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VPN Unlimited Review (2022)
With a name like VPN Unlimited, it’s natural to expect a certain amount of performance and features…
“Unlimited” also implies lightning-fast data transfer rates. Unfortunately, this is one company whose name oversells its capabilities.
VPN Unlimited is not the worst VPN provider. However, when compared with the VPN reviews of competitors, it’s clear that they leave much to be desired. Experienced VPN users demand speed and security, and that means that it may be necessary to look elsewhere.
VPN Unlimited is an offering of the KeepSolid company. KeepSolid is the purveyor of other apps and services like Roadmap Planner, KeepSolid Sign, Business VPN by KeepSolid and various network tools. They launched VPN Unlimited in 2013. KeepSolid is a US-based company.
To the uninitiated, being based in the US doesn’t sound like a bad deal. However, people who have spent time looking into Internet privacy and record-keeping laws will note that the US is part of the Five Eyes surveillance alliance.
Along with the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, the alliance engages in espionage activity, and then shares the data they gather with the other member nations. This information gathering may include how people spend their time online.
A VPN company that is based in a country that is outside of most of the larger surveillance networks isn’t bound by the same laws. This means that they can have a no logging policy and actually mean it. If law enforcement requests data from one of these VPN companies, they have nothing to share.
If you want a VPN that’s not going to be able to share any of your browsing history with government authorities, then you need a company that’s based somewhere more remote, like the British Virgin Islands, which is where ExpressVPN is based out of.
In VPN Unlimited’s favor is that their interface is easy to use. Its straightforward design means that you can quickly find whatever you’re looking for. A sidebar is placed on the left side of the screen, and that’s where you’ll find most of the features that you need.
Security and Encryption
VPNs have been around for a while. This means that there has been time to develop several avenues for encrypting web traffic. Some of these are older and no longer recommended because better encryption methods have become available.
Among the better encryption methods is a protocol that is known as OpenVPN. This protocol is fast and trustworthy. Additionally, it’s open source software. This means that an incredible number of developers have combed through OpenVPN’s code to shore up any vulnerabilities.
VPN Unlimited relies on OpenVPN protocols, but it also has exclusive protocols that are called KeepSolid Wise. This software makes VPN traffic look like regular HTTPS traffic. This may be one of the reasons why users are able to stream Netflix via VPN Unlimited, at least on some of the company’s servers.
KeepSolid Wise is mainly designed for people who live in countries where access to the Internet is limited. Moreover, many of these places forbid the use of VPNs. Being able to disguise VPN traffic as HTTPS traffic clearly has advantages in these locales.
People with devices that are running Android and Windows can use either OpenVPN or KeepSolid Wise. Linux devices have the same two protocol choices. With macOS and iOS devices, the choices include OpenVPN, KeepSolid Wise and IKEv2.
Moreover, it’s worthwhile to note that VPN Unlimited uses AES 256-bit encryption. This encryption method is good enough for the government and military in nations around the world, so it’s safe to trust your most sensitive data here.
VPN Unlimited’s Server Locations
Unfortunately, VPN Unlimited’s server network fails to impress when compared with the top VPNs. They have just over 400 servers in 70 locations.
That may not sound bad, but when compared with other competitors in the market that have between 2,000 and 3,000 servers, it becomes clear that VPN Unlimited is falling behind the pack. Take NordVPN for instance, they have over 5,000 servers spread across about 100 countries.
In Canada, VPN Unlimited has servers on both the east and west coasts as well as in Ontario. The company has a good concentration of servers in the US in locations like California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, New York, Texas, Virginia and Washington. There also is a server in Mexico.
However, South America is only represented by Brazil and Chile, and no Central American countries are included. Europe has fairly solid coverage, but it is not as comprehensive as the network offered by competitors in the VPN marketplace. VPN Unlimited does have a dedicated Streaming BBC iPlayer in the UK.
VPN Unlimited groups together Asia, Africa and the Pacific. This may be because there aren’t really enough servers to list each region separately. Australia, Hong Kong, India, Israel, New Zealand and Japan all are on the list. South Africa is the only nation listed for the entire African continent.
On the company’s website, they advertise that they are constantly expanding their server presence. They even provide a space where visitors can request a location where they would like to see a server being offered. Since VPN Unlimited’s servers are fairly limited, it’s safe to assume that new servers will be quite slow to come online.
Using BitTorrent or P2P with VPN Unlimited
If your online activities involve torrents or P2P file sharing, then you probably don’t want to sign up for VPN Unlimited. In their FAQs, they state that they aren’t there to help people download torrents.
While they do have a handful of servers that are designed for P2P, there aren’t many of them, and their performance is bound to be slow.
Also, Netflix has gotten particularly adept at blocking VPNs from gaining access to their website. Although some UK and European servers on VPN Unlimited’s network seem to be blocked by Netflix, others in the US and Canada were not. Accordingly, it may be possible to catch your favorite Netflix programming while using VPN Unlimited.
