Tag: free VPN provider

  • HotSpotShield alternative, free VPN SpotFlux

    HotSpotShield alternative, free VPN SpotFlux

    Spotflux is a free VPN for Mac and Windows computers, it can help you get around censorship in countries where ISPs block websites, theoretically it can bypass computer Internet filters but it is not portable and you need administrator rights to install it, you won’t be able to use Spotflux in your college or workplace unless you have your own laptop.

    I tested their speed from Europe a few times and it gave me a consistent 1MB/1.5MB, enough to stream online video, hoovering your mouse over the Windows tray will show your given IP,  Spotflux  provides a US computer IP allowing you to access CWTV, ABC, Pandora radio and other websites restricted to US residents only, I tried to watch Hulu and it worked fine, the same with Pandora Radio.

    During installation the software will ask you to install a device driver and also to run Java, this is one part that I did not like, I have used multiple VPNs in the past and I have never been asked to run a Java app, Java runs locally in your computer it has been exploited in the past and it could endanger your security unless you are really sure that the place you downloaded it from is trustworthy.

    Free VPN SpotFlux
    Free VPN SpotFlux

    Spotflux settings are very simple, consisting of automatic updates, proxy configuration and language interface. What makes this VPN different from others is that they scan and filter all pages you request for malware and viruses, tracking cookies are filtered out too. Nearly all advertisements are blocked. As a blogger I find this VPN unethical, the reason why I don’t update hacker10 more often is because the scarce income I make here does not justify my posting time. Browser addons blocking adverts allow people configuration options to only target websites abusing privacy and overdone with adverts, Spotflux block all sites, if you use them to visit your favourite sites you will deprive them from advert income and eventually kill the site.

    Spotflux privacy policy doesn’t mention what logs they keep and how long for but they say that they will use deep packet inspection of user traffic to cooperate with law enforcement if necessary. This is definitely not a VPN to be used for privacy even if they claim so. I don’t know how they make money with it, I will speculate that Spotflux might start charging for extra services in the future. HotSpotShield privacy policy is equally bad but they don’t have any system in place filtering the sites you visit for “privacy reasons“. I would say that both VPNs, SpotFlux and HotSpotShield, are ok to watch US online TV and that is it, never use a free VPN like them to check your email if you care about your online privacy.

    UPDATE December 2012: After using Spotflux again I noticed that the installer comes with sponsored software, you can refuse to install it unchecking a tickbox. SpotFlux is also blocked in Abc.com where I get a message saying that I have to disable add blocking programs before I can watch their videos.

    Visit SpotFlux homepage

  • Review free VPN provider HotSpotShield

    Review free VPN provider HotSpotShield

    If you are getting a product and not paying for it then you are the product being sold, all ‘free’ VPN services I know of provide you with very limited speed and bandwidth, they advertise a barely usable VPN as if it was free when in reality it feels like a test VPN, their business model is to get users to upgrade to their paid for VPN, since their free one is full of restrictions it is highly likely that most people will upgrade, if nobody did they would go out of business very soon.

    HotSpotShield is the most used free VPN service out there, browser independent, available for Windows and MAC, they claim to have over 10 millions of users, HotSpotShield finances its free VPN service injecting third party advertising banners on top of the browser in every single page you visit and trying to sell you an upgrade to their ‘elite’ ad-free VPN. HotSpotShield will attempt to install a toolbar and change your homepage when you install it, make sure to uncheck the boxes during installation, however you will have to agree to their terms and conditions and this means making your personal information available to a third party (advertising company).

    HotSpotShield free VPN
    HotSpotShield free VPN

    HotSpotShield will give your computer a US IP, this will allow you to watch USA TV and listen to USA restricted music radio stations, it worked flawlessly with the most popular online TV and radio sites like Hulu, Crackle and Pandora, however Slacker Radio and Rdio.com both detected I was behind a proxy and did not allow me to play music, showing me a message saying that the service is only available in the US and Canada. If you ever pay for a VPN try to make sure they have more than one server, this way if a company blocks one of them a quick server switch solves the problem, with HotSpotShield free version there is not such luxury.

    I was impressed with the VPN speed, I expected it to be overloaded since it is free, but it wasn’t, the ping is on the low side but acceptable, the New York server, measured from Europe it gave 3.5MB of available bandwidth and a 300ms ping rate, this is more than enough to stream online videos, the minimum bandwidth needed for video streaming is around 1MB.

    I have been unable to see any kind of bandwidth restriction mentioned in HotSpotShield terms and conditions, what they do mention is that they can terminate your service wherever they feel like it, I would imagine that there is some kind of bandwidth limit but officially nothing is said about that on their website.

    HotSpotShield will be fine for people living in countries that censor the Internet and can’t really afford to pay $5/month for a proper VPN, or for those on a weekend trip needing the occasional VPN, but I would not bother downloading this VPN service for anything else, frequent VPN users will end up paying for the service anyway, HotSpotShield banner can become quite annoying, it takes up part of the screen forcing you to scroll down and it slows down your Internet browsing waiting for the banner to load, the adverts can be stopped using the AdBlock Plus Firefox addon but even then I did not feel at ease knowing that my personal data was being sold to a third party.

     Visit HotSpotShield VPN