ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN logoExpressVPN with one of the best customer-oriented VPN services on the market with 24/7 customer service, with its easy-to-use applications with a 30-day Warranty. 

And before you even ask. ExpressVPN is pretty costly when compared to other alternatives, but they label themselves as Premium-VPN which we we’ll take a closer look later in this article.

ExpressVPN review and customer experiences

We have used ExpressVPN for many years in the past and can tell you for sure, it is one of the world best VPN services out there. It goes much beyond traditional VPN as they cover alot of bases that many providers neglect.

If you search information, you will find ExpressVPN listed in top-3 in almost every world and there is a reason for it. Very affordable VPN with easy set up, few minutes and you can search online with your connection protected.

Once you have VPN software installed, you can just one click connect to any countrys server.

Eventhough ExpressVPN sounds to have reasonable price, in some countries it is really expensive compared to other services. But often with cheap price you get cheap service, if you want to pay for real protection and proper VPN you’ll get this one.

You can visit ExpressVPN site at the beginning of this page to receive 3 months of VPN for free.

We also asked our readers what they think about this service

Answers were easy to guess. Many brag about upload and download speed and others say that it is the best VPN in the world without going in to a lot of details. 

We can really suggest ExpressVPN if you are up to pay about ten dollars a month, if you want to go the budget way you can search for really good alternatives.

We reviewed VPNs and added the pricing tables so you can easily compare which VPN you want.

Is ExpressVPN the fastest?

We have tested alot of VPNs but can’t tell you which one is the fastest because it depends on many factors. But what we can say is that ExpressVPN is good quality VPN service with top upload and download speeds.

If we compare each and every VPN in the world, ExpressVPN is arguably in top-10 when it comes to speed.

When watching Netflix

Because of ExpressVPNs good performance with speed, you can easily unlock different geos with Netflix and enjoy streams without buffering or delay. Same goes with games.

And no. Netflix won’t ban you if you use VPN with it. We wrote a guide for you if you are interested in using VPN with Netflix.

How much does ExpressVPN cost?

There is sure to be something for everyone in ExpressVPN’s selections. A one-month standard subscription is relatively expensive, at $ 12.95. For longer orders, however, the monthly price is clearly lower, with a one-year subscription costing $ 8.32 per month.

A free trial * is not offered in principle, but a 30-day warranty will go a long way. In terms of warranty, ExpressVPN is the market leader, as many service providers contain hidden restrictions on initial offers or do not even provide such.

However, ExpressVPN secures your receivables and pays your warranty seamlessly and quickly. For four years, we have not received any negative comments regarding the ExpressVPN warranty.

* A one-week free trial is available for the iOS app. A free trial of the day is available again for the Android version. The difference in trial durations is due to app store restrictions, not ExpressVPN.

If a customer also gets their friends to subscribe to ExpressVPN, they will both receive the service for free for 30 days.

We’ll talk more about the features next, but it’s already worth mentioning the free SmartDNS, which is included in all ExpressVPN packages. It can be considered an excellent gift.

Pricing and products

What is good about ExpressVPN?

ExpressVPN has servers in 160 cities in 94 countries. There are e.g. In Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East and even Africa, which is mostly overlooked by VPN providers. The service allows the simultaneous connection of five devices.

The service supports most VPN protocols. However, we recommend using OpenVPN whenever possible. On the contrary, PPTP must be avoided. Available protocols are PPTP, L2TP / IPSec, SSTP and OpenVPN (TCP and UDP)

As mentioned, in addition to the VPN service, customers have free access to SmartDNS.

SmartDNS

SmartDNS allows you to cheat the location of your device by “moving” your device to another geographic location. No encryption or decryption is required and the transmission takes place in the blink of an eye. As a result, SmartDNS services are faster than VPN services, such as streaming services, although remote location can cause problems.

The absolute advantage of SmartDNS is its flexibility. It works on any device that can be connected to the Internet, such as a smart TV or game console.

ExpressVPN’s free SmartDNS works on Netflix in the United States and the BBC’s iPlayer, for example. It is worth noting that you may need to turn off certificate warnings in your browser to access the pages.

Stealth Server

ExpressVPN has stealthy Stealth servers in Hong Kong, the ultimate purpose of which is to give Chinese users the ability to bypass Chinese state spying. However, these servers also work elsewhere to bypass VPN blocks.

We haven’t been able to try these servers, but reports show they work well. (It is good to remember, however, that in the case of China, it is always worth treating everything with a little caution.)

Anonymous networks

ExpressVPN now also offers a .onion website. It is a copy of its open website, but can only be accessed through the Tor browser. This means that it is virtually impossible to censor the page.

This anonymous page is an excellent option e.g. for Chinese who would not normally be able to access an open website due to censorship to download the service.

Installing ExpressVPN - Here's how

Installing VPN should be as easy as using it, but sometimes this is not the case if you are using older versions of desktops or mobile software. Fortunately ExpressVPN is designed to suit every system or device.

