BolehVPN Review 2024: Before You Buy, Is It Worth It?

Impressive Speeds — As Long as You Stick to UDP Servers.

I was impressed with the fast download speeds I experienced with BolehVPN servers when using its UDP. I did, however, experience a significant drop in speeds when switching to TCP servers. I also experienced very slow upload speeds across the board.

Speed Test Results

I experienced on average a 28% drop in download speed. I started with a base internet speed of 25Mbps. When connected to BolehVPN servers, I got an average download speed of 18.5Mbps, which was quite impressive. My upload speeds are where I saw a significant drop. On average, I got a whopping 85% decrease in uploads speeds.

Usually, servers closer to you will give you better speed results, so I tested ones close and far from my location. I was happy that I didn’t experience any significant drop in speeds with servers that were further away from my location. The CA-Vancouver-UDP server gave me the highest speed at 23.7Mbps, followed by the New York City UDP server at 19.44Mbps. Even the server farthest from my location — the server in Singapore — I got a download speed short of 12Mbps, which was just a 54% drop in speed.

UDP servers will generally be faster than TCP servers, so I was expecting a significant drop in speed when switching over to BolehVPN’s TCP servers. No surprise, my speeds dropped by 50% of the UDP servers and 65% of my base internet speed. So, if speed is your priority then I would recommend sticking with the UDP servers available.

Is BolehVPN Fast Enough for Gaming? No.

Although download speeds were fast, BolehVPN’s high ping and slow upload speeds did not make it ideal for gaming. I connected to the UDP server in Frankfurt and my upload speed was around 0.93Mbps with a latency of 160ms. While I didn’t experience lags while playing Conflict of Nations, I experienced significant lags when trying to play heavy CPU usage games like GTA. For gaming, latency should be less than 150ms and upload speed more than 1Mbps for stable performance. Because of these subpar speeds, I wouldn’t recommend BolehVPN for gaming.

Server Network — 60+ Servers in 10+ Countries

BolehVPN has a small network of servers. With just 64 servers in 12 countries, the VPN still has much work to do. This is because as users increase, the servers may become overcrowded and slower. Not just that, it may eventually struggle to unblock streaming services as streaming platforms can easily block the limited servers. While you’ll find optimized servers for streaming, “cloak” servers to evade censorship, static IP servers (fixIP), and optimized servers for surfing the web faster, the coverage area is too sparse.

BolehVPN lets you choose between TCP and UDP servers. TCP establishes a connection between a sender and a receiver and is known to be more reliable because it keeps your data intact when sent. UDP does not rely on a prior connection between sender and receiver and sends your data in streams. This makes it faster but less reliable as some data can get lost. TCP is more commonly used as it is more reliable and your data is more easily secured. UDP is not as reliable, but it is faster.

There are only servers in Europe, Australia, North America, and Asia. This includes countries like Malaysia, Australia, France, Germany, Sweden, the US, the UK, Netherlands, Switzerland, Singapore, Luxembourg, and Japan. In comparison, you can get thousands of servers with Cyberghost in almost every continent of the world.

Security — Military-Grade Security and Encryption

BolehVPN offers military-grade security features to keep your connection secure. It allows the option for OpenVPN (as the default protocol) and the L2TP along with SHA-2 AES 256 bit encryption. This is one of the most secure encryption techniques to keep your data safe from cybercriminals.

The VPN goes further to provide an additional layer of security through Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS). This allows each VPN session to generate a new private key so that even if a hacker somehow gets hold of your keys, they won’t have access to older encrypted data. Additionally, BolehVPN uses Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) with a 4096-bit key to keep your data exchange highly secure using digital certificates to authenticate the connection to the servers. BolehVPN also supports TOR which allows you to access the dark web securely.

With the latest obfuscation technology intended to help you securely access the internet in censorship-prone areas, the VPN uses specialized servers to mask your VPN traffic and allow you access to restricted websites. BolehVPN also offers DNS leak protection to prevent your data from being exposed. There is a kill switch (called Lockdown) that you can turn on to temporarily disable your internet connection if your network is unstable. You can also use its split tunneling feature (via the specialized vProxy servers) that allows you to select which apps you want to exclude from the VPN tunnel.

To find out how airtight BolehVPN’s servers were, I ran DNS leak tests on its servers and was pleased to learn that there were no DNS leaks. There were no WebRTC or IP leaks during my tests.

Although BolehVPN offers some great security features it lacks basic features such as malware and ad blocker. These help keep you safe from intrusive content while surfing the web.

Privacy — Can Temporarily Log User Data

I was left disappointed in BolehVPN’s privacy policy. Although it claims to maintain a no-logs policy, the terms of conditions state that BolehVPN can temporarily track “general server traffic” and server connections. The VPN says it can log your data for “troubleshooting” purposes” and can terminate an individual account if it suspects abuse of service. Even though I do not condone illegal behavior, the fact that the VPN can monitor your online activity makes it a deal-breaker for a privacy-minded user like me.

I was surprised that BolehVPN would turn on logs for any reason

BolehVPN, based in Malaysia and Seychelles, is outside the 5/9/14 Eyes intelligence data sharing alliance, which compels VPN providers to share user data with governments. So, it’s outside the watch of surveillance — which is a small plus. The VPN maintains a warrant canary that lists how many times law enforcement has requested user data, which, in this case, is never for BolehVPN.

Torrenting — Supports P2P, but Some Servers Are Prohibited

BolehVPN supports P2P on all servers except the optimized streaming (vStream) servers. While you’ll find optimized servers for different needs like streaming (vStream) and evading censorship (cloak servers), there are no optimized servers for P2P. That said, I was able to torrent with the normal UDP server in Frankfurt, Germany. The speed was okay, and I was able to download a large public domain file in a few minutes.

I connected with the server in Germany, which allowed me to torrent safely

One thing BolehVPN does is that it can pinpoint abuse of its service, especially if it’s used for illegal file-sharing. I wouldn’t advise using the VPN or any VPN for that matter to download copyrighted material.

Does BolehVPN Work in China? No!

Unfortunately, BolehVPN doesn’t work in China. Despite having a specialized “cloak” server to avoid censorship, the servers aren’t effective in places like China. I was disappointed because I had great hopes for the “cloak” servers, but, when I reached out to support, I was informed that BolehVPN doesn’t work in China.

The Great Firewall of China makes it difficult for most small VPNs to work in China. Only a few VPNs can successfully bypass this firewall and allow you to access the web securely. If you’re a tourist visiting China, and you need to keep up with social media or your favorite streaming platform, I’ll recommend ExpressVPN.  You can use ExpressVPN to bypass China’s firewall when traveling. It has been proven to work in China despite heavy censorship on most VPNs. Just keep in mind that using a VPN doesn’t give you a license to commit illegal acts. While there are no known cases of the Chinese government punishing tourists for using VPNs, they have been known to technologically block them.

BolehVPN offers limited support options with slow response times. They provide a forum, helpdesk, and useful FAQs and installation guides for assistance. However, there isn’t live chat support. You’ll need to submit a ticket or email support to get help. It took more than 8 hours before I got a response.

On the bright side, all my questions were answered, and I got a direct answer when I enquired about the number of servers the VPN has. I got mixed results when looking at the helpdesk and installation guides. Although some information was useful, I found a lot of the content to be outdated. For instance, there are references to BolehFlix servers that are not in use anymore.