you are flying and how many towers you might be flying over, you may actually connect to this tower at any given time, and that tower at any other given time. But you would be constantly swapping from tower to tower to tower, searching and scanning for new signals, which would undoubtedly drain your battery very quickly.
So you're better off just putting it in airplane mode, just to save the battery life. And the other advantage is, if you are traveling and perhaps you are out of the country where your service is, then you can very often end up with a lot of very high charges if you start using the device on a different carrier. So if you just set it in airplane mode, it doesn't make any connection and you just cannot make any calls or transmit any data or even receive anything. So you would avoid any kind of unexpected charges by just leaving it in airplane mode.
[Video description begins] Tethering [Video description ends]
Now, tethering has already been discussed. But again, it is a common configuration when it comes to your mobile devices. And quite simply, it allows you to connect your phone to a computer or a laptop using a USB cable, which then allows the laptop to more or less see the smartphone as a modem. And can provide the laptop with Internet service when there's no other option. So if you do not have a wired Ethernet and there's no Wi-Fi, then you can use your smartphone and its normal GSM service to share the Internet access of the smartphone on the laptop.
[Video description begins] Hotspot [Video description ends]
And finally, the hotspot, or perhaps more accurately stated the personal hotspot, because this example is specifically using an iPhone or an iPad. But really this is just the new name, the new method for tethering. You are simply treating your phone as the hotspot. So you can just the USB cable to connect the mobile device to your computer. You will receive a prompt on the phone, if it's the first time, to trust this computer. Now, you should only really have to do that once.
You might see it pop-up again if certain settings change, or if you do an update to the operating system, for example, but you aren't prompted every time. But to enable it, you can just go to the Settings, then choose Cellular, then enable Personal Hotspot. Now, this can also be done over Bluetooth, but you have to ensure that the mobile device itself is discoverable, which you can do by going to Settings and enabling Bluetooth. And then, of course, you have to ensure that it is paired with the laptop. But if so, you can then still share the Internet access of the phone with your laptop and basically access the Internet from the laptop through your phone.
Bluetooth
In this presentation, we'll take a closer look at using Bluetooth with mobile devices. Bluetooth itself is just a wireless standard used for transmitting data over short distances. And it's approximately 10 meters or around 30 feet in terms of the maximum. So it's going to be pretty unreliable if you are stretching that far. But Bluetooth can be used to create a wireless personal area network, or a WPAN for short. Which is really just a type of personal network consisting of usually a primary device, such as a laptop. Maybe another laptop, but more often than not just various other devices, your smartphone, your tablet, a printer, maybe speakers or even a keyboard and mouse.
[Video description begins] Enabling Bluetooth [Video description ends]
Now, you first have to enable it. And in most cases, Bluetooth can be enabled by accessing the Settings on a mobile device. Now, it's often disabled by default on Android devices, but usually enabled by default on iPhones and iPads. And if it's on a laptop running Windows, then it is typically performed in the Devices and Printer panel, you allow Bluetooth devices to find this computer. And essentially that's what Bluetooth is doing when it's enabled, it's just looking for other devices that are in range so that it can connect to them.
[Video description begins] Pairing Bluetooth Devices [Video description ends]
And with respect to that connection, this is referred to as pairing. Any two devices that want to communicate over Bluetooth do need to be paired. So when you enable it on any given device, you'll see a list of discoverable devices. These are the ones that are quite simply within range. So pairing is the process of linking them up so that they can start exchanging data, including synchronizing. But this often requires a pin code. Now, usually one of the devices will generate the pin and then you simply have to enter it on the other device.
[Video description begins] Troubleshooting Bluetooth [Video description ends]
Now, if you encounter any difficulty in terms of getting Bluetooth devices to pair up with each other, you can try these troubleshooting steps. First off, ensure the devices are Bluetooth capable, not every device will be. And ensure that each device is fully charged and in range of the other. Possibly reboot one or both of the mobile devices. If it has already been paired, try removing and then reconnecting the Bluetooth device. And finally, try connecting to a known good Bluetooth device, something that you know is functional so that you can eliminate at least one possible cause. But ultimately, if Bluetooth is enabled across all devices and they are all within range, then you should be able to set them up so that they can all communicate with each other.
