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Express VPN Review

Wednesday, June 7th

2023 VPN Service Provider Reviews

Express VPN Review 4.5 Star Rating

Express VPN

4.5 Star Rating
  • 30-day money-back guarantee
  • Servers in 94 countries and 160 server locations
  • Unlimited bandwidth
  • IP address masking
  • Split tunneling
  • Private DNS
  • Threat Manager to block trackers
  • Use up to 5 devices simultaneously
  • Router VPN
  • 24-hour live chat and email support

Express VPN is a very popular and highly-rated VPN service headquartered in the British Virgin Islands. It has a higher price tag than most other VPNs, but the features and reliability it offers are worth the cost. With a large and well-distributed network of servers, strong security practices, split tunneling, and a user-friendly interface, Express VPN is an excellent choice for a VPN service.

Pricing Is High, But So Is Quality

As noted, pricing for Express VPN is higher at $12.95 per month billed monthly, $9.99 per month billed semi-annually, or $8.32 per month billed annually. Like most service plans that VPN companies offer, the monthly price decreases the more time you commit to the subscription. Unlike many other VPN services, with Express VPN you can use Bitcoin to subscribe. If you are truly concerned about the pricing, Express VPN offers a generous 30-day money-back guarantee.

Good Mix of Hardware and Virtual Servers Worldwide

Express VPN has servers in 94 countries, split tunneling, and private DNS. They use TrustedServer technology to avoid any writing of data to disk storage so that your level of not being tracked is improved. They provide an internet kill switch in case the VPN is disabled. Express VPN doesn't have ad blockers or malware blockers, but they do have Threat Manager, which is an anti-tracking feature. If you regularly need to check your speed, you can find that information in the app rather than going to third-party websites for speed tests.

Support for Dozens of Devices and Operating Systems

If you want to install Express VPN on your router, you can. It also is supported on Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Linux, Chromebook, and Kindle Fire as well as browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge. You can install it on smart TVs, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Chromecast, Nvidia Shield, and Android TV. You can even have it activated on game consoles like Playstation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch. There are easy instructions to follow for each device and situation.

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Carefully Chosen Focus on Proprietary Technology

There is no multi-hop or Tor routing, but it does have split tunneling for traffic that needs to be routed separately through the VPN. Instead of WireGuard, Express VPN offers its own tunneling protocol called Lightway. This is all part of their strategy to focus on what matters most to their customers rather than throwing in everything and the kitchen sink.

Positive Reviews

Reviews of Express VPN are very positive. Everyone likes the ease of use, speed, features, and customer support. A few people are disgruntled, however. They don't like how it sometimes disconnects, long support chat queues, trouble with configuration on certain devices, and lack of support for Linux. There is not a Better Business Bureau rating for Express VPN.

Worth the Money

Given its strong popularity among its user base, the positive reviews given by prominent IT-centric publications, and being one of the more prominent and recognizable brands , Express VPN is an excellent choice for a VPN service (if you don't mind the high price).

Who Has the Best VPN Service?

A VPN is a virtual private network that allows you to browse the Internet securely. It makes a private network for you that is encrypted (scrambled) so that all the data coming to or leaving your computer is unreadable to anyone trying to peek at your browsing habits. But if you have nothing to hide, why would you want to use a VPN?

The reality is that there are plenty of people in the world who would love to access your private information such as passwords and bank account numbers. For example, a hacker might want to steal your password as you submit it from your computer to your email provider to log in. There are also people who want to know what you're looking for on the Internet. Marketers want to see your exposed data about what you like to shop for. Governments desire to know at every moment what their citizens are discussing, searching, and browsing.

The Best VPN Service Providers Compare VPN Service Providers Compare VPN Service Provider Reviews What are the best VPN Service Providers Best VPN Service Provider Reviews

