Snapshot
StrongVPN may not be one the biggest or most popular names our readers have come across, but their zero logs, privacy focused service is a firm favourite of ours when it comes to unblocking geo-restricted content or bypassing government censorship in the likes of China, the UAE, Turkey, India etc. It’s also pretty quick!
Compatible with
Rating
Our score:
4.5
★★★★★ 4.5/5
Pricing
Price from:
$5.83
per month
Pros
- Fast, reliable servers with up to 101Mbps download speeds
- Ideal for bypassing government censorship
- Unblocks Netflix, BBC iPlayer and all other popular streaming sites
- Peer-to-peer (P2P) torrenting permitted
- Multiple VPN protocols such as L2TP, SSTP, OpenVPN, IPSec and IKEv2
- Protect 12 devices with one account
- Excellent 24/7 live chat customer support
Cons
- Server network smaller than most top providers
- No VPN kill switch on Android, MacOS or iOS
Introduction
‘Your privacy made stronger’. StrongVPN deploy an extremely robust security set up which is packed full of advanced features, doing this without sacrificing on speeds thanks to their 100% owned worldwide server network.
They are one of the few VPNs able to consistently beat the Netflix VPN block giving its users full access to the full Netflix experience, plus unlocking a whole host of other popular streaming channels such as BBC iPlayer with absolute ease.
P2P torrenting is permitted on all of its servers with 100% assurance that user activity is kept totally private thanks to its super strong zero logs policy.
Overcoming government censorship can easily and safely be done with StrongVPN. Users living in or travelling to countries with high government censorship should seriously consider giving them a try as its solid obfuscation will overcome ‘problems’ such as the great firewall of China as well as providing total internet freedom to those living in the likes of the UAE, Turkey, India etc.
Pricing
StrongVPN can be purchased on both monthly or annual subscriptions. Their 1 year plan offers the best value for money and is currently on special offer with 42% off when purchased through our website. Both plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
For payment, StrongVPN currently accepts a wide range of options including most major debit and credit cards (including American Express), PayPal, as well as Alipay for users in China.
SAVE 42%
Features
StrongVPN is certainly a full feature setup and doesn’t fall short in many areas. For privacy, StrongVPN has its users covered thanks to its AES-256 military grade encryption backed up by their own DNS servers meaning no traffic will be routed via any third parties. Additionally, a selection of VPN protocols keeps everything watertight which perfect should you require a VPN to access websites/applications that are blocked by government censorship.
You can stream all the content you wish from Netflix, BBC iPlayer, live sporting events and other popular sources without any limitations. With 950+ 100% owned servers geographically spread over 30 countries (59 cities), despite not currently being a market leader in server quantity, their quality servers deliver faultless reliability and more than sufficient speeds.
Torrenting and P2P file sharing is permitted across all servers, and with very well-designed user-friendly apps and a very generous device allowance, we can see why this is such a growingly popular VPN provider.
Platforms and devices
StrongVPN generously lets users simultaneously protect 12 devices with one account meaning you ‘should’ be able to cover the entirety of the tech you and the rest of your household are likely to own.
Their user-friendly apps can be installed on macOS, Windows & Linux (requires additional configuration) operating systems as well as iOS and Android mobile devices. If using a Fire TV (Amazon Firestick) or Kodi is your thing… they’ve got you covered too. It’s also easy enough to configure your home router and protect your entire wi-fi network with a StrongVPN.
Unfortunately at present there aren’t any browser extensions available on StrongVPN such as Chrome, Firefox or Opera, but we’re hopefully they will add these in the not so distant future.
Streaming
If like us, you want to stream the best content available online, StrongVPN is a great VPN to pick. Supported by fast and reliable servers, you can unblock geo-restricted content with ease. A great deal of Netflix content is geo-restricted to the US and of course BBC iPlayer can only be viewed in the UK. StrongVPN will effectively lift any blocks on Netflix, BBC iPlayer, HBO, Hulu, ESPN and many more. All you need to do is select a server from the country’s content you want to view (e.g. US for the US Netflix store and the UK for BBC iPlayer) and you’re all set!
Torrenting
StrongVPN is a great choice for our readers who are big into P2P file sharing with unlimited activity permitted across all of its servers. Solid upload and download speeds mean file sharing can be done efficiently and safely with its advanced security features and zero logs. Additional reassurance is provided by a VPN kill switch (only on Windows client) which stops you leaking your unencrypted activity and true IP address should your VPN connection drop.