POP3 vs IMAP
E-mail is perhaps the most common application that we use on our mobile devices. So in this presentation we'll take a look at numerous options for configuring mobile e-mail communications. And they have two primary categories, standard and web-based.
[Video description begins] E-mail Configurations [Video description ends]
Now, standard includes protocol known as POP3, IMAP, and Exchange. And we'll actually take a much closer look at each of those in a moment. So let's skip down to web-based. These are services such as Gmail, Hotmail, and Yahoo. And with these types of services, you just sign in. And basically, there is all of your mail, all of your contacts, all of your account information. But when I say you sign in, what that means is that it does not matter which device you are using, or which application you might be using. I can go to any computer anywhere, use any browser, and as long as I sign in with my credentials, I see my e-mail.
And one of the other distinguishing characteristics of that is that the mail itself and the context and the calendar information is always only stored on the servers of the service provider. Or another way to say that is that it's never on the personal device. So if I set up a Gmail account on my phone, and then I lose my phone, well, that's certainly not a good thing, but my mail is still there. All I have to do is go to my computer and sign into Gmail, there's the same mail. Go to any computer anywhere, there is the same mail, okay? So again, that's one of the distinguishing characteristics of web-based mail, and this is typically much more common for just personal mail. The standard protocols are a little more common in corporate environments, or when using home-based e-mail that is provided to you by your own Internet service provider. Now, again, we'll come back to those in a moment.
[Video description begins] Mobile E-mail Applications [Video description ends]
So continuing with the web-based mail, these accounts can generally be accessed directly through an app on the mobile device. And really that's no different than using a browser on your computer, it's just that the app is configured specifically to interact with the e-mail environment. So they might be a little more functional than just using a browser, you know. They're dedicated to sending and receiving mail, and working with contacts, and calendars. So a little easier to work with than perhaps a browser.
But really it's treated the same way, you're just using a different interface to sign into your mail, okay? So you don't need a browser, but you can still use a browser. Again, everything is up on the mail servers of the service provider. So no matter what you use, you're still seeing the same content, it's just how you are accessing it. So setting up the web-based e-mail services are usually pretty simple. You just select their provider, enter your username and password. And again, that's no different than what you would do on a browser, okay? So those are usually fairly simple, but again, typically personal e-mail.
[Video description begins] Post Office Protocol, Version 3, (POP3) [Video description ends]
Now, looking at the standard protocols, we'll start with POP3, which stands for Post Office Protocol, Version 3. And this was one of the first major e-mail protocols, and is still fairly commonly used, but it is quite old. But in terms of the process itself, it is fairly simple. And think of just a real post office or a real letter that I might send. If I mail it to you, it will ultimately be delivered by the post office to a mailbox. Usually we all have those big mailboxes somewhere in our neighborhood now. And it will sit there until you go and get it.
This is really the same thing. If I send you an e-mail, it arrives at the mail server of the service provider, and it will sit there until you open your application and hit send and receive. When you do that, the mail will download from the server to your client, okay? So there's the distinguishing characteristic. The mail is now on your device. And after that happens, it is typically deleted from the server. A lot of applications do allow you to keep a copy on the server, but only for a short amount of time. It will then ultimately be deleted. So if it is only on your device, and then you lose your device, you have lost that message, okay? Now, you can do backups and things like that. But for the sake of argument, if it's only on your phone and you lose your phone, you've lost your mail, okay?
[Video description begins] Internet Message Access Protocol, (IMAP) [Video description ends]
So the other option is IMAP. And this does remain a popular e-mail protocol as it includes all the same features as POP3, but a few enhancements, if you will. And the main difference is that it allows e-mail to be synced between multiple devices. In other words, e-mail can still be stored on the server instead of being downloaded directly to the device. So what you can do now is you can say, yeah, okay, get me my mail from my phone. But you can keep the mail on the server, then you can go to your tablet or even your computer and do the same thing and see the same messages come in. So now you have it on multiple devices. That can, however, lead to synchronization issues.
