#Review of avira phantom vpn software#

Will this VPN get passed the Great Firewall of China? Plus, there are not any servers that have been optimized for streaming, so it really does not feel like this is an area that Avira is interested in pushing at the moment. I have not been able to unblock either of these streaming services with Avira as of yet. If you are looking for fast access to the likes of Netflix or BBC iPlayer, I would recommend looking for a different VPN. While I have been impressed with the different things that Avira has to offer in some areas, one thing that it is not going to be any good at is unblocking streaming services. They don’t monitor or log the VPN server you connect to, your IP address, or your browsing activity. With this minimal data, there is no way that Avira is going to be able to track any activity online back to you. The information that is collected by Avira includes the amount of time the person is online, the total bandwidth consumed, and whether the account is premium or free. While Avira does log some data, it only logs the bare minimum.

When it comes to Avira’s logging policy, I was happy with what I read. If you want a VPN that really puts security first, offering a wide range of configurable settings, I would recommend taking a look at my review on TorGuard.

You will also be protected against DNS leaks as well, as Avira operates its own DNS servers, as opposed to renting them from third party businesses. If your connection drops out, you can be sure that your IP address will not be exposed. One feature that I was happy to see on the list was a kill switch. The cipher AES-256 is used to encrypt all of the data as well. OpenVPN is used to run all of the custom VPN apps on the Avira platform. Yet, I would have expected a few more advanced features. You can be sure that you will be safe online. I am pleased with the security offering Avira brings to the table. This is the main thing I would expect from a brand that is already known for its antivirus. One thing that Avira advertises extensively is that it is extra secure. Finally, in Australia, there are servers in Sydney and Melbourne. In the United States, 12 cities are covered. In Asia, there are four servers, which can be found in Singapore, Japan, India, and Hong Kong. There are no servers in Africa and one service in South America, which is located in Chile. Out of the 37 locations covered, 24 are in Europe. This is rather irritating, as I would always like to know this information before committing to a VPN. I tried to find out, but the guys at Avira were keeping their lips sealed. One element that was frustrating is that I was not able to determine how many IP addresses or individual servers the company maintains.

There are 37 countries covered by the product at present. How many servers does Avira have?Īt the moment, the server network is rather small at Avira. However, as Avira does not store any information that is personally-identifiable, they’re not going to be able to handle this over. The no-logging policy goes a long way to lower concerns, though, so it is nowhere near as bad as it could be.Įssentially, this means that by law Avira will comply with any data requests the public authorities put in. Plus, Germany falls under the data retention laws in the EU. This is because Germany is part of the 14 Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance. Typically, Germany would not be the best place for a VPN service to be based. However, it also has offices around the world, including the United States, Romania, the Netherlands, and China.

#Review of avira phantom vpn software#

Years have passed since then, though, and I was interested to see whether Avira had improved their service or whether there was still more that was needed to turn this into a VPN that I could really get behind!Īlthough the VPN has been about for quite a few years now, the company’s anti-virus software has been on the market since 1986, so they clearly have a long history in the industry.Īt the moment, the company is headquartered in Tettnang, Germany. Marketed as an ultra-secure VPN service, mixed reviews greeted this product when it was released.

This is when I saw Avira Phantom VPN introduced. However, back in 2006, the company decided to branch into the realm of VPNs. You may know Avira better as an antivirus software.