StrongVPN Review 2019

We’ve stumbled upon StrongVPN in our seemingly never-ending journey to finding the best VPN service out there and it seems that they’re not exactly humble with the name/description of their product. But leave it to us to decide whether or not this service is as ‘strong’ as it claims to be.

During our tests, we’ll put it against various trials, which will prove if the product is secure, fast, and fair enough for you to consider using it. This may sound simple on paper, but our ‘trials’ last a while, so you’ll have to be patient.

However, since we’re nice guys, we’ve decided to leave a table of content hanging around here. So you can use it if, you know, patience is not your strongest game.

• Company information
• U.S.A. Jurisdiction
• Terms of service analysis
• Privacy Policy rundown
• A quick introduction to StrongVPN
• Creating an account
• Downloading the app on your device
• Checking the installer for malware
• Installing the application
• Running StrongVPN on your computer
• App error
• Changing the settings
• List of servers
• Services unlocked
• TOR and torrenting support
• Customer support
• Security check-up results
• Speed test results
• Pricing plans
• Conclusion

Company information

The name of the company behind the StrongVPN project is equally strong: Strong Technology, LLC. They’ve started out as a small company in South Lake Tahoe, California in the year of 1994, when they were selling computers, after which they started to provide locals with dial-up Internet services via their website, California.net. However, their VPN service came to life in 2005.

After that, they’ve started to offer colocation services and dedicated servers, slowly expanding their network to over 660 servers throughout the world, covering 24 countries. Nowadays, they’re providing their VPN services, aiming to maintain their customers’ online privacy and safety. An excerpt from their website’s presentation:

“StrongVPN is made up of a hardworking team of over 60 people located around the world. Through every aspect of our VPN, be it our secure servers, our no-logging policy, or our encrypted, high-speed connections, we’ve been working hard for more than 10 years to ensure privacy for all. As one of the only zero-logging VPNs that’s been around for over a decade, we’re committed to making sure our story is reflected in the quality of our service.”

U.S.A. Jurisdiction

As you may know, the U.S.A. is actively involved in fighting for certain rights such as the liberty of the press, freedom of speech and civil liberties. On the other hand, there have been several reports that show us another side of the American Dream, one that monitors Internet Service Providers (ISPs) on their territory and attempts to implement backdoors in literally any app that offers encrypted communication.

But that’s not exactly surprising, considering that the U.S. is not only a member of the 5, 9, 14 Eyes Alliances, but it’s also actually one of the founding members, back when the initial agreement was done between the U.S. and the U.K. and was called the UKUSA/BRUSA agreement.

The fact that the U.S. is a part of the 5, 9, 14 Eyes Alliances involves that they will provide any other member country with information that’s relevant to an investigation, even if that information is actually private, personal data. Usually, this membership also affects private communication companies, which are required to ‘comply or bust’.

Terms of service analysis

Usually, the Terms of Service documentation (but all the other policies, as well) are being overlooked by customers, but the truth is that they hold a lot of handy situational information, so what should happen is that they should be thoroughly analyzed.

However, customers won’t suddenly start reading agreements and learn them by heart, so it’s easier to inform them about the contents in fewer words, like we’re about to do.

• The Terms of Service document has an “effective date” located somewhere at the top of the document. This should be often checked, since this date will be modified in case any changes occur to the document;
• The clauses in the Terms of Service are considered to be a binding legal agreement between you and StrongVPN;
• Accepting the clauses in the Terms of Service documentation can be done as easily as accessing the site and/or using their service;
• It goes without saying that if you disagree with any of the clauses in the Terms of Service documentation, you shouldn’t use the site and/or their service at all;
• You have to understand the fact that StrongVPN provides you with a “virtual private network” (VPN) service, with everything that this implies;
• You need to provide StrongVPN with accurate, true details about yourself when required, and notify them immediatelly if any part of the information you submitted should change;
• Browsing the site can be done without providing any personal information, but using the service StrongVPN offers you requires that you register an account and submit a series of personal details, such as your name, email address, etc;
• Your information will be used according to the Privacy Policy (we’ll get there soon);
• The license StrongVPN grants you is non-transferable and non-exclusive. In other words, you can use the StrongVPN service, site and content, but only for personal, private and non-commercial purposes;
• You are not allowed to permit other users to access or use the service through your account;
• You are not allowed to use the service to host content for others;

“Furthermore, without the prior written approval of StrongVPN, you may not distribute, publicly perform or display, lease, sell, transmit, transfer, publish, edit, copy, create derivative works from, rent, sub-license, distribute, decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer or otherwise make unauthorized use of Site content or Services.”