You may not always see the same messages across every device, particularly if you delete one on one device and don't delete it on another. Plus, if you send it from your phone, that does not show up, at least by default, in the sent items of your tablet. So if you are looking for a specific sent message, you would have to know from which device you sent it in the first place, okay? So a little bit better than POP3, but still not ideal. You still have to deal with the fact that mail can be in multiple places, and not necessarily synchronized. And there's one other issue that they actually don't mention here, both IMAP and POP3 are receive protocols only. In other words, you can only get incoming mail, you cannot send mail with either of those. To send, you need what's called SMTP, Simple Mail Transfer Protocol.
Now, if this is a situation where you are using a home-based e-mail account that your Internet service provider is giving you, then they will give you an SMTP server to use, okay? They will tell you, here is the outgoing mail server and you just configure that in the application. Now you can certainly send mail, but that can also cause an issue when it comes to mobile devices. Let's say you are at home working on your phone, connected to your Wi-Fi, which is your ISP's service. In that case you can absolutely send mail no problem, okay? Because you are on the network of the service provider, therefore you are recognized as a client, therefore they will let you use their SMTP server. But if you then leave your house and you are now using plain old cellular service from a completely different provider, then you can no longer send through that server, okay?
Internet service providers will not let people outside of their own network send mail through their servers. So what you find happening is that you can send mail perfectly fine when you're at home and connected to the Wi-Fi, but then when you go out and you're connected to just plain old cellular service, you can't send anymore, okay? Now, there are ways to get around that, but you'd have to coordinate with your Internet service provider to specify the particular settings to use so that you can in fact send through them in a secure manner. But again, it's something that has to be set up.
[Video description begins] Microsoft Exchange/Microsoft Office 365 [Video description ends]
Now, finally, Microsoft Exchange and/or Office 365 is a proprietary platform developed by Microsoft. This is typically only found in corporate environments. So you're not using a web-based service, you're not using an ISP, this is your own corporate environment, managing their own mail with their Exchange servers, okay? So typically not ever found in a home scenario. This has several benefits including e-mail syncing, folder support, sent messages are saved on a server. And you can also implement collaboration with calendars and documents so you can share this with other people. But it's administered entirely by the IT staff of your corporate environment, okay?
So again, you generally won't see this for personal use e-mail. But if you are using Exchange and/or Office 365, there's typically a fair amount of regulation that is also implemented. In other words, you can't send messages of a certain size, you're restricted to this much storage space. You know, just a lot of policies that are in place with respect to how you can use the mail. But it's also backed up all the time. Your IT staff goes to great lengths to ensure that everyone is always able to use the service and that there are redundant servers in the case of failure. So it's very robust as compared to something like a home-based e-mail. But again, generally only used in corporate environments.
S/MIME
In many cases when you want to send an e-mail to someone, it may include confidential or sensitive information that you don't want anyone else to see.
So in this presentation, we'll take a look at implementing S/MIME or Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions to help secure the e-mail environment. So S/MIME provides encrypted authentication, which ensures the identity of all parties involved. Message integrity which means the message itself has not been tampered with. Digital signatures which validates the identity of the person who sent it. And message security, meaning that it has been encrypted. Now, you can enable this on your own device as you send the mail out, but the servers that handle it also need S/MIME in order for this to function. So again, this typically is not something that you see in home-based e-mail environment, but certainly with corporate e-mail.
Now in terms of the requirements you do need what's called a digital encryption certificate, this is required for the sender (yourself). Now you obtain this from a server in your corporate environment. There are several different methods by which this can be accomplished, but very generically speaking there are servers that provide certificate services. And they identify all users and all devices within the environment. So effectively, you can trust that these messages coming from those users and those devices have been verified, okay? You also need a public key. Now this is from the intended recipient, so they need a certificate as well. So they can generate a public key.
And as its name indicates, public, it means that anyone can get it, and that's exactly what you want. I want to be able to receive mail from anyone. So if I'm sending a message to you, I have the digital encryption certificate of my user identity and my computer. But when I send to you, as soon as the message starts processing, it contacts you as a recipient and requests a public key. That public key is sent to me, and that helps to ensure that you are the only person who can access this content. If anyone else tries, they do not have the necessary information. Both components are required, my digital certificate as the sender, and your public key as the recipient, okay? Anyone else could get a public key from you, but without my certificate along with it, they would not be able to access the content. So again, both pieces are needed.