VPN Unlimited’s Speed Test Results
While the text on VPN Unlimited’s website may promise fast access to any website, they seem to have trouble with delivering speed. Other VPNs may be slower, but there aren’t many of them. The good news is that there are several high-quality VPNs that provide much better performance metrics. (Check out our list of the Canadian VPNs)
Using a server in New York City provided download rates of 25.69 Mbps with upload speeds of 7.31 Mbps. Just before the VPN was turned on, the computer tested at rates of 98.71 Mbps for downloading and 53.00 Mbps for uploading. That is a pretty spectacular slowdown that comes with simply turning on VPN Unlimited.
The picture didn’t get much rosier when using a server in Europe, Amsterdam, to be precise. Download rates clocked in at 47.13 Mbps while uploads were a slightly improved 24.70 Mbps.
Those data transfer rates are better, but they can’t really compare with the speed test results that come from the better VPN providers.
A server in London yielded slightly better results with download speeds of 59.69 Mbps and upload speeds of 42.09. By far the worst overall numbers were put up by the server in Hong Kong. With downloads of 12.42 Mbps and uploads of just 2.92 Mbps, it’s easy to see why VPN Unlimited is not a highly recommended VPN provider.
Part of the problem may be that VPN Unlimited simply doesn’t have enough servers to handle all of the traffic that comes across their servers. With the traffic of more users being crowded onto fewer servers, things are bound to slow to a crawl.
If VPN Unlimited brings more servers online, their speeds may improve. However, at the rate that they have been adding servers, they won’t be able to compete with the big boys for several years.
VPN Unlimited’s Logging Policy
Most informed consumers prefer a VPN provider that follows a strict “no logging” policy. Unfortunately, many of them say that they don’t keep records, but this statement tends to fall apart in the fine print.
Why do you want a VPN company that doesn’t keep logs? The main reason that you use a VPN is to secure your privacy in the online world. What you do online is your business, and you certainly don’t want any of your personal data, like your Social Insurance Number or the number on your favorite credit card to fall into the hands of hackers or ne’er do wells.
Additionally, a company that keeps all sorts of records about you is prone to sell that information on to third parties or pass it along to the company’s affiliates. If you hate a bunch of ads and junk mail, then this is extremely bad news for you.
A VPN that keeps copious records also is more likely to pass this data along to law enforcement and other government authorities when requested. It’s far better when your VPN has virtually no data concerning your online activities. This way, they can’t be persuaded to share a lot of evidence with the authorities.
If you’re starting to understand why a no logging policy is a really important part of the VPN business model, then you’re not alone. Unfortunately, it’s easier to find VPN services that say they don’t keep logs than it is to find VPN providers that actually don’t keep records.
VPN Unlimited is one of those companies that say they don’t keep logs, except for all of the records that they maintain. This includes information concerning how many people are accessing the company’s servers so that they can maintain security standards and troubleshoot any issues that may arise.
Keeping track of performance to enhance the customer experience isn’t necessarily a bad thing. However, that is not where VPN Unlimited’s tracking practices end.
They make some incredibly vague statements about why they keep these other logs, saying that they are intended to monitor bandwidth usage to make better server recommendations to customers. This means that they are logging the time at which connection is attempted, the type of encryption used and more.
The good news is that VPN Unlimited is not keeping tabs on what its customers do while they are online. This means that they aren’t maintaining records concerning which websites are visited, which apps are used or other pertinent data.
KeepSolid also explains that their logging practices do not enable them to match DNS requests or IP addresses with specific online activities. However, they do watch how many devices are connected, and they may maintain logs of information regarding those individual devices. That may be another red flag for many potential customers.
Pricing Options for VPN Unlimited
To purchase one month of service from VPN Unlimited, customers will have to shell out $9.99. This is fairly parred for the course as far as VPN pricing goes, but with VPN Unlimited offering sub-par performance, it’s probably not worth it.
You can save some money with a one-year subscription at approximately five dollars per month. Things get even more affordable when you spring for three years. At $2.78 per month, it’s not a bad price.
In a rather unusual gambit, VPN Unlimited also offers a lifetime subscription for $199.99. That sounds like a fantastic idea. After all, who wouldn’t mind never having to pay for a VPN service again?
Caution suggests that you try the service for a month if you are tempted by the lifetime membership offer. That month will let you really test the service. The company does offer a money-back guarantee, but it only extends to seven days.
Is VPN Unlimited Recommended?
Slow test speeds really make VPN Unlimited an unattractive option when compared to the big boys. There’s still a handful of far more highly rated VPN services in the market.
Need a quick recommendation? For better performance at more competitive prices, check out our reviews of NordVPN and Surfshark for a taste of what you’re missing out on. Good luck!
