BTGuard Review
Is BTGuard Legit and Safe? In this BTGuard review, we show you if BTGuard is safe. And also if BTGuard is legit. BTGuard complaints and feedback of members are also reviewed. If you are searching for the best and unbiased BTGuard reviews, you have come to the right place.
BTGuard is a Canada based Virtual Private Network (VPN) company owned and operated by Netcrawled LLC. It was established in 2008 with a promise to guard/ protect users downloading torrents. The BT in their name stands for Bit Torrent.
The service has developed into a full VPN service with primary functions that will include: providing security from online threats by encrypting traffic, providing privacy by masking your IP, and giving you online freedom by unblocking geo restricted websites.
Does the BT Guard VPN deliver the primary functions of a VPN service, or has the service been made less of a VPN by its focus on BitTorrent? This review will examine the BT Guard VPN service to provide the information to help you answer that question.
BTGuard is safe and legit for usage. It has many users who never complained of information leakage. It also has a kill switch that helps stop your information from being exposed when the vpn disconnects. You also have the option to cancel and have your money back if you are not satisfied with the BTGuard service.
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Note: Since you have nothing to loss, it will be a very good idea to register from this post so we can be able to assist you by getting in touch with them if you have any problem in the future. We have the power to force them into rectifying their faults. However, we cannot do anything if you try to trick the system. Just make sure you comply with their rules and regulations to make it easier for us.
BTGuard has two service offerings – the Bit Torrent proxy and VPN plan. Bit torrent proxy is a plan made for torrent purpose; it comes with U Torrent client setup to enable Bit Torrent proxy service. This plan can only hide the users IP address but does not make provision for an encrypted connection. On the other hand, the VPN plan offers all the basic services a VPN should offer which includes providing an encrypted connection.
The Bit Torrent proxy has four packages derived from its four billing options – one month package, three months package, six months package, and one year package.
The monthly package cost $6.95; the 3 months package cost $19.95, which breaks down to $6.65 per month; the six months package cost $34.95, which breaks down to $5.83 per month; while the twelve months package cost $59.95, and breaks down to $5.00 per month.
The VPN plan has four similar packages. The monthly package cost $9.95; the three months package cost $27.95, which breaks down to $9.32 per month; the six months package cost $49.95, which break down $8.33 per month; while the twelve months package cost $89.95, and breaks down to $7.50 per month.
All the packages in a plan offer the same services; the only difference is the length of commitment that a user is willing to make.
There is cost saving associated with longer term subscriptions. The three months package has about 6% cost saving, the six months package will save you about 16%, and the twelve months package will save you about 25%.
Comparatively, BT Guard is expensively priced. The services considered expensive have single month packages priced at about $10.00 and more; BTGuard’s monthly package stands at $9.95 which puts them in the expensive circle.
Some of the other expensively priced services even do better that BT Guard by offering massive discount (of up to 50 or more) to bring their best value deal below $5.00. BTGuard’s best value deal is discounted by only 25% which makes it stand at $7.50, even more expensively priced than most expensive service.
However, most of the time, we’ll gladly pay a steep price for super quality. What we’ll need to determine is whether the BT Guard service has the super quality to justify their steep price.
BTGuard allows payment through credit card, debit card, PayPal and Bitcoin. The regular payment methods of cards and PayPal affords users convenience, but the billing operations require submitting personal information (such as name, credit card number, and billing address). Many privacy conscious users will see such submissions as threatening to privacy.
Therefore, it is good to see that the BTGuard service also accepts anonymous bitcoin payments. This also put them ahead of a lot of services that do not allow anonymous payments.
However, it always pay to give users more options. BT Guard can do well to accept other cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin cash, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Ethereum etc. Some services do much more, and have even taken anonymous payments to the heights of accepting hard cash.
Services offer free trials to allow users have access to the service free of charge for a number of days so that the users will understand what they want to commit their resources to.
Users like free trials because it reduces the risk of subscribing to a service that will not meet expectations. If during the trial period, the service is unsatisfactory, you simply take off, and refrain from converting to a paid subscriber.
Unfortunately, BTGuard does not offer a free trial. There is no way for users to test the services before committing their hard earned resources to it. With BT Guard, its a case of “what you see is what you get”. However, most VPN users want to know what they’ll get, and not just via advert-speaks, but by letting the service speaks for itself via a free trial.
This is a big minus for the service, because other services are offering free trial periods.
Many VPN services offer money back guarantees to convey to users that the service cherish users’ satisfaction over users’ money. Such guarantee allows for users to request a refund of their payment if the service did not meet their expectations.