And of course, you need an e-mail program that supports S/MIME e-mail, and as an example, Microsoft Exchange absolutely does support this. Plus the client itself that you are using, which in most Microsoft environments would be Outlook, also needs to support this, and of course it does. But again, this typically is not something that you would find in a home e-mail scenario or even web-based, okay? It's typically internal mail for our corporate environment or maybe if we have another partner organization that we deal with frequently, you could set it up, sort of, intra or inter-organization, but this is all up to administration. And once it is set up and you have all of this, then you absolutely can at any point in time, say I want to secure this e-mail and send it using S/MIME.
Commercial E-mail Configurations
Now in this presentation we'll take a look at setting up various types of mail services on various types of devices. Now, it should be noted that there may be some variance here, depending on the version of the device that you have. And, of course, the version of the operating system on that device. But they should be relatively close to what we are seeing here.
[Video description begins] Google (Gmail) [Video description ends]
So we'll begin with Google and/or Gmail. Now on an Android device, you simply have to select the Gmail icon, it's there by default. And then specify that you already have a Google account. And really, you just need to enter your Google account credentials, of course, your username and your password. And really, that's all that's necessary because, of course, Gmail is the default application on Android devices. If, however, you are using an iOS device then you can go to Settings, then Mail, Contacts, Calendar, then choose Add Account. Select Gmail as the provider. And again, enter the name, the address, and your password.
[Video description begins] Yahoo [Video description ends]
For Yahoo on an Android device, select the e-mail icon and then specify the e-mail address and the password. But then they do recommend that you use the manual setup option when using Yahoo on Android. So you actually specify the settings for the IMAP connection, including the incoming server and the outgoing server. Now, this should be current as of today but, again, there may be some changes moving forward. But the incoming server should be imap.mail.yahoo.com using port 993, which is SSL, secure sockets layer. That essentially means it is a secured connection. And then the outgoing server setting would be smtp.mail.yahoo.com, using port 465, again, with SSL.
So the port settings should actually be entered with default values. But they really should be verified, just make sure that they are there and if not, just make sure that they are entered and entered correctly. Then there's some optional components that you can select, such as the frequency when it checks for new mail. And you can give the account a name. For an iOS device, select Settings > Passwords & Accounts. Choose to add an account, then select Yahoo. And then sign in using your Yahoo e-mail address and password. So on an iOS device it does not suggest that you use an IMAP account.
[Video description begins] Outlook.com [Video description ends]
For Outlook.com, if it is on Android, install the Outlook for Android app. Select Add Account via Settings. Select Outlook.com and specify a valid account ending in either outlook.com, hotmail.com, msn.com, or live.com. And for an iOS device, simply install the Outlook for iOS app. Launch the app and tap Get Started. And again, sign in using a valid account. And they are the same four domain names that we mentioned earlier.
[Video description begins] attt outlook dot com, attt hotmail dot com, attt msn dot com, and att live dot com [Video description ends]
So again, that's really all you have to provide is the address and, of course, the password.
[Video description begins] iCloud [Video description ends]
And finally for iCloud on an Android device, select the e-mail app. Select Add Account and enter the iCloud e-mail address. And this also suggests that you specify an IMAP configuration. And again, the port for the incoming server is imap.mail.me.com using port 993, which also would be a secured port. And the outgoing server would be smtp.mail.me.com. And you do have to specify to change some security settings for the outgoing server. There is an option called STARTTLS, that's transport layer security, and that's how you establish a secured connection to the outgoing server over port 587. And there is an option that says that you, yes, have to require a sign-in, which means that you authenticate to the outgoing server.
And that's what allows you to send mail through that server even when you aren't on the network of the provider. And then for iOS, of course, iCloud is the default platform for Apple devices. So you can select Settings, Passwords & Accounts, and then just sign in using the e-mail address and password that ends in either @mac.com, @me.com, or @icloud.com. Ultimately, you should test all configurations after you've set them up, make sure that you can send a message, and make sure that you are receiving. And you can quite literally just send a message to yourself or to any other address that you know or have. But something that you can verify right away in terms of being able to both send and receive so that you are certain all the configurations have been entered correctly.