Speed
StrongVPN performed acceptably on our speed tests kicking out some pretty respectable results. Local downloads speeds peaked at 101Mbps and averaged around 52Mbps. When connecting to servers in the US from our offices in London, and for connections further afield, as expected, speeds dropped slightly more but would still be more than good enough to stream HD/4K content without any buffering most of the time.
Upload speeds were pretty good too… ideal for our P2P file sharing readers.
Security
When it comes to security and privacy features, StrongVPN hold their own. It’s a fantastic choice for a multitude of needs whether you’re a casual user, using public wi-fi, torrenting or needing a VPN to evade government censorship (StrongVPN is one of just a few providers who can help provide full and safe access to blocked websites and applications in sensitive jurisdictions such as China, the UAE, Turkey, India etc.).
Their industry leading AES-256 encryption is deployed with a RSA-2048 handshake (don’t worry all you need to know is you are totally secure) to ensure your IP address remains totally hidden at all times. They also use a range of VPN protocols to tunnel your connection safely around the globe including our favoured OpenVPN as well as L2TP, SSTP, IPSec and IKEv2 (depending on what device you are using).
Advanced features include DNS leak blocking, first party DNS, IPV6 leak blocking and in our view the must have VPN kill switch. However… this is only available on the windows client at present. A real shame considering most top providers include this as standard on their complete suite of applications.
Applications
StrongVPN have struck a good balance with their feature rich, user-friendly applications, and we’re confidence users new to the VPN world won’t have any trouble getting to grips with them.
Open their app and you are faced with a nice big quick connect button offering complete no-frills protection. Delve a little further and you’re presented with a server list offering the traditional list of locations headed with a ‘best available’ option and server search bar.
There aren’t any specific streaming servers labelled, and as mentioned, the lack of kill switch (other than on windows) is a shame and hopefully something StrongVPN will think about adding in the future.
Finally, their dedicated Amazon Fire TV (firestick) app is a little clunky but it’s great that they even offer one unlike some other providers.
Customer service
StrongVPN have high standards with regards to keeping new and prospective customers happy. They have 24/7 online chat support for both sales and technical enquiries which we of course tested out at various times and with a range of queries. We found agents to be exceptionally helpful and provided informative responses.
On their website there is also a decent ‘help’ section containing setup guides, troubleshooting and FAQ’s so it’s fair to say the tick every box here!
Log policy
“StrongVPN is one of the few VPNs in the industry that can promise zero-logging”. StrongVPN adopts one of the best and most robust zero logs policy amongst its premium peers. Users can be 100% confident that any traffic or activity isn’t logged, including basic connection metadata, ensuring your true IP address and online movements really are fully hidden. They also own all of their servers so there cannot be any third-party involvement or external risk.
Jurisdiction
StrongVPN is located in the USA which isn’t an ideal location for privacy. The US is notorious for data selling and government spying as well as being part of the ‘Five Eyes’ international intelligence network.
Despite what may seem like bad placement for StrongVPN, their robust security features and no logs policy mean that should information on a user be requested, they genuinely don’t have none to hand over as it isn’t collected in the first place. We are therefore more than happy to recommend them as a privacy friendly VPN.
The verdict
StrongVPN strikes a really good balance delivering the most important features needed for a good quality VPN. Built with security in mind, their service is backed up with a strict zero logs policy, an array of great protocols, 100% owned highly secure servers all offering pretty decent speeds.
When it comes to streaming geo-restricted, they are one of the few VPNs able to consistently beat blocks, and for those wanting to defeat government censorship or are travelling to areas such as China and the UAE, StrongVPN is a smart choice to take with you thanks to its fantastic obfuscation against blocks.
The only areas of disappointment we’ve come across are the fact they don’t currently offer any browser extensions for the likes of Chrome, Firefox or Opera, and the must have VPN kill switch is only available to Windows users at present. Incredible that they don’t see this as a must have feature across all platforms but we’re 99% confident this will be added in the not so distant future.
Although they don’t offer a free trail as such, users can try StrongVPN out risk free thanks to their 30-day money back guarantee, however with their relatively high price per month, readers may be best looking elsewhere on this site at some of their competitors who offer many of the same things (and some even more), for a cheaper price.
Allowing the minor negatives to slide, Melvyn and the team at comparemyvpn.com happily recommend StrongVPN to our readers thanks to its robust setup, great customer support, its ability to unlock geo-restricted content as well as easily bypassing government censorship.