VyprVPN Review 2016

Welcome to our VyprVPN review. VyprVPN is a very popular and well known VPN service that was released in 2009 by Golden Frog. Since then, they have gained notoriety and have been mentioned everywhere from the New York Times to a tech talk radio program called the Kim Komando Show. They are a “Tier-1” provider, which means a few things. Not only do they manage all of their data, therefore increasing speeds, they also have total control, so your data is protected end to end. In this review, we will provide you with information about the service, go through the features, test their speeds, and mention their encrypted messaging app.

Prices and Discounts

In today’s economy, price can often be a determining factor behind decisions you make. At times though, you get what you pay for. VyprVPN provides a premium product. Even so, they offer discounts to help make the service more affordable. Let’s take a look at the prices and plans by using our special pricing. As you can see in our image, they offer 3 plans, and allow you to purchase either 1 month, or 1 year of service. Their basic plan is offered from $5 a month, pro plan from $6.25 a month and premier plan from $7.50 a month with our 25% off discount in addition to their normal term savings.

Let’s take a look at what each plan offers:

VyprVPN Basic:

• 1 connection
• Unlimited data usage
• PPTP

VyprVPN Pro:

• 2 simultaneous connections
• Unlimited data usage
• NAT firewall included
• PPTP
• OpenVPN
• Chameleon

VyprVPN Premier:

• 3 simultaneous connections
• Unlimited data usage
• NAT firewall included
• PPTP
• OpenVPN
• Chameleon

As you can see, there are advantages and disadvantages to each, but we suggest going with the VyprVPN Pro version. Selecting that option gives you full usage of their different protocols, and unless you need the extra connection, it provides a good solution for most users. We will explain some of these options in later sections.

For payments, VyprVPN offers a number of ways to pay for your service. They accept credit cards like: Visa, MasterCard, Amex, Discover, Visa Electron, JCB, and Diner’s Club. They also offer Alipay and PayPal as an option. PayPal is one of our favorites because it allows you another way to manage your account. VyprVPN also has a 30 day money back guarantee.

VyprVPN Server

An interesting feature we will talk about is called VyprVPN Server. This beta program changes up the way VPN users connect. Instead of connecting to a server owned by Golden Frog, you can host your own and connect to it from the VyprVPN apps. This program provides several advantages over traditional methods. By using your own virtual machine, or a rented server from a cloud computing provider, you have the ability to choose your hardware, set your own logging policy, and use a dedicated IP address. Additionally, setting up the server is easy to do, and you still are able to access VyprVPN’s servers. Of course, hosting your own server provides several benefits. Those include securing all of your internet connections for a small business or group, protecting you against vulnerabilities, and locking down your cloud infrastructure. Given those features, it is not hard to see the benefits of using VyprVPN Server.

Cyphr Messenger

Though it is not part of their VPN service, Golden Frog offers a free encrypted messaging service. Their purpose is to offer a simple and secure alternative to other messaging apps. Like other recent apps, they do not retain information, nor do they store it. When using Cyphr, the meta data from your phone is encrypted, just like your messages are. The app is available for iOS and Android, and versions for Windows and Mac are expected soon. Everyone has access to this feature.

Server Locations

The Golden Frog network gives you the option of selecting servers in 64 different countries. Within those countries, there are more than 700 servers across five continents around the world. That means VyprVPN has one of the larger networks in the industry.

Though we show these countries in the image, we will go over the countries where servers are located.

North Americas – Canada, Mexico, U.S.

Oceania – Australia, New Zealand, Marshall Islands

Africa – Algeria, Egypt

Europe – Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Luxembourg, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, U.K., Ukraine

Central America – Costa Rica, Panama, El Salvador

South America – Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay

Asia – Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam

Middle East – Bahrain, Israel, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, U.A.E.

Though you may not need access to the number of servers they offer, we think it is important that you have the ability to choose them. VyprVPN has servers that seem to be clustered strategically, as you can see by some of the countries listed. They definitely have servers where they count. If you are planning a trip to Asia, they have that region and others covered well.

