Le VPN Smart DNS Reviews

A smart DNS service can be put to work very easily. In the case of any device you use, your only job is to change the DNS address of your machine to one of the addresses assigned to you by the company. What you will connect to is a DNS proxy server, allowing you access to the channels Le VPN unblocks. It should be noted that the DNS addresses are divided into two categories: one for basically North America and one category for the rest of the world. This does not mean that you can unblock say Malaysian online content if you use a DNS address listed under “rest of the world”. Since Le VPN only supports channels from either the USA, the UK or France, our tags “North America” and “rest of the world” refer to where the DNS addresses should be used from.

Changing a DNS address is a process that does not take longer than a couple of minutes. You do not have to be an expert with computers or routers to accomplish this, and even if you get stuck, the official website provides brief, but informative guides on how to set your smart DNS up in the case of every device. In short, your only job is to access the properties of your internet connection, and change the specifics of the IP address you use. However, keep in mind that it is not the IP address itself that you have to change. Usually, both the IP and DNS identifiers are listed together, but you only need to pay attention to the latter. We must also inform you that Le VPN Smart DNS only supports IPv4 type connections – there is no IPv6 address available explicitly for smart DNS usage for this company. If you would like to get things going nevertheless, you must switch back to an IPv4 address, sadly.

The number of channels available with Le VPN Smart DNS is not that much. You can view up to 52 channels; all of them are either American (meaning the USA), “British” (meaning the UK) or French channels. This is a clear focus on a certain type of consumer, but the numbers themselves are a bit saddening, as the number is relatively evenly distributed. It is true though that the list of viewable channels is on the rise currently, and in fact the company asks your help in what to make available. On the majority of smart DNS pages, you can personally suggest channels for the company to unblock. Therefore, even though today there are not too many channels compared to other companies, we expect numbers to rise.

Le VPN’s smart DNS is structured in a simplistic way. The company defines two main regions to connect to, each with two separate DNS addresses given. The first is dubbed “North, South and Latin America”, while the second is called “Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia” – a more encompassing bunch. However, the distribution is more or less fair, as most of the channels available can be found on the American continent, and the UK. The rest of the world is essentially assigned under one banner because it is not that widely represented in terms channel numbers. It must also be pointed out here that you can only register a maximum of three IP addresses to one account. This means that while you can use smart DNS via as many devices as you like (but only one at a time), you can only choose three networks for work, and that is a rather strict limitation.

Le VPN then actually has primary focus on their VPN service. You can consider smart DNS as a secondary option in our opinion. Sadly, this means that in order to enjoy the latter alone, you also have to buy the VPN side of services; none come without the other. The only significant advantage of this double package is that if you use both Le VPN and its smart DNS counterpart together, you have access to the entire media package, all the restricted websites of 114 countries – this is very rare among regular smart DNS providers. However, if you are looking for the latter on its own, you only have two regions to access, which is – as stated before – poor both in channel availability and the number of locations.

It is worth noting that despite the smart DNS side of service not available for purchase on its own, it can still be used on its own. From the perspective of privacy and safety though, you will be less satisfied than in the case of a VPN, for example. Any smart DNS provides proxy level security on its own, but then again, your internet speeds are not hindered whatsoever. In the case of VPN however, your data traffic is encrypted, but you sacrifice speed on the altar of online safety and camouflage. Furthermore, since the smart DNS is only available in unison with the VPN, the same privacy policy applies to both. This means that whatever you do, whatever domain you visit online, it will not be logged. What is saved however is the timestamps of your connections, along with the bandwidth you used.

Le VPN Smart DNS has good device support, though not the best. Operating systems include Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8. Mac OS X is also welcome, along with Ubuntu Linux. Mobile devices include the iPhone, iPad and even iPod Touch, and Android machines are similarly supported. You can also get Le VPN’s smart DNS to work on gaming consoles; PlayStation 3 and 4, Xbox 360 and Wii are on the table (or wherever you store them, pun intended). There are also a number of routers that can be configured. Freebox, Belkin, D-Link, DD-WRT, Linksys, Netgear and TP-Link machines are good to go. Some types of smart TV can be set up as well for smart DNS. Apple TV, Panasonic Smart TV, LG Smart TV, along with Samsung and Sony Smart TV are welcome. The official knowledgebase also contains an “Other Smart TV Setup” link that intends to generalize the setup for any other device on the market.

Perhaps the most eye-catching result of the smart DNS not available on its own is the pricing structure of the organization. Sadly, you cannot purchase Le VPN Smart DNS on its own. This means that the information you are about to read below is the same as the regular Le VPN service’s values. To make bad things worse (at least from the standpoint of smart DNS), is the sad news that the company does not have a free trial. If you intend to try out what they have to offer, your best bet is to purchase any package and if you think you have seen enough, you can get a full refund within the first seven days of your buy. Sure, you could argue that this is a risk free way to test out Le VPN, but it is still not a free trial.

As for the actual prices, they are presented as “VPN+smart DNS”; all packages include both. For one month, your standard price is $9.95. The “standard” here should be understood as VPN standard; smart DNS usually costs half of this. Six months fare at $7.50 per month, meaning an overall fee of $37.50. This price is 25% off. And lastly, the annual plan is worth $4.95 per month, which results in a $59.40 yearly payment. This is roughly equal to the price you would get if you bought a standalone smart DNS service month by month, without discounts. Therefore, in our opinion the only scenario where you would come close to a fair smart DNS deal (since we concentrate on that in this article) is the 12-month package.

Payment options include MasterCard, Visa and PayPal, American Express, Discover, JCB and Diners Club International.

Le VPN’s official website comes in four languages: English, French, Spanish and Russian. This is great – few VPN or smart DNS organizations work with languages other than English. Contacting the company is just a little bit more troublesome. The main way of doing this is via submitting a ticket. This part of customer service is impeccable, though. You can clarify what your problem is with helpful categories, and you can even attach files to further help the Le VPN crew solve what needs to be solved as fast as possible. Other than this, you have the e-mail address of the company, as well as the Facebook, Twitter and Google+ pages for you to enquire (though these are mostly reserved for news). Le VPN also has a YouTube channel, which contains basic tutorials.

To sum up, the Le VPN Smart DNS service is a dark horse. Unfortunately, this horse only has three legs to stand on. It can only be accessed as a part of the company’s VPN program, meaning that smart DNS is not available as a standalone buy, at all. On the other hand, the functionalities of the DNS surpass most other similar services’ uses when you use it together with the VPN. The lack of free trial also hurts to a certain degree, but at least you have a risk-free opportunity to try Le VPN, as there is a seven-day refund policy the company practices.