Unfortunately, the BTGuard VPN service does not refund customers. This is a big big disadvantage because competing services are offering guarantee periods of up to 30 days.
It is also appalling that their is no money back guarantee because they do not have a free trial. Almost all the time, services without a free trial offer a money back guarantee, and will even encourage people to use it as a way of testing the service free of charge. The BT Guard service is highly priced, does not have a free trial, and have no provision to refund you if after you buy their service, you are unsatisfied with it. This is really the point where the service begin to look like they’re out there just to grab people’s money.
To minimize the risk to you and avoid “stories that touch”, you’ll have to go for the shortest possible subscription. That way, if the service proves unsatisfactory, you’ll not be loosing much.
BT Guard says on their website that they have “Servers in Canada, Europe and Asia”. With that statement, you’ll think that the service operates numerous servers in Canada that does the North American continent justice, and countless servers in many European and Asian countries.
You are mistaken. The service operates only three servers, located in Canada, the Netherlands, and Singapore. This does not even compare to the hundreds and thousands of servers hosted in 50+ countries offered by the industry top players.
The problems with having a tiny server network (only three servers in three countries) will take pages. Servers will be crowded because many people will be connecting to the few servers, and this will lead to poor performance. Also, many people will have to connect over long distances because there’s no nearby server to connect to; and distant connection lead to poor performance. Worst still, users have very few virtual locations to hide behind; anonymity is not enhanced.
This is the first real test of the high price of the service, and to say it failed woefully will be an understatement. The BT Guard service will be just fine for you if you’ll be content with having only their three locations to access in masking your real location and unblocking contents; and while you’re at it, you have to be physically close to those locations so as not to be frustrated with low speeds.
BTGuard VPN does not have custom apps. To use the service, you’ll have to grab the OpenVPN software. The service has links on their website to the compatible OpenVPN clients. Downloading and installing the software should be easy.
Once the software is installed, you’ll have to manually configure the service on your device by downloading the config files from the BT Guard website and importing them into the OpenVPN client. The process should also be easy, because of the detailed step-by-step set up guides provided by the BT Guard VPN service on their website. However, many users will prefer the one click “download, install, and login” simplicity of custom apps. Once you’re set up, the interface is really simple and user-friendly, and offers basically clicking to connect or disconnect. Other than that and you’ll have some serious configuring on your plate.
Basic settings that would simply be effected by toggling a button on or off in a custom app, would be difficult because of not having a custom app. This makes the BT Guard service difficult to use.
For example, if you need to setup the service to connect at system start up; with VPN services that have custom app, all you need do is click an “auto connect at start up” button in settings. With the BT Guard service, according to a post on their website, you’ll need to follow the following instructions:
Note that you need to replace “BTGuard (Fastest).ovpn” with one of the filenames found in “C:\Program Files\OpenVPN\config” if you have made some changes in the config files or are using the CA or EU or SG config files.
If you don’t have administrator privileges yourself, you’ll also need to click “Advanced” and enable the shortcut to run with administrator privileges. (REQUIRED FOR WINDOWS VISTA / 7 / 8).
The VPN should connect automatically now.
Most people will have given up a long time ago; and sincerely I wouldn’t blame them.
BTGuard VPN supports laptop and desktop operating systems such as Windows, MacOSX and Linus. It also supports mobile devices (iOS and Android), routers and game consoles.
However, the service has no custom app. To use it on the supported devices, you’ll have to grab the OpenVPN client and do manual configurations.
If you are a VPN users that have more than one device and will want to secure all with one account without attracting extra charges. This VPN service is not for you.
BT Guard does not allow the connection of multiple devices at the same time with one VPN account. In their words: “If you share your account with others and we see multiple locations at a single time, you risk termination”
Services compete by offering multiple connections; some allow three connections, others push to five, while the most generous services allow unlimited simultaneous connections. BT Guard floors their offer to a single device connection.
This easily push the cost of using the BT Guard service up for users with multiple devices. Remember that BTGuard’s single month plan is already expensive at $9.95. If you need to secure two devices at the same time, you’ll have to buy two accounts at $19.90. That looks like a rip off compared to services who’ll charge three times less and still allow you to secure up to five devices.
People watch digital video content with computers or mobile devices over the internet. VPNs are increasingly being used for this activity. This is because streaming services are making their contents geo-specific; that is, different contents are made available to different location. The only way to watch a content not available for viewing in your location is to use a VPN to give you a virtual IP that places you in the location with the desired content. For example, to stream the UK’s BBC iPlayer, you need a VPN to place you in the UK.
