StrongVPN Review: Strong and Simple

StrongVPN launched in 1994 as a small PC retailer in South Lake Tahoe, California. Quickly enough, it switched to offering dial-up Internet services and then to providing dedicated servers and colocation services. Since then, it has expanded its network to more than 650 servers worldwide.

But while we saw good performance with StrongVPN, it lacks the variety of features and pricing options of other VPN services.

StrongVPN Specs

Pricing

Strong VPN doesn’t give you a lot of wiggle room when picking a subscription. There are only two plans: monthly and annual. The 1-month plan is $10, while the annual subscription price drops to $5.83 per month. If that’s too pricey for you, you can check the StrongVPN website for coupons.

*Free and Build A Plan options not shown

There are no free trials, but both plans are covered by an “unconditional” and “risk-free” 30-day money-back guarantee, which allows you to fully test the service and receive a refund if you request it within this period.

You can pay via major credit cards, as well as PayPal or AliPay.

Features

StrongVPN’s server coverage includes over 650 servers in 46 cities across the world, providing as many as 59,500 VPN IPs. The provider supports VPN connections on up to 12 devices at the same time, which is more than enough for a typical household or even a small office. There is even a possibility to gain unlimited connections by installing the service on select routers that support VPN.

Most VPN users want access to geo-restricted services and platforms, like Netflix, HBO and Pandora. However, StrongVPN doesn’t claim to unblock BBC iPlayer and trying to unblock it yields inconsistent results. Nevertheless, the VPN supports an extensive list of streaming services inaccessible in certain regions.

Additionally, StrongVPN offers fast and unlimited file sharing via torrenting clients.

The list of platforms supporting the installation and use of StrongVPN is lengthy. You can download the clients for Windows and Mac OS directly from the website. Downloading the Android, iOS, or Fire TV apps, takes you to their respective app stores. The manual setup guides are available for all of the above, as well as for specific routers and other platforms, including Linux, Windows Mobile, Kodi, Amazon Kindle and Chromium. If you want the service on your router but don’t want to go through the hassle of installing the software yourself, then buying a preloaded router might be a better option.

StrongVPN’s website offers in-depth articles on various topics concerning its services as well as industry updates on its blog. The help section is divided into three categories - setup guides, troubleshooting and FAQ. If the site fails to address your concerns, then the company’s customer support team is at your disposal 24/7 via live chat on the website or through email. To send them an email, you can either use your preferred email platform or fill out the contact form on the website. The provider also has phone support available Monday-Friday (9 a.m. - 5 p.m. CT, UTC-6).

Privacy

StrongVPN has all the typical VPN privacy features but not many extras. There’s the usual kill switch, an essential mechanism which activates in the event of a sudden VPN connection interruption, safeguarding your sensitive data from leaking, the standard list of connection protocols -- OpenVPN, IPSec, IKEv2, L2TP and SSTP -- as well as the strong AES-256-CBC encryption algorithm.

The company also has its own secure DNS system to which you can sign up separately from the entire VPN service if you only want a way to unblock geographically restricted media. While VPN encrypts all of your traffic, StrongDNS doesn’t re-route it through the company’s servers or change your IP address. Instead, it connects you directly to the streaming server, ensuring the best possible speed.

StrongVPN is a zero-logging provider, which means it doesn’t monitor or keep any logs about your online activities. However, there aren’t any more specific details about the no-logs policy readily available. It would be helpful if StrongVPN followed in the footsteps of some other providers, like TunnelBear, that open their proverbial doors to independent auditors and publish the results.

StrongVPN is also under the jurisdiction of the U.S., a country with a history of pushing tech companies to share user data. If you’re privacy-obsessed, take this into account.

Performance

StrongVPN’s performance justifies its name.

During our testing, we reached the highest speeds when connecting to the U.S. servers. However, other locations yielded results that were almost as good.

Bottom Line

Although it doesn’t have as many features as some of its competitors, StrongVPN still offers above-average performance for the most typical VPN use cases. It unblocks Netflix and some other geo-restricted services, and also allows torrenting with no bandwidth limitations. The company also allows simultaneous connections on an unusually high number of devices.

There are some privacy concerns related to the company’s location and lack of details on the no-logs policy, but considering all the positives, it’s worth checking out. Just don’t bank on streaming BBC iPlayer.

Image Credits: StrongVPN

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