StrongVPN is a veteran virtual private network service having provided encrypted tunneling and identity anonymization since 2005. The California-based company currently operates a global infrastructure spanning 46 countries through 1,100+ VPN servers promising robust privacy/security protections.
In this updated StrongVPN review, we scrutinize the provider’s features, network speeds, pricing models, user experiences and overall value against competitors to determine market standing securing personal and business connections.
Introduction
As an early mover into consumer-focused VPN services complementary to its legacy serving SMB network needs, Strong Technology’s (StrongVPN parent company) privacy solution emphasizes flexibility through multi-platform apps, reliable speeds via owned infrastructure, and value-added offerings like private email accounts or cloud storage bundled with subscriptions at wallet-friendly rates.
The company configures StrongVPN as a customizable network capable of satisfying both technical experts wanting granular control like manual TCP/UDP protocol selection while still maintaining out-of-box usability for general audiences across Windows, macOS, Android and iOS apps.
But how does StrongVPN stack up charting key metrics like encryption strengths, logging policies, speed performance and restoration assurances central to recommending options? This comprehensive review provides full analysis.
StrongVPN Company Background
As background preceding feature evaluation, here’s a brief history of StrongVPN’s origins providing context around corporate stewardship and development motivations:
2005 Launch
The present-day StrongVPN service traces its roots to 2005 under parent company Strong Technology LLC based in San Francisco. Early focus targeted small business network security more so than consumer offerings.
Consumer Pivot in 2010
But in 2010, Strong Technology pivoted focus towards mass market VPN clients for home users – migrating both priorities and development resources into the platforms supporting modern StrongVPN’s current incarnation and branding.
Founding Principles
Strong Technology lists core principles of trust, flexibility and high value guiding corporate decision making – framing motivations around StrongVPN’s operational objectives securing data transmission pathways between remote workers, offices, field locations and data centers.
Now transitioning towards analyzing functional competencies as a modern VPN provider catering to everyday households over solely small businesses.
StrongVPN Features & Tools
Examining key privacy and connection safeguard features provided by StrongVPN sees typical inclusion of industry standards like AES encryption and secure protocols while adding a few proprietary touches aiding personalization:
AES-256 Encryption
StrongVPN utilizes universal AES 256-bit encryption for all VPN tunnel endpoints – considered mathematically secure against brute force decryption under modern computational standards to effectively scramble intercepted packets.
Internet Kill Switch
Like most reputable VPN services on the market, StrongVPN also incorporates an automatic kill switch. This fails closed all external internet access should the VPN connection drop unexpectedly to prevent data leakage or IP address compromises until continuity restores.
Custom Profiles
Unlike competitors mandating singular default configurations, StrongVPN allows manually specifying encryption types, ports, protocols signatures and account credentials (perfect for rotating multiple accounts) when connecting – catering nicely towards technical users.
Cloud Storage
Unique from competitors, StrongVPN subscriptions include 500 GBs encrypted online cloud storage meeting privacy standards on file backups. This provides helpful secondary data safeguarding and offsite archiving capabilities.
StrongVPN Server Network Size & Locations
In terms of measurable server fleet size granting flexible geographic connection endpoints to mask public identity or bypass location blocks, StrongVPN rides well above the industry average but falls slightly short of elite premium leaders:
- Total Servers: 1,100+ Global
- Server Countries: 46 Countries Supported
So ample locations across both common and rare regions provide satisfactory spoofing potential. But top providers do push the boundaries upwards of 6,000-10,000+ individual servers further maximizing redundancy and micro-targeting specific cities to minimize congestion risks during peak periods seeing increased user volumes funneling traffic through centralized gateways.
StrongVPN Pricing Models
Transitioning to cost efficiency analysis sees StrongVPN generally competitive if not aggressively leading on pure dollar terms from a subscriber perspective:
- 1 Month Plan – $10.99 per month
- 1 Year Plan – $5.83 per month
- 2 Year Plan – $3.33 per month
So largely in line with industry averages on short term plans while hitting a modest pricing edge on multi-year commitments against comparable mid-tier rivals. However, the deepest discounts industry-wide at economy scales still dip closer to the $2 range over extended terms.
One perk lies in the complete absence of bandwidth or connection limits inherent to subscriptions. And free trial eligibility provides nice kick tires potential before committing financial spend.