• You understand that the terms and conditions in the Terms of Service documentation might change from time to time and without prior notice;
• The only notice that StrongVPN agrees to publish is the modification of the “effective date” to a later date, which we mentioned before, so make sure to check it every now and then;
• If you keep using the service after such a modification has been made, it will be seen as your acceptance to the new and modified terms and conditions;
• You may receive notifications, but only in case the changes brought to the policies are major ones. The notifications will be sent via e-mail or directly, when you log into your account or when you log into the service;
• You are not allowed to use the website or the service if you’re not 18 years old;
• The way you use the service is your sole responsibility;
• You are not allowed to share your credentials with others;
• You are limited to a maximum of 12 (twelve) connections per account (used for multiple devices), but the logins are limited to the account holder (you);
• You are not allowed to engage in any form of unwanted communication such as spam, bulk emails, promo material or other forms of solicitations, regardless of the channel you might use when doing so;
• If StrongVPN detects that you’ve engaged in unwanted communication or posted scam, they might cancel your account on the spot and ban you from their network;
• You’re not allowed to engage in any type of behavior that resembles hacking;
• You can benefit from a 30-day money-back guarantee, but only if you didn’t purchase your subscription from iTunes or the App Store and if you didn’t receive a trial, which you’re requesting a refund for;
• StrongVPN isn’t to be held responsible for third-party content or any data or content that you may access, download, buy or receive while connected to the service;
• StrongVPN shouldn’t be held responsible for anything that you lose or data that becomes corrupted or altered while you’re connected to the service. In other words, you’re responsible for keeping your stuff safe;
• The service might be modified or discontinued, either temporarily or permanently, and there’s pretty much nothing you can do about it;
• The following countries might not use StrongVPN: “Cuba, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, or the Taliban Occupied Part of Afghanistan”;
• You’re not allowed to “export the direct product of the technical data, directly or indirectly, to a country listed in Country Group D:1 or E:2 in Supplement No. 1 to Part 740 of the Export Administration Regulations (Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Cuba, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Libya, Lithuania, Macau, Moldova, Mongolia, North Korea, People’s Republic of China, Romania, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, or Vietnam).”
• You’re not allowed to commit fraud, deception, disturb the functionality of the service for other users, transmit material of questionable content, advertise material that violates the terms, transmit illegal materials (such as child pornography). In other words, don’t break the law;

This is one of the largest Terms of Service documents we’ve encountered on our VPN discovery journey and we must say that they did a pretty good job at not being held responsible for anything that goes wrong and making you responsible for anything bad that happens.

Basically, if your account is compromised, your data lost, your connection becomes insecure, and so on, and so forth, they’re not to be held responsible. However, if someone steals your account and uses it to cause harm, then it’s your fault.

Privacy Policy rundown

Like the Terms of Service document, the Privacy Policy also has a table of content, so that you can navigate quickly through its content. The effective date of this document is May 24, 2018, so make sure to check it often in case any modifications appear.

This policy can be split into three parts, namely data StrongVPN collects, data that they don’t collect and how they use the information you provide them with. Each of these categories might be split into smaller sub-categories.

Collected data

From the services

Your email address;
Your payment method;
Your full name;
Your credit card;
Your billing address;

From the website

The number of site visitors;
The amount of page views;
Cookies information

What they don’t collect

Your data while you’re connected to the VPN service;

How they use your data

Your email address: used to create your account;
Your payment method: used to process payments;
Cookie information: to understand the website-user interaction and improve it, authenticate your account and help prevent fraud;

Other ways they use your information include:

Communicating with their subscribers;
Provide troubleshooting or customer support;

Opting out of cookies

Even though the website claims to be collecting cookies, that doesn’t mean that you can’t turn them off. You should be aware, though, that disabling cookies might affect the functionality of the websites you’re visiting.

