Based in the United States, VPNbook is one the very few VPN services that truly provide robust VPN services completely free of charge. Though it sounds fishy and suspicious for a service to provide so many features and rely on optimal security encryption protocols, but VPNbook is on a vigilant mission to provide every internet user with a free, anonymous and secure internet environment through a free VPN service, no monkey business whatsoever. They get donations via bitcoins and they also offer a paid dedicated IP service to support their business. In this review, we will explore and discuss the different features offered by VPNbook. Scroll down for more details about their services.
VPNbook Features
Privacy
As previously explained, VPNbook is the people’s VPN. Hence, everything they provide is in the people’s best interest. In terms of privacy, VPNbook does not keep traffic logs, but since it is based in the US, it only keeps some data such as: IP address, bandwidth and your VPN session’s duration. Further, they are required by law to give out this kind of information to law enforcement upon request, since the US is part of the FIVEY. Moreover, VPNbook does not permit torrenting or P2P activities. It is a free service after all, so we cannot expect features that are packed to the grills.
“Our privacy policy is simple: We respect your privacy. We do not collect any personal information or store any user’s internet data. The only thing we log is the IP address and time the connection was made. We log connection information in order to reduce abusive activities and keep this free VPN service online for all legitimate users. Connection logs are automatically deleted every week.”
Security
VPNbook uses strong encryption techniques such as: AES-256 and AES-128-bit encryption and supports both OpenVPN and PPTP encryption protocols. We always recommend using OpenVPN as it is the best and most secure encryption protocol to date.
“We understand how important it is for you to be anonymous and secure. All traffic between you and the VPN is encrypted using only the best encryption techniques”
Servers & Bandwidth
VPNbook does not have massive network of servers encircling the planet like most paid VPN services, but it does have servers in important locations, such as: USA, UK, Canada and Romania. It is a free service that is doing its best to ensure that internet users can enjoy an anonymous, secure and private internet environment.
As for bandwidth, VPNbook offers unlimited bandwidth without any throttling.
“we do not restrict speed whether you use 1GB or 100GB of bandwidth in a day.”
Compatibility
One would not have expected this from a 100% free service, but VPNbook is compatible with all platforms, mobile devices, such as: Windows, Linux, Mac OS, iOS & Android. Not only that, but it also works very well with browsers, such as: Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox and Opera.
Smart CDN Fallback
One of the appealing features provided by VPNbook is their Smart CDN Fallback feature. VPNbook uses cloud based IP CDN components to boost their performance and provide a fast and robust connection by routing your traffic through faster lanes. The fallback feature is like a “kill switch” somehow. It protects your connection in case of any CDN feature to make sure that your connection and personal data are protected and anonymised at all times.
Free Proxy
VPNbook also provides proxy services as well to unblock any web restricted website, like: Youtube, Twitter or Facebook using 256-bit SSL encryption for safe web surfing and to overcome geo-restrictions.
Dedicated IP
VPNbook offers a paid Dedicated IP service. It is the only paid service by VPNbook, everything else is for free. Their Dedicated IP package costs $7.95 per month and comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Every Dedicated IP user gets a dedicated VPN server with dedicated CPU & memory. Moreover, the package includes: 500GB dedicated bandwidth, 5 simultaneous connections and no logging policy. P2P, gaming and VoIP services are also permitted and supported by several OpenVPN ports.
Customer Support
Though 24/7 live chat support service is not available, but you can always reach VPNbook via their email ticketing system. You can also find them socially active on Facebook and Twitter.
Conclusion
VPNbook is one of the worthy free VPN services nowadays. Though VPNbook is not packed to the grills with highly advanced or fancy features like many other paid VPN services, but much like those services, VPNbook has proven to provide above average performance, decent features and top notch security protocols completely free of charge.