Internetz.me Reviews

Internetz.me’s only significant drawback is that it does not offer a custom client, one that they can call their own. Instead connections rely on installing the OpenVPN GUI open source software. Setting up a VPN connection is a bit of a lengthier process this way. However, it is not a particularly challenging task. Furthermore, you receive a detailed guide for all of the devices you want to connect. There are minor annoyances regarding this client: the easiest way to initiate connections is through using the tray, and there are minimal settings available. Not having a kill switch or features like automatic connections or DNS leak protection are definite absences, though.

The official website is structured in a way that it lists all the configuration files by location individually, but they are also available for download in one bunch. Speaking of which, the website is simplistic and effective in design. The main page supplies you with most of necessary information.

Proxy usage

Internetz.me also promotes proxy usage through two solutions: the FoxyProxy add-on and the proxifier SOCKS client. FoxyProxy, as its name suggests is a browser add-on available for Firefox and Google Chrome. Proxifier on the other hand is a standalone client, but both of them are directed at proxy usage. Unfortunately, Internetz.me does not have a public proxy list for these providers; they do seem to work in close cooperation, however.

Internetz.me’s location and server selection is not the best. According to the official website, the company offers 13 servers and 6 countries. The text that indicates this is also a link that guides you to the complete server list. However, we found that there is a minor difference in numbers: they offer 18 servers across 5 countries, at least according to the latest server list. Nevertheless, we are not that satisfied in both cases. All accounts provide unlimited bandwidth and unlimited server switches.

Of course, Internetz.me is a relatively new company, so these mere statistics can be excused. We are quite warmhearted as a matter of fact, because connection speeds are great. Even though OpenVPN is the only available security protocol – and it is supposed to hurt speeds – this does not happen with Internetz.me. Even in the far overseas territories of Canada and the US we got better results than other providers can measure in Europe on faster security protocols. We do miss the United Kingdom or Germany as locations, but those that are available fare really well.

For VPN connections, Internetz.me uses OpenVPN as the sole security protocol with AES 256-bit encryption. As far as OpenVPN goes, this is fine, especially since speeds values are still great for a 256-bit protection. However, we would have loved to see at least L2TP as a second option, as mobile devices (that have generally less power compared to OS) favor that protocol over OpenVPN.

The company’s log policy is not bad. They are pretty specific about the information they store. To quote from the original website: “Internetz.me does not create any logs of the user traffic. We do log connections to the VPN servers itself (to avoid brute force attempts on user accounts). This information is only kept for a total of 24 hours.” This means that timestamps are logged, but are only kept for 24 hours. This is favorable compared to companies that explicitly log more than this, or just do not mention how long certain data are stored.

Internetz.me’s device support is standard. For operating systems, you can establish a VPN connection through Windows 8, 7, Vista and XP on either 32 or 64 bits. Linux and Mac OS X are also included. For mobile devices, Android and iOS are supported. So far this is to be expected from every VPN company. However as mentioned before, the company does not supply its own VPN client. It does however provide an Owncloud client for the RAID storage access. We must also highlight the foxy proxy add-ons for Firefox and Chrome here, as they are essentially indirect device support – they incentivize getting a VPN connection.

Pricing is a bit strict with Internetz.me. Three different packages are available, which differ in duration and price only. A single month costs $11.19; this is a bit more expensive than most 30-day prices. Half a year of VPN fares at $10.07 per month, and an overall of $60.42. Sadly, there are some annual prices that are lower elsewhere. And finally, one year costs $107.40, which corresponds to the lowest monthly fee of $8.95. We also have to add that longer durations are billed as a one-off, so you will pay for 12 months for example in a single transaction. The company has a 7-day refund option on all purchases and also makes a 4-hours free trial available.

The real question is: are these slightly higher prices grant a higher value service? No, not necessarily. The fact that Internetz.me does not have their own client and thus lack more advanced security and networking features means that we are reluctant to claim that you get exactly the right value for your money. Still, speeds are good and so is proxy support.

Payment options are also a bit dodgy, as the two favored methods are PayPal and Bitcoins. While anonymous payments are a great option, and credit card payments are possible through PayPal, we would like to see more methods in the future.

Customer service is great with Internetz.me, as there is a multitude of ways to connect with associates. A live chat is almost always up, while submitting a ticket is similarly easy to conduct. We did run into problems while setting up the GUI client, and while we did receive an official notification on the website about answer coming back in 24 hours maximum, we got contacted after a couple of hours. Support was quite friendly and multiple associates helped out. Apart from these, you can ask your question directly via e-mail and the company also runs a blog and a reinvigorated forum. In terms of social media presence, Internetz.me is active with mixed success on Facebook and Twitter, but Google+ is a more useful catalyst to react on. Lastly, they are also present on Linkedln.

Internetz.me is a younger VPN provider and as of now there are some signs of this. They are making good progress though and while there are some technical aspects of their service that we lack, connection speeds intend to rival the top providers. On a 256-bit encryption these are great, great statistics. Then again, we do not mind the few locations but we do miss some key ones like the UK or Germany. We have got the impression that they will grow even bigger in the near future, and while prices are a bit high at the moment, Internetz.me definetly has potential.