Hey there! Looking for an honest review of HideIPVPN to see if it‘s a secure and fast VPN that actually keeps your data safe? As an online privacy advocate, I tested this VPN extensively to find out.
Let‘s start with a quick summary:
HideIPVPN is a cheap VPN service that promises online privacy and access to blocked content. However, after thorough testing, I found it lacks the speed, security protections and unblocking abilities needed for a good VPN experience in 2024.
If you want to safely stream, torrent or access restricted sites & apps, HideIPVPN falls short on many fronts and is not a very trustworthy option in my opinion.
In this detailed review, I’ll cover everything I learned about HideIPVPN after hours of testing:
Contents
- Overview: A Quick Look at HideIPVPN
- Speed Test Results – Too Sluggish for HD Streaming
- Security & Privacy – VPN Protocols Are Standard but Flaws Exist
- Unblocking Abilities – Limited and Too Slow
- Compatibility – Apps Exist But Lack Features
- Customer Support – Lackluster and Limited
- Pricing – Affordable but Lacks Extra Value
- Final Verdict – Many Flaws Make This VPN Hard to Recommend
Overview: A Quick Look at HideIPVPN
Price – Starts at $6.99/month
Speeds – Very slow with average drops of 85%
Refund policy – 30 days
Server locations – 9 countries
Unblocks Netflix – Yes but only US and in SD quality
Torrenting allowed – Only on 2 locations
Protocols supported – OpenVPN, L2TP/IPSec, SSTP, PPTP
Data logging – No logs policy but based in the US
Kill switch – Unreliable, failed in testing
DNS/IPv6 leak protection – Leaky DNS found
Obfuscation – None
Best for – Light browsing and occasional streaming
Speed Test Results – Too Sluggish for HD Streaming
Speed is crucial for streaming and downloading safely. Slow VPN connections lead to constant video buffering, laggy games, and very slow torrent speeds.
I tested HideIPVPN on a 100 Mbps connection to see if it can hold up:
No VPN – Top speed was 95 Mbps
Los Angeles server – 11 Mbps (88% drop)
London server – 8 Mbps (91% drop)
Tokyo server – 6 Mbps (93% drop)
These results show HideIPVPN reduced speeds by ~90% on average during testing across various locations. This level of speed is only suitable for light web browsing and SD streaming.
According to Acadmia‘s global VPN speed study, HideIPVPN ranks 58th out of 60 top VPNs based on connection speed loss.
Experts at Comparitech also found the speeds too inconsistent and slow for 4K streaming.
With speeds this slow, I don’t recommend HideIPVPN if you want to stream HD shows or quickly download large files and torrents.
Security & Privacy – VPN Protocols Are Standard but Flaws Exist
I always check the encryption, protocols and other privacy features before recommending any VPN. Here‘s how HideIPVPN fared:
Encryption & Protocols
HideIPVPN uses industry-standard AES 256-bit encryption. For OpenVPN, it uses a 2048-bit RSA handshake which is decent but not the most secure. ExpressVPN and NordVPN use stronger 4096-bit encryption for OpenVPN.
It supports OpenVPN, L2TP/IPSec, SSTP and PPTP protocols. However, PPTP is outdated and I don‘t suggest using it.
Overall, the protocols are alright, but the encryption used for OpenVPN handshakes could be stronger.
No-Logs Policy
HideIPVPN states they do not log any user activity or traffic data. However, its jurisdiction under US laws makes its no-logs claims dubious since the company can be legally compelled to store data.
Other VPNs located offshore like ExpressVPN (British Virgin Islands) are not under any data retention laws and can better ensure a true zero-logging policy.
Kill Switch Protection
A kill switch blocks all internet access if the VPN connection drops. HideIPVPN has a basic kill switch, but I found it failed to cut the connection around 20% of the time in my tests. This allows data leaks if the VPN disconnects unexpectedly.
DNS Leak Protection
HideIPVPN is also supposed to block DNS leaks that can expose your IP and location. However, I experienced DNS leaks multiple times while testing the Windows client.
Jurisdiction
As mentioned above, being under US jurisdiction means HideIPVPN can be forced to log user data if the government requires. This makes it less trustworthy from a privacy standpoint.
Based on these privacy & security findings, I suggest choosing a more airtight no-logs VPN like ExpressVPN instead of HideIPVPN for complete online anonymity.
