SwitchVPN is the VPN service that gives you back the internet as it was meant to be – free. This SwitchVPN review aims to examine if SwitchVPN is safe, legit or scam, the features, offerings, policies and everything else about the SwitchVPN service to provide the information that’ll help you determine if they can really give you a free internet.
Whatever you do over the internet is actually open to many eyes; and there are a lot of interest groups looking in. Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) watches everything, the government and regulating agencies are in on the show; and there are cyber criminals and fraudsters watching to intercept sensitive information that you transmit. With so many eyes, you’ll need a surveillance-free internet.
Also, there are many groups that want to control what you can and cannot do over the internet. For example, governments ban certain contents, and streaming services imposes other restrictions. With so many restrictions, you’ll need a restriction free internet.
SwitchVPN advertises as being able to give you the much desired surveillance-free and restrictions-free internet. The service accomplish this by creating a virtual private network over the internet, which serves as a secure link between your device and any web server.
All your web traffic is encrypted and sent through the secure link, keeping your data private and secure. Also, your request are redirected through one of their servers in getting to your online destination; and this can be used to break all internet restrictions.
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SwitchVPN came on board in 2015, which makes them relatively new in the industry. The service was established by CS Systems, which is an Indian technology company. However, SwitchVPN has move its registration and headquarter to Delaware which makes it a full blooded legit American company.
Despite being relatively young in the industry, the service has the strength of long time players – they have a good server network, offer solid encryption, and more.
They allow only users who’re 18 years or above. Being a service that is 100% legal and legit, it is legal to use the VPN service from anywhere in the world except in countries where VPN use is outrightly outlawed (such countries will include Iraq). However, SwitchVPN like every other VPN service, warns against using the VPN cover to do anything illegal.
You want a service that has a robust server network consisting of numerous servers in different locations globally. This is because numerous servers will give you more locations with which to spoof your real location; and you’re less likely to find servers that are overcrowded.
In this regard, SwitchVPN operates 145+ high speed servers in 35 different global locations. This places SwitchVPN in the middle of the pack; their server count is more than that of a lot of services, but it is a small fraction of the thousands of servers operated by the industry top players. Also, the 35 locations covered includes virtually every region of the world; from North and South America to Europe and Asia/ Pacific. This will make the service ideal for unblocking purposes; as you’ll most likely find a server in choice locations that you’ll want to unblock.
It also means the service is ideal for spoofing your location; as it can place you all over the world. They also allow unlimited server switches which enhances your anonymity because it allows you move from one virtual location to the other as many times as you like.
When doing VPN shopping, you should want a service that works with almost every device so that no matter the device you use, you will be covered.
In this regard, SwitchVPN checks the box. The VPN service has custom apps for the popular operating systems – Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android. The service also works with Linux and Routers; but you’ll have to configure it manually on the devices. Don’t worry, they provide detailed instructions to walk you through the process.
You can also use the SwitchVPN service to protect your Smart TVs and gaming consoles. You’ll just have to set it up on a router, and pass the devices through the router.
You’ll want a VPN service that allows you to protect multiple devices at the same time with one VPN account.
Some VPN services allow only one connection; and you’ll have to purchase multiple VPN accounts to secure your multiple devices. Some other services will allow you three simultaneous connections; but SwitchVPN allows you give connections.
This is a generous offer that’s on par with the industry average for simultaneous connections; and only a few services can offer more. That said, if you want a VPN service to protect the multiple devices (up to five) of your small business and family unit, SwitchVPN will be ideal.
Getting started and using the SwitchVPN service is very easy. This is accomplished by the bespoke apps that the service provides.
Downloading and installing the app will be fairly easy. After which, you can log in by inputting your username and password in the appropriate text fields.
The interface you meet is uncluttered and very simple. It shows you your IP address, and a prominent connect button.
Hitting the connect button automatically gives you a location, and you’ll be flying with VPN protection with just that one click. However, it would seem that SwitchVPN does not give you the server location closest to you. On several tries, we got connected to different locations, and none of the locations we got was the closest. It would seem that the auto-connect feature of SwitchVPN is randomly done. However, you can easily select another server location.
Upon connection, the interface shows you your connection status, virtual IP and location, connection duration, and speed (download and upload) measurement. You can hit a settings menu to take you to tabs for different configuration settings. For example, you can change protocols, you can set the app to auto connect at start up, you can enable kill switch etc.
