But because the company's service uses OpenVPN, any device that can run the OpenVPN client can be configured to work with HostWinds VPN. Ĭurrently, HostWinds VPN only offers a standalone application for Windows. TorGuard VPN even sells a router with its software preinstalled, to protect everything in your home, from your smart fridge to your PlayStation 4. Just about every other VPN service offers five or six licenses with just as many simultaneous connections. I haven't seen another offering that generous. For just one fee, you can connect as many devices as you want. The HostWinds VPN website doesn't play up one of the service's best features: unlimited device access. Spotflux Premium costs only $4.99 per month and has ad-blocking, malware protection, and the best-looking VPN interface I've seen. Our other Editors' Choice winner, Private Internet Access, is harsher on the eyes, but includes tons of features and thousands of available servers. It also has a simple installation process and elegant user interface. NordVPN can even route your connection through the anonymizing Tor network. NordVPN lets you choose from a geographically diverse selection of VPN servers and provides specialty servers, including one for high-speed video streaming.
That's the same price as Editors' Choice winner NordVPN, but cost alone isn't a fair comparison. You can also spring for six-month and one-year packages for $5 and $3.33 per month, respectively. One month of service with Hostwinds costs $8, billed monthly. That might alleviate some speed-related concerns, but it doesn't help much if you want to appear to be using an overseas IP address-a major reason people use VPNs, as mentioned above.
Most other services offer far more servers in more locations, but HostWinds' representative pointed out that their company offers fast, powerful infrastructure not often used by other VPN services. A European option is expected to come online early next year. The company has just 30 and 40 servers, all housed at the same locations as HostWinds' Web hosting operations in Seattle and Dallas. I was told that HostWinds uses both OpenVPN and PPTP protocols. I had to contact Hostwinds to answer basic questions about what the service provides, as I couldn't find the information online. It encrypts your traffic and hides your IP address, but it does little else. That's a good start, but it's disappointing that this service doesn't include more. Pricing and Features On the Hostwinds website (which is mainly dedicated selling subscriptions to the Hostwinds Web hosting service) the company promises security and anonymity with its VPN product, along with support for multiple devices and a promise not to throttle your bandwidth. A VPN service that can deliver a Netflix stream overseas one day may be blocked the next. Of course, some services, such as Netflix, have gotten wise to this trick, and they go out of their way to block known VPN servers.
Many people do this to gain access to region-locked content-online BBC streaming, for example. VPN services let you spoof your location, for example, making you appear to be in the same place as the VPN server you are connected to. Other people use VPNs for less serious pursuits. With a VPN, you keep attackers like that at bay.Īs a security and anonymizing tool, VPNs are often used by journalists and political dissidents operating in countries with restrictive Internet policies. Have you ever connected to an unsecured Wi-Fi network, maybe at a Starbucks? It's possible that someone was sitting on that network and intercepting everything you were sending out.
VPNs sound fancy, but they have many day-to-day applications.
#Cost of spotflux premium in the uk software