A quick introduction to StrongVPN

We’ve analyzed the terms of service and privacy policy documents and we’ve seen what we had to see, now let’s learn a few details about the service that StrongVPN has to offer us.

As we can see on the main page of the product, StrongVPN is advertised as a “fast and easy solution” that can help you navigate a “truly open Internet,” but also “bypass restrictions and censorship from hundreds of locations” around the world, while keeping your connection private and secure.

More so, they claim to be having apps for all the platforms, a 30-day money-back guarantee (we’ve seen that in the Terms of Service section), more than 650 servers in over 20 countries, an option that automatically selects the best available location (we’ve seen it before), as well as zero logging of connections and activity.

While we can confirm the accuracy of some of these features, others are to be discussed and announced as soon as we’ll get to them.

Creating an account

Since StrongVPN is a premium VPN service (meaning that you have to pay for it), there’s no way that you can use it without creating an account. Well, maybe if you borrow the account from a friend, but we’ve already decided that it’s not only frowned upon, but also violates the Terms of Service. So let’s create an account, shall we?

• Navigate to the product’s landing page;
• Click either one of the ‘Join Now’ buttons, (one’s at the top-right corner, the other’s somewhere center-left);
• Choose the plan of your choice by clicking its corresponding “Select this plan” button;
• Type your email address in the designated field;
• Select your preferred method of payment from the list;
• Type the payment details in the designated fields;
• Tick the agreement box;
• Hit the “Join Now” button;

That’s it, you have a StrongVPN account now. Notice that in order to create an account, you’re forced to enable the automatic renewal of the subscription plan, even though you can stop it later. More so, you’re forced to enable the automatic renewal for both monthly and yearly plans.

Downloading the app on your device

A bit unusual, but StrongVPN enables you to download their applications on your devices without having an account to begin with. In order to do so, please follow these steps:

• Navigate to the landing page of the product;
• Locate the “VPN APPS” button at the top of the page and click it;
• Click the “Download Client for Windows” button if you plan to retrieve the app on your Windows PC;
• If not, select the platform of your choice by clicking its corresponding icon from the list;

Note that most of the platforms have an additional option that you can select. For instance, the “Windows” section has clients for several editions of the Windows OS.

Well, that’s it, you should be one step closer to having the StrongVPN application available on your device and ready to use. Moving on.

Checking the installer for malware

Did you think the next step would be installing the app? Well, it’s not. Unfortunately, nowadays cyber threats have become so aggressive, yet so creative, that even trustworthy sources could be easily compromised without even the slightest suspicion. So it’s our duty to double- and triple-check if necessary.

We’re using VirusTotal to scan the executable we’ve downloaded from the StrongVPN website, just to be sure that it’s not crawling with malware. You know, as a matter of precaution. And you should do the same with EVERYTHING that comes in touch with your PC.

We’ve picked up an alert during our scan on VirusTotal, one that was pointing to a Trojan Runner. Granted, this could very possibly be a false-positive, but it’s still a red flag, especially for users who might take it as it is: an alert. Check our results here and our not-so-subtle screenshot below.

Installing the application

Yes, now is the time to get excited about actually installing the app on our devices. However, for the sake of not growing old on this chair, we’ll only mention the steps for deploying the app on your Windows computer.

• Double-click StrongVPN’s installer executable that you just downloaded on your PC;
• Hit the “Next” button on the main screen of the installer;
• Scroll all the way down to the License Terms document and tick the “I accept […]” checkbox;
• Hit the “Next” button again;
• Define a destination path on your PC where you want StrongVPN to be deployed to;
• Hit the “Install” button when ready;
• Wait for the setup to finish;
• Hit the “Run StrongVPN” button or close the installer altogether when the setup ends;

That’s it, now you should have the StrongVPN Windows app on your computer. The version of StrongVPN we’ve installed on our computer is 2.2.1.0. Moving on…

Running StrongVPN on your computer

If you chose to run StrongVPN after the installation ended, you should be facing its main menu. If not, you can probably find the shortcut on your desktop. Just go ahead and launch it from wherever location you see fit.

