Getting Started Guide for New Users of BringYour VPN
BringYour VPN is an innovative new way to easily establish secure and private VPN connections with potentially thousands of different egress points worldwide. There is no central point of egress and therefore no central repository of data transmitted via the VPN.
This guide is a brief description of how to get started using the BringYour VPN app on an Android or iOS mobile phone device.
1) Download the App
Download the BringYour app from either the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store.
2) Setup Your Network ID
After the app has been downloaded, start it for the first time and a dialog box will open to setup a new account. You can choose any unused network name you want to name your network. For example, if you choose a network name such as user**; your network name will be user**.bringyour.network. This becomes your device’s unique network connection ID which allows your now BringYour device to connect securely to other BringYour devices using the BringYour VPN.
3) Connect and Provide Tabs
BringYour devices can Connect, Provide, or both. When the BringYour app is running you can choose to securely connect to a variety of destinations, however; you can have the app running without connecting to a VPN destination. An example of making a VPN connection would be a user in Europe selecting California, USA destinations. You can connect or disconnect from VPN destinations at will. The app scans all traffic when either connected or disconnected from a destination.
Use the Connect tab to connect or disconnect VPN destinations. When you use the app to connect to another VPN destination, you are creating VPN traffic and that’s where the subscription model comes into play. Subscription pricing is based on the monthly volume of VPN traffic you are creating by connecting securely to other VPN devices. You can only create connection traffic up to the amount your current subscription plan allows. When the app is running and you are disconnected from destinations your monthly data plan allotment is not impacted.
So why run the BringYour app then if you are not making a VPN connection? What is unique about the BringYour app is that it can also allow your device to be a secure routing hop on the network called a Provider. It runs in the background, does not affect your device and earns USDC. Use the Provide tab to allow your device to Provide (or not). Running the BringYour app whether making connections or not continuously monitors your network traffic and health, and also can generate revenue for Provider devices. Provider revenue is automatically deposited in a Circle USDC self-custody wallet. USDC can be transferred out of the wallet to other destinations if desired.
Subscription plan pricing for Connecting to provided networks and revenue generated by being a Provider is shown in the Pricing tab on the BringYour website (https://bringyour.com).
4) Account Tab
Account shows your current subscription plan. You can change your plan to allow more or less data usage as desired. You can also setup your Provider revenue wallet here as well. Be sure to hit update after setting up your wallet to have its current status show in the Account tab. BringYour uses a USDC stablecoin self-custody wallet provided by Circle. BringYour can query the balance of the wallet but cannot move any funds out of the wallet. However you, as the owner, can transfer funds out to an exchange or another wallet at any time. Money earned by providing services to the network (in the Provide tab) are transferred into your wallet as USDC. BringYour uses the Polygon blockchain to minimize transfer fees and maximize compatibility with exchanges.
5) Summary
Minimizing the app (by swiping up from bottom on phones) allows it to keep running in the background. Leaving the app running in the background does not affect your device’s performance. The BringYour app is an amazingly easy way to route your internet traffic on a secure VPN. For example: Are you in an airport or coffee shop and want to use the internet without your data being hijacked or seen by others? Just open BringYour, hit the Connect tab, select an egress destination, and surf away privately and securely. Wow!!