Which Device(s) Need VPN?

Technically, I would think that either place will work, so the choice comes down to which environment has the implementation tools that you like best. My only advice would be to NOT set up a VPN on both devices. Tunnel-in-tunnel doesn't do anything good for your network performance.

Thanks for your reply Char. So if I setup the VPN on my phone, it will cloak my PC, phone and Internet TV devices? I'd prefer setting up the VPN on the phone since that will protect me on the go.

Yes, to the extent that those things will be using your phone-as-hotspot feature. Also, unless it's a VPN back to a server that you control, you're sort of at the mercy of the VPN provider to do the right thing regarding your security.

I'm more concerned about wireless snoops than the VPN provider. Would I need to change anything when using public WiFi instead of my own cellular data, or would the VPN still have me covered?

If you to put some effort into it, Amazon has a free account on their cloud. You can set up your own VPN. Lots of work though.

Of course I'm not too sure if you are free from Amazon's prying eyes. But a VPN sees everything you do.

Look back at your original question, if you have encryption on the Android, about all you will leak is meta data.

People use a VPN when they are on an open wifi, which is not your situation.

I'll look into the Amazon VPN. I hope it will be dependable. I don't care about them snooping.

What exactly do you mean by having encryption on the Android? Is that something I'd need to install? Would it affect the way I use the smartphone for ordinary activities? Would it cloak everything leaving its hotspot app? That's what I'm after. Thanks for your reply miso.

Your email should be using TLS. This goes without saying. Any website with encryption (https) should also be safe. This is independent of whatever device you are using. Obviously your wifi needs to be encrypted.

All the VPN does is hide your traffic from your ISP, other than your ISP sees you using the VPN. The VPN also hides your IP address from the websites you surf. So it isn't like the VPN is useless, but rather it is a type of security you may not need. The VPN also can be used to change the location of where your traffic originates if you want to get around geographical restrictions.

After researching, I don't think the Amazon cloud feature suits my needs.

Thank you so much for the clarification. So a VPN isn't needed if I'm not going to be using public WiFi. Home WiFi isn't a security concern.

I purchased a VPN service but have decided not to use it based on your info. It also didn't help that I must use their VPN app which doesn't have an auto-reconnect feature, leaving me vulnerable to what I was fearing anyway. In addition, a VPN can slow down traffic when multiple devices are using it simultaneously. I feel more confident about not needing a VPN.

Generally the phone has a setup to always use the VPN. Now my understanding is the apps for VPN is so you can change "locations" easily, but the basic proxy should be automatic. Firefox and Chromium have an add-ons for VPNs.