ProtonVPN - free VPN service that allows you to encrypt your Internet connection

Review ProtonVPN

ProtonVPN comes with some pretty good built-in basic functions. The user interface looks very nice, allowing all information to be displayed on one screen. In addition to the free version, it also offers payment options. However, if you're a regular Internet user, just using the free version of ProtonVPN is enough.

Advantages and disadvantages

Advantages

1. Great privacy and security
2. There is no data limit
3. The free version has many functions
4. Works with Netflix US version
5. Great mobile application
6. P2P support
7. Integrated Tor support

Defect

1. Fewer servers (400) and locations compared to competitors
2. Only people who pay for the top-end plan get full access to the server
3. The free version doesn't work with Netflix
4. Does not provide a way to find the fastest server
5. Connection speed is a bit slow

Beautifully designed and attractive with default dark theme

The ProtonVPN app is very well designed, has a well-organized layout, and builds on a very easy-to-see dark theme. All the most important information is presented at a visual level, including whether you are connected to a VPN, the speed and traffic if connected, and a complete list of servers (400). you can connect.

One design problem is that most of the space in a desktop application is occupied by a map of the world. The problem is when you click or click on a server on the map, nothing happens. You have to wait for a label to pop up, then click on it to connect.

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The service also works with Netflix, which includes US Netflix and Japanese Netflix, but that functionality is only available with a paid subscription.

Slow performance and hard to find a fast server

ProtonVPN won't win any competition for pure speed, and that's true. Best results are achieved when connecting to servers in the US, with a maximum downstream speed of 162Mbps.

Performance drops sharply when connecting to servers in other countries (connection speed drops to about 50Mbps when connecting to a Canadian server and even more when connecting to servers in Japan).

Despite the reduced performance, you can still browse the web without difficulty. Connection speed dropped fast enough to stream videos on sites like CNN and YouTube.

Features in ProtonVPN

1. One-click connect: You only need one click to connect to the ProtonVPN server. That means you can connect to one of three servers with just one click. It will choose the best connection, based on the speed of your network.
2. Profile Management: You can create a new profile with a custom name, server and country . This way, you can connect to a specific server at any time.
3. Detailed usage report: You can check the amount of data used along with the time, download bandwidth, upload, and upload or download speed.

Download ProtonVPN software here.

Once downloaded, installed and launched this program, you will see the window shown below.

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Here, you need to enter your username and password or create your ProtonVPN account. Once done, you will see the following window.

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Here, you can choose the country, location, and server to which you want to connect to the website. Note that it will take about 30 seconds to connect.

If you want to create a profile, switch to the Profiles tab and click Create new Profile . Here, you can customize the profile as you like.

This VPN software doesn't have a lot of options and doesn't have many requirements. All you need to do is use the Auto connect option in Settings> General . This option will automatically connect to the VPN after the computer boots up.

One of the most important features that this VPN software offers is Kill Switch . This feature will hide your real IP address even if the VPN connection fails accidentally. This is also a must-have feature for any quality VPN.

ProtonVPN does not log in or monitor your Internet activity. Furthermore, it also integrates well with the Tor anonymity network. Besides, being a Swiss company software, it is protected by the strongest privacy laws.

The free version of this software has a few limitations. It only provides access to 3 countries. In other words, you can only choose 3 servers to connect to. Furthermore, you can only connect one device to the free user account.

Currently, the software is not limited by any bandwidth usage but its speed will be slower than the paid version. In addition to using regular anti-virus software, we believe that using VPN software is also a way to secure your computer.

Marvin Fry

Update 10 October 2020