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How we review and test VPNs

VPNBrains is committed to providing up-to-date, accurate, and comprehensive reviews so you can make informed decisions on which VPN is best for your individual needs. We make this happen by utilizing a team of experts in the fields of VPN testing, cybersecurity, technology, and technical writing who conduct ongoing testing and stay on top of the latest research on VPN services.  We then relay that knowledge and its practical implications to you in a clear and understandable format. 

The information we include in our reviews is designed to provide objective and up-to-date knowledge about the performance of the VPN in multiple areas including privacy, security, speed, streaming, torrenting, and unblocking geo-restricted websites. 

Our promise of integrity: Honest reviews you can trust

At VPNBrains, it is important to us that we provide you with objective reviews that are worthy of your trust. That’s why we make sure all of the information provided in our articles is based on the following criteria:

Our evaluation criteria: What we look for

Our use of multi-faceted evaluation criteria is designed to provide a comprehensive evaluation of each VPN reviewed. The process includes an investigation of the VPN’s key security and privacy features including the encryption cipher, tunneling protocols, authentication process, and leak protection.

We also investigate the VPN provider’s quality and reliability for common functions such as streaming, torrenting, and bypassing geo-blocks. In addition, we look into how user-friendly the apps are and the customer support provided. Specifically, we test each of the following areas:

Security

The online security of our readers is important to us, so we do a thorough assessment of all security features including:

When it comes to security, we recommend sticking with the gold standard in the VPN industry, AES 256-bit encryption. It is also important to ensure that your privacy is protected by an independently audited no-logs policy. 

A VPN keeps you safe by passing all of your data through an encrypted tunnel, so the tunneling protocol must be reliable and secure. WireGuard, OpenVPN (UDP/TCP), and IKEv2 are currently the safest VPN protocols. There are some VPN companies that have developed proprietary protocols similar to WireGuard that are generally dependable and safe. 

We check for IP leaks and verify that the kill switch, split tunneling, and any additional security features the VPN offers are dependable. 

Finally, we check to see if the VPN company is engaged in ongoing security improvements which is crucial in staying relevant in the ever-changing world of cybersecurity. 

Speed

Speed is essential for all online activities. Without enough speed, users can experience lag, buffering, pixelation, and dropped connections while gaming, streaming, torrenting, or browsing online. 

Some decrease in speed is normal when using a VPN, as it takes time to encrypt data and re-route it to an alternate server, but at VPNBrains, we want to make sure that any slowdowns stay at a minimum so it doesn’t impact performance. 

When we test out a VPN for speed, we first check the speed on your internet service provider without using a VPN so we have a baseline for comparison. After that, we test the speed on servers on multiple continents across the globe including the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia so we know how distance impacts the speed of the connection. 

Heavy internet traffic can also impair the speed of your connection, so we test the VPN at various times throughout the day to see how well it performs both during low volume and peak use hours.  

Download speed, upload speed, and ping are each measured and reported separately. Download speed is reported by the number of megabits per second (Mbps) it takes to download information from the server. Upload speed refers to the Mbps it takes to upload data onto the server. Ping measures how long it takes for data to travel across a network between two devices. 

Server network & coverage

The global server network of a VPN is what allows VPN users to access geo-restricted websites from around the world. It is a tool commonly used by travelers needing to access their bank accounts, work websites, and favorite streaming services while abroad. It also allows movie and TV fans to access content from multiple regions.

Our reviews provide detailed information on the number of servers and countries that are part of the VPN network. We also give them a try to see how well they perform at bypassing geo-blocks to ensure you can access the sites you want from anywhere in the world.

If the VPN service offers specialized P2P servers for torrenting, we test them to make sure they are secure and compatible with popular torrenting clients. Specialized servers for streaming and gaming are also put to a real-world test to see how well they perform. 

If the VPN service offers dedicated IP addresses, we try those out as well, to make sure they work as promised.  Any additional specialized features the VPN offers, like obfuscation, port forwarding, or split tunneling are also put through rigorous testing, to make sure they are reliable. 

Geo-blocking 

Not all VPNs have the software necessary to bypass the strong geo-blocks used by popular streaming services. During our evaluation process, we try out the VPN’s geo-spoofing capabilities on numerous sites including Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, HBO Max, Hulu, Vudu, and more. We repeat the testing process in numerous countries and with a variety of devices to ensure it works reliably when the variables are changed. 

In addition to streaming services, we try out the VPN on other geographically restricted sites such as online banking.  We also look into its ability to bypass government firewalls that are set up to block access to news sites and social media sites in authoritarian countries such as China and Russia.

Torrenting

We examine the torrenting capabilities of each VPN we review. Speed testing is conducted to determine if the VPN can support timely torrents and then we put it to the test to see how long it actually takes to complete a download. 

We check to be sure the VPN has servers that support P2P sharing and try them out with a variety of torrent clients including BitTorrent, uTorrent, and Vuze to ensure compatibility. We also look for supporting software such as OpenVPN and SOCKS5 proxies. 

We assess the privacy and security features of each VPN to ensure safe torrenting for downloading from public forums where the risk of cyber threats is increased.

Torrenting uses a significant amount of data, so we provide information on any bandwidth or data limits that may impede a user’s ability to torrent all the content they want. 

Ease of use 

Each VPN is evaluated for ease of use on a variety of operating systems and devices. We look at the process for downloading, installing, and using the VPN app for Android, Windows, iOS, macOS, and Linux devices. When applicable, we also provide information on user-friendliness with routers, smart TVs, Amazon Fire Stick, Roku, and more.

In addition, we go through the settings and customization features on the VPN apps to see how intuitive the interface is with each operating system. That way we can provide feedback on which apps are easy for beginners, and which require more advanced technical skills. 

Customer support 

Customer support is essential, especially if you are new to VPNs! We looked at all avenues of customer service, which typically includes articles, FAQs, e-mail, and live chat support.

We asked questions via e-mail and live chat support and assessed the timeliness and accuracy of their response. All articles and FAQs are reviewed for accessibility and accuracy. 

Finally, we want to be sure you don’t get stuck with a VPN you aren’t happy with so we make sure the VPN companies have a money-back guarantee that you can trust.