On the main window of the app, you should see a login screen, where you need to input your credentials to move on. Remember that account we’ve created earlier? Use it to get access to the app.

The main window of the StrongVPN Windows application consists of a “Connect” button, a server selection menu and a gear-shaped button that will enable you to access the app’s configuration section.

App error

We’ve tried connecting to the “Best Available Location” a few times in a row, in quick succession, and it seems that this location can shift as quickly as snapping your fingers, since the first time we’ve been connected to a server in Turkey, the second time the app “sent” us to Poland and the third somewhere in Germany.

Overall, the app seems stable, is easy to work with, regardless if you’re a computer novice or have a Ph.D. in Computer Sciences. One thing, though: if you encounter an error during your first connection attempt, just head to the configuration menu and hit the “Reinstall TAP Driver” button. That seemed to do it for us.

You know how usually, during the setup of a VPN service, you get asked if you want to install a TAP adapter driver? StrongVPN didn’t ask us (although we already had the driver installed) but prompted us with an error that was only fixed by installing the TAP driver from their app.

Changing the settings

Not too many settings can be configured within the “Settings” window of the app, but they’re more than enough to satisfy your needs of keeping everything under control. So we’ll split this section into several categories, as follows:

Options

• Display taskbar notifications;
• Start the app upon Windows startup;
• Set the app to automatically reconnect;
• Set the app to connect on launch automatically;
• Enable the kill switch, which blocks your Internet traffic whenever the VPN connection fails;
• Reinstall the TAP driver;

Protocol

Choose between the following protocols:

• IKEV2;
• OpenVPN – here you can also toggle between UDP and TCP, choose your preferred port and enable or disable obfuscation (called “Scramble”);
• SSTP;
• L2TP;

Information

Here you see details about your account, such as your email, password, host OS, and current app version. You can also reach support, view licensing information, log out of your account and change your password.

Diagnostics

This section provides you with a log of events that took place while you were using the service, such as servers that you’ve connected to (with timestamps) and connection failures or successes.

Updates

• Set the time interval when the app checks for updates automatically;
• Opt-in for beta releases of the app;
• Check for updates immediately;

As you can see, not a lot of options can be configured, but at least the app sports two key features: a kill switch and obfuscation support. The only thing it apparently lacks is split-tunneling support, which would enable you to use your network devices while tunneling your connection through the VPN servers.

List of servers

Finally, we’ve been able to find a VPN service provider who posts the entire list of servers that they’re currently operating. Currently, they have 676 online servers, in 48 locations, in 28 countries.

Services unlocked

Great news! StrongVPN is one of the VPN services that enable you to bypass geo-restrictions in such a manner that you can view Netflix, even if you’re not in a location where this service is available! Additionally, you can access the U.S. version of Netflix, which keeps certain content to itself and its customers.

But wait, it gets better: if you’re also a fan of BBC iPlayer, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video and/or Spotify, StrongVPN has you covered, as well!

However, not to bum you out or anything, but you should understand the fact that most of these entertainment services are actively opposing VPN providers and their customers so that they can’t benefit from their services if they’re not in a “valid” location, so this situation might take a sad turn at some point. Enjoy it while you can is what I’m saying.

TOR and torrenting support

To be concise: torrenting works, and so does TOR. How do we know? Well, for torrenting we actually launched our client and downloaded some files (legally, of course) from the Internet while we were connected to the StrongVPN service. The result? Looking good: no slowdowns, no issues, no throttling, no nothing. Everything went smooth.

As for TOR, while it does work in conjunction with StrongVPN, we really stand against this type of practice. And not only for StrongVPN, don’t get me wrong, but there is a series of risks you’re subjecting your computer and your overall security to, and let me tell you that the risks outweigh the benefits.

You think that you’re adding an extra layer of security to your connection, which is true, but you’re not considering the massive slowdown that will inevitably occur and the risk that your connection might start passing unencrypted (and possibly monitored) traffic (if you land on a malicious TOR exit node). Stay safe.

