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Of the best options available for the prime VPN services, Astrill VPN has been quite popular with strong set of security and of course, an array of advanced features. One of the most powerful VPN services, it does provides you advanced connection speeds and access to a wonderful access to the geo restricted content. Let us review the service and find more of its features and what makes it one of the prominent options.
Astrill Black Friday VPN – The features
Astrill has been around since 2009 and has been providing quality services in the VPN sphere. Located in Seychelles, the offers you access to the specs that look wonderful. Most of the servers are P2P friendly and that should be what makes it a good option for those looking for torrenting.
The Security
One of the strongest features that make Astrill VPN one of the excellent options is that it does offer you access to a set of powerful security features. One of the prime advantages lies in the fact that it offers you a customisability to configure it as pr your preferences.
The VPN does provide you an option to choose between multiple encryption options –
- AES 128-bit, 192-bit, or 256-bit encryption
- Blowfish 128-bit, 192-bit, 256-bit, or 448-bit encryption
- CAST 128-bit, 192-bit, 256-bit, or 512-bit encryption
- Camellia 128-bit, 192-bit, or 256-bit encryption
The automatic kill switch should be yet another advantage that simply disconnects you from the internet as soon as you disconnect from the VPN for any reasons.
The service offers you support for a wide range of connection protocols that include OpenWeb, StealthVPN, Wireguard, TCP/UDP OpenVPN, OpenConnect, Cisco IPSec, IKEv2/IPSec, L2TP/IPSec, and SSTP. If you are looking for an extra layer of security, you can be assured of that with Onion over VPN service. OpenVPN has been one of the prime options for almost all your requirements in terms of for bypassing the government censorship. It can also be helpful enough in achieving the best standard in switching between the users rather easily and seamlessly. The IP and DNS leak protection can be something you would find one of the added advantages that offers you a great degree of online security.
The VPN speeds
We found the Astrill VPN service offering an excellent and perfect degree of service with most of the VPN protocols. In fact, it claims to have access to an enhanced number of fastest servers across the globe. The company has invested in the infrastructure and that shows up in the way the servers perform.
The VPN service does not make use of virtual servers in sharp contrast to the other competing service providers which ensures a better speed. We could notice a connection drop only about 20 percent at the max on most of the connections that we tested it on. Tat should be something you should be ready to face a slight drop as VPN service is set to encrypt the data and thus a slight speed drop should not be something you would find annoying. The speeds offered by the Astrill VPN can be one of the high end options for your needs in an enhanced experience for HD streaming, online gaming, and other demanding activities.
Server network
The server network offered by Astrill is quite small, but does come with a powerful global footprint. Astrill has its servers spread across 110 cities in around 59 countries globally. However, the company does not want to share the exact number of servers that it operates. That would perhaps make it a little difficult to compare with the competing service providers. As per some reports and estimates, Astrill VPN has around 364 servers.
Most of the servers could connect in jut under 3 seconds while the nearby servers were capable of connecting within a second! If you use an OpenVPN protocol, you may experience a slower connectivity. The connection speed may drop to about 6 seconds. Some of the major locations that they have their servers set up would include United States, China, Canada, UK, Netherlands, Germany, Franc and Spain.
Which streaming services does Astrill VPN works with?
Astrill VPN has been capable of providing you access to a host of the streaming services. We found Netflix and Hulu working with a decent connectivity speeds and ease. The responsiveness of the sites was also rather impressive enough.
BBC iPlayer and Amazon Prime Video failed to connect with the Astrill VPN on most of the attempts. We observed it providing you access to a good connectivity with Netflix, HBO, and Disney+. Any complaint to the Astrill VPN brings up the suggestion to buy a private US IP address. That may be something we do not want to do, nor you would want to opt for it.
Customer Support
This is yet another area that we would consider Astrill offering you a very commendable degree of service quality. It offers you several options for achieving the best standards in terms of the enhanced customer support.
The 24 x 7 Live Chat functionality is what made it one of the enhanced options ever. The estimate you receive when talking to the customer is extremely realistic in every sense. You can even get in touch with Astrill customer service through the contact form on the website or by sending an email to them. If you are in the US or Hong Kong, you can get in touch with the customer service through a dedicated phone line.
You would have access to a lot of instruction options in the form of a well designed website. You can have access to a collection of options such as manuals, FAQs and video tutorials to choose from if you ae stuck with something.
How about Astrill logging Policies?
Astrill claims to have a strict no-logs policy. However, the VPN service does keep a log of a few activities. These activities that you will find the service keeping track include connection time, IP address, device type, and Astrill VPN application version. However, the data will be deleted as soon as you disconnect from the VPN service.