We have to remember that BT Guard has only three servers in Canada, the Netherland, and Singapore. Therefore, there’ll be no luck streaming contents from streaming giants like BBC iPlayer, Netflix, Hulu, Pandora etc
If you need to unblock geo restricted contents for your streaming pleasure, you’ll have to look beyond the BT Guard VPN service.
Torrenting is the process of sharing large files with peers at fast speeds by connecting to each others devices. Needless to say, allowing a complete stranger access your device have its risk. That is why users seek VPN to help them torrent safely and anonymously. However, many VPN services do not allow torrenting; and others that allow it, limit it to specific servers.
Does BT Guard allow BitTorrent? That’s like asking if a driver can drive. The BT in their name stands for bit torrent, and they advertise as an anonymous bit torrent service. BT Guard was established to guard/ protect users when downloading torrents; and they remain one of the few VPN services mostly committed to torrenting. They even offer a plan that is entirely for torrenting – the Bit Torrent proxy. The Bit Torrent proxy secures your torrent clients and protects your torrent downloads.
BTGuard do not only allow torrenting, they allow it on all their servers, and they also encourages the activity.
OpenVPN is the industry standard and preference for VPN protocols. However, there is need to provide other protocols. The protocols have different functionalities and will offer different benefits. For example, the OpenVPN might not work sometimes, and users would need a secure alternative such as th L2TP/ IPSec. Most times, iOS users would even prefer to establish connection with the IKEv2 protocol. Also, the PPTP might common handy because of the faster speed it offers.
The BT Guard VPN service offers only two – the OpenVPN and the PPTP. The OpenVPN is secure, but the PPPT is very insecure that there are sound warnings that if you are concerned about security you should not use it. Since BTGuard VPN does not offer secure alternatives to the OpenVPN, if it does not work you’ll be stuck.
In the area of encryption, BTGuard is using top notch encryption – the 256-bit AES encryption with RSA-1028 handshake and perfect forward secrecy (PFS). The handshake might not be considered strong enough, but on the whole, this is pretty solid encryption.
A VPN service does a good job at encrypting traffic and masking your location when you are online. But what happens if the VPN connection suddenly drops? You will have your then unencrypted traffic and real location exposed to every watching eyes. This happens more often than not. A VPN connection drop is inevitable; and it happens without warning.
The kill switch is the feature that saves the day. At the moment the VPN looses connection, the Kill switch automatically cuts off internet connection, ensuring that you do not continue online and have your traffic and location exposed. That is why major VPN services that are security focused have in-built kill switch.
Unfortunately, BTGuard does not provide a kill switch. This is where not having custom apps also hurt them. Custom apps will have advance features like kill switch built into them; but the versions of the OpenVPN client which BT Guard supports do not have the Kill switch feature.
This means that users will have their information and location exposed any time the service loose connection. This is a minus to the BT Guard VPN service because many VPN users that will not want their privacy compromised by a VPN connection drop will not want to subscribe to the service.
Securiry leaks can undermine a VPN’s good work of encryption and IP masking. A DNS leak for example will cause DNS request to leave the VPN tunnel to the default connection. This mean your ISP DNS servers will be used to call up web pages for you. This effectively exposes your online activity and location to your ISP and any other interested party.
It shouldn’t be difficult to reach the conclusion that a VPN service focused on providing optimal protection should prevent security leaks – DNS, IP and WebRTC leaks are the most common.
The lack of a custom app also presents a problem here. Security leaks protection is one of the advance features that comes with apps. The OpenVPN that the BT Guard service works with do not plug security leaks. This means that when using the BT Guard VPN service, you’re on borrowed time, as your traffic and location could leak to third parties and compromise your privacy without your knowing it.
Internet users can only remain anonymous if there are no records of who they are and their activities. Since logging information of users threatens their privacy, almost every VPN service claim to have a strict no-log policy. Therefore, it was not surprising that BT Guard also spewed a no-logging line.
However, most of the time, simply going through the privacy policy of services that claim not to log users’ data do reveal that some of the services actually log a tonne. The privacy policy of BT Guard VPN was also revealing.
First the wording of the no-logging claim on their landing page is: “No record of usage stored”; and the policy also ends with the service “does not collect your Internet Protocol (IP) addresses or customer usage”.
This should mean that traffic logs and connection logs are not stored; although it would have been better and more reaasuring if they had specifically broken down what constitutes the “usage” that is not stored.
