Hotspot uses its closed-source, proprietary Catapult Hydra protocol. Hotspot Shield has an undeniably dodgy past, its protocol is closed source, and its data collection and privacy policy are concerning. If, however, you're less concerned with quickly streaming media and more focused on finding a VPN with a strong reputation for privacy, you should choose a different VPN. Pain points: Excessive logging, lack of audits, closed source protocol.Leaks: IPv6 potentially visible on certain platforms.Hotspot Shield offers incredibly fast speeds for a VPN, but it's privacy policies are lacking. If all you're looking for in a VPN is something lightning fast to help you easily stream your home country's content on Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Prime Video while traveling abroad, Hotspot is going to give you exactly what you're looking for. Overall non-VPN speeds averaged about 250 Mbps. Singapore tested ahead of Australian, however, where speeds struggled at an average 142 Mbps. Although Singapore speeds reached a peak of 270 Mbps, their average was just 167 Mbps due to wild swings in speeds, where HotSpot's overall slowest score of 30 Mbps was clocked. US speeds peaked at 348 Mbps, but averaged just 183 Mbps overall. Gaming, torrenting, browsing, streaming - speed-dependent services won't be slowed down for Hotspot Shield users in the UK.Īs usual with European connection speeds, high scores in France were balanced by low scores in Germany for an average of 203 Mbps. If my tests were solely based on connections to servers in the UK, we'd have a new speed champion: Speed loss on London connections was under 8%, with a satisfying 230 Mbps average download speed and a peak speed test of 349 Mbps. A 26% speed loss puts it in second place in our speed rankings, falling behind Surfshark - which lost just 16.9% of its speed the last time I tested it - and knocking ExpressVPN down to third place with a 51.8% speed loss at last measurement. That average includes both the superfast speeds recorded for nearby servers, and the sluggish speeds recorded for the more distant servers. In the case of Hotspot Shield, only about 26% of average internet speed was lost. Most VPNs cut your speed by half or more. That's one reason I'm more interested in testing the amount of speed lost (which for most VPNs is typically half or more) across both high-speed and slower connection types, and in using tools such as to even out the playing field. Hyperfast internet service will yield higher test speed results.
Internet speeds in the US vary by state and provider so, with any speed test, results are going to rely on your local infrastructure. I ran speed tests using Hotspot Shield over two days with dynamic IP addresses on both Windows and Apple devices. As thrilling as its speeds are, spending time with Hotspot is going to leave your wallet a little lighter than you might prefer. As of May 2021, it's the second-fastest VPN I've tested, effortlessly delivers on smooth-streaming media, and can dance between server connections without missing a beat, no matter how many interruptions you throw at it.īe warned, however. Its TLS-based Hydra Catapult protocol, US jurisdiction, 128-bit AES encryption support, and large percentage of virtual servers might strip away my trust in its privacy protections - but I'm not here for the buffet, and those questionable components are exactly what give this service its core prowess. We will update our reviews and, if necessary, our rankings to account for this new competitive landscape.Įnter Hotspot Shield VPN.
We're in the process of reevaluating all of our top picks in light of these changes. In February, NordVPN and Surfshark announced the two companies were merging, though they'll continue to operate autonomously.
In December, ExpressVPN announced that it had officially joined Kape Technologies, a company that already owns several other VPNs and has raised privacy concerns in the past. 9, 2022: The VPN industry has undergone significant change in the past few months, with all three of our top VPN choices announcing major changes in corporate ownership. So why would anyone pay for a US VPN? Simple: Pure, naked speed.Įditors' note, Feb. Between the US' participation in international intelligence-sharing rings, its comparative lack of domestic data privacy protections, and its government's vast authority to silently surveil you - there's no way to know what's going on behind the curtain. Nevermind the shady ownership structures and oblique third-party operation chains you've got to trust from far too many commercial VPNs. Paying for a US-based virtual private network because you want top-tier privacy protection is like popping into a roadside strip joint because you want a satisfying lunch buffet - a risky move that's best made with your eyes open.
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