VPN Service Provider FAQ

A Virtual Private Network is security software that hides your personal identity and information from hackers, businesses, and government agencies. You will want to use a VPN if you're concerned about a person or entity finding out which websites you've visited and when or monitoring your general activities online.
Nothing in technology is 100% secure. You should research which VPNs offer the best security and choose from among those options. Every VPN provider is operated by human beings who can make mistakes. But there are several that have strict policies, protocols, processes, and procedures for ensuring that user data is protected.
VPNs give you an alternative IP address to the one your hometown internet service provider will give you. The alternative IP address can be located in another town, region, or a whole other country entirely. It's usually up to you. When you browse with a VPN, it's harder if not impossible for a hacker, business, or government agency to trace your web activity to your precise location. Another thing a VPN does is fully encrypt or scramble your data transfers so that anyone trying to peek at your data stream will not be able to interpret what they see.
In most cases using a VPN is very simple. You sign up for a pricing plan and then download the VPN software to your computer. Once you install the software, it may ask you for some information so it can configure your services. After it's done, every time you start your computer the VPN software can immediately begin hiding your activity online.
A VPN can be useful if you want to access websites, watch videos, or transfer file content to or from other countries that ban foreign IP addresses. For example, if you want to watch a streaming movie that is only available in the Netherlands, simply open your VPN software and choose an IP address location in the Netherlands. The VPN will make it appear to the movie streaming service as if you're online in that country. However, be aware that streaming video service providers are becoming increasingly sophisticated at detecting VPN use and blocking you. Be sure to research what you can and cannot do with a specific VPN.
It could be, so definitely do your research. With some VPN providers, your IP address is fully logged or tracked. In that case, you are not 100% protected from inquiries by businesses or law enforcement organizations in the event that your connection is compromised or comes under suspicion of illegal activities. Even if a VPN provider says they don't log your IP address, it's not necessarily a good idea to take them at their word. Many VPN companies want to protect themselves first in the case of a court order or law enforcement action against any users on their service.
Most democratic countries do not have laws against using a VPN. In some countries, however, it is highly illegal to use a VPN. Be sure to read the terms of service of the VPN provider as well as research the laws in your country before buying, installing, or using a VPN solution.
You don't need to use a VPN at home if your connection is protected from intrusion by a properly-configured router and Wi-Fi access point. VPNs are most useful when you're connecting from a public hotspot such as at a cafe or library. But, home use still has the advantage of helping to further secure your data and hide your location from outside entities that try to watch what you're doing online.
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Continued from above...

Your credit card information is particularly important to protect. Most websites these days have end-to-end encryption to protect sensitive purchase information. But for the ones that don't, or for when that technology fails, a VPN adds a layer of protection to keep hackers from "sniffing" out your credit card information.

Another bonus? If you want access to streaming media that is only available in certain countries, a VPN can make it look to the streaming services in those countries as if you're a resident, and therefore you'll have no restrictions on accessing your favorite TV shows and movies.

Do you browse the Internet from public Wi-Fi connections in places such as airports, coffee shops, or shopping malls? If you do this without a VPN, your data is openly exposed to hackers who make a habit of monitoring unsecured Wi-Fi signals for data to steal.

You can't even trust your own internet service provider (ISP) with sensitive information about your browsing habits. They are often looking for additional revenue streams, including selling information about which websites your IP address has been accessing. A VPN hides that information from your ISP.

For people living in countries where the government has little or no respect for the right to privacy, a VPN is absolutely necessary. Otherwise, government bureaus, agencies, and leaders could have full access to everything you say or do online, including planning protests, criticizing laws and policies, or donating money to political organizations.

Therefore, it's critically important that you research the features, reputation, security, performance, customer service, and cost of various VPN services before you decide which one to subscribe to. Here are some factors to consider.

  • Features: What does the VPN offer that makes it better than any other VPN service? What is the purpose of those features?
  • Cost: How much does the VPN subscription cost? Is there a free trial? What about a money-back guarantee? Does the VPN service offer a lower cost per month if you pay annually?
  • Reputation: Does the VPN company enjoy a good reputation among its customers? If not, why not, and can you live with that? If others had a bad experience, how long had they been customers, and what was done, if anything, to resolve their concerns?
  • Security: What features does the VPN system include to keep you protected at all times from people snooping into your data stream? Do they log your activities? Do they have enough IP addresses for you to connect through so that it's harder for government officials, marketers, and hackers to deduce a pattern around your browsing? What's in place in terms of automatic cutoff in case the VPN service fails without your knowledge?
  • Performance: How fast is the VPN connection while you browse? Does it connect and disconnect quickly?
  • Customer Service: What are the options for contacting support if needed? Do they have live chat, email, and telephone support? Are they courteous and quick when answering questions?

TopConsumerReviews.com has compiled a report of the best VPN services available and ranked them in the order of quality and reliability. We hope these reviews will help you find the right VPN service to make browsing the Web 100% secure!

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