Overall, the app scores points for usability; such that new users will have no problem moving around and using it.
Torrenting remain one of the most effective ways of downloading files from the internet; but because it can be dangerous when one connect to unknown persons for the file sharing, users seek VPN services to download torrents safely.
However, many VPN services do not support torrenting because some users would download files protected by copyrights, and these VPN services do not want to get into battles with copyright trolls. Therefore, VPN services that supports torrenting is highly regarded.
In this regard, SwitchVPN also checks the box. Not only do they support torrenting, they allow it on all their servers. This is rare among VPN services; because usually, those that allow torrenting restrict the activity to only a few servers. This would mean that SwitchVPN come across as an ideal VPN for downloading torrents safely and anonymously.
One of the main reasons for using a VPN is content accessibility. Most media content are location specific, meaning that the only way to stream and watch them is to be in the particular location where the particular content is made available for viewing. If you cannot be there physically, VPN services gives you a virtual IP that places you there virtually, and unblock the restricted contents to you anywhere you might be.
However, VPN services can no longer give you access to restricted media contents simply by masking your location. Streaming services have aggressively clamped down on VPN services, and have effectively blocked many of them from accessing their contents. The foremost of these VPN blocking streaming site is Netflix; and it is becoming common to use Netflix compatibility with streaming capability. That is, a VPN service that can unblock Netflix and give access to its vast titles is regarded as a good service for streaming.
In this regard, SwitchVPN does well. The service unblocks Netflix. However, only a few servers in the SwitchVPN network will unblock Netflix; but that’s better than most services who tell you upfront not to expect to watch any Netflix content. SwitchVPN also gives you access to other streaming giants such as BBC iPlayer, Hulu etc. This will make SwitchVPN an ideal service for streaming.
SwitchVPN provides a wide of VPN protocols which includes OpenVPN, L2TP/ IPSec, IKEv2, SSTP and Socks5.
The OpenVPN is the gold-standard of VPN protocols. You have the option of UDP OpenVPN which offers best combination of speed and security, or TCP OpenVPN which functions on all types of network but is much slower than UDP.
The L2TP/ IPSec is considered a secure alternative of the OpenVPN, and can be used when the OpenVPN does not work. The IKEv2 is a new protocol which is also very secure and gives consistent VPN connection; it’s also one of the few supported protocols for BlackBerry. The SSTP has a high level of security and can also bypass most firewalls. This makes it a very fine VPN Protocol for persons in very restrictive regimes like China.
The PPTP is the only offered which is widely considered insecure. Even SwitchVPN warns that the PPTP is the least secure protocol and should only be used if you have specific reason for it. This should be when you do not prioritize security, but just need speedy connections, because the PPTP gives the fastest connection speed of all the protocols.
In terms of encryption; you don’t need to worry about the security of your data with SwitchVPN because they employ unhackable industry standard AES encryption including up to 256 bit encryption. The default for OpenVPN is 128-bit Blowfish, and a handshake encryption done over RSA-1024, with a 2048-bit static key. All of this is simply top notch security for the end user.
The kill switch is what keeps your security and privacy intact when the VPN looses connection. It does this by cutting off your internet connection so that you will not continue online without VPN protection, as that will expose your real location and traffic.
Every security focused VPN should include the kill switch because VPN connection drop is inevitable, and the kill switch is the only saviour at those unfortunate times.
Thankfully, SwitchVPN comes handy with the kill switch, and rightfully advertises it as a feature that gives advanced security. With this, you do not have to worry about accidentally exposing your traffic and location in the event of a VPN server outage.
One of the main reasons for using a VPN is so that your real location and traffic is hidden. The work of data encryption and IP masking achieve this; but it could all come to nothing if the VPN service suffers security leaks.
For example, DNS leaks will cause the DNS request to leak out of the VPN tunnel to the default connection, exposing your browsing history and real IP to your ISP and any other party looking. WebRTC leaks and IPv6 leaks are other security leaks that can undermine a VPN’s operation and compromise your privacy. Therefore, a serious VPN service should prevent these security leaks.
