SurfEasy VPN Review 2024: Before You Buy, Is It Worth It?

Good Short and Long Distance Speeds

Regardless of the VPN server, I chose to connect with, whether it was close or far away, the decrease in speed levels was never more than 36%. This makes SurfEasy an excellent option for those who enjoy streaming television shows or downloading files from peer-to-peer networks without facing significant speed drops. Additionally, most of SurfEasy’s servers offer low latency or reduced time delays, commonly known as ping time. This feature is particularly beneficial for people who are into gaming, as it ensures a smoother and more responsive gaming experience.

Speed Test Results

SurfEasy’s connection speeds were quite impressive, both when connecting to nearby servers and those farther away. To demonstrate this, I tested the speed performance of SurfEasy VPN on servers located in the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Australia. Without using a VPN connection, my internet’s download speed reached 201.32 Mbps, and the upload speed reached 12.16 Mbps.

Next, I connected to a server in London using SurfEasy’s optimized server feature, which automatically selected the closest server to me. With the VPN active, I achieved download speeds of approximately 170.89 Mbps, representing a mere 15% drop in speed. I conducted a second test, and this time the speed came in at 169.44 Mbps.

Next, I connected to servers in the United States and France, which gave me an average download speed of 143.22Mbps and 128.19Mbps respectively. I obtained a maximum download speed of 127.90Mbps when I connected to the furthest available server, which in my case was Australia. This is more than sufficient for casual browsing of the internet and streaming videos in UHD settings.

Throughout my testing, I found that SurfEasy VPN maintained consistent speed performance on all servers. And while it may not have been the fastest VPN I’ve used, the reliable connection speeds made it a user-friendly experience. The stability of the connection was a positive aspect of the service that I appreciated.

Server Network — Limited Server Network

SurfEasy provides an undisclosed number of servers spread across 27 locations. You won’t find city-specific choices, but don’t worry – just pick a country from their list and SurfEasy will instantly give you an IP address to use. Europe and North America account for the majority of the locations, but South Africa, Australia, Singapore, Japan, and Brazil are also represented.

As SurfEasy has a limited server network, it is not suitable for accessing your home region’s content while you travel. An extensive network of VPN server locations is very important for ensuring that there will be a server near you wherever you may find yourself. A nearby server provides better performance than a distant server.

Whether you are looking for the best server to download torrents or stream regular content, SurfEasy has an automatic tool to save you from manually testing various connection servers. All you have to do is keep the appropriate option checked, and the connection to your chosen server will be optimized.

If you’re searching for a VPN with many servers in many different places, CyberGhost is a great option to consider. This service provides you with access to more than 11,780 servers located in 100 different locations around the world. Some of these servers are specially designed for streaming and torrenting, making sure you always have a strong connection to enjoy your favorite online activities.

Security — Industry-Standard Encryption But Lacks Kill Switch

SurfEasy provides strong protection for your online privacy by encrypting your information, keeping your Wi-Fi connection secure, and stopping ads from tracking you. Although it doesn’t have a kill switch or a few other advanced options, tests show that it prevents data leaks, changes your IP address effectively, and keeps your information safe.

SurfEasy’s list of security features includes:

• Solid encryption – the level of encryption provided by SurfEasy is dependent on the version of the software you use. With the Windows and macOS apps, you get the highest level of security using OpenVPN protocols and AES-256 encryption. The iOS app uses less secure IKEv2 protocol and 128-bit encryption. The same encryption is used with its Android counterpart, but OpenVPN is used as its protocol.
• Wi-Fi security – the VPN-specific features of SurfEasy are supplemented by Wi-Fi security, which kicks in whenever you connect to an unreliable Wi-Fi network.
• Ad-tracking blocker – this function prevents online advertisers from installing tracking cookies on your device and web browser, ensuring that they cannot track your online activities. Using the desktop application, you can view the number of blocked ads and viewers over the last 30 days.