With respect to personal information, the BT Guard VPN service says:
What is clear is that they will collect some personal information for some purpose. What is not clear is the particular information that will be collected, or the particular purpose for which it is collected.
Other services are usually more specific, detailing every single personal information that is collected and why such collection is necessary.
However, since the signing up process for the BT Guard VPN service requires only an email address, it is safe to say that the personal information collected by them is limited to those required to provide the service, namely: a valid email address, and some form of payment info (for those who did not pay anonymously).
It should also be reassuring that they pledge to (i) not sell, trade or rent your personal information to other companies (ii) protect personal information by reasonable security safeguards against loss or theft, as well as unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use or modification.
What is less comforting is that they say the only reason they’ll use the collected information for other purpose is if required by the law. This means that if they receive a valid legal document to disclose users’ information, they’ll definitely comply.
Since the BT Guard VPN service will comply with the law in disclosing users data, we need to know if the laws of the land they reside in are privacy friendly or otherwise. The BTGuard company is located in Toronto, Canada.
Canada is no longer the safe haven it used to be because in recent times, some anti-privacy laws have been passed. Also, Canada is a memeber of the Fourteen Eyes surveillance alliance, which is simply a global network of fourteen countries using their intelligence agencies to work as a unit in spying on specific targets.
That said, Canadian laws means that users data with BT Guard could easily end up with in the hands of the government. The county’s ties with the Eyes alliance also means that users data obtained in Canada would be shared all over the world among the intelligence agencies of the surveillance alliance.
Speed is always an important factor when it comes to choosing VPNs. Encryption takes it toll on speed, so reduced speed is what users must bear for the security that VPN service provides. But the worst that can happen to a VPN is to have very slow speed, and at the same time having security compromised. So far, BT Guard did not go the air tight security I’ve come to expect from a VPN, so I was eager to see some redemption on the speed front.
BT Guard has seen some bad reviews because of poor connection speed. With only three servers, they will be crowded and speed will be poor, also users will be connecting from distances and will get poor speed.
In my test, BT Guard VPN’s speed came out as average at best. The service even acknowledge their poor speed performance; in a support ticket they state: “If we lost you to slow speeds, please file a ticket to get your account reactivated for free“.
BT Guard VPN support consist of: set up instructions for the VPN and the Proxy, an FAQ section, and a support ticket.
The set up instructions are neatly arranged by operating systems; upon selecting your platform, you get very detailed and simple instructions complete with screenshots that helps you visualize each step in the process. The FAQs are not as extensive as we’ll like, and many of the answers are just one liners.
The support ticket is supposed to allow users contact the service directly for assistance. Since the self help FAQ section is not extensive and does not treat many of the questions that users will have, you’ll bet that the support ticket will see a lot of submissions. However, it will be just okay if the service give prompt and quality responses to inquiries.
Customer reviews reveals the contrary. In many reviews, both prospective and existing customers have complained about requests being ignored, while some others reported being directed to unhelpful FAQ articles (one liners).
I sent in a support ticket hoping to have better luck. I’m still waiting for a response. I concluded that their support is not functional. To make matters worse, they do not have any other direct contact channel.
Most of the competition offer different channels so that if one does not work, you can jump on another. Some of these channels are instant response customer services such as live chat and telephone service.
Considering the high price they set for their service, the manual configurations that their lack of custom apps entail, and the lack of depth in their FAQs, the least you’d expect is for someone to be there for the help you’d most certainly need.
For every security and privacy check that the BT Guard VPN service manage to pass, they also find a way to buckle.
They offer the secure OpenVPN protocol, but does not offer secure alternatives. They use industry standard AES 256 bit encryption but that comes with a not so strong handshake encryption. They say they do not keep logs, but their privacy policy is fussy on certain matters that should be explicitly stated.
The service does not have a kill switch and does not prevent security leaks, and they are located in Canada, a country with unfriendly privacy laws and a member of the feared Eyes alliance.
They lack custom apps, so the service is not easy to set up or use; and they do not allow multiple device connections. They have an extremely small server network, and offer poor speeds; these two combine to make the service an extremely poor choice for unblocking geo restricted sites for streaming. Also, if you have any inquiry or issue and reach out to the BT Guard service for assistance, you’ll find that their support is almost non existent.
Despite all these failings, the service is expensively priced, does not give you a free trial, and will not refund your money even if you are unsatisfied.
There’s one area where the BT Guard service is really good – torrenting; but with security leaks and no kill switch, a torrenter would unknowingly spill information that’ll compromise his/ her privacy.
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