Follow these steps to install ExpressVPN:

  1. Navigate to their website and register as new user.
  2. Choose your plan according to your needs
  3. Log in their website and download VPN
  4. Run the installation software, open it and enter your own code given in the website panel.
  5. Connect to any server in any country and enjoy your VPN

 

If you want to look for good alternatives, you can always come back to our website and see what other VPNs we suggest or which one of them have good campaings to get your teeth on cheap services.

Security and privacy - is ExpressVPN really that safe?

ExpressVPN is based in the British Virgin Islands. Given that there is an ocean between the Virgin Islands and Britain, it is unclear how the area will be monitored by British intelligence services. In the main, however, the Virgin Islands can be considered a very safe location, taking into account e.g. copyright problems.

In the Virgin Islands, companies are not required by law to retain customer information, which allows for minimal customer logs in ExpressVPN. “We never keep a traffic log or any other logs that would allow an outsider to associate a particular IP address and a specific timestamp. We are constantly working on the basis of shared IP addresses, which means that no IP address can be associated with a unique user. In order to improve the resource allocation of the service, we collect data transfer volumes as well as server selection data, neither of which allows users to be revealed in an official investigation. ”

Thus, usage registers are not maintained. However, some contact registers are kept:
“We may collect the following information: the date the service was connected, the area from which the server will be selected, and the total amount of data transferred during the day.”

Data collection is quite minimal. But in theory, even these small customer logs can allow an enemy to carry out a successful end-to-end attack.

Techincal properties

The technical features of Encrypting ExpressVPN in OpenVPN connections are class A:
The AES-256 code, RSA-4096 algorithm, and SHA-512 check guarantee anonymity. ExpressVPN also includes a new feature, ECDH key exchange, that encrypts data channels.

As a result, OpenVPN connections now have Perfect Forward Secrecy, which means that breaking the encryption key does not compromise the security of previously encrypted messages.

ExpressVPN creates a custom OpenVPN certificate for each user and authenticates it with an activation code. This can already be called a really secure arrangement.

It should be remembered that in addition to OpenVPN, other VPN protocols are also available. However, I can’t recommend PPTP to even the worst of enemies, so unreliable it is. Fortunately, ExpressVPN also makes this clear.

Website and customer service

The ExpressVPN website is stylish and snappy. The pages are full of information, some of which can be difficult to find. For example, I would have had no idea where to find the details of the encryption used by the company if customer service had not guided me to the right place.
There is also a reasonably good and regularly updated blog on the ExpressVPN website, where readers of this article can also get new information.

Customer Support

The feat of ExpressVPN is its 24/7/365 customer support. When we tried Live Chat, the customer service representative was immediately answering our questions.

I have previously received a few worried feedbacks regarding ExpressVPN: än our client services skills. When we spoke with customer service representatives, we did not encounter a lack of professionalism; we received either immediate answers to my questions or instructions on how to find the answer.

Of course, everyone’s customer experience is unique. However, based on our experience, we can unreservedly praise ExpressVPN customer service.

How to use ExpressVPN

Registration is very straightforward. In addition to payment information, the customer will only be asked for a valid email address. The address is necessary as it provides the customer with order confirmation and software download links. Of course, there is nothing to stop you from using a one-time email address.

There are several payment methods; in addition to the credit card, payment is successful with PayPal and Bitcoins, for example. The latter can bring maximum anonymity if the registration is performed as anonymously as possible.

After registration, a confirmation message will pop up in the email with all the necessary links.

ExpressVPN for Windows

ExpressVPN has always specialized in easy-to-use and beginner-friendly services.
The computer version embodies this claim. After selecting the location, press “connect” and the VPN is active. Piece of cake.

Underneath the beautiful outer shell you will also find even the most ruined features. In addition to a wide range of protocols, ExpressVPN provides a “Network Lock,” a firewall that prevents IP leaks and acts as a “kill switch”. Thus, Network Lock blocks communication to your device or device from outside the VPN. Overall, the Windows version is really great.

However, it is not perfect. On a few occasions the connection failed, so the program had to be closed via Task Manager, normal shutdown was not enough. I am sure that the problem is minimal and disappears every time you upgrade in the future.

ExpressVPN for Mac

OS X / Mac The OS application is identical in appearance to its Windows counterpart, except for a few cosmetic Mac details.

Other platforms
For Windows, MacOs / O SX, Android and iOS, the full graphical user interface is provided by ExpressVPN. ExpressVPN also offers a customized, albeit simple, version of Linux that, despite its rudimentary nature, is easy to use. It also includes IP leakage protection.

ExpressVPN also provides detailed VPN and SmartDNS installation instructions for most devices.

All devices supported

Overall performance

Overall, the speed results were excellent. In our test, download speeds slowed by less than 10 percent with a VPN server nearby.

ExpressVPN easily passed all IP and WebRTC leak tests. WebRTC was able to determine my own IP address, but it does not reveal my identity or geographical location.

ExpressVPN also enabled streaming from Netflix in the US as well as BBC iPlayer.