Performance

When analyzing the performance of a VPN service, you can always expect some speed loss. That is because of the overhead caused by encryption. In running our speed test for VyprVPN, we encountered about a 21% speed loss. That number is within the normal limits that we would expect. A difference of 10-25% is considered reasonable. In our image, you also see an increase in ping. All the ping number represents is the amount of lag. The lag, in this case, is not large, but it is almost 60% more than it is without. It is still an acceptable amount of lag. Unless you are in China, the best protocol for streaming is the OpenVPN protocol they offer, and then choose 256-bit encryption.

Security and Privacy

Encrypted protocols are how VPN services provide security. Every protocol has their own algorithms used in data encryption. VyprVPN gives you several options. The choices they provide are OpenVPN (UDP), L2TP, PPTP, and their own protocol they call Chameleon. Most of the time, the best protocol you can choose is OpenVPN (UDP), because it is the fastest. Other companies also offer OpenVPN (TCP) for those that have connection issues. VyprVPN does not. They suggest if you have connection problems, you should use PPTP (TCP). However, we do not recommend doing that. PPTP only uses 128-bit encryption, and even the protocol’s creator suggests you should use others.

VyprVPN openly admits that they log information. Let’s take a look at what they log. This next section is taken from the privacy policy on their website.

“What Data Golden Frog Retains From VyprVPN Sessions: Each time a user connects to VyprVPN, we retain the following data for 30 days: the user’s source IP address, the VyprVPN IP address used by the user, connection start and stop time and total number of bytes used.

Why Golden Frog Retains VyprVPN Session Data: We retain VyprVPN session data for 30 days to use with billing issues, troubleshooting, service offering evaluation, TOS issues, AUP issues, and for handling crimes performed over the service.

What Golden Frog Does Not Collect From VyprVPN Sessions:

• Does not log a user’s traffic or the content of any communications
• Does not perform deep packet inspection of your traffic, except where requested by the customer for firewall purposes.
• Does not perform shallow packet inspection of your traffic, except where requested by the customer for firewall purposes.
• Does not discriminate against devices, protocols, or applications. Golden Frog is network neutral.
• Does not throttle your Internet connection.
• Does not rate limit Internet connection.”

However, they also state “Golden Frog does not use personally identifiable information collected through our Web site to contact users regarding products and services offered by Golden Frog. We do not share a member’s personally identifiable information with affiliates, independent contractors, business partners or outside entities for marketing purposes or otherwise. We hold your data private.”

Their argument is that all major VPN services log some sort of data, and anyone that tells you otherwise is being dishonest. Whereas this may be true to a degree, the approach they take to this topic is bold. When Apple was being compelled to crack the phone, they wrote a statement of support. They have also been strong privacy advocates, and host an annual privacy panel at South x SouthWest.

Support

VyprVPN provides live chat support that is available 24/7/365. The people we spoke with were very friendly and knowledgeable. That would generally be the best way to get a hold of them. However, they do also offer 24 hour email support as well. In addition, they offer a help center with tutorials and frequently asked questions, and a form to submit for answers.

Compatibility

VyprVPN’s service supports major operating systems, whether mobile or desktop. Of course, that support covers:

Please note, the VPN service may be used on DD-WRT and Tomato routers. They also provide manual set up guides for Chromebook, Boxe box, as well as helping you run a router for streaming devices like Apple TV and Chromecast.

Sign Up Process

This is how you get started with VyprVPN. First, pick a plan. They say the pro version is the most popular, but it really depends on your needs. You will want to stay away from the basic version, though, because of the protocol issues we mentioned earlier. Choosing the year subscription is the most cost effective. At first, you will see the the setup screen, with the normal pricing. At the bottom of the page where the payment info is put in, you have the option of picking your subscription length there.