PRI, PRL, and Baseband Updates
In this presentation, we'll take a look at Product Release Information, or PRI. Now, this is essentially just an update. But it's not referring to an update for an app, nor even the operating system on the device. The PRI is essentially the connection between the mobile device and the radio transmitter. So from time to time, this does still need some updates, because it can include information such as new ID numbers, new network codes, and even country codes. Because the physical infrastructure of any given provider, of course, can change at any given time.
So this information needs to remain current. Now, updating can add features and even increase data speeds, because it is still an update to a physical aspect of the device itself. Now, it's a flash process that's used to perform the PRI updates. So again, this is typically a firmware type of upgrade. It's information in memory. And in most cases these days, it does occur in over-the-air updates. You may have seen something like the network settings have been updated, or something to that affect. But it does depend, of course, on the make and model of the device and the provider you are using.
So there certainly will be some variation there. But in some cases, and I would say that this is probably out of date, but you can actually be required to perform a manual update whereby you have a file. So what you would have to do in this case is connect the device to your laptop, for example. And then use the software that it came with to perform the flash update. And you should certainly follow the instructions if that is the case, because if any kind of error or incorrect file is used, it can render the device useless. But again, I would say that would probably be for an older type of device.
[Video description begins] Preferred Roaming List (PRL) [Video description ends]
Now, what is primarily being updated is the Prefered Roaming List, or PRL. And this is a list of radio frequencies residing in the memory. But different frequencies are used in different geographic areas. So what this does is to ensure that the mobile device connects to the proper tower. And again, the physical infrastructure of the provider certainly can change. Older towers may be decommissioned. Newer towers are being built. Or perhaps they're leasing from someone else. So it just keeps everything current. And again, depending on the make and model of the device, you may see something that indicates that the PRL has been updated, or again, maybe just something like the network settings have been updated. So usually that's all that's necessary.
And you simply tap on OK. You may have to reboot the device. But generally, it's not a particularly intrusive process. But this is commonly used on Code-division multiple access networks. And that simply means that based on the codes that are in your phone, that determines which network you should be using. And multiple access, of course, means that all of us can use the network at the same time, but the codes that are used distinguish my transmissions from anyone else's. So the PRL updates often contain the radio bands to use, any sub-bands that might be used, and of course, service provider IDs. And again, this is very frequent when you are roaming.
Because you may no longer be in an area where that provider even exists. For example, if you travel from country to country, then you typically end up using the service of some kind of partner from your main service provider. So this ensures that you use the correct one.
[Video description begins] Baseband [Video description ends]
And what is actually getting updated, if you will, is what's known as the baseband chip. This is the firmware itself that's used by cellular modem manufacturers. This controls all of the GSM and 3G phone radio frequency waves. So again, this is just simply where the code is found in terms of all of those transmission frequencies and specifications. So when you are doing a PRI, this is what you are updating. And this simply keeps everything current.
Radio Firmware
Now, in this presentation, we'll take a closer look at the process of performing a radio firmware update, as the radios that are found in mobile devices are equipped with firmware. Meaning that it is hardware, but it's programmable hardware, so the program itself can be updated. So manufacturer updates often include modem or baseband firmware updates. And in many cases, this can enhance the functionality of the device itself.
Now, again, this is not all that common these days. And even if you are going to be performing this, I would say that it's probably not something that would be done by most home users. It would more so be a case of the device being sent in for service. This is where you would typically find a radio firmware update being performed.
