ZenVPN Reviews

While some VPN services throw confusing configuration tabs, menus and charts at you, ZenVPN make the whole process automatic. You can start by signing up for a free account at their website, and then download the appropriate client for your device . After finishing the installation, you’ll be greeted by a simplistic window, whereupon the virtual location can be set. And that’s all. No messy configuration, no difficult terminology, no overly long settings. The software even activates itself during startup, although it has an annoying habit of opening the browser with the ZenVPN startup displayed on it. ZenVPN is the ideal first step for you into the VPN world, as it provides you a dependable service without complications.

ZenVPN’s VPN client is very user friendly, as it also has an auto detect feature. Choosing this option will set the fitting system client for your current device. Obviously, this is meant to aid people who are less adapted to these kinds of software. Interestingly, there is an extra category, called “Other” . It is meant to support users who are more tech-savvy, or want to run ZenVPN on a machine that is unlisted at the site. You can manage to get things done simply by downloading the OpenVPN source client from the indicated page, and then modify its settings with your personal configuration file you get from the ZenVPN site. The method is the same for smartphones.

Protocols

ZenVPN offer four kinds of VPN protocols. OpenVPN, which is known to be the top choice for desktops, while PPTP and L2TP are recommended for mobile devices. L2TP is the slower, but it’s better suited for Apple and Android devices, while PPTP is the faster but less secure solution. IPsec might be old fashioned, but it’s still the best for site-to-site communication. Be aware that ZenVPN starts up with OpenVPN pre-set as your primary protocol, but you can change it by following the steps shown on the website, under the title “Your VPN Credentials”.

VPN network

Anyone can create their own account with ZenVPN, and use it to browse and watch videos anonymously. However, this account limits your daily bandwidth to only 250MB per day, which might be insufficient for longer movies. Zen has a good list of possible locations for your virtual address. There are servers in 18 countries, with multiple ones located in the U.S. Other than the U.S., you can connect to including the United Kingdom, Canada, Russia, France, and the Netherlands, with others such as Australia, South Africa, Israel, Hong Kong, Japan, India, Singapore, Chile and South Korea . The list could be bigger, but the fact that they also included Africa is nice addition. By checking the speed of data transfer on three different locations, we noticed a slight downgrade in the speed. Connecting to Germany, which was a closer location, didn’t show much impact, while reaching for farer servers in the U.S. and Hong Kong comes with some increase in the ping, and decrease on both the upload and download speed.

Privacy protection

ZenVPN promises freedom and unlimited access to online content without compromising on security. Although it claims to use strong industry standards encryption to ensure a secure connection, it can be hardly verified due to the tight-lipped information on the website. ZenVPN promises that they won’t inspect your online activities or keep a record of it, yet it’s hard to get proof of it, as the actual program window doesn’t let you access any details or logs . On their privacy policy page, they claim that they do log some of your browser’s data, like your IP, the time you spent on their pages or your browser’s type. Plus they state that there is no foolproof method of transmission over the Internet, as such they can’t guarantee 100% secureness. Sadly ZenVPN also lacks vital features like a kill switch, which could protect you from harmful events by disconnecting your Internet when your VPN connection temporarily drops off.

The standard array of devices is supported by ZenVPN. Among the popular choices you find Windows systems, Mac OS X, plus Android and iOS. The respective download client is available from the website, within the Quick Setup menu. You can choose the fitting system from a menu, and upon doing so, you’ll be offered a step-by-step tutorial where the necessary actions for the installation are explained. ZenVPN doesn’t have a separate app for mobiles, and that’s why it prompts user to the OpenVPN smartphone app, which is available in both the iTunes App Store and Google Play. The process is the same as with the desktop client: launch the app on your phone, and when it asks for a configuration file, use the one you downloaded from ZenVPN.

In case you took a liking for ZenVPN, but the limited bandwidth just isn’t enough, you can purchase a premium subscription and get things rolling. You even have the freedom to choose between the two applicable payment plans. First, there is the standard plan. It’s the more cost effective option, but your broad internet surfing ability is still restricted to 5GB per day, which could be more than enough if you don’t use torrents that much, or avoid watching HD movies.

For total freedom and unlimited data transfer, you may consider selecting the more advanced Unlimited Plan. ZenVPN is very flexible when it comes to pricing. You can choose between weekly, monthly and annual billings. Keep in mind that you’ll be charged automatically unless you cancel. The weekly fee for the Standard plan is $2.95 per week, while the monthly and annual plans costs $5.95 per month and $49.95 per year respectively. As for the Ultimate Plan, the weekly billing is $5.95, the fee for one month’s use is $9.95, while using ZenVPN for a whole year costs you $95.50 per year. A longer duration might be worth the consideration, as you earn a discount on the price. ZenVPN accepts a large number of payment methods, PayPal and Bitcoin included.

Simplicity and convenience are the main virtues of ZenVPN. It caters to people who want to use a dependable and free VPN service without the need to dig knee-deep into the technical lingo, and spend hours to get it work. With ZenVPN, you can achieve this with three simple actions: register, download and launch. There are servers placed in 23 locations around the world, covering all continents. The service sets OpenVPN as the standard protocol, but you can easily change it to L2TP/IPsec or PPTP. The forceful simplicity is the greatest flaw, though. People, who are more used to VPN services or IT in overall, might find the features lack lusting. There isn’t any option to monitor or customize the use of ZenVPN in any way, and the daily 250MB bandwidth limit is unsuited for video streaming.