Go ahead and fill in the fields, and you are almost ready. There is a medium amount of information needed in creating your account. Some companies require more, and some less. The fields required are name, email address, and password. In the picture, you can see that your login ID is your email address. Now that you have entered that, you can choose which method of payment you want to use.

How to Use VyprVPN for Windows

Companies like Golden Frog make their software easy to use, but we will lead you through the process of using it. Once you download the software, locate the file and click the install button. After installing, you will see a main console that looks like this. Right clicking on the gear in the upper right hand corner will display a box that says options. From options, you may change or configure your protocol, select one of the advanced settings that we mentioned earlier, or view account information. By default, VyprVPN uses OpenVPN (UDP). If you choose not to, you may leave that alone. Again if you have some technical knowledge, it is not hard to navigate.

1. If you are planning to connect to a specific country, click the icon shown by the red arrow, and choose the country you wish to use. In this example, we will use a server located in in the USA. By clicking the arrow, Find the United States flag, highlight the row, and click the connect button.
2. After doing that, your blue connection box changes from blue to red.
3. Now, you are free to surf the web, view content, or anything else you want to do, just as if you were in London.

To change servers, just click on the location icon again, select the server, and click connect. As you can see, the process for using the Windows client is easy to navigate. If you are not using the Windows operating system, your experience will be slightly different.

A big selling point of any VPN service is the list of features they offer. VyprVPN is just loaded with features that set them apart from other services. We will start by mentioning a point we brought up earlier, their Tier-1 status. In the crowded field of VPN providers, very few companies offer the speed and security of a Tier 1 network. We will then go through their other options on their Windows client, starting with the connections tab first.

Connection tab:

Automatic Reconnect – As you might anticipate, clicking this box will automatically reconnect you, should your VPN service drop.

Connect on Start – There are two options here, Connect VyprVPN when Windows starts up, or Connect when the application launches.

Kill Switch – This advanced feature is a great offering. It will stop all internet traffic, should your VPN connection drop. Without this feature, you would be vulnerable during that time.

Connect to Untrusted Wi-Fi – If you have a favorite free Wi-Fi hotspot or you are traveling, you already know that you should connect to your VPN service first. Enabling this feature will launch your service automatically whenever you use that network.

Protocol tab:

We mentioned above several different protocols that are available to you when using VyprVPN. Here is an explanation of them.

Chameleon – A special protocol unique to VyprVPN. Like the other protocols offered, it uses 256-bit encryption, but it scrambles data to prevent VPN blocking and throttling in countries like China and other restrictive countries.

OpenVPN – This protocol is considered to be the most favored option. Though it is offered in 160 bit and 256-bit by VyprVPN, we prefer the 256-bit version. That is because it offers the best mix of safety and security. We use this protocol whenever possible, and we recommend the pro account because of it.

L2TP/IPsec – This protocol offers 256-bit encryption and offers the same type of encryption level as OpenVPN. However, it is slower. If you don’t have the option of using OpenVPN, this alternative will work fine.

PPTP – Though this protocol may be faster, it only provides 128-bit encryption, which is a basic amount of security. It is considered to be better than nothing, but the protocol’s creator, Microsoft, recommends using a different protocol.

DNS Tab:

VyprDNS – With a VPN, it may sometimes be difficult to get around ISP restrictions. Since VyprDNS is built in to their VPN service, you can be assured that will not occur, no matter what country you are in.

3rd Party DNS – If you have access to a third party DNS, this is where you would enter it.

DNS Leak Prevention – Clicking this box will prevent a DNS leak while you are connected to VyprVPN.

General Tab:

This tab is where you find general options. Those include how often you want to be notified about connection activity, connection and disconnection sounds, preferred language, and you may even enable connection logs here for diagnostic reasons.

Advanced Tab:

This tab is designed for those that are highly technical. Though we will give you a brief description of the items in this tab, you won’t need to touch these settings, unless you are directed by support.

Route Delay – Stability tool used to make sure the TAP (network kernel) device is online before the system engages it.

Verbosity – This feature allows different levels of detail for connection log information to be used for troubleshooting purposes. The scale goes from 0-11.

