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

Disappointing Speeds Across All Servers

I had a noticeable drop in my internet connection on both nearby and distant servers. My upload speeds were often higher than my download speeds on all servers, which isn’t very common. These poor results caused me to experience a lot of buffering when watching my favorite shows.

Speed Test Results

After connecting to VPNArea and testing various servers worldwide, I found an average loss of 55-65% speed. To determine how VPNArea affected my connection, I ran a speed test on my home network and got a download speed of 58.10 Mbps and an upload speed of 321.96 Mbps.

Next, I connected to a VPNArea server in New York. For this particular server, I was interested in finding out what effect a short distance had on my connection speed. I experienced a substantial 55.9% drop in my connection speeds from my baseline.

Following that, I connected to an Australian server, which was the most distant server from where I was located. I noticed a significant 65% drop-off in my speed when compared to my base speed. UK and Canada servers retained 56% and 62% of my benchmark speed, respectively.

VPNAreas’s servers have consistent speed across countries, confirming their strong and reliable hardware infrastructure. The performance of servers on opposite ends of the USA is within 5Mbps of one another, which is much less variation than with many other providers. On a local connection, it was quite evident that download and upload speeds both slowed down noticeably. This problem became even more apparent when connecting over long distances. While the speeds were consistent, they were still below average.

Server Network — Small Server Network Spanning 61 Countries

The company has 130 server locations strategically located in 70 countries. Even though there are fewer servers than some competitors, the network is extensive and covers all continents.

On the desktop applications, you have access to a list of labeled dedicated servers for options like streaming, dedicated IP addresses, and torrenting.

Additionally, VPNArea’s server network utilizes an unlimited bandwidth policy that does not allow bandwidth throttling. Both the applications and the member’s area of the website provide stats on bandwidth and server usage.

Security — Many Advanced Features to Boost Security

VPNArea provides strong and up-to-date encryption solutions. In terms of encryption, it utilizes the AES-256 cipher with 4096-bit RSA keys and the SHA-256 algorithm, which means hackers will have a very difficult time decoding the data being sent.

The software supports OpenVPN and IKEv2, which are considered to be military-grade encryption protocols. WireGuard, considered to be the most secure and fastest VPN protocol, is not currently supported.

VPNArea has a kill switch if you use a Mac or PC. This feature will automatically disconnect you if your VPN connection is suddenly lost. By using this tool, your traffic won’t get leaked to your ISP’s servers where it could be exploited. The option, however, isn’t available if you’re using the mobile app, which I found concerning.

Though VPNArea’s basic features like the kill switch and custom DNS servers behind AES-256 encryption are sufficient for the majority of people to feel safe online, it goes a step further to offer specialized VPN servers if you feel that your security can still be compromised.

Specifically, there are Double VPN and Stunnel servers. In a double VPN server, your connection takes two hops instead of one to reach your desired location. The difficulty of tracking your online activity is heightened, and this drastically reduces the chances of cracking the tunnel.

A Stunnel server, on the other hand, makes it more difficult for websites or government agencies to figure out that you are using a VPN. VPNArea also offers an ad-blocker and malware prevention to block malicious websites and annoying advertisements.

The company’s website even has a bug bounty program that invites white hat hackers to earn money by finding vulnerabilities in VPNArea clients. This is impressive and demonstrates the firm’s commitment to ensuring platform security.

To verify if VPNArea leaks IP addresses or DNS information, I connected to the company’s server in the US and then used an IP checker to check for leaks. As can be seen in the screenshot above, the IP address displayed matched the server location of my choice and did not leak my actual location.

Privacy — Truly a No-logs Service

VPNArea ensures privacy and anonymity while maintaining security when transmitting information. I reviewed VPNArea’s privacy policy to understand its stance on the retention of logs. I found that the service does not collect or store any information about you. These include DNS requests, IP addresses, browsing history, and timestamps.

To clarify this further, I reached out to VPNArea support to find out the company’s policy regarding logs. A representative of VPNArea assured me that the company does not log data on its servers. He also stated that the company does not insert ads into your website traffic, a practice some companies have employed. He further explained that it doesn’t earn revenue from sharing your data with third parties.

Additionally, VPNArea’s Bulgarian headquarters, Swiss-hosted emails, and administration servers ensure excellent privacy protection. With this, your data is protected from invasive jurisdictions such as the ones in the UK and US.

Torrenting — P2P Allowed on Most Servers

VPNArea is optimized to make downloading via P2P file-sharing safe. In addition to torrenting being enabled on all of the servers, many of the servers have been built specifically for P2P activities.

VPNArea doesn’t restrict or limit torrent traffic, in contrast to many other VPN service providers. It makes torrenting easy and worry-free with its kill switch, excellent DNS leak protection, and fast upload speeds.

Sharing copyrighted material is illegal in many countries. Therefore, you should only torrent content that is in the public domain to avoid criminal and civil penalties, regardless of whether you are using a VPN.

Does VPNArea Work in China? Yes!

You will be able to use VPNArea in China if you plan on using it on your desktop computer while you travel there. VPNArea has X-Stunnel servers across a range of server locations. Connecting to these X-Stunnel servers will disguise your connection as regular HTTPS traffic, allowing you to get through China’s secure firewall.

VPNArea provides servers in Singapore, Japan, and China, allowing you to connect to a server close to China, further bolstering VPNArea’s reputation as a good choice if you wish to access content in China.

Please note that this feature is only available via Mac or Windows desktop devices. Since X-Stunnel servers are not accessible on Android and iOS, VPNArea is ideal for you if you’re using a computer in China. VPNArea’s reliability extends not only to China but also to other countries with high levels of censorship. This includes countries such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the UAE, and Iran. However, please note that non-government-approved VPNs are illegal in China, but there have been no cases of tourists being penalized by the Chinese government.

You can contact VPNArea support via live chat, email, or support ticket. You can find answers to some of the most commonly asked questions on the “FAQ” page. Disappointingly, some resources on the site are only accessible to paid members. I would prefer that these resources be made available to everyone, as it may help potential customers determine whether VPNArea is right for them.

My thorough testing of VPNArea live chat found it to be reliable. I received a prompt response from its customer support team, and the staff was fully knowledgeable and completely professional.

In response to an extremely complicated question I had regarding the steps taken when a valid court order requires the company to identify an active user of its service, I was told I would receive the answer via email. The answer to my question came within 12 hours in a courteous and direct manner. When you have a pressing question, it is sometimes best to send an email directly to the company.