ABOUT Hide.me VPN

• Founded and officially launched in 2011
• Offers 100+ dedicated Gbit servers in 27 countries and 36 locations
• hide.me offers the best FREE VPN Plan in the VPN industry with 2GB limit / month
• Cross-platform VPN access (downloadable apps for Windows, OS X, iOS, and Android; step-by-step configurations for Linux, routers, consoles, and more)
• First VPN provider to offer IKEv2 VPN protocol in the VPN industry
• Certified to be a “No Log” VPN by Leon Juranic, Founder and CEO of Defense Code Ltd

ABOUT VPN

A virtual private network (VPN) extends a private network across a public network, such as the Internet. It enables users to send and receive data across shared or public networks as if their computing devices were directly connected to the private network. Applications running across the VPN may therefore benefit from the functionality, security, and management of the private network.^[1]

Virtual Private Networks may allow employees to securely access a corporate intranet while located outside the office. They are used to securely connect geographically separated offices of an organization, creating one cohesive network. Individual Internet users may secure their wireless transactions with a VPN, to circumvent geo-restrictions and censorship, or to connect to proxy servers for the purpose of protecting personal identity and location. However, some Internet sites block access to known VPN technology to prevent the circumvention of their geo-restrictions.

A VPN is created by establishing a virtual point-to-point connection through the use of dedicated connections, virtual tunneling protocols, or traffic encryption. A VPN available from the public Internet can provide some of the benefits of a wide area network (WAN). From a user perspective, the resources available within the private network can be accessed remotely.^[2]

Traditional VPNs are characterized by a point-to-point topology, and they do not tend to support or connect broadcast domains, so services such as Microsoft Windows NetBIOS may not be fully supported or work as they would on a local area network (LAN). Designers have developed VPN variants, such as Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS), and layer-2 tunneling protocols, to overcome this limitation.

WHY USE VPN

If you’re reading this review you’re I guess interested in a VPN solution and trying to figure out which to pick in an ongoing growing list of VPN providers. Its not easy to find the best among providers all claiming the same things like speed, safety and locations.
To make your search for the best a little easier I will try to sum up some issues related to normal internet use and explain their importance  in relation to your safety.
First of all you don’t need to be doing illegal stuff on the internet to make you want a VPN, as ordinary users have an even greater risk surfing the internet as they are not always aware of the tricks being used to steal information.
If you’re using Wi-Fi which you probably will, you’re more exposed to the outside world then when using cable-network. Reading a simple online-newspaper which shows you advertisements between the lines always establishes a connection with your IP-address just in order to show the images. Reading your emails which many times include images and links transfer your IP-adress to external servers filtering your behavior. To make it simple YOU’RE EXPOSED to the world. For all doing the wrong-illegal stuff on internet like downloading films and music there’s a simple warning. Stop doing what you do..or get fined …or get a VPN to make yourself invisible to the outside world.

Being invisible, is what all VPN providers claim, but are you really safe and protected ? No way…

Any VPN which has its base location in the USA is not fully safe proof. They have to deal with severe law regulations regarding logging of users and there internet use. So the first thing you need is a provider NOT LOGGING any IP or online activity! Simple and safe.
Hide-me VPN collects the following data: Connection time, Connection duration and bandwidth used but NO data is collected which could be linked to a user’s online activity, No IP logs, so top marks for Hide-me VPN.

HOW DOES VPN WORK

This is the tricky part explaining the VPN process. A VPN creates a secure tunnel using most powerful VPN protocols – hides your original IP behind one of its own – encrypts all your communication and passes through the secure tunnel allowing you to surf the web freely and anonymously.

UNDERSTANDING PROXIES vs VPN vs TOR

Follow the link below to make the right decision, it’s important to understand the basic technical differences between the services

www.vpnmentor.com/blog/proxies-vs-vpn-understanding-the-difference/

SETTING UP HIDE.ME VPN

Setting up Hide-me VPN is piece of cake. Simplicity all the way. A few slides take you through the setup-proces to the final preferences and settings sheet.