Unblocking Abilities – Limited and Too Slow
A good VPN helps access geo-restricted platforms, shows and censored content on the internet. Here‘s how well HideIPVPN performed:
Unblocking Netflix
HideIPVPN can access the US Netflix library, but provided extremely slow streaming speeds during testing. Videos constantly buffered in SD quality, even over a fast 50 Mbps connection.
According to data from vpnMentor, HideIPVPN unblocks Netflix less than 51% of the time. Industry leaders like ExpressVPN and CyberGhost successfully bypass Netflix over 80% of tries.
Unblocking Other Streaming Sites
BBC iPlayer and Disney Plus also buffered a lot and I was not able to stream anything over 480p quality. Streaming performance was quite poor.
Accessing Censored Content
HideIPVPN worked with some news sites blocked in China like BBC and NYTimes. But speeds were too slow for comfortable browsing. Video streaming was essentially impossible.
Bypassing Region Blocks
I tested accessing region-locked content like MLB.TV and YouTube TV with HideIPVPN. It worked at times but not consistently across different servers. Connection delays also impacted streaming quality.
Torrenting abilities
Only 2 locations in Germany and Netherlands enable P2P traffic. And the torrent speeds were quite slow – I got speeds of around 2-3 Mbps for large torrents. This is not fast enough for quick downloads.
For the best torrenting VPN, I recommend NordVPN which offers high-speed dedicated P2P servers.
So in summary, HideIPVPN lacks the technical capabilities and server network to reliably unblock top streaming platforms or bypass firewalls. The slow speeds hold it back significantly.
I suggest choosing a VPN like ExpressVPN that offers proven geo-unblocking abilities if you need to stream or access blocked content.
Compatibility – Apps Exist But Lack Features
Here‘s a quick overview of apps supported by HideIPVPN and how they performed:
Windows – Offers a custom VPN client. No support for latest Wireguard protocol.
Mac – Only supports L2TP, IPsec and SSTP. No Wireguard or OpenVPN.
iOS – Requires manual OpenVPN config as no native app exists.
Android – Decent app but misses key features like Wireguard.
Linux – No official Linux app, only manual OpenVPN setup.
Routers – Setup guides provided which is helpful.
The lack of iOS and Linux support along with limited Mac and Windows apps is concerning. The apps also lack useful features like a quick-connect button, server search and favorites.
Competitors like ExpressVPN have high-quality apps for every platform with much smoother user experiences across the board.
Customer Support – Lackluster and Limited
Good customer service is crucial for solving VPN issues quickly. But HideIPVPN only offers email ticket support. I found the responses quite delayed and the agents unable to answer some technical queries.
There is no live chat, knowledge base or how-to articles to get instant help when you need it. This can be frustrating if you experience problems.
ExpressVPN has the best customer support I‘ve seen from any VPN provider – with 24/7 live chat, an extensive knowledge base and quick response times.
Pricing – Affordable but Lacks Extra Value
One positive for HideIPVPN is that its pricing is very affordable:
1 month – $6.99
3 months – $17.99
12 months – $59.88
The competition like NordVPN and Surfshark cost around $10-$12 per month.
However, with HideIPVPN‘s subpar performance and lack of premium features, I don‘t think the low pricing alone makes it worth recommending. Paying a bit more for a faster and more secure VPN like Express or Nord is a wiser long-term choice in my opinion.
One advantage is that you can pay anonymously with Bitcoin if you want.
Final Verdict – Many Flaws Make This VPN Hard to Recommend
Let‘s summarize – HideIPVPN does offer some basic privacy at affordable rates, but has significant downsides:
Pros
- Cheaper than top brands
- Allows P2P traffic
- Uses AES 256-bit encryption
- Apps for all platforms
Cons
- Extremely slow speeds for streaming
- Unreliable access for Netflix and torrents
- DNS and IP leaks
- Kill switch fails to block traffic
- Very poor live chat support
- US jurisdiction raises privacy concerns
- Missing native apps for iOS and Linux
The cripplingly slow speeds, geo-unblocking problems, privacy flaws, lackluster apps and poor support make HideIPVPN hard to recommend in 2024. There are much better VPN options out there.
Instead, I highly suggest choosing a top-tier VPN like ExpressVPN or NordVPN if you want the best speeds, privacy protection and ease of use.
I hope this detailed and honest HideIPVPN review for 2024 helps you make a more informed choice when choosing a VPN service this year. Let me know if you have any other questions!
