CitizenVPN Review
Following recent reports about the threats that our privacy faces everyday, the demand for technology that helps us to protect our information is increasing. Internet users are specially vulnerable when they rely on public WiFi hotspots, which is why it is important to consider enhancing the security of your connection with a VPN. CitizenCPN is a Danish provider that offers strong protection for your online traffic and that also allows you to bypass blocks that prevent you from accessing the content that you want. If you live in a country where certain websites and applications are censored, or you want to defeat geographical restrictions to enjoy a more versatile streaming experience, CitizenVPN is a fast and effective solution. In this review, we’ll find out how they can improve your security on the internet and help you to enjoy more content.
Privacy and Security
With a VPN service like CitizenVPN, the internet traffic between your computer and the VPN server is encrypted, making sure that others can’t see what you do online. Defending your connection from eavesdropping is crucial since your ISP, large corporations, the government and hackers are looking for ways to get access to your personal data and to monitor your online activities. CitizenVPN supports PPTP and OpenVPN, which are popular solutions. While PPTP is generally considered as weak, it is widely available and easy to set up. However, if you want strong security and reliability, the best option is to opt for OpenVPN.
With PPTP, CitizenVPN offers 128-bit MPPE encryption with MSCHAPv2. OpenVPN features 256-bit AES encryption, which gives you solid protection against cyber crime and online surveillance. In addition to this high standard of encryption, CitizenVPN comes with an additional firewall that defends you from worms that could compromise the security and privacy of your connection. This is a great addition that will boost the protection for your data. One of the best things about CitizenVPN is its no logs policy and its commitment to ensure that your privacy remains intact.
CitizenVPN has come up with a solution to ensure that its customers enjoy the highest possible level of online anonymity. Although the company has presence in Denmark, the VPN service is actually provided from their base in Bahamas. This allows CitizenVPN to avoid EU and Danish data retention and logging requirements. Thanks to this setting, CitizenVPN can provide a solid no logs service that doesn’t keep any records of your online activities or IP address. CitizenVPN supports P2P and it is committed to help you to stay anonymous when you are torrenting. When you sign up, you are only asked to provide your email address and Bitcoin is accepted as method of payment, making CitizenVPN a perfect option to keep your privacy safe.
Features
CitizenVPN works on all platforms including Windows, Linux, Mac, Android, iOS and DD-WRT routers. Although they only offer a client for Android at the moment, you can connect to the VPN using your device’s built-in PPTP option, or the free and open-source OpenVPN client when using other platforms. Android users are the lucky ones to get to use the first CitizenVPN client based on OpenVPN, and entirely developed in-house at their Denmark headquarters. The Android app also provides a 1-day trial with no signup required. Until more clients are released, OpenVPN is the optimal solution.
For OpenVPN, there is a customized installer that will make the process easier. They also offer detailed guides that will help you to configure the service on your operating system. CitizenVPN is fairly basic in terms of features, but it works well and allows you to access a great selection of online content. They offer unlimited bandwidth and don’t block any traffic, making sure that you can stream and enjoy content without restrictions. The service currently allows 3 simultaneous connections but we are reliably informed that this will be increasing to 5 in the near future. You may install it on as many computers as you wish.
At the moment, CitizenVPN has servers in the following five countries: Denmark, United States, United Kingdom, Norway and Germany (more are being added in the near future). The current global coverage is smaller than what other providers offer, but it covers countries that are crucial to unlock access to popular streaming services like Hulu, BBC iPlayer, as well as the best content from Netflix. In spite of the limited selection of server locations, CitizenVPN manages to provide very good speeds for streaming and downloading. This is great considering that the service is designed to offer a remarkable level of security and anonymity. You can watch and download content without exposing your identity.
Plans
There are two different ways in which you can enjoy the service that CitizenVPN offers. You can opt for the Unlimited plan, which is ideal for streaming, downloading and playing online games. As the name suggests, this plan doesn’t impose any caps. The price for one month is €9 (around $9.60 USD). For six months, you pay €48 ($51.20 at the time of writing) and for one year, the price is €84 (about $89.60). When you extend the length of the subscription, you can save money since the monthly price is reduced to €8 ($8.50) when you pay for 6 months in advance, or to €7 (approximately $7.50), if you opt for the yearly plan.
If you mainly want to secure your browsing and don’t need unlimited download and upload capacity, the Pay as you go plan is a good option. You only pay for the data you need and can use it throughout the year. For 10 GB, you pay €9, 60GB cost €48 and the price for 120GB is €62 (just above $66 at the moment) for 120 GB.
CitizenVPN allows for 3 simultaneous users or devices per account, but they advised planning on upgrading this to 5 devices. The solid no logs policy will appeal torrenting fans who want complete anonymity. The payment methods accepted include cards, PayPal, Bitcoin and DK, a popular payment solution in Denmark.
Customer Support
On the Support section, you can find easy-to-follow installation guides, a list of the most frequent questions about the service, with detailed information that covers technical aspects, security, common issues and more. The Support team can be contacted via email, live chat and phone. While the live chat and phone support are only available during business hours (CET), the fact that these options are available makes CitizenVPN stand apart. Not many provider offer phone support and many people prefer this option. That being said, the email support is very good and you can expect fast, professional responses. Support is available in English and Danish.
Conclusion
CitizenVPN will appeal to those who want a high level of protection for their privacy and flexibility to use P2P applications without exposing their IP address. While they offer a limited selection of locations, the coverage is enough to ensure that you can disguise your identity and unlock great content. The price of the plans is higher than other options available in the market, but you if you don’t stream or download content on a regular basis, you can opt for the Pay as you go plan and save money.