VPN recommendations

Yes they work on ipads and iphones
The key benefits are as follows
Its main official role is for a secure connection to another network
1. Its a secure way to connect into a work network. I use one when I connect into our US office - it makes me part of the office network a bit like a long cable all the way from my laptop. Once I am there I can also connect out to the internet so my laptop is to all intents and purposes in the USA - handy if you want to connect to a site that blocks UK connections but allows US ones - though I tend not to do this this way

2. Its a way to appear in a different country if you take the above example I used to travel a lot - if I wanted to watch BBC iplayer when travelling I just connected into the UK office via a VPN and so appeared to be in Basingstoke when I was actually in Graz for example. Also a secure way to connect to a machine in the office - a bit like a long cable again

Now to what is in discussion above commercial VPNS as discussed in this tread have 2 main purposes, security and geography
Most people here want to get round location blocks so if you are in the UK and want to watch iFollow you connect to a VPN server which is in for example Germany and then use that to access the web then as far as iFollow is concerned your computer/ipad is actually in Berlin say so you can pay your 10 Euros and watch the reds on a saturday afternoon.
Or if you are on holiday in the Canaries and want to watch Eastenders you connect to a UK server and your computer is back in the UK and so iPlayer works

A second and more legitimate reason is security - lets say you are on a public wifi and want to login to your bank - if you use a VPN you have a secure connection to a server somewhere and anyone trying to track what you are doing cant follow - no one can see and intercept your transactions. Of course its also useful if you want to hide what you are doing for other less legitimate reasons but lets not dwell on that