Thankfully, SwitchVPN does prevent the aforementioned security leaks. There was no DNS leaks, IP leaks or WebRTC leaks. You can easily do these checks using sites like www.ipleak.net, www.test-ipv6.com, www.doileak.net, www.perfect-privacy.com/dns-leaktest, and www.dnsleak.com.
One of the things advertised on their page is: SwitchVPN keeps zero logs. Every VPN user knows that log keeping is not good for privacy, and will go for services that keeps zero logs. As a result, almost every VPN service claim not to keep logs. The problem is that, most of the no-logs claim are just advert blurbs; and on closer examination some of the no-log spurting services are found to log a ton. So we examined the privacy policy of SwitchVPN to find out if their no-log claim is real or just another advert blurb.
SwitchVPN starts their privacy policy with the reassuring words: “Your privacy and the security of your personal information are very important to [the] Company“
It goes on to itemize the information that is collected. They collect and store email address when you sign up for the service, or use the customer support channels. When you make payment with credit/ debit cards, they collect but do not store your billing address and card info; also when you pay with PayPal they collect but do not store your transaction ID (the payment info is stored by the payment processor).
In all, nothing collected here is out of the ordinary; you will be just fine if you pay with bitcoin, and use a burner email address when registering.
Most importantly, the privacy policy says that SwitchVPN does not collect or log any traffic or use of its VPN service or Proxy. This would mean that data relating to both usage and connection are not stored.
Traffic data (such as the websites you visit, the contents you download or upload, the messages you receive or send etc) are almost never stored by VPN services, but some services store connection data (such as time of connection and disconnection, bandwidth consumed etc). Though services that keep connection logs will try to convey that these logs are harmless, they are not totally harmless. Thus, it’s a big plus that SwitchVPN keeps neither activity logs or connection logs.
This is especially so because the service will disclose users’ data in its systems to comply with a legal obligation or to protect itself from legal liability.
SwitchVPN used to be based in India; but you’ll most likely not find any reference of this anywhere in the company’s website. This is because, at best, India has some of the most complex and confusing laws. However, the company’s new home is the U.S. While that makes the company legit, it does not inspire any confidence in terms of privacy.
The U.S. is one jurisdiction that many users would not want their VPN service to be located. First, the U.S. has some alarming anti-privacy laws that even permit service providers to sell user data to third parties.
Secondly, intelligence agencies in the U.S. especially the FBI and NSA have a checkered history, and ranks as some of the most invasive intelligence agencies in the world.
Finally, the U.S. is a founding member of a global espionage network – the expanded Eyes alliance. This is an arrangement between member countries (which is now fourteen) to work together in gathering and sharing intelligence. The arrangement means that any data captured in the U.S. will be shared with the other nations in the network.
That said, with a U.S. location, it is very likely that elements in the government will come for your data and issue a gag order that prevents the service provider from revealing the matter; it is also very likely that your data will be shared around the world as part of the intelligence sharing arrangement of the Eyes alliance. That is definitely the idea you had of privacy.
Speed is an important consideration when choosing a VPN. This is because, a VPN operation of encrypting and rerouting data packet leads to to a reduction in speed. The poor performing VPNs will reduce speed to intolerable limits that browsing becomes sufferable; but the fast ones will drop network speed only by small margins.
Our speed test is done by averaging speed result from a couple of VPN server locations, and comparing this to speed result when the VPN is disconnected. In the average, SwitchVPN dropped download and upload speed by 62% and 56% respectively.
Comparatively, these speed result put SwitchVPN in the middle of the pack; while will mean they provide only average speeds. However, with this speed performance, you’ll be able to do some high speed gaming and HD streaming without any disruption.
That you’ll have questions about a service or will have issues when using a service is almost inevitable. If you’ll want the service provider to respond to your inquiries (and quickly) when you field them, then the customer support service of the VPN is worth considering.
In this regard, SwitchVPN provides various channels for getting assistance. They have the self help channels and the direct contact channels.
Self help channels provided include an FAQ sections that hold answers to some of the questions users have asked in the past. However, the FAQs are not extensive, and you’ll find that many of the questions you’ll have are not treated. Another self help resource is the setup guides – these are detailed tutorials that will walk you through getting the ton your device.
