Hotspot Shield VPN is an intuitive service with user-friendly applications across devices, offering Hydra and WireGuard protocols as well as split tunneling functionality. However, advanced settings may be limited.
This company provides an in-depth FAQs section and 24/7 live chat support, in addition to publishing transparency reports detailing government requests for user data.
Features
Hotspot Shield VPN is an innovative service that helps protect you from data-collecting snoopers and unencrypted Wi-Fi connections, but its US jurisdiction and membership of Five Eyes/Nine Eyes alliance increases its vulnerability to government overreach compared to other options. Still, Hotspot Shield boasts a solid privacy policy featuring Hydra (used by Bitdefender, McAfee, Telefonica and Telefonica) and WireGuard encryptions with kill switches and split tunnelling features as well as lightning fast download/upload speeds during speed tests while connecting up to five devices at the same time!
Windows and macOS desktop applications from HideMyAss VPN offer robust features with their handy connection screen that displays server location on a map, latency data usage statistics and network information. More options for manually selecting servers could be beneficial and it would also be advantageous if a feature could exclude apps from the VPN tunnel. Luckily, mobile apps from this provider boast attractive user interfaces with simple functionality – ideal for use on smartphones!
Pricing
Hotspot Shield provides both a free version and three premium plans, the latter of which limit users to one connection per device and 500MB per day of data; there is also a 2 Mbps speed cap on mobile devices; additionally, this version only connects to US servers without mobile applications included.
Paid plans provide unlimited data with a 45-day money back guarantee and include several security features, such as obfuscation and Perfect Forward Secrecy which continuously changes encryption keys so even if hackers gain access to one, they won’t be able to use it to decrypt your data.
Hotspot Shield’s primary drawback lies in its location: it operates out of the United States with restrictive privacy laws and is part of the Five Eyes network, meaning they could potentially be forced to share customer data with government authorities. Therefore, when searching for VPN providers it’s imperative that they offer strong no-log policies; many VPN services don’t store any customer data at all!
Apps
Hotspot Shield’s malware detection keeps you one step ahead of online threats, such as viruses, phishing attempts, infected websites or dishonest adware in your browser or applications. Please note: this feature works when connected to VPN.
HotSpot Shield boasts an expansive server network in multiple countries, featuring streaming and gaming servers specifically. Furthermore, their software features an easy user interface and clearly displays connection status and download speeds in an easily navigable window – though unfortunately this doesn’t include loading times or ping figures which makes identifying the best server difficult.
HotSpot Shield utilizes unbreakable 256-bit AES encryption. Its privacy policy is fairly standard; however, diagnostic data such as device and app versions and request timestamps is collected. The premium version allows five simultaneous connections and offers a free trial version (although bandwidth usage is restricted to 500MB per day – you can watch ads to increase it). HotSpot Shield works seamlessly across devices including smartphones, tablets, laptops or PCs – plus smart TVs and game consoles through Smart DNS capabilities!
Servers
Hotspot Shield stands out from competitors by providing multiple servers around the world and using 256-bit AES encryption – almost impossible to crack by even supercomputers – along with multiple security features including kill switches, split tunneling and automated options for connecting securely over Wi-Fi or mobile data networks.
Android and iOS apps feature stylish interfaces and quick, simple connections, enabling users to select server locations or countries easily from a list or map interface. Once connected, VPN displays information regarding latency, peak speed and your new IP address.
Hotspot Shield offers an expansive support center with device-specific guides and an FAQ section featuring helpful screenshots. In addition, Hotspot Shield provides an impressive 45-day money-back guarantee – longer than most other VPN refund policies! However, their free plan only delivers 500MB per day and limits connection speeds to 2Mbps (you can watch ads to bypass this limitation), shares users’ geo-location with advertisers, and does not support streaming support.
Customer support
Hotspot Shield’s desktop apps are easy to use and feature intuitive layouts. Furthermore, you can select the optimal server location based on performance to achieve faster browsing speeds.
iOS and Android apps offered by this provider may be somewhat limited, yet still offer an array of features such as kill switch and split tunneling; additionally, mobile apps enable easy exclusion of certain apps from VPN usage.
Both desktop and mobile apps provide basic tutorials to address some of the most frequently experienced issues, though more in-depth guides found elsewhere might be more suitable.
Hotspot Shield is a US-based company. While that doesn’t necessarily represent any security concerns, being subject to US laws could force them to share data with the government unless their strict no-log policy allows it. Hotspot Shield also belongs to Five Eyes surveillance alliance which may compromise user privacy; for this reason it’s essential that VPN services such as ExpressVPN have strong no-log policies in order to maintain user anonymity.