The major problem with SurfEasy is that there is no kill switch available on all platforms. The kill switch is a mechanism that blocks your internet traffic when the VPN connection is lost or disturbed. You could expose your IP address if this occurs when using SurfEasy, potentially compromising your online privacy. Advanced security features like split tunneling and manual port selection are also not included.

Despite not having a kill switch, SurfEasy didn’t record any data leaks during my tests. After connecting to a French server, I used an IP info tool to determine whether the IP address displayed was France-based. You can see from the screenshot below that SurfEasy changed my IP, and I appeared to be in Paris.

I also checked using the same tool for possible DNS and WebRTC leaks, and the results were also positive. Despite the test saying there may be a leak, the IP address displayed matches the IP address SurfEasy provided me when I connected to its French server, thus my data remained secure.

Privacy — Vague No-logs Policy

SurfEasy’s website claims that the service maintains a zero-logging policy. Ideally, your internet traffic, downloads, uploads, and other data should not be recorded. Despite this sounding promising, I carefully read the privacy statement for further confirmation.

According to the website’s privacy statement, your device’s IP address, system information, app license identifiers, financial data, location information, and traffic statistics will be recorded. In addition to this, SurfEasy stated that these details might be shared with government bodies and ISPs if requested—the complete opposite of a no-log policy.

The SurfEasy VPN service is based in Toronto, Canada. You may be aware that the country is a member of the original 5 Eyes coalition, a collection of international intelligence agencies. Among their duties is monitoring and collecting user data over the internet and then exchanging the data among themselves. The uncertainty created by this gives rise to many problems for a VPN service that emphasizes anonymity and privacy. And can pose a serious concern for individuals who value their privacy.

Torrenting — Servers Optimized For Torrenting

SurfEasy is fully compatible with torrents, and the company has developed resources to help users use the VPN for this purpose. In addition, the Windows client offers the option of selecting a server that is more appropriate for torrenting than browsing the internet. It also provides a decent and highly secure connection that doesn’t limit your bandwidth usage.

Sadly, SurfEasy VPN does not have a no-log policy, making torrenting more difficult than normal. Another disappointment is that there is no kill switch option in the client software, so in the event of a VPN connection failure, you will upload and download torrent files using your local IP.

My team and I don’t condone participation in any illegal activities. Please check the rules and regulations in your country to ensure you are not in breach of any laws. And if at all you want to torrent, I suggest you not torrent copyrighted materials as you may land in legal trouble.

Does Work in China? Maybe!

Despite SurfEasy’s support representative saying the network would work in China, I am not entirely convinced this is the case. VPNs that bypass the Great Firewall of China must employ clever obfuscation tools which disguise VPN traffic as HTTPS web traffic. There is no obfuscation tool available on SurfEasy, and it may therefore be unable to circumvent the censorship laws of China and other countries.

Even if that weren’t the case, SurfEasy’s overly intrusive logging policy makes it an unsuitable VPN for use in highly-censored countries. Consider ExpressVPN if you are concerned about accessing the content in China, as this provider has a proven track record of protecting users from repressive Chinese practices.

Non-government-approved VPNs are illegal in China, but there have been no public cases of tourists being penalized by the Chinese government. The common practice is that China fights VPNs by technologically blocking them, and not by chasing after the people who use them.

SurfEasy support service offers the usual self-help knowledgebase and contact support options. The knowledge base includes guides and FAQs with high-quality images and detailed instructions.

You can proceed to live chat or send an email by opening a ticket if you still can’t find the information you need. There appears to be competent support staff in charge of both services. I was also pleased with the speed of service, as I received responses within 6 hours of submitting the ticket. You have to wait for someone to start chatting with you, but it’s never longer than 5 minutes.

SurfEasy also offers 2 phone numbers for customer service. It’s nice but useless if you’re outside the United States or Canada. Sadly, there is no 24-hour customer service. You can only reach the company between 9 am and 5 pm EST, Monday through Sunday. Live chat works the same way, which is why, if it isn’t during office hours, you might see a “help”/”leave a message” button on the website.