VPNArea Review

VPNArea is a small, Bulgarian-based VPN company that was founded in 2012. It’s owned by an off-shore company called Offshore Security EOOD.

According to their website, they have 212 server locations in 70 countries. Their LinkedIn page shows 11-50 employees, so it seems legit first pass.

They claim themselves as “High-Speed VPN service rated #1.”

Sounds good on the surface, but let’s see what we’re going to find out in this VPNArea review.

First, the basics.

VPNArea Overview

What Does VPNArea Offer?

VPNArea prides itself on speed.

That includes their 200+ server network, which spans across 70 different countries. The vast majority of which are located in the U.S. and Europe (with a few sprinkled around in Asia, South America, along with a couple in the Middle East and Africa).

When you compare that number to some other networks like ExpressVPN (2000+) or PIA (3000+), it’s not very big. That can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you look at it.

VPNArea is quick to point out that their ‘customer-to-server’ ratio is among the best in the industry, which should translate to better performance and speed for everyone.

Specifically, they have one server dedicated for 250 customers, which results in a “13 times better members:server ratio” than their competitors. What does that mean?

In other words, they don’t ‘oversell’ their servers that end up just jeopardizing performance for everyone else. They keep a watchful eye on the number of customers they have relative to available servers. Instead of just jamming as many people as possible on their servers and jeopardizing performance for everyone else, they purposefully monitor each so you’ll only have great performance experiences.

They also have a feature that will show you how many users are on a server currently. That even means you can search and select a server with zero users to ensure the best results possible. (In addition, you can search by speed too if that’s the primary concern at the time.)

VPNArea has applications available for every single major device, including Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS. You can connect up to five different device connections at a single time.

You should have unlimited access when using these devices, because there’s absolutely no throttling, downloading, or other restrictions.

And you might be able to get unlimited devices with your unlimited access by connecting through one of their FlashRouters partner setup. These pre-configured routers make it super easy to setup DD-WRT firmware and lock-down your entire internet connection.

You can also use this workaround to encrypt both smart TVs and game consoles, too.

If your VPN connection suddenly dropped and disconnected, there’s a kill switch feature that will protect against your IP address popping up all of a sudden.

There’s also an “Auto IP Changer” feature that will automatically switch your IP address however often you’d like (often down to minutes).

And on top of that handy feature, is an “Anti-DNS Leak” to protect your real IP address. Here’s how it works.

Whether you like it or not, internet providers can still gain access to see which domain names you’re visiting (even when your VPN connection is running). The reason comes down to how your devices will use DNS servers of your internet service provider to change hostnames into IP addresses (when accessing).

So this Anti-DNS Leak feature will allow you to go into your DNS servers and select different ones based on available countries.

If you’ve already read enough to like what you see, VPNArea offers a 7-day money back guarantee.

VPNArea Pros +

1. They use OpenVPN and it comes with many perks

VPNArea’s primary VPN client is called Chameleon, which is an OpenVPN-based program.

While they do support a few other protocol options, they don’t recommend them. Here’s why.

OpenVPN is the ‘industry-standard’ protocol, relying on the rock-solid SSL encryption that’s used by SSL certificates to lock down all major websites you use on a daily basis. There are currently no known security vulnerabilities and it’s standard encryption algorithms (more on that in the next section below) are among the best in the business.

Now, compare that to other protocols, like PPTP, which only feature the most primitive (if any) security encryption. So while they might do the trick for bypassing or re-routing IP addresses to change your ‘visible’ location, they still pose a tremendous risk for anyone worried about their session data getting hijacked.

That extends to popular cloud-based, file management services like Dropbox or Google Drive. These don’t require you to login each and every time you want to sync what’s on your device and what’s in the cloud. Instead, you have a “synchronization token” which will keep an open connection between the two.

The problem, is that if someone gets their hands on this sync token, they can automatically intercept every single thing being passed through the connection. As well as inject malware and cause all forms of havoc.

There are also known issues with options like WebRTC and IPv6, which could inadvertently unmask your true IP address (even when connected to a VPN).

2. VPNArea has a solid 256-bit encryption by default

Every reliable VPN uses 256-bit encryption by default. Private Internet Access also offers 126-bit encryption (optionally).

In short, 256-bit encryption is used by top governments around the world. And it’ll make sure your VPN connection is safe and secure.

That number (256) refers to the level of strength and required combinations to eventual unlock the encryption.

In short, it’s basically brute-force proof.

3. No-Logging Policy

VPNArea couldn’t even keep logs if they wanted to (which they don’t).

Their Bulgaria-based location means a strict “No Logs” law. And their day-to-day servers and emails are headquartered in the beautiful and notoriously secretive Switzerland.

Some VPN providers will keep logs of basic activities for a temporary amount of time in order to better improve the service. For example, they’ll track how many people are using the service over the course of the thirty days and monitor when people are logging in or out.

But VPNArea takes extreme precautions here.

In addition, some of their plans will offer a dedicated, shared IP address that’s used for all members, so that your individual actions will be indistinguishable from all other users.

4. Very affordable ($2.99/mo)

VPNArea’s pricing plans are mostly the same.

