Hide My Ass! VPN Service Review

By William Van Winkle
published

Our readers have weighed in with their own assessments of popular VPN Service HMA!, to which we’ve added our own hands-on test results.

Five-Star Reader Ratings

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☆ Rating: ★★★★★✓ Pros: Ease of use, connection stability and speed.✗ Cons: Can't directly connect to the VPN using the iPhone app.☁ Comments: Does what I need it to, quickly and easily.
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☆ Rating: ★★★★★✓ Pros: World-wide server coverage, great speed, awesome customer support!✗ Cons: I didn't have negative experience. Even when I had issue connecting to my router their support was patient and knowledgeable and helped me solve the issue...amazing helpers!☁ Comments: I have been their customer for two years and I always had promised quality of the service!
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☆ Rating: ★★★★★✓ Pros: Customer support is great. Multi Language interface. Updates are frequent. Just as fast as all competitors, tried a few.✗ Cons: Why cant VPN's be faster, HMA are among the fastest but still I want netflix faster☁ Comments: Simple, easy to use software with the most servers worldwide
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☆ Rating: ★★★★★✓ Pros: Many things but "Virtual server location" is my favorite feature. For example there are Virtual US servers in Europe and you do not need to connect directly to US which is far far away across the Atlantic.✗ Cons: No VPN server speed checker in mobile/tablet apps, only on Win/Mac.☁ Comments: Lots of servers to choose from, fast and high quality support.
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☆ Rating: ★★★★★✓ Pros: Servers worldwide to choose from, speed, reliable and excellent support.✗ Cons: Need more pro features on mobile clients.☁ Comments: I found their service excellent.


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William Van Winkle
Topics
Security
vpn
8 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Handoncloud
    Good job! :D
    Reply
  • Cujothemadog
    they'll turn u in in two minutes flat
    Reply
  • carnetarian
    I stopped reading as soon as I saw p2p services are disabled. I will never use a VPN that tries to tell me how I'm allowed to use the internet.
    Reply
  • Rookie_MIB
    Currently a member of HMA, and a while back their speeds were a bit flaky, they've improved that quite a bit to the point where I can max out my connection. Only other I have issues is that they -do- log and will forward copyright accusations.

    However, judicious use of -where- you connect to avoids most of those problems (ie: don't connect to an US server if you're going to torrent US films, in fact, avoid US servers in general...)

    As for their turning in of the hackers who were using their service, while they might shrug at copyright accusations (relatively victimless crime), remember what these guys did in the Sony hack, that was a high-profile international incident which resulted in the FBI, Justice Department, and Interpol stepping up. Faced with that, and -legal- court orders, I'm sure they had little choice but to turn over the info they had on them.
    Reply
  • f-14
    Currently a member of HMA, and a while back their speeds were a bit flaky, they've improved that quite a bit to the point where I can max out my connection. Only other I have issues is that they -do- log and will forward copyright accusations.

    However, judicious use of -where- you connect to avoids most of those problems (ie: don't connect to an US server if you're going to torrent US films, in fact, avoid US servers in general...)

    As for their turning in of the hackers who were using their service, while they might shrug at copyright accusations (relatively victimless crime), remember what these guys did in the Sony hack, that was a high-profile international incident which resulted in the FBI, Justice Department, and Interpol stepping up. Faced with that, and -legal- court orders, I'm sure they had little choice but to turn over the info they had on them.

    that's not hiding your ass, that's 'giving up your ass' false advertising.
    Reply
  • Rookie_MIB
    15953239 said:
    that's not hiding your ass, that's 'giving up your ass' false advertising.

    No, because it's clear in the TOS that they DO keep track of logins and correlated to IP/DATE. They forwarded it and warned me that it was against their TOS and would terminate my account if it continued. That is also the -only- one I've ever gotten.

    These guys who did the Sony hack went way beyond a simple movie download though, they infiltrated a major company, using a service which clearly stated they did track that info, and would comply with a legal court order (not just a random threat letter from a copyright troll), and they thought they were untouchable.

    They were wrong.
    Reply
  • carnetarian
    15953239 said:
    that's not hiding your ass, that's 'giving up your ass' false advertising.

    This is right on the money. It sounds like this VPN will give you up in a heartbeat, which completely defeats the entire purpose of having a VPN. I wouldn't use this VPN if they paid me.
    Reply
  • admin$
    I used to use HMA. They will not allow you to download any torrents which was the reason i had purchased the VPN in the first place. They sent me a warning then suspended my account. They auto renewed my subscription without notifying me in January, suspended my account in February. No refund. I would not recommend this software to anyone. I have since switched to PIA... no issues at all, would definitely recommend PIA.
    Reply