Surfshark VPN review:
A little over a year ago, Surfshark was completely new. Since then, the VPN has managed to land a spot on most of the top ten VPNs and earned the consumers' trust. Offering watertight security, uncompromising anonymity, and fast speeds at an incredibly affordable price, let's find out if that trust is truly warranted.
Surfshark VPN promises features that answer your need for increased anonymity online. If you think about getting this VPN service, you might be asking these questions: is it secure? Does it log user data? And most importantly, how good is it for torrenting or Netflix?
Well, right off the bat, we can see that Surfshark offers better prices than most of its competitors. But can that price tag offer quality? Let's find out just how goodSurfshark is. There's a lot of good things to say about the privacy and anonymity credentials of Surfshark. The company behind it continues to add improvements and the list of brilliant security tools in Surfshark's arsenal just keeps on growing.
Surfshark :
Let's start with its encryption and tunneling protocols. Surfshark uses the military-grade AES-256-GCM encryption, which is used by financial institutions and militaries around the world. It currently offers OpenVPN TCP, OpenVPN UDP and IKEv2/IPsec for tunneling protocols. Although more is better, these are fairly good and safe protocols that do great in most situations. The only concern here is that the limited selection might hurt Chinese users because neither protocol is known for its reliability in the face of the Great Firewall.
Surfshark also just recently added a kill switch feature that will automatically deactivate your internet connection if your VPN connection drops unexpectedly. The only caveat here is that Surfsharkstill hasn't implemented a kill switch on its Linux version, but we've heard the news from their customer support team that the developers expect to add this feature in the near future. We're staying tuned for that. Now, when it comes to IP or DNS leaks, our basic tests indicate that Surfshark has no leak issues.
The program has built-in DNS WebRTC, and IPv6 leak protection, as well as a private zero-knowledge DNS network. Simply put, unlike many tools on the market, Surfshark VPN keeps your personally identifiable information hidden, which is an important feature for any VPN service provider. Another great thing to know about Surfshark is that it's based in the British Virgin Islands, which is a British overseas territory that has no data retention laws and isn't involved in any shady intelligence-sharing agreements.
This has allowed Surfshark to put out a robust privacy policy that should put users at ease regarding any potential overreach from government agencies or copyright protection firms. They also have the luxury of a meaningful and no-logs policy. It states that Surfshark "does not collect IP addresses, browsing history, session information, used bandwidth, connection time stamps, network traffic, and other similar data.
" As a matter of fact, if their FAQ is to be believed, Surfshark doesn't anything at all, except your email address and billing information, which means that the provider is one of the few actual "no-logs" VPNs out there. And that's extremely rare and impressive. Just recently, Surfshark introduced to innovative security features for its service. The first one is HackLock.
Surfshark :
This ID leak protection feature was first available via the Surfshark website, but now it has been integrated into the apps. HackLock is very relevant in the age of data breaches - it warns users when their passwords, social security numbers, and other sensitive details get leaked. It works by scanning leaked databases, looking for password,s or email matches. And if it finds any, Surfshark users will receive a notification. HackLock enables you to change your credentials in a timely manner,minimizing the damage caused by data leaks and breaches.
The second new security feature that Surfshark recently integrated into the VPN apps isBlindSearch. This is an alternative to the bigger search engines, such as Google or Bing. You might ask, "why would you need BlindSearch?" Well, both Google and Microsoft Bing are known for ads and tracking. BlindSearch ensures that your privacy will remain intact, and your patience untested.
Moreover, Surfsharkposted a report on the independent audit of its Chrome and Firefox browser extensions. Submitting your VPN app for an independent audit is a commendable move regardless of results. The independent audit was carried out by a respected German cybersecurity company, Cure53, which also performed the very first independent VPN audit in 2017.
For Surfshark, Cure53 found only two vulnerabilities, only one of which had any potential to cause problems for users. This is a very good result and gives a lot of credence to this young VPN service provider. Aside from these security and privacy features, Surfsharkalso offers other technical features like... CleanWeb - an ad tracker, malware,and phishing blocker. Whitelist - which allows users to choose apps that can function outside the VPN tunnel.
This is why some VPN providers call this feature"split tunneling". They also have Camouflage and NoBorders modes - these switch your tunneling protocol to OpenVPN with the XOR patch. This scrambles your traffic and makes it more difficult to detect through Deep Packet Inspection(DPI). And lastly, MultiHop - for those engaging in extra-sensitive activities, MultiHop is an awesome feature. It chains two VPN servers creating more insulation between the user and his online activities.
All of these features combined take Surfshark VPN closer to other security-focused VPN services likeNordVPN, Perfect Privacy, or ProtonVPN. In terms of privacy and security, there's no doubt that Surfshark can perform as well as the other top VPN service providers. But is it fast? Based on our tests, the speeds in remote testing locations held up well - most of the time they should be enough to stream 4k videos and can still be considered very good, even though percentage-wise the upload speed drop-off may appear huge.
However, with ping rates exceeding 200ms, you should expect connections lagging behind during video and VOIP calls. Overall, the speeds are fast, and they seem to be increasing over time. There's obviously a lot of investment going into this VPN. I can only hope thatSurfshark's speed will continue to improve as quickly in the future. When it comes to compatibility, Surfshark is very likely to be supported by your device. The people at Surfshark have evidently been working overtime.
