Based in the United States, VPNbook is another service that provides fully loaded free VPN to make your data and browsing activities are completely protected whenever you are connected to the internet. It also help you change your real location (IP address) to bypass geo-restrictions and unblock any restricted web content, such as: Netflix, Facebook, Youtube, Skype, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, etc. In this review, we will dissect every element of VPNbook based on testing their free VPN service.
Pricing
VPNbook is a 100% free VPN service. In order to keep its business afloat, the company relies on Bitcoin donations and also offers a paid dedicated IP service. The company provides 3 free services:
1- Free PPTP VPN
A free point to point tunneling service that is compatible with several platforms. It is the least secure of known tunneling protocols as it can be detected by strong firewalls and DPI investigations, such as those used in China, Russia and Iran. Users can get access to 8 servers using PPTP and get unlimited speed as well as unlimited bandwidth.
2- Free OpenVPN
An open source VPN software that is always recommended by us for its strong encryption and ability to pass through the toughest web restrictions. VPNbook gives you access to 8 servers. On the other hand, you will need to purchase certification bundles ($2 each) to configure the client on your device.
3- Free Web Proxy
Users have also the option to get a free proxy server that masks a user’s original IP address giving access to restricted websites on the internet. Users can choose from an ample selection of server locations all free of charge.
4- Dedicated Server
This is the only chargeable service offered by VPNbook. Subscribers can enjoy dedicated IP VPN with no logs kept, 5 simultaneous connections, limited bandwidth to 500GB per month. P2P and torrent sharing is also permitted within this package which costs $7.95. There is also a 30-day money-back guarantee offered.
Privacy
VPNbook follows a strict no logging policy to keep their users’ data safe and encrypted. However, being based in the United States makes VPNbook fall under US jurisdiction and keeps some information, such as: IP address, bandwidth and your VPN session’s duration.
“Our privacy policy is simple: We respect your privacy. We do not collect any personal information or store any user’s internet data. The only thing we log is the IP address and time the connection was made. We log connection information in order to reduce abusive activities and keep this free VPN service online for all legitimate users. Connection logs are automatically deleted every week.”
Security
VPNbook relies on strong AES 256-bit and AES-128-bit encryption to support two tunneling protocols, OpenVPN and PPTP. Once more, we recommend using OpenVPN as it is an open source client that is the most secure and can bypass tough restrictions.
Servers
Although it has a small network of servers, these servers are cleverly placed in important locations, such as: USA, UK, Canada and Romania.
Compatibility
We were impressed to find that VPNbook is compatible with all major platforms, such as: Windows, Linux, Mac OS, iOS & Android. It is also compatible with with browsers, such as: Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox and Opera.
Smart CDN Fallback
This is one of the attractive features provided by VPNbook. By using cloud based IP CDN components, VPNbook can upheave their performance and speed up a user’s internet connection by dodging slow lanes to route traffic. The “fallback” feature acts as a kill switch to keep a user’s internet connection secured and anonymised at all times in case of sudden CDN drop outs.
Customer Support
24/7 live chat support is available. In addition, users can contact the VPN provider’s support team via e-mails, Facebook or Twitter.
Conclusion
As a free VPN service, VPNbook is definitely worth trying. It might not offer sophisticated or advanced VPN features, but it does provide a solid performance and offer all the necessary elements needed to maintain online privacy and anonymity.
