News, Kinney worked as a reporter and editor for Bloomberg, LexisNexis, and other news organizations covering legal and regulatory issues, with a focus on technology-related matters. He currently focuses on consumer electronics and personal security services for 360 Reviews. News & World Report in 2019, where he was instrumental in launching the company's 360 Reviews vertical. Jeff Kinney began working as an editor for U.S. If you have a question that hasn't been answered in one of our guides, send an email to and we'll do our best to help. Our privacy and technology team has done countless hours of research on all sorts of consumer technology products and services. Many of the VPNs we tested were faster so if speed is a priority for you, we recommend choosing another VPN in our rating. I would recommend this VPN to anyone who is especially concerned about online privacy, as it can be set to automatically rotate your IP address to make it virtually impossible for someone to block or track your online activities. I appreciated that Surfshark was easy to use, even the first time out. *Average time it took to download a 115 MB file from a legal torrenting website. See our VPN testing methodology to learn how we calculated speeds. Speeds: The table below shows Surfshark's average upload, download, and torrenting speeds compared to the other VPNs we tested. I experienced no DNS leaks while using Surfshark, meaning the VPN hid my IP address, location, and internet activity from my internet service provider as it should have. I also connected to Facebook and scrolled smoothly through my feed. Streaming, Facebook, and DNS leaks: I could stream a high-definition YouTube video while using Surfshark without buffering or stuttering. These supposedly perform the best if your internet connection is restricted by the government in the country where you live, but I was unable to test this feature. Surfshark's other unique feature is its selection of what it calls "NoBoarders" servers. I like this feature because of the extra measure of security it provides. It also prevents a website or service from blocking you based on your IP address. First, you can set it to automatically rotate your VPN IP address, which makes it even harder to track your online activity. I found the settings menus in each app easy to locate and navigate. Many VPNs bury this feature in a settings menu, so I thought it was convenient to have it more easily accessible. The dashboard also has a kill switch, which if enabled will protect your privacy by ensuring that you can't connect to the internet if your VPN connection drops. Settings and Features: A pop-up menu on the dashboard shows connection time, whether your location is hidden (as it always should be when using a VPN), and your Surfshark IP address. For consistency, I used a server in New York to test all VPNs. When you connect, the Surfshark logo appears over a blue and black background, along with the city and flag of the country where the server is located. There's a list of countries and servers in each country, and you can filter servers by fastest location or nearest country. This feature can be convenient, although I find it's always best to test several nearby servers when using a VPN so you know which is actually the fastest. Primary Controls: A "quick connect" button will connect you to what Surfshark thinks is the fastest server for your location. However, I thought the blue, black, and white color scheme of the desktop apps was a bit dull. It also was obvious when I was connected or disconnected. Look and Feel: I thought Surfshark's dashboard was simple and straightforward, with servers that were easy to locate. After entering my previously selected username and password into each app, I was ready to connect. It was fast, simple, and all the apps installed correctly without error messages. I had no problems downloading and installing the Surfshark apps for Windows, MacOS, Android, and iOS. Here are my impressions from using the service. 10 in our rating of the Best VPNs of 2023. I tested each VPN's apps for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS. That said, I understand many people want software, including VPN software, that “just works” without a lot of settings to adjust.the overall experience. I tested each VPN’s apps for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS.īecause I’m an experienced VPN user and tech-savvy in general, I often prefer software that has multiple settings to tinker with. My evaluations considered ease of use, features, and other criteria important to the overall experience. I evaluated our top 10 VPNs, as well as an additional five VPNs that previously made our ratings. VPN Expert: Jeff Kinney, Senior Editor, 360 Reviews
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