Over the year, they have managed to release apps for all of the major desktop and mobile platforms, Smart TVs and gaming consoles, as well as browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox. You'll find all of the Surfshark VPN downloads on the apps page of the website. Once you're there, choose your device and where you wish to download the app. For Surfshark's desktop apps which are available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, using it is as easy as 1-2-3.
The interface is clean and intuitive, while most of the settings can be found with the click of a button. Connecting to a Surfshark server is also just as easy - just click on Locations on the left sidebar menu and choose your preferred location from the list of cities and countries. Surfshark'sphysical servers are sorted by region, while virtual and P2P servers are on separate lists. You can get under Surfshark's hood by pressing the white settings gear. There you can toggle the startup and auto-connection options, as well as tinker with the security features.
If you're a Mac user, it's a definite plus that the Surfshark app for this platform is just as secure as the windows version. This is relatively rare as most VPNs release macOS apps with limited security features, which is not the case of Surfshark. On the other hand, Surfshark's Linux app doesn't feature a graphical user interface and offers only a command-line instead. Moreover, this version doesn't have a kill switch, which means that Linux users should rather wait for an update or go with another VPN.
For mobile, Surfshark offers lightweight and simplified versions of their desktop counterparts for both Android and iOS. The security is almost as good as what you'd get on a PC or Mac, with several minor caveats. Most importantly, the Android version now finally has a kill switch so you'll no longer have to use the native Android kill switch or a third-party app to complement the VPN. As we've mentioned earlier, Surfshark also has browser extensions available for Chrome and Firefox.
But in essence, these are just proxy services. You can only use them to relocate your browser traffic and nothing else. In other words, if you want to download torrents safely, try one of the regular clients or run the VPN some other way. Surfshark also has an app for amazon TV FireStick and supports SmartDNS on Apple TV, other Smart TVs, and Xbox and PlayStation consoles, which means you can also set it up on these devices to seamlessly unblock streaming services or play online games in other regions.
VPN has instructions for configuring your router as well, so you could use it to protect your entire home network. We've tested Surfshark for Netflix from Europe, and found that it can unblock Netflix in every region we tried, including the US, the UK, Canada, and Japan libraries. Whether Surfshark VPN will remain good for Netflix, in the long run, is a question that is very difficult to answer with absolute certainty. After all, Netflix is notorious for mercilessly sniffing out VPN servers and marking them as such for copyright reasons.
However, we'll recommend Surfshark for Kodi any day week. Now, for torrenting, Surfshark is not a bad choice. The speed is good and the security credentials are almost flawless. Surfshark is not shy to invite torrenting fans to their service, and what's great about that is that they don't discriminate against P2P traffic. Another question that VPN users have when it comes to service coverage is if it works in China.
Well, the last time we checked in on Surfshark, we were skeptical that it could be a reliable service in China. The reason was the list of available tunneling protocols, which only included OpenVPN and IKEv2. One of the features of the Great Firewall of China is that it employs Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) to detect VPN traffic within the network. OpenVPN is known as particularly vulnerable to DPI, and Surfshark had nothing else to offer.
But the situation has completely changed since the introduction of the Camouflage and NoBorders modes. Surfshark is now capable of disguising VPN traffic - the features with from the default tunneling protocol to OpenVPN with the XOR patch, scrambling your traffic and confusing the censors. Additionally, the extra security features added by Surfshark are great for more sensitive user types like journalists, political activists, whistleblowers, hackers, etc. Surfshark started strong back in 2018 and introduced their 24/7 live chat support right at the outset.
That was a big statement of intent since it's a lot easier to just have a support email and be done with it. Needless to say, that wouldn't be enough in the long term, and Surfshark VPN steps ahead of that obstacle right away. As for the support section, there are only pure basics at the moment like installation instructions, FAQ articles, and helpful technical information texts. Overall, the absence of more support options doesn't Surfshark any favors, but the presence of live chat support puts most of our concerns aside. Given all of these security and privacy features, is Surfshark the cheapest top-tier VPN?
Well, there are three different pricing plans, all of which offer a full set of functions. Now, if you take a look at their two-year plan, it's actually one of the cheapest deals on the block. Surfshark has certainly proven its worth, and the prospect of getting a long-term subscription should no longer be particularly worrying. If you can get the tool for just a couple of bucks, we're inclined to say, "Go for it!" When it comes to the payment options, Surfsharkalso provides plenty of ways to settle that $2 fee.
That includes anonymous options, like crypto. Then there are also PayPal and Alipay as well, for those that are interested. Some of the best VPN service providers have overlooked the type of privacy given by a crypto payment option, and it's a great shame. Surfshark is also one of the few to offer a lengthy 7-day free trial on Google Play and on the Apple App Store. Sadly, that means "no" for Windows and Linux users.
But all plans are subject to a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you're not losing anything if you don't want to. So, should you get Surfshark? Having thoroughly investigated this VPN, we can confidently say that we like the road Surfshark VPN is taking. They've done well to cover the basics -from security, jurisdiction, speed, support, and more - and have taken steps in unique directions. Rarely do you see a paid VPN with no limits to the number of simultaneous connections and real zero-logs policy?
Between that, an anonymous signups process, and an option to pay in cryptocurrencies, Surfshark is already one step ahead of its competition. To us, it seems like just a matter of time until we get more features and content from Surfshark VPN, making the whole market stronger. We hope this video helps you figure out if Surfshark is the perfect VPN service provider for you. Let us know in the comment sections below where you think of Surfshark. Have you tried it yet? What features do you like best?
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