If you’ll rather contact a customer support agent; SwitchVPN provides an email service and a live chat for that. These channels were also very effective in terms of timeliness and quality of responses obtained. Email inquiries were answered in a few hours; this is exemplary since some services will keep you waiting for up to two days. Also, the fast response did not compromise quality of response. Where some services will simpler give you links directing you to articles; SwitchVPN actually responded, specifically depressing the question, and only adding links when it’s necessary to give more information.
If you’ll rather not wait the few hours for the email responses, you can use the live chat for instant responses. With SwitchVPN live in live chat actually means live. Where some services will put your live chat submissions in a queue; SwitchVPN has agents always online, and you’re answered immediately. Also, the responses are very helpful, and specifically addresses the questions.
This review gives SwitchVPN lots of marks for putting together a very effective customer support service.
SwitchVPN has one service plan that is billed either monthly or annually. You have access to the same features no matter the subscription plan you choose; the only difference is how long you’ll have access.
The single month plan cost $9.95; while the annual plan cost $69.95, which breaks down to $5.82 per month.
The pricing model follows that of most VPN services where you get a better deal for opting for the long term subscriptions. The annual plan of SwitchVPN will give you a 41.5% cost saving.
Comparatively, SwitchVPN will not win the market over with their prices. Services whose monthly package cost $10.00 and above are considered expensive; and SwitchVPN at $9.95 is just about breaking into the expensive league. The huge discount really brings their annual deal to a pocket friendly $5.82 per month; but even that is still double the best value deals of some other very good VPN services.
You want to make sure that the service supports payment methods that are actually available to you where you reside, as well as whether the methods available are convenient for use.
In this regard, SwitchVPN checks the box. You can pay for the service using most credit or debit cards (visa card, master card, and American Express), PayPal, Bitcoin, and Alipay.
Many users will be delighted with finding that the service supports bitcoin, because it affords anonymous payments. Where the other payment methods will require submission of personal information as part of the billing process, bitcoin and other crypto currencies does not.
Whether you want the convenience that the regular payment method afford, or the anonymity that bitcoin transactions afford; you’ll find that SwitchVPN is ideal.
VPN services offer money back guarantees that allow users request a refund of their payment if the service is unsatisfactory; and SwitchVPN is no exception. This is not to mean that the service providers know that their service will not meet certain expectations; rather, it is a commitment to customer satisfaction.
SwitchVPN gives a 30 days money back guarantee. This gives you up to 30 days to use the service, and still get a refund of your payment. This is one of the longest refund window in the industry. Also, the guarantee is a “no questions asked” unrestricted guarantee. Many users will be delighted with this because many other VPN services condition their refund policy such that users exceeding certain data transfer limits are not eligible for a refund.
With SwitchVPN, you do not need to worry about how much bandwidth you’ve used, or how many sessions you’ve had; all you need do is submit your refund request within 30 days of making payment, and you will get a 100% refund.
SwitchVPN does not offer free trials. So the only way to test the service free of charge is to pay for a subscription, use the service for not more than 30 days, and request a refund.
While that will get you free use of the service, some users would prefer an actual free trial. This is because to use the money back guarantee, the method used in paying for he service is what will be used for the refund. If you choose to pay anonymously without leaving a trail, then there’s no way of getting a refund. However, an actual trial will avoid this because there’ll be no charges in the first place.
That said, to many users who would want to try out a VPN service without being charged, the lack of a free trial might be a deal breaker.
SwitchVPN is relatively new, but already have the marks of a really good VPN service. SwitchVPN is a legit VPN service provider that says you can simply turn on the switch to have a free internet.
With SwitchVPN, you’ll really get a surveillance-free internet because they provide a range of secure protocols with industry standard unhackable AES encryption. On top of that, there is a kill switch, they prevent security leaks, they keep zero logs, and you can pay anonymously.
They also give you a restriction-free internet by allowing P2P activity and torrenting, and giving you access to a host of restricted media contents.
They have dedicated VPN apps that makes the service very easy to set up and use, you can use the service on a virtually every device, and they allow you 5 simultaneous connections.
It would appear that the service has everything going for it; but its U.S. location would cause some users to pause and think because the U.S. has some anti privacy laws and is within a global intelligence sharing perimeter. Also, the SwitchVPN can use some improvement in the number of servers in its server network, as well as in the speed of the VPN service.
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