

What's more, we were pleased to learn that this level of support is also available to both paying customers and non-customers - those who may be thinking to pay for the service. The first thing we check with any VPN service is whether it offers a 24/7 live chat support and we're glad to report that Hotspot Shield does provide one. Just install them on your computer, log in and let them do the magic in the background. In addition to dedicated desktop and mobile apps, Hotspot Shield also offers browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox, which are equally easy to use. For what it matters, most users like this "set it and forget it" way with little to no additional features to turn on and off everything works out of box. The company believes its own protocol is the best thing out there and the default setup leaves little room for advanced settings. On the other hand, the same simplicity may leave advanced users craving for more options to play with. Ease of UseĬhances are Hotspot Shield's apps are among the easiest to use, and even the complete newbies will have no trouble installing them on their phones and computers. The most important information you need to know is that no no user activity is logged - ever Hotspot Shield even proves this with its annual Transparency Report that shows the number of data requests it receives from authorities - only to tell them there's nothing they could get from them. This data will reportedly help the company improve its service and perform analytics also, it can hardly lead to Hotspot Shield identifying you as an individual user. In addition, upon opening the app - but before connecting to the VPN - it will collect device-specific information, such as the unique mobile ID, hardware model, OS version, language, and network information. It will keep your IP address for the duration of your session but it is: a) encrypted and b) not linked with your activity while using the VPN. Hotspot Shield is not a zero logs service, but it doesn't collect too much information either. The software also has a VPN kill switch, and protects users against IPv6 and DNS leaks. What you need to know is that Hotspot Shield uses the unbreakable AES-256 encryption which is also employed by the likes of NSA for secure communication. Also, it is this technology that makes Hotspot Shield one of the fastest VPNs on the market.

McAfee, BitDefender, and Cheetah Mobile) as well as a number of global telecommunication companies (like Telefonica and KDDI), and has passed numerous security audits. While that may sound somewhat limiting, it is worth knowing this same VPN protocol is integrated by 70% of the world's largest security companies (i.e. You can't even change it to something else. Instead of using standard protocols such as OpenVPN, Hotspot Shield opts for its own, proprietary Catapult Hydra protocol.

In any case, if the connection speed is you primary criteria for selecting a VPN service, you won't go wrong with Hotspot Shield. Since the company doesn't have more servers than some competing services, this speed has everything to do with strategically selected server locations and Hotspot Shield's proprietary protocol. Whether you need a VPN for streaming, torrenting or gaming - you'll find that Hotspot Shield can work for you. Hotspot Shield is one of the fastest VPN services out there, with pretty much all servers we've tested delivering fast download and upload speeds, as well as low latency times.
