How Reach differs from a VPN
Reach is often mistaken for a VPN. It solves a similar problem — reaching content that's blocked or region-locked — but it works in a fundamentally lighter way. TYO Reach is a traffic proxy for the one browser you choose, not a full VPN that takes over your whole computer.
What a VPN does
A VPN builds an encrypted tunnel for all the traffic leaving your device. Every app, every background service, every update — all of it is rerouted, all the time, usually with the VPN running constantly. That's powerful for whole-device privacy, but it's heavy: it can slow everything down, interfere with local services, and keep running even when you don't need it.
What Reach does
Reach is a lightweight traffic proxy. When you switch it on in the Reach client app, only the traffic from the single browser you've chosen is routed through us. Everything else on your computer — other browsers, apps, updates, background services — keeps going straight out over your normal connection, completely untouched.
Switch it off and that browser instantly goes back to normal. Nothing keeps running in the background when you're not using it.
Side by side
| TYO Reach | Full VPN | |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | One browser you choose | Your entire device |
| Other apps affected | No | Yes |
| Running in the background | Only while switched on | Usually always on |
| Setup | The client app configures the browser for you | Install + system-level config |
| Speed impact | Limited to the chosen browser | Can slow everything down |
| Best for | Reaching blocked / region-locked sites in your browser | Whole-device privacy & security |
Which should you use?
- Use TYO Reach when you want to open a website, streaming library, store or service that's blocked or shows different content based on your location — and you don't want to disrupt the rest of your computer.
- Use a full VPN when you need every app on your device routed, or you specifically need whole-system encryption.
In short
Reach gives you the part of a VPN most people actually want — appearing somewhere else to reach blocked content — without the weight of routing your whole computer. One browser, only when you switch it on.
Next: see Choosing a browser to pick which browser Reach routes, or Getting started to set it up.