StrongVPN Review

StrongVPN Review

Summary

StrongVPN is a large VPN provider based in the United States. While StrongVPN is popular, in our opinion they are somewhat unimpressive. On paper their privacy policy seems reasonable, but the company has been known for taking an aggressive stance towards file sharers. The company is not transparent with its technical security and seems reluctant to answer any questions regarding user privacy. Due to the fact that this company is not forthcoming with security information and charges a high price, we cannot recommend this client to anyone looking for a VPN.

With our opinion being stated, we always recommend that people make decisions on their own. We will still provide you with the information needed to come to an education decision.

Pricing

StrongVPN happens to be among the most expensive VPN service providers available. Their basic package is $7 per month, but is too basic and is not recommended. This package only offers PPTP which is not a secure product, and happens to be the primary offering of this company.

For those users that only want a VPN to let them access geo-restricted content, PPTP is enough. For users that want anonymity and security, a better product is needed.

The standard industry for users demanding privacy, OpenVPN starts at $10 a month. This price per month is one of the highest among VPN providers. For their best product, StrongVPN charges as much as $30 a month. In addition StrongVPN does not offer any monthly payment plans. Their subscribers are forced to pay at least three months at a time. Their cheapest plan will have you paying $60 at a time. They do offer a seven day money back guarantee to try their service and see if it is right for you.

Unlike other VPNs, this service has hidden fees and charges for extra features that typically come free with VPN service. There is a limit to the amount of times a user can switch servers without paying more.

One drawback to StrongVPN is that it only allows you to connect to one device at a time. For example if you are connected to the Internet on your home computer, you cannot use StrongVPN on your mobile device at the same time.

Product Support

If there is one area where StrongVPN is actually strong like their name indicates, it is customer service. The Live Support feature is usually available and it does not take long for support to respond. They also have support staff that speaks other languages in addition to English.

One thing we found out is that it seemed customer service agents were not permitted or unable to answer out technical questions. After asking technical questions the agents put us on hold and we were transferred to an expert. The expert still did not answer these questions satisfactorily.

Customer service agents were good at answer simple setup or sales questions. If you need help beyond simple questions, StrongVPN did not assist very well in this department and it may be best to look elsewhere.

Security and Privacy

On paper StrongVPN’s privacy policy looks good. When it comes to the real thing the actions of the company do not seem to adhere to the policies. While we prefer VPN providers with no logs, we understand that some are required to do so based on what country they are based in. StrongVPN has developed a reputation of bumping people from their service for certain file sharing activities and copyright infringements. The information is only available when companies track the browser activities. This is something that left a bad impression on us.

StrongVPN uses servers ranging from 128-bit to 256-bit encryption. To the user it is practically impossible to know which you are using, and the option to change the encryption level is not included.

Website

StrongVPN’s website is designed nicely with information being clearly laid out. It is easy to find information and links are well designed to be helpful.

Sign Up

To sign up with StrongVPN you must fill out a quite lengthy form. Some other VPN’s only ask for an email and payment information, but StrongVPN asks for a lot more.

One advantage to StrongVPN is that they accept Bitcoins as payment. Although paying with Bitcoins can be simple, the length of the information required negates the quickness of this option. They also accept major credit cards, PayPal, wire transfers, Western Union, or Stripe.

The download for Windows was fairly basic. The limit to the number of times you can switch your server locations along with the high cost for service were deal breakers.

If you do not need to switch servers and you still want to continue with your plan, you will find StrongVPN to be easy to install and set up, with simple on-screen prompts.

Supported Platforms

For the Mac user, StrongVPN is easy to utilize. Setup guides are provided for users of Linux and Android. As far as an iOS device, only a jail broken device can use StrongVPN.

Conclusion

Positives

• Website is well thought out
• Customer service options
• Strong performance results
• 7 day money back guarantee

Negatives:

• Support does not provide technical answers
• Client is too basic for the money required
• Higher cost than other clients and requires extra fees

While this service offers basic features that may be nice, we do not like much about it. We cannot recommend StrongVPN for any users that require more than a bare bones service. This VPN client is more expensive than most of its competitors and on top of that, is not worth the price they charge. There are many other service providers that are cheaper and offer more. We would be quick to recommend other VPN clients ahead of StrongVPN.