IMEI vs IMSI
In this presentation, we'll take a look at two values that are assigned to every mobile device using the global system for mobile communications network, or the GSM, the IMEI and the IMSI. Now the IMEI is the International Mobile Equipment Identity number and
[Video description begins] International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) [Video description ends]
this is used to identify a physical device. The IMEI is hard coded into the device, making it very difficult to change. And every device has a different IMEI number, or perhaps more to the point, they are all unique. So this is very much like the MAC address of a network adapter in standard computers. Every one of them has a unique value so that device can always be specifically identified. So this helps to prevent the use of stolen mobile devices. If it is stolen, it can be reported to a carrier and then they can blacklist it. And a blacklisted IMEI can be shared, then, with other cellular networks and it basically renders it unusable. So even with a new or a different SIM card, the blacklisted device will still not be able to connect because it's identified by the IMEI, which again really doesn't care what SIM card is being used. Now the IMSI is the International Mobile Subscriber Identification number.
[Video description begins] International Mobile Subscriber Identification (IMSI) [Video description ends]
And this is still a unique 15-digit number, but more so indicates who is using the device. So the first three digits represent the mobile country code, or MCC, where the subscriber lives. Then the next two digits represent the mobile network code, or the MNC, and of course, this would be the provider in that country. And then the remaining numbers, typically around 10 but it could be less, indicate the actual subscriber. So this is the MSIN number, or Mobile Subscription Identification number. And, really, it's up to the provider as to what they use to uniquely identify each subscriber. But ultimately, the entire value put together generates another unique value. And essentially, it just maps this user to that device once you combine the IMSI with the IMEI.
VPN
In this presentation, we'll take a look at using a VPN connection, or a virtual private network. Now, this is something that has been around for a very long time and has commonly been used by people with laptops. Because, of course, they tend to travel with the laptop. But these days, so many people work with mobile devices, smartphones and tablets, that they can use VPNs as well. But to begin, a VPN itself is simply a service that creates a secure and direct connection to another network, which is typically the internal intranet of your corporate environment. And this is commonly used when logging on to something like a public Wi-Fi. Because, of course, that's a very public network.
So, normally, with that type of connection, a corporate environment would not allow you to connect to their network and get to their resources. But as long as it's done through a VPN, then it's seen as secure. The end users are redirected to a different endpoint and, essentially, they are no longer seen as using the public network. So you rely on the public Wi-Fi just to get into the Internet, but then you use what's known as an encrypted tunnel to establish a connection to your internal network. And once you do that, once you authenticate, you sign in, you can operate exactly as if you were in the network. In other words, if you needed to print to a printer, you could do that.
If you needed to check your corporate e-mail that was only accessible from the inside, you could do that. If you needed to get to a file on a server, you could do that. So basically, it makes you appear as though you are in that network. And in fact, you even get an IP address that does reside within the range of the internal network. So in terms of benefits this does provide security, so that you can prevent sensitive data from being exploited. Encryption is used so that anyone who might be listening, essentially, is unable to get to the data. Now depending on the purpose, you can also perform tasks such as accessing geo-specific content, known as location spoofing.
Now, that kind of sounds like it might be some kind of an attack or a hack, just that term spoofing, but there's nothing wrong with this at all. It just, again, makes you appear to be in a different place. So perhaps you've encountered this before. You might just go to some kind of website to view a video and you click on it and it simply says this content is not available in your location. Well, if you connect to a VPN, effectively, your location becomes wherever the other end is. So that can literally make you appear to be somewhere else.
So if the content is available there, then you probably can access it. And in fact, you can subscribe to various types of VPN providers to allow you to appear to be in a different location. And it might also be used to avoid the network restrictions that might be in place at a workplace or a school. Again, if you're using a corporate-issued device, there may be some restrictions in place. But if you use this third-party VPN provider, then perhaps some of those restrictions might be lifted off of the device. Now, again, those are more or less personal VPN services but all of them would supply that extra security.
[Video description begins] Configuring a VPN [Video description ends]
So in terms of configuring a VPN on the devices themselves, of course this does depend on the platform, but for an Android device you can go to Settings. Then choose Wireless and Networks, select the VPN option, and then create a new connection by specifying the server to which you are connecting. And that's usually an IP address or a fully qualified domain name of the server itself. And if it's an iOS device, it's under Settings > General > VPN. And again, specify that you want to add a VPN connection and provide the connection details, which again is usually just the server to which you are connecting. But it may also allow you to enter in a username and password that can be stored so you aren't prompted every time you make the connection.