It would also measure the amount of data that you have accessed. This is supposedly done to understand how the service has been able to achieve the standards in handling the load. The partial connection logs are maintained for a period of 30 days. The service does keep a record of the recent 20 sessions alone. All the information is stored anonymously and no personal data is shared.
You can even request manual deletion of data if you want to make sure that the data is not used for any illegal use. Astrill promises that it does not sell your data.
Is Astrill Good for Torrenting?
Astrill is definitely pretty good for Torrenting or even Kodi. You would find a wide range of servers on Astrill optimised for P2P connectivity. The P2P optimised servers come with the advanced security protocols such as port forwarding, a kill switch and AES 256 encryption.
Our tests revealed no DNS leaks or similar other issues during our use of the Astrill VPN service. The servers optimised for P2P connectivity have been marked by a yellow star. The pot forwarding on these server will ensure a faster connection speeds.
Yet another plus point we found extremely perfect lies in the fact that Astrill claims to ensure that it will keep your P2P downloads completely secure. This will mean neither your ISP not the government authorities will be able to detect your torrenting activity. Astrill offers support for torrenting clients such as BitTorrent, uTorrent, LimeWire, and other P2P sharing networks.
Apps and Extensions
The Astrill VPN service provides you native app support for a wide range of operating systems and platforms. The app interface offered by the Astrill network has been extremely straightforward and simple. The limited number of settings and easy to find features should be what would make it one of the prime options for an enhanced experience ever.
Astrill VPN provides you access to an improved experience in terms of the availability of apps. You have apps specifically designed for Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and Linux. The VPN works seamlessly across a wide range of devices and the service provides you access to multiple options for manuals. You can even use the Astrill VPN with Amazon Kindle Fire, Windows Phone and BlackBerry.
Unlike other VPN services, you would not find any browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox or Safari.
How much Astrill cost?
Astrill is one of the most expensive VPN services among the ones that we came across. In fact, the pricing is so high that it would be considered to be one of the most overpriced VPN services. The whopping $20 plan for the monthly package can be something you would find rather a very expensive option ever.
The plans offered by Astrill VPN can include
- Monthly Plan – The monthly plan comes with a pricing of $20 per month. You can perhaps opt for it if you are trying out the service and its quality.
- Semi-annual Plan – The semi-annual plan comes with a price of $15 per month. You will be billed at $90 for a period of six months.
- Annual Plan – The annual plan comes with a price of $10 per month. The annual plan charges you $ 120 for a period of twelve months.
The paid plans come with advanced features like high speeds, extensive security features, and support in China. The VPN service accepts the payment through Credit/debit cards, UnionPay, Alipay, WeChat Pay, PayPal, Perfect Money, Bitcoin, Monero, Webmoney and Bank transfer.
An additional $10 moth will provide you access to VIP Add-on functionality. The additional feature is a great option to assist you in opting for features such as Multi-hop VPN. This can be something equivalent the similar feature as on NordVPN. However, once again, Astrill add-on is a little expensive than the similar service on NordVPN service.
The VPN service has yet another reason to make matters worse. While most other VPN services come with a 30 day refund policy if you are not satisfied, Astrill VPN provides you access to no refund policy.
A Few Pros and Cons
Pros
- Pretty faster speeds
- Servers best optimised for P2P torrenting
- User friendly apps
- Multiple device support
Cons
- Privacy policy is a little sketchy
- Expensive plans
A Few FAQs
Is Astrill VPN worth the attempt?
If you do not have any issues with the price of the product, the Astrill VPN should be something you would find impressive. It provides you faster servers and is one of the excellent options for working with torrenting.
Does Astrill VPN provide a free plan?
There is no free plan available with Astrill VPN. You will get a one week trial period that can offer you access to an improved and enhanced experience.
Is Astrill VPN safe to use?
Astrill has a few strong and powerful security features. The service does keep you secure online. The no-logs policy can be something you would find something impressive.
Is Astrill VPN available in China?
The ability to work seamlessly in China is one of the strongest factors that would make it one of the strongest factors you would want to go with. The proprietary StealthVPN service s what would make it one of the excellent options for almost all your needs. The StealthVPN service works on the basis of OpenVPN and offers you an extremely secure protocol.
The Closing Thoughts
Astrill VPN is indeed one of the faster and feature rich VPN service ever. One of the excellent options for almost all your needs in streaming and torrenting. Of course, a little learning curve is what would make it one of the difficult options. The advanced security features and speedy servers are a few of the options we found rather impressive in every right.
In case you are looking for a VPN service that works without hassles in China, and other advanced features that it offers you should definitely make it one of the great services ever. The above discussion should definitely help you achieve a greater strength in achieving an enhanced experience ever.