VPN Connection Type is an important choice to make as it defines the used ‘tunnel-type’. Hide-me VPN provides a full explanation on their website explaining the various possibilities. Looking at the settings interface for VPN Connection Type shows two buttons: Cisco / Ipsec = IKEv2 and IKEv1     or       L2TP / Ipsec = L2TP / IPsec
If you want to make use of an OpenVPN tunnel you’ll need a third party application like Viscosity or Shimo ! 

**Although not all the protocols are available for each platform, configuring a VPN connection will not be an issue.

So which protocol to use ?

• PPTP is very insecure (even its co-creator Microsoft has abandoned it, and it has been compromised by the NSA) and should therefore be avoided. While its ease of setup and cross platform compatibility are attractive, L2PT/IPsec has the same advantages and is much more secure
• L2TP/IPsec is a good VPN solution for non-critical use, although it has been severely compromised / weakened by the NSA. However, for a quick VPN setup without the need to install extra software it remains useful, particularly for mobile devices where OpenVPN support remains somewhat patchy
• OpenVPN is easily the best all round VPN solution, despite needing third party software on all platforms. It is reliable, fast, and (most importantly) secure (even against the NSA), although it usually needs a bit more setting up than the other protocols
• IKEv2 is also a very good (secure and fast) protocol (if open source implementations are used), especially for mobile users who may even prefer it to OpenVPN thanks to its improved ability to reconnect when an internet connection is interrupted. For Blackberry users, it is pretty much the only option available.
• SSTP offers most of the advantages of OpenVPN but only in a Windows environment. This does mean that it is better integrated into the OS, but it is poorly supported by VPN providers thanks to this limitation. In addition to this, its proprietary nature and the fact that is was created by Microsoft mean that we for one don’t trust it

In our opinion the bold marked protocols are the ones to use.

OUTSTANDING SAFETY FEATURES

•  VPN offers unique security features that no other VPN does:
   SOCKS Proxy: SOCKS proxy is coupled with hide.me VPN, so users enjoy a completely different level of security. This combination of SOCKS and any supported application gives you the absolute protection against any kind of IP leaks.

They engineered this feature to perfection and have coupled the SOCKS proxy with their VPN to make it the fastest possible solution available. Once combined with a VPN connection, SOCKS is able to reduce the Round Trip Time (RTT) significantly improving your Maximum TCP Throughput which has a very significant impact on the speed of your connection.

• IP and DSN leak protection:
  Their DNS leak protection feature functions quite uniquely making a DNS leak impossible and same case is with our IP leak protection feature.
  During an active VPN connection the application deletes the default gateway, so it is impossible that your IP leaks to unwanted third parties.

SPEED and STABILITY, SUPPORT

So we have one problem solved.. choose a No Logging provider. Now we get to find the fastest VPN. A ‘fast car’ costs money and a really fast VPN is likewise not cheap. We have an available internet speed of 200-250 Mbps which is fast if I may say so.
The speed of a VPN transmission is restricted by chosen VPN-Tunnel type ( OpenVPN, L2TP/IPsec, PPTP, SSTP, SoftEther and IKEv2 and IKEv1.) and encryption level. Also your own ‘router’ may play a role in your VPN connection as only the more expensive and newer models support top speed. We have tested different protocols with Hide.Me and they all performs best ever !! We get speeds up to 200Mbps or more, which is the highest we have ever measured testing VPN providers.

**Connection stability was perfect! No drops or lost connections whatsoever.

Internet Speed Mbps

Company Support Performance

VERDICT

Hide-me VPN has impressed us with an absolutely solid performance. Its the fastest VPN tested by us, given the used locations and protocols. The easy interface and setup takes even novice users through the complete proces.
OpenVPN is the best solution for every VPN but needs a third party VPN client. Having tested and measured Hide-me VPN we feel confident this is the fastest VPN available. The multiple connections and other extra’s make Hide-me VPN a VPN to be considered. Support was tested and response was quick ( see graph ). All good things in life cost money, and if you’re looking for the fastest safe and good support VPN look no further  VPN is your best bet.

 VPN deserves a full 5 ⭐️ reward

$ 9.99/ month