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

Is Witopia VPN Really Fast? No!

I was disappointed with the slow speeds I got with Witopia VPN during my tests. The speeds are okay for basic surfing the net. But when it comes to activities like streaming and torrenting, Witopia speeds were slow, resulting in lags for some streaming services.

Speed Test Results

Before connecting with Witopia, my base internet speed was slightly above 30Mbps. But during my tests, I had average speeds of 13Mbps — a 56% drop in speed. I connected the regular servers and the optimized servers for streaming. In each case, the results didn’t vary much. Even with distant servers, I still got similar speeds as with servers.

The server in Dallas gave download speeds of 11Mbps, while the server in the UK saw a speed short of 14Mbps. The upload speeds weren’t encouraging, especially with distant servers. For instance, with the server in Brazil, I got an upload speed of 1.3Mbps while that of Japan was about 0.55Mbps. In all these, the latency was high above 200ms for most servers. The downside of these low upload speeds and high latency is that you’ll experience lags when doing activities like gaming and streaming.

If your base internet speed is less than 15Mbps, I wouldn’t recommend using Witopia VPN for streaming, gaming, or torrenting due to its slower speeds which can lead to excessive lags. In contrast, you can check how I never had anything more than a 25% drop in speed using ExpressVPN — even when connected to a distant server.

Server Network — Number of Servers Are Kept Secret

Witopia has an undisclosed number of servers in 60+ server locations. While this can be called decent-sized, I didn’t get why Witopia VPN didn’t want to disclose the exact number of servers in its network. That said, you’ll find servers in different regions (North America, Europe, South America, Asia, Middle East, Africa, and Oceania).

The regions with the largest server numbers are Europe and North America, with 29 and 21 server locations, respectively. In contrast, the Middle East and South America have just one server location each. You’ll find a list of server locations and the protocols supported on Witopia’s website. With this, you can find out which server locations are supported by the specific protocol you’d like to use.

In terms of server ownership, Witopia doesn’t own all its servers. Instead, it uses a blend of Witopia-owned and leased servers. This could be a serious privacy concern if the servers get confiscated by law enforcement as part of surveillance. Witopia assures its users that it has put processes in place to ensure that its servers — leased or owned — are secure.

Security — Military-Grade Security Features

Witopia doesn’t joke around with its security protocols and encryption type. This VPN does well because it gives you a choice to select any of the multiple security protocols that it supports. You get military-grade protocols like OpenVPN (UDP/TCP), IPSec, IKEv2, IPSec/L2TP, PPTP, and Stealth protocol. For encryption, the VPN comes with AES 256-bit encryption that ensures that your data is safe and secure from hackers and surveillance.

While the VPN gives multiple security options, if you’re subscribed to its Basic plan, you won’t have access to OpenVPN or the stealth mode protocols; instead, you will have access to PPTP, L2TP/IPsec, and IPsec IKEv2 protocols. Meanwhile, OpenVPN and Witopia VPN’s Stealth mode are more effective for certain activities like circumventing censorship and providing stronger security. Witopia VPN also includes a NAT firewall that gives you an extra layer of protection to keep you safe from hackers even if your device doesn’t have a regular firewall set up.

My IP address wasn’t exposed while connected  to Witopia servers during my DNS leak tests

Witopia’s DNS service, through its SmartDNS feature, allows you to visit websites privately without exposing your actual IP address. This is in conjunction with the DNS leak protection and IPv6 protection it offers. I carried out DNS leak tests and was pleased that WItopia’s DNS servers were detected instead of my real IP address. I was also happy when I discovered that the VPN has a working killswitch that cuts my internet connection whenever my network abruptly disconnects. This is helpful to prevent leaks that could expose my identity.

Privacy — Strong No-Logs Policy

Witopia is based in the US, which should make every privacy-minded individual wary. This is because the US is among the Five Eyes countries — a data-sharing alliance for surveillance purposes. This means any VPN in this alliance can be compelled to submit your data to law enforcement of the member countries.

The VPN maintains that it doesn’t keep any logs. It states that “we do not monitor or store logs of a user’s internet activity, browsing, websites visited, or files downloaded.” While this is a relief since nothing can be shared if no data is collected, Witopia authenticates ‘account’ login. This means that the time-stamp of your login activity can be collected and traced back to you. Witopia, therefore, advises that you use an alias and temporary email during sign-up if you’re worried. But I don’t think that matters since you can only pay through your credit card or PayPal.

Torrenting —  Supported but Some Sites Are Blacklisted

Witopia VPN supports torrenting and P2P, but you may have difficulty accessing some torrent websites. I tried to download a public domain file from a website that only shares legal-to-download files, but the download wouldn’t start despite trying different servers. I reached out to customer support via email, and I was informed that any site that doesn’t work with the VPN had been blacklisted. I found this to be confusing since I tried to access a public domain website.

Since Witopia VPN indiscriminately blocks P2P websites, I wouldn’t recommend it for torrenting. Some VPNs allow you to download torrents legally without restrictions. For instance, you can try Cyberghost for safe P2P with hundreds of servers optimized for file sharing.

It’s important to practice prudence while downloading torrents. My team and I do not endorse the downloading of copyrighted files. Therefore, ensure that any files you download are legitimately accessible in the public domain.

Does WiTopia VPN Work in China? Yes, but Not With the Basic Plan

I was happy to learn that Witopia VPN works in China. Although I couldn’t personally test the VPN in China since I don’t live there, I reached out to customer support for answers. I was informed that the VPN would work in China for the Pro plan. So if you subscribed to the basic plan, you might have to upgrade to Pro when traveling to China.

Witopia VPN offers multiple support channels 24/7, every day of the year. It has a knowledge base, FAQ, set up guides, email, and live chat support. I tested the live chat support and got helpful feedback within seconds. Similarly, the email support was fast, and I got a response in less than 1 hour.

While I was happy with the prompt response via email and live chat, I didn’t always find the live chat button. Also, all the live chat agents were occupied at some point, and I couldn’t get the support I needed. So if the live chat option isn’t working for you, I’ll recommend you just use email.