StrongVPN Privacy & Security
Analyzing core privacy and security competencies underpinning the technical effectiveness of any virtual private network sees StrongVPN positioned reasonably in the middle of the pack – upholding fundamentals without excelling as upper echelon category leaders might against advanced metrics:
Panama Registration Outside 14 Eyes
StrongVPN channels corporate ownership registrations through Panama which lies outside intrusive surveillance alliances like Five Eyes or 14 Eyes that mandate draconian logging and fog laws compromising user privacy in affiliated countries.
Reputable No Logs Policy
Correspondingly, StrongVPN enacts a industry-standard no traffic logs, time stamps or browsing history user activity monitoring policy matching leading competitors and passing third party verifications. Certain bare metadata like payment transactions get retained solely for accounting needs.
Limited Independent Audits
But unlike top VPNs having reputable accounting firms like Deloitte or KPMG actively vet and publish comprehensive infrastructure audit reports periodically, StrongVPN lacks similarly visible displays of external validations on policy claims from vendors specializing in data security – generating mild transparency skepticism.
Standard Leak Protection
On technology protections side, StrongVPN covers industry norms blocking IPv6, DNS and WebRTC leaks alongside activating kill switches when connections drop. But capabilities again align closer to conventional offerings rather than leading innovation seen by premium category leaders.
StrongVPN Speed Test Results
Analyzing network throughput speeds forms critical evaluation points gauging real-world VPN performance validating marketing promises on resources able to deliver for streaming, large downloads and low-latency connections:
Average Loss – 15-25% Globally
On average globally connected to well-provisioned VPN servers, StrongVPN maintained very usable speeds ranging within 15-25% of native ISP base rates without the VPN enabled. This allowed 4K video streaming with minimal buffering.
Congestion & Peak Periods
But periodic latency spikes did emerge – particularly across European endpoints during peak evening times as transatlantic bandwidth congestion intermittently spiked over 300 ms latency despite low server population loads not indicating overcrowding issues.
So generally positive network speed performance results suggest StrongVPN configures adequate infrastructure to sustain most typical user needs. But further scaling may still prove beneficial smoothing peak demand strain seen periodically.
StrongVPN Software & Device Support
While network capabilities mark vital analysis criteria on functionality, software reliability and multi-platform support also weigh critically ensuring access convenience spanning end user hardware from desktop to mobile:
Windows & Mac Apps
StrongVPN offers directly downloadable first-party Windows and macOS software optimized for performance, low battery drain and UI responsiveness offering all essential features comparable to rivals.
Mobile Support
Matching competitor app availability, StrongVPN also furnishes iPhone/iPad and Android mobile clients enabling one-tap connect capabilities for phones and tablets alongside VPN toggles configurable inside device settings menus.
Router Installation
Officially supporting DDWRT, AsusWRT and Tomato router firmware, StrongVPN furnishes flashable .ovpn connection files enabling network-wide device access alongside setup instructions – catering smoothly to savvier users.
Browser Extensions
But lightweight browser VPN plugins do remain noticeably missing from StrongVPN’s portfolio if aiming to quickly tunnel a single web app rather than full system traffic across Windows/macOS. Competitors like ExpressVPN and CyberGhost actively offer these extensions.
StrongVPN Customer Support & Reviews
Gauging user experiences uncovers slightly mixed reactions while support response signals reasonably meet industry norms if not spectacularly exceeding them:
Satisfactory Support
In multiple test cases, StrongVPN averaged under 3 minute email and live chat response times for technical issues – reasonably prompt by category benchmarks. Support specialists proved technically knowledgeable addressing debug procedures, optimal server selection and installation troubleshooting.
Mediocre App Ratings
However across platforms, StrongVPN apps earn mixed 3 out 5 star ratings from both iOS and Android users citing complaints around intermittent latency spikes despite low server population loads and occasional connection dropouts requiring manual reestablishment – factoring into negative feedback.
In summary, StrongVPN support feedback highlights areas of modest improvement responding to user cases around improved network infrastructure scaling and software optimization – but otherwise ticking all boxes from a feature completeness perspective.
StrongVPN Review Conclusion
Tallying up the full slate of criteria between privacy policy enforcement, speed capabilities, pricing, feature sets and user experiences benchmarking StrongVPN against the wider virtual private network landscape reveals a quite competitive offering earning recommendation under the right user circumstances:
For power users emphasizing configurable software and support responsiveness over sheer network size and speeds, StrongVPN furnishes all necessary capabilities to safeguard typical browsing activities, communications and content streaming across devices.