our opinion on this VPN in 2023

VyprVPN is an underdog in the VPN market. There are still some arguments to use: its simplicity and its effective privacy policy to the detriment of its functionalities.

VyprVPN essentials in a table

Who is VyprVPN?

Like certain ProtonVPN, VyprVPN originates from Switzerland. Therefore, it happily benefits from the laws in force in place regarding the protection of private data and the non-obligation to share information of its users. It is then apparently a secure VPN, not dependent on the conglomerate of 5 eyes, and with a long experience in the field. VyprVPN’s founders, through their company Golden Frog, launched the service in 2009, a huge advantage over its many competitors that flooded the market in the years that followed.

In addition to its VPN, the Golden Frog company also owns Texas.net, one of the first Internet service providers in North America. It also has a number of data centers located across the Atlantic and in Europe, allowing it to be almost autonomous by having its own servers and equipment.

Interface and handling

As a preamble, we noted that the VyprVPN customer journey was one of the most enjoyable of all the services on our comparator. An email address, a password and that’s it, the VPN isn’t littered with additional superfluous information that can frustrate or worry beyond measure as is the case with many other services.

Once the app is downloaded and installed, we are immediately struck by the minimalist interface of the VPN. A simple window that repeats line by line the format and organization of the mobile application. This still has a great advantage: the client is light, unobtrusive and above all extremely efficient since it only takes one click to connect to a server (selected by default as the fastest). The other good point logically refers to the perfect convergence between the PC and mobile versions with exactly the same menus in the same locations.

While we’re talking about the latter, here too, VyprVPN is simple, even minimal. The “Customize” menu gives access to advanced functions. There are the classic activations or not of the kill switchthe automatic reconnection function or the change of network protocol.

There are still some very handy options, like custom public Wi-Fi protection that turns on automatically if needed, or turning on a homemade TAP adapter (virtual network device) managed by the software and not by your computer. In the latter case, this can be very useful if you don’t want to use the default Windows or macOS.

VyprVPN offers the ability to use custom DNS settings, although the VPN activates its own DNS protocol from its 300,000 available IP addresses, albeit basic. On its own, the VPN is powered by Chameleon technology, a VyprVPN proprietary protocol that theoretically helps bypass VPN blocks and network restrictions in regions that have censorship controls. In fact, on several occasions it happened not to have access to a VOD service, such as Netflix, for example, because of an IP address that was already on the blacklist. However, it may work randomly, it all depends on the IP used by the VPN at the time of connection.

Less understandable, we note the absence of a function of split tunneling (although available on Android and iOS devices). We would also have liked a function Quick test integrated, an option to block URLs or advertising, but above all the presence of specific servers for each type of use to avoid having to dig through the list of servers and find a non-optimal connection.

Therefore, VyprVPN follows the trend of modern VPN services, that is, simplicity of use taken to the extreme, even if it means leaving out certain features that often make the difference.

VyprVPN Servers and Performance

VyprVPN has a much smaller global network than most other VPNs. With just over 700 servers in around 60 countries, it pales in comparison to market giants like Cyberghost or NordVPN. The comparison stops there in the sense that, as seen above, VyprVPN has its own infrastructure where the others use third-party providers. To find out what this VPN has in store, we tested it from a Parisian fiber connection through the Nperf site.

• The tests were performed with automatic protocol assignment.

By default, VyprVPN assigns Wireguard as the primary network protocol. It did a lot of good, as the performance is in the high average of VPNs on the market, without breaking the glass ceiling that NordVPN and ExpressVPN have been built on. From a smartphone we find a performance in the same vein with peaks of 350-400 Mb/s on a French server from a wireless fiber connection as well. For the foreseeable future, VyprVPN’s performance is therefore honorable and allows it to take advantage of most uses, from online gaming (watch out for ping though) to P2P downloading or transmission on foreign VOD/TV platforms.

Be careful with this last point though, the availability of foreign (especially US) catalogs is highly uncertain. Even with the Chameleon protocol (seen above), more often than not, the platform will automatically detect that your connection is masked by a VPN (VyprVPN IP addresses are certainly flagged for this) and deny you access to streaming video. . . This happened almost consistently on Prime Video and Disney+, where Netflix seemed to be a little less sectarian. Keep in mind that you will need to juggle multiple US servers before you achieve your goals. Ultimately, VyprVPN is by no means a VPN to trust for this type of usage, although some advanced circumvention techniques are available on the support page.

VyprVPN Privacy Policy

On its website, VyprVPN loudly proclaims its “no-log VPN” policy, which means that the service does not save any private data other than basic information (mainly email address). We have every reason to believe in it, given the location of its headquarters in Switzerland, one of the countries whose privacy protection is best protected. But VyprnVPN doesn’t just rely on that to make its case. The VPN has a 256-bit AES algorithm that encrypts a user’s connection from end to end to prevent attacks of the type man in the middle or DNS filtering.

To prove its bona fides, VyprVPN even asked Leviathan Security Group to audit the platform and produce a public report on its logging practices. The results are available to everyone on the VyprVPN website and offer a wealth of information about how the service works and the extensive tests carried out by the auditing company (connection to servers, inspection of running processes, source code review, etc.) .). Anyone can simply check out the summary which explains that the audit initially found some issues that were quickly fixed later, while also ensuring that VyprVPN does not log any third-party activity, either before or after connecting to the service, enough to have peace of mind. .

However, it should be noted that this audit dates from 2018 and has not provided any updates since.

VyprVPN Customer Support

VyprVPN customer support relies first and foremost on its knowledge base that provides setup instructions, troubleshooting tips, and tips specific to different types of devices. The guides are very numerous and detailed, as if the VPN wanted to prepare for the slightest eventuality. However, it is not quite up-to-date with sample articles that deal with functionality that has disappeared from the application or others that are completely empty (?).

If the knowledge base isn’t helpful, live chat is available to provide you with an almost instant and personalized response. There is not much special to say about him, he is fast, courteous and he answered our more or less technical questions perfectly. The conversations are in English, but an automatic translation tool facilitates the exchanges.

The last option is to send an email to the support address. We asked a simple question about a product and got a clear answer in less than an hour.

RATES

When it comes to pricing, VyprVPN recently revised their offering. Its offers are more visible than those of the competition with only two types of subscription, an annual one for 60 euros (5 euros per month) and a monthly one for 10 euros. In fact, the fees are a bit high, similar to what can be found on ExpressVPN. the VPN offers 30 days for a full refund and up to 5 simultaneous connections are possible, regardless of subscription level. Point of additional services such as a password manager or an antivirus in addition.