MTU – MTU stands for Maximum Transmission Unit. If this number is compromised, it can cause frequent disconnects. VyprVPN will optimize it for you, though.

TLS Timeout – If you are in a place with poor connections, the TLS number may need to be adjusted to improve your chances of a good connection

Restore Settings – Choosing this setting will restore all VyprVPN defaults.

Account Tab:

Under this tab, you find your account information, so there is no need to go over it here.

Now that we have gone over the tabs, we will discuss VyprVPN’s NAT Firewall. This service is part of their pro and premier options, and it stops unrequested, inbound traffic to your device. In other words, it will provide you with an extra layer of security.

If you have some technical knowledge, they allow customization of specific items like DNS entries, encryption levels, connect on operating system start, and several other items that are quite a bit more technical than the average user would know. If you are not that technical, don’t worry. None of the custom settings will stop you from using VyprVPN in a normal fashion. They also state that they do not discriminate against devices, protocols, or applications, so they are network neutral. Just remember that they log your activities on the network. They offer 2 simultaneous connections on their pro account, and 3 simultaneous connections for their premier account.

How to Use VyprVPN for Mac

We are happy to see that VyprVPN offers a Mac client Using the Mac version of VyprVPN is relatively similar to the Windows version. There are some minor differences, but we will show those below.

1. Your first step is to download the file and install it on your Macintosh HD, or wherever you choose to install it.
2. Next, copy VyprVPN to your applications folder. From here, you can launch the client, and select the login button from the main window.
3. Now, you may connect to the fastest server or change locations by clicking on the location button on the right.
4. You will now be asked to enter your login credentials.
5. Browse the web or view blocked content as you normally would

VyprVPN has some great numbers for server speeds, and the image above reflects that.

How to Use VyprVPN for Android

For this section, we will give directions for the Android operating system. You want to begin by clicking on the link for the Android OS on the Golden Frog website. That will re-direct you to the VyprVPN app in the Google Play store. Download the app, and you will see a screen like the first image shows below. Once you have an account, click the login button and you will see screen 2 come up. Here, entering your user name and password will bring up the third screen.

This screen is the primary console. From this point, you may choose the closest server to connect to, or change that by clicking the location button. After doing that, you will see the screen turn from the light grey to black, indicating that you are connected. Just like with the Windows version, clicking the gear will allow you to change settings. The three dots you see on the right will also provide you with additional menu options. Golden Frog

How to Use VyprVPN for iOS

The iOS application for VyprVPN looks slightly different, but it is very similar to the Android application. It is really nice to see a high level of consistency across the variations. That makes protecting your privacy easy, because everything is in the same basic location. Golden Frog also makes it easy to download their mobile products. They have added direct links to their product in both the Google Play Store, and the iTunes app store. Now, we will go over how to use VyprVPN for iOS.

1. Begin by going to the iTunes store, and download the app.
2. Enter your credentials.
3. Once you are logged in, select a server
4. Click the connect button.
5. Enjoy the benefits of using a VPN on your iOS device.

As you see here, the iOS version of their client is designed to be very similar to the Android.

Final Thoughts

Favorite features for VyprVPN:

• Smooth interfaces
• Great 24 hour a day support including live chat feature
• Helpful guides for installing things
• Chameleon protocol for China
• Stand alone software for mobile devices
  
• Multiple servers/countries
• Highly customized settings
• VyprDNS and Cyphr encrypted messaging

Thoughts to make VyprVPN better:

• Lower the price of the service
  
• Add servers in more countries
• Add OpenVPN (TCP Support)

In conclusion, VyprVPN has some slick features, but it is higher priced than most of it’s competitors. We give them kudos on functionality, and the different options available are great, if you want to manage your connection types. They have premium features like VyprDNS and their kill switch option. If you are looking for an easy to use VPN service, VyprVPN will do the job. Click on the button to start your 30 day money back guarantee. With this trial, it should be enough time to test their service.