Archives: Reviews

Founded in 2008, VPN company Perfect Privacy is the result of an international cooperation, with headquarters or significant places of control residing in Switzerland and Panama. They also have offices in New Zealand and Latvia. These countries are advantageous when starting a VPN business, as they are not burdened by the EU's or the US' data retention laws. Perfect Privacy offers connections across 40 servers located around the globe in 25 different countries. They develop their software-solutions themselves, so it is worth noting which protocols they work with. For encryption, they are well-versed in today's standards and thus use OpenVPN, SSH and IPSec, along with PPTP. Their greatest strengths include a very lenient log policy with almost nothing logged on their side which, combined with the list of rare features, is a rare and welcomed packaged. Customizable port forwarding, two types of proxy to use, cascading – which is continuously swapping connections across multiple servers – and even DNS Leak protection are built-in sides of Perfect Privacy's facets.

Astrill is a VPN service founded in 2009. Originating from Australia, they have since relocated themselves to the Republic of Seychelles. They are well-versed in speaking to casual users the most; the testament to this is their wide selection of customizable features, with most of them aimed at Windows users and video and music streaming. Their client allows the downloading of the latter two and facilitates better buffering while blocking ads. Next to these there is also a focus on unique security solutions, as two of their three protocols are theirs only: OpenWeb and StealthVPN. They do indeed produce fruitful results, as their speeds are good and connections are stable. The company also caters to businesses with customizable business VPN plans, complete with a control panel to manage the VPN accounts of your different employees. To complete the round-up, Astrill also provides P2P support, with BitTorrent heavily favored. They offer connection in 55 countries across 238 servers, which is a sizeable number.

Liberty Shield is a UK-based VPN and proxy service by Scothosts Ltd. Founded in 2008, they have been rebranded under their current name, while previously they ran the service under the moniker UK Proxy Server. The visual elements of their website and the overview of their products, pricing models and extra features strongly suggest that Liberty Shield's main target audience is residents of the United Kingdom and by extension, some countries of the Commonwealth of Nations. Out of the 10 countries they offer VPN access too, three are Commonwealth members (United Kingdom, New Zealand, Canada) and two were in some way or another were a part of or were affiliated with the former British Empire (United States and Ireland).

Released in 2014, airbackup is an online solution for small and medium-sized businesses looking to backup their data. Though still a greenhorn by some standards, airbackup brings something entirely new to the table: BackupBoost technology. Couple this deduplication and compression tool with the fact that the application brandishes the TeamViewer logotype, and you can understand how it managed to stand out and shine in so little time, much like the TeamViewer, ITbrain and Monitis applications before it. As the name suggests, this is an online backup solution, and as such, it features a user-friendly interface aimed at business administrators who need no-frills, permanent access to their data. A free, full-featured trial version is available. Best of all, airbackup enables unlimited workstations and servers to operate, and everything is up and running from the day you first use the trial.

Hide.me is a VPN service provided by the Malaysian based company eVenture Ltd. Founded in late 2012, they have a strong international focus, which is also why their site is available in German next to English. Although it's apparent the company has a European edge, they offer their complete VPN package to customers from across the world. A great number of protocols are available for use including SoftEther, and service comes with incredible speed and superb security. Their 85 servers across 23 countries further suggest their global involvement, with three of these servers also offering proxies. In other good news, P2P-based downloads are supported on most of their locations. Rather than offering a free trial account limited in time, Hide.me provides anyone with a forever-free account with up to 2GB of bandwidth each month so you can try it for as long as you want. Upgrading from the free plan to Hide.me's most complete Premium plan that offers a complete solution is quite pricey, but with the special 35% discount deal the pricing comes down to an affordable $7.58 per month.

Although Le VPN has a French name boastingly meaning “The VPN”, the mother company VTNV Solutions Limited is in fact a Hong Kong based business that serves customers all around the world in French, English, Russian and Spanish. Founded in 2010, its excellent speed and service pointing beyond the usual VPN environment enters it as a contender as one of the best around. Still, with minor flaws such as website issues and suggestive marketing choices signal that though not a big one, but there is a wall to break down. Despite this, Le VPN offers a very complete service that goes beyond just providing VPN connections. Its SmartDNS asset cheers those interested in TV entertainment, and while a live chat is absent, the knowledgebase is extensive, and e-mail based customer service is fast and informative, even in technical details. Their clients and apps are easy to understand use, seeking fluidity. Le VPN supports most of today's operating systems and mobile devices, providing applications both for iOS and Android with corresponding guides. If you decide to use the service, your connection will bear the staple AES-256 bit encryption, which is military-grade protection.