[dba-Tech] To V. or Not to V.

[Arthur Fuller]

<Preamble>
Given my status as a senior and semi-retired person, you might wonder why I
have four computers -- make that five, if you include my phone. My main
squeeze runs Mint 19. Her neighbour on the East side runs Win10 Pro, and
her neighbour on the East side runs Window7. The LG tablet runs Android,
and so does the phone.
</Preamble>
I've just read an article about setting up one's personal VPN, and clearly
I need hand-holding. The first question is, why do I want one? My provider
claims to provide secure protection from intruders, so why do I need
additional prophylactics?
Given my acknowledged status as an old fart, please forgive me for asking
this. Why do I need a VPN? And also, given the disparity of my hardware,m
plus the fact that mainly I live on the Mint 19 laptop, visiting the others
only occasionally, is there a recipe for making all these boxes speak
together, and all of them speak tmy two printers? I am totally
overwhelmed... and to think I once considered myself a programmer. Wpw. I
grow old, I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.

-- 
Arthur