The primary difference comes down to plan length; so you can get discounts when opting for a longer commitment of six months to one year.

But there’s also one disadvantage that their true ‘monthly’ plan has: no dedicated IP option.

That means if you don’t want to prepay for a few months, you won’t get access to their shared IP that is spread across all users to hide or mask your actions.

Here’s a complete breakdown of the pricing table:

Plan One:

• 1 month= $9.90/mo
• All features except Dedicated IP option

Plan Two:

• 1 year=$4.92/mo
• $59.00/year
• All features included

Plan Three:

• 36 months=$2.99/mo
• $107.64/ 36 months
• All features included

Payment methods include all major debit and credit cards, PayPal, Bitcoin, WebMoney and Alipay.

5. Their app works with Netflix (and they allow torrenting)

One of my ranking criteria is the possibility to stream content on Netflix and use the VPN software for torrenting. After my second try, I managed to get into Netflix and they do allow torrenting as well, but they advise you to use P2P servers for it.

Here’s a list of servers for torrenting with VPNArea (https://vpnarea.com/forum/thread/which-servers-allow-torrents-and-which-dont/)

6. Their app is sleek and easy to use

One of the things I love most about VPNArea is that they have software available on so many different devices, including:

• Windows 7 or newer
• Mac OS (Yosemite or newer)
• Android
• iOS (iPhone, iPad)
• Linux
• Numerous routers

You can use the app on up to six devices all at the same time. Account sharing is also permitted.

The desktop app’s user interface is sleek, easy to log into, and very simple to navigate. You can use the search bar to find a specific server or simply just select one of their servers off the list and hit “Connect.”

For each server, you can view the current load, distance from the server to your location, and the server’s current speed.

VPNArea’s mobile app is even more user-friendly.

I tested the iOS app and was pleasantly surprised at how simple it is to choose a server and speed, rate the app, report a problem, and more (all from the main menu).

The server list is easy to scroll through and also includes current speeds for each location.

Once you select a server, you can toggle between “Connected” and “Disconnected” with the press of a button.

7. Customer support

VPNArea offers live chat.

That means around-the-block, 24/7 chat support. Someone, somewhere, should be available at any moment to help you out.

At least, that’s the theory.

Their FAQ page reads: “Response time is normally never more than 4 hours and most of the times you’ll reach us on Live Chat right away.”

Let’s put this theory to the test and see how they actually do.

All you have to do is enter a username or nickname and your email address and click “Start Chat” to get started.

When I tested their support in 2017, it took 16 hours to get a reply. Today, I got a response within 15 seconds. Talk about an improvement, huh?

So I started digging for info right away.

Zack’s replies were quick and concise, it kind of felt too good to be true, but upon further investigation, he was an actual human being, not a super well coded AI.

I continued asking questions and he delivered answers almost instantly.

I got my replies and I was really happy with the experience. I don’t know for sure how they fare with technical difficulties, but getting answers to questions is definitely not a problem. Excellent support.

Got my answers, thanked him and we said our farewells.

All in all, I’m impressed how their customer support quality has improved since 2017. From 16 hours reply time to less than a minute.

Great experience.

VPNArea Cons –

1. VPNArea speed: 39% slower than competitors

To make this review accurate, I went ahead, connected to one of their servers and opened speedtest.net

While performing the test, I used a 100 Mbps Internet connection.

After connecting to EU, US and ASIA servers, I found out that VPNArea is kinda slow.

US Server (New York)

• Ping: 114ms
• Download: 10.05 Mbps
• Upload: 7.18 Mbps

EU Server (Amsterdam)

• Ping: 42ms
• Download: 47.36 Mbps
• Upload: 23.81 Mbps

Asia Server (Hong Kong)

• Ping: 366ms
• Download: 6.99 Mbps
• Upload: 2.63 Mbps

While their EU speed was OK, the US download and upload speeds were too slow. This software throttled my Internet speed by more than 80%.

In short, it was slow compared with other top VPNs.

Do I Recommend VPNArea?

The short answer is yes.

There’s a lot to like about VPNArea. They offer all major protocols, along with the best encryption methods money can buy. Good start!

That whole ‘server-to-customer’ ratio isn’t a bunch of hot air, either. Too many customers becomes a problem when you’re all vying for the same pool of resources. Jam-packed servers mean slower performance.

Their lower-than-average pricing is tempting.

And their VPN client interface is solid. Plus, the VPNArea app is available on up to almost every type of device out there.

The features pack a punch, too: there’s a built-in speed test, kill switch, anti-DNS leak, and auto-IP changer.

Customer support experience was excellent, they allow torrenting on all of their servers, what’s not to like?

However, there is only one thing that I can’t overlook:

1. They’re a bit slow for serious use. Even with the ‘low member-to-server ratio’ thing. If you’re planning to use this VPN for torrenting or Netflix – their performance won’t cut it.

Unsure if VPNArea is right for you? Take a look at the best VPNs in 2019.

P.S. I’m always interested in user-reviews so if you’ve used VPNArea before, don’t hesitate to leave your review below. If your experience matched mine, cool. If it didn’t, that’s fine too!

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