Customer support

StrongVPN has everything you can think of when it comes to customer support, ranging from a live chat feature and email contact support to setup guides, troubleshooting guides and a FAQ section.

We gave it a try and talked to somebody on the customer support team, both via chat and email, and the results were great. We received helpful, friendly and prompt replies to our inquiries. And the fact that they have help-yourself sections (guides, troubleshooting) is even more appealing since not all of us are eager to interact with other human beings.

Security check-up results

It’s time to perform our security tests and see whether or not StrongVPN is capable of securing our connection and keep it that way until we disconnect from its service. For this to happen, we’re going to run a series of tests as described in this article. It’s worth mentioning that the tests will be carried on a single server (located in NewYork, U.S.A.) since we’re also monitoring for inconsistencies regarding detected locations and whatnot.

Conclusion: Our security tests have proved that StrongVPN doesn’t leak IP, DNS, WebRTC and Flash IP data, so we’ve concluded that it can provide you with an airtight connection.

Speed test results

We now know that StrongVPN can and probably will keep you and your privacy safe, but it’s time to check and see exactly how fast their servers really are. However, this time we won’t use a single server for our tests since we also want to observe the impact that location has on speed. Here goes:

• New York, U.S.A. – 96 Mbps;
• Warsaw, Poland – 55 Mbps;
• Sao Paulo, Brazil – 40 Mbps;
• Hong Kong – 39 Mbps;
• Sydney, Australia – 33 Mbps;

What started out as a promising series of tests ended up being a list of average results. You can notice how the speed started dropping, and no, we didn’t organize them in a descending manner, it just happened.

Pricing plans

StrongVPN only has a couple of plans that you can choose from: a monthly plan and a yearly one, as follows:

Conclusion

In conclusion, StrongVPN is a VPN service developed by the U.S.-based company Strong Technology, LLC back in 2005. The service runs on a non-logging policy, but the fact that they’re located in the U.S.A. can be a reason of concern for customers since the U.S. are members of the 5, 9, 14 Eyes Alliances and are known to be monitoring ISPs and attempting to backdoor various encrypted communication solutions.

StrongVPN’s collection of servers counts 676 servers in 48 locations, in 28 countries. While this collection is not the widest one there is, their servers are stable and their speed is not to be neglected.

The Windows application seemed a bit unstable at first since we got an error first thing when we tried connecting, but it got sorted out pretty fast after installing the TAP driver from the app’s settings menu.

The application is user-friendly and its features are intuitive enough to be used by novices and experts alike. More so, the StrongVPN app has a bunch of settings that you can easily configure.

StrongVPN is capable of unblocking a wide range of entertainment services such as Netflix and its U.S. version, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video and Spotify. Furthermore, it supports torrenting/P2P activities and works well in conjunction with TOR. However, we strongly recommend you to just pick one (between VPN and TOR) and stick with it, due to the risks that combining the two involves.

Our security tests weren’t able to pick any leak of IP, DNS, WebRTC or Flash IP data, so we’ve concluded that StrongVPN can provide you with a completely secure, airtight connection.

StrongVPN’s customer support has everything you can think of, ranging from live chat, email support, and guides to troubleshooting and a FAQ section. We’ve contacted the customer support team and their responses were nothing short of pleasant, helpful and prompt.

Unlike many other VPN providers, StrongVPN doesn’t pack a wide amount of subscription plans. They only offer you two plans, a monthly one and a yearly one, with the latter obviously generously discounted.

Do we recommend StrongVPN? Yes, if you can get past the fact that their company is based in the U.S.A., it does a pretty good job with everything that it’s supposed to do: torrenting, streaming, security, speed, you name it.

PROs:
+ Works with TOR and supports torrenting; (5)
+ Good security, leak-free; (5)
+ Can unlock Netflix, Hulu, etc; (5)
+ Decent connection speed values; (3)

CONs:
– The U.S.A. is a member of the 5, 9, 14 Eyes Alliances; (0)

StrongVPN receives a 3.6/5 rating.