Hotspot Shield is one of the most popular VPN services in the world, with more than 650 million active users. In this article, we’ll give you advice on what to do when you find Hotspot Shield not working. Hotspot Shield is the most popular VPN worldwide with over 650 million downloads. We’re committed to developing the best app for our users, making us very competitive.

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This is a solution created by the Hotspot Shield Elite team that doesn’t seem to offer reliable performance when it comes to the MacBook, iPhone, and iPad. Favorite Alternatives to Hotspot Shield: 3 Paid Providers. See our full-service analysis highlighting both the pros and cons of Hotspot Shield. We did our best to provide you with an.
By Praveen Kannan and Anna Strokolyst The Hotspot Shield team believes the internet should be open and secure for everyone, especially during these unprecedented times where much of the world is sheltering at home. Whether you use our Basic or Premium.

Hotspot Shield is possibly the most controversial VPN in the market in 2019; it is the fastest, it has thousands of servers and it has its own proprietary protocol. It also claims to offer users complete anonymity.

What makes it controversial is that it has been dogged by scandals. There are claims that it sells user data (which directly implies logging) and it doesn't provide as secure a connection as it would like us to believe.

What's the truth?

It's hard to tell with Hotspot Shield, which is exactly why we are doing this in-depth review. In order to know how good a VPN is you have to look at several factors including speed, security, number of servers, how easy it is to use, Netflix unblocking, torrenting, client support and a few others.

A quick look at Hotspot Shield reveals that:

It is very fast (in most locations)
It has a great user interface
It can be used on a variety of devices
It is good value for money

However, this VPN gets a bad rap because according to some, it fails to do what a VPN should: provide anonymity.

Yet millions of people continue to rely on Hotspot Shield. As of 2019, it is estimated that the company has more than 650 million users around the globe.

The company makes some remarkable claims. An early 2018 article stated that in one 10-day period more than 1 million people in Iran downloaded Hotspot Shield because it was capable of surpassing government blockades on social media.

The obvious question is, if this VPN doesn't provide anonymity, how come so many people continue to use it and sing its praises?

Let's find out.

This review will look at important factors that determine how good a VPN is:

Speed – Great
Security (IP and DNS leaks) – Some
Number of servers and locations – 3000 servers, 30 countries
Location of parent company – USA
Logging – Some
Netflix – Some
Torrenting – Yes
Ease of use – Great
Customer support – Great

1. Speed

Every Hotspot Shield review you look at will immediately make one thing clear: it is the fastest VPN there is. We ran our own tests to determine if these claims were true, and we were pleasantly surprised. We tested servers in the US, Europe and Asia and here is what we found:

The Europe server (Amsterdam) had download speeds of 100 mbps and upload speeds of 50 mbps.
Another Europe server (London) had download speeds of 100 mbps and upload speeds of 50 mbps.
The Asia server (Hong Kong) had download speeds of 80 mbps and upload speeds of 20 mbps
The US server (New York) had download speeds of about 30 mbps and download speeds of 12 mbps

If you compare with other VPNs, you will see that the speeds in Asia and Europe are unsurpassed – we are yet to come across another VPN that is this good.

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And yet, the US speeds can only be described as slow.

A server in a busy location like New York handles a lot of data, so it makes sense that it is fast. In fact, for most other VPNs, their fastest servers are in North America.

So, why are Hotspot Shield servers everywhere else faster than in America? We don't know. We couldn't find an answer. The company is based in the US, so you would expect that their infrastructure there to be great. It hasn't offered any explanations.

Speed tests for VPNs should always be taken with a grain of salt. They can be affected by many things. Your location can determine how fast your connection is, as can your device and any additional security software you may have on your device.

That said, we can confidently say that one of the reasons why so many people choose Hotspot Shield is that it is fast. Users in the US don't have to suffer slow speeds; they can connect using servers in Europe or Asia.

2. Security

A quick test for DNS and IP leaks revealed that the VPN is airtight. However, users have experienced leaks when using the Chrome extension, and also when using the free version.

To protect yourself, we recommend that you test it thoroughly once it is installed on your device. If you find any leaks you can change the configuration. If, for example, you are using the free version of Hotspot Shield and you have leaks it may be worthwhile to upgrade to the paid version, or use a different extension.

There are a couple of security-related things that are worth mentioning. The first is that Hotspot Shield makes your VPN connection look like normal browsing. Regardless of the site you are visiting, your IP address will look like normal traffic.

The second is that this VPN is able to detect and block malware it encounters online and can protect you from spam and phishing.

Hotspot Shield will automatically connect when you get within range of an open Wi-Fi network, providing protection at all times.

3. Number of servers and locations

Hotspot Shield has about 3000 servers located in 30 countries. The servers offer good encryption. They are located in the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

One thing that users complain about is that when connected they cannot see the particular servers they are connected to, only the country.

This isn't unusual; while some VPNs will show you the exact location of the server you are using, there are others that only show the country through which you are connecting.

The server locations for Hotspot Shield work well. Even in locations that don't have servers nearby speeds are pretty good. When travelling in South America and Africa, for example, users report that they don't experience a drop in speed. This is remarkable considering the large number of clients and the location of the servers.

If you subscribe to Hotspot Shield Elite you are entitled to unlimited bandwidth, but remember this may be restricted by your ISP.

4. Location of parent company

Hotspot Shield is owned by AnchorFree which is in California, United States. If you know anything about VPNs, you know that the United States is not a good location for a VPN company.

The authorities can compel the company to collect and surrender customer data at any time. This has contributed to the unease that users feel about Hotspot Shield.

If the government were to serve a warrant or issue a gag order on AnchoFree, clients would be exposed.

There are ways around this problem. Many VPN companies that are based in the United States don't collect data, so that even if authorities come calling there's nothing to share. As you will see, Hotspot Shield has a problem when it comes to logging.

5. Logging

Hotspot Shield does poorly when it comes to logging. Their user policy isn't clear on whether they collect IP addresses.

It states “Our VPN product will never store or log your IP address beyond the duration of your VPN session and we will always delete your IP address after you disconnect from the VPN.”

Does this mean that they keep your IP address for the duration that you are logged on? It's hard to tell with such ambiguous wording.

The VPN collects information on the language in use, your device specs, your OS, your network and a few other details that are enough to make anyone concerned a

Hotspot Shield Team