OVPN Review

In order to secure your browsing activities and enjoy online privacy and anonymity, it is important to choose a VPN service that is committed to keep your data protected. Swedish VPN provider OVPN claims to be a solid solution to defend your privacy from online surveillance and hackers. The VPN started operating in 2014 and it strives to offer a high standard of security to help internet users to enjoy their browsing without being monitored. The company is still operating from Sweden to offer a transparent and reliable solution, and it focuses on offering a VPN that is secure and fast. If you are considering OVPN, but want to find out more about this service before setting up a subscription, check our review below.

Security and Privacy

Since OVPN aims to offer strong protection for your data, it doesn’t support PPTP because this protocol is considered as a weak option and it is likely that it has been already compromised. OpenVPN on the other hand is a reliable solution that offers security and that keeps your information protected from online threats. OVPN stands by its commitment to provide top protection for its customers and it uses AES-256_GCM behind a 2048-bit Diffie-Hellman key, which keeps the internet traffic highly encrypted.

The privacy policy states that there are no logs kept of users’ activities and they don’t keep any information that could help to identify someone. There is no bandwidth information stored or timestamps. OVPN wants to ensure that its customers can browse, stream, download content, or play online games without compromising their privacy. Even if a court order is received, the only information that OVPN could hand over would be method of payment.

However, it is possible to opt for an anonymous method of payment such as cash or Bitcoin. In addition, OVPN doesn’t use Google Analytics or similar third party solutions to track users behavior. Instead, they use Piwik, which is an open source option that automatically stops the last byte sin your IP address to keep it protected and ensuring that not even OVPN can see it.

Features

There is dedicated software for Mac, Windows and Linux (Ubuntu) and OVPN also offers configuration instructions so that you can use the VPN on other platforms such as Rapsberry Pi and DD-WRT routers. The VPN client that OVPN offers is easy to use and it offers convenient options such as connection statistics. Security solutions such as kill switch and DNS Leak protection are also available. Overall, the VPN client is easy to use and it offers good performance. The browsing speeds are fantastic, although you may experience some slowdowns when torrenting (yes, this is allowed in their network), specially if you are outside Europe.

The OVPN browser extension is designed to enhance your privacy while you visit your favorite websites and it works with Chrome, Opera, Firefox and Vivaldi. It is a practical solution that blocks ads and trackers, giving you a more enjoyable browsing experience. The extension also removes cookies stored on your device once you leave a specific website. In addition, it offers protection against WebRTC leaks, which could reveal your real IP address.

There are also add-ons available that allow you to customize your VPN. For instance, you can get a static IP, which is ideal if you want to run external services on your VPN or computer. To add more security to your connection, you can opt for the Multihop add-on, which routes your online traffic through two datacenters, encrypting it an additional time. This is a solution that reduces the chances of timing-attacks. It is also worth mentioning that OVPN allows up to 4 simultaneous connections.

Currently, OVPN has over 40 servers in six countries: Sweden, Germany, Canada, Norway, United States and the Netherlands. There are mire than 2600 IPs available and while the selection of locations is limited, OVPN promises to offer a higher level of security, instead of several servers that may not be as secure as you think. Their priority is security and they are more concerned with offering quality over quantity.

Plans

One month of services costs €9.99, for three months you pay a total of €24.99 (€8.33 per month) and the monthly cost when you subscribe for a full year is €7 since the full price is €84. All the plans are covered by a 10-day money back guarantee. The payment methods include PayPal, credit cards, Bitcoin and cash. Although the prices are considerably higher than what other providers offer, this may be due to the provider being relatively small and still somehow new in the industry. Still, for the price, they promise a reliable, highly secure solution that keeps your traffic safeguarded from hacking, surveillance and other threats.

Customer Support

The website offers a well-organized FAQ section where you will find information about different categories. There are also guides that will help you to set up the service manually on a wide range of platforms supported. If you need to get in touch with the support team, you can send them an email using the online form or try the live chat, which is available from 9 AM to 6PM CET. You can expect prompt and helpful responses. You can also get their PGP key to email them securely. Customer service is one of the strongest points for OVPN as they provide professional assistance and it is clear that they are well-prepared to answer any technical question.

Conclusion

While OVPN offers a limited selection of servers and the prices are on the high end, there are many positive aspects that make this an option worth considering. The high level of security, the strong privacy policy and the transparency that the service stands for, deserve special recognition. The browsing speed is quite good, although the torrenting speeds could be improved. We would like to see mobile apps in the future and it would also be a good thing that add-ons like multihop were part of the core service. In spite of some minor issues, if you are willing to invest more on your VPN and want strong protection, OVPN could be the right choice for you.