VyprVPN – Golden Frog Review

Summary
Making their presence felt in the internet space since 1994, Golden Frog has been a force to reckon
with in the VPN industry. It has a user base spanning over 200 countries. Golden Frog operates via its very own private server clusters based in North America, Europe and Asia. Backed by a team of experts who are internet veterans, Golden Frog offers products which any new or existing VPN user should consider.

Packages & Pricing

Golden Frog offers flexible and practical solutions keeping in mind the users’ interests. Currently the products offered, is categorized into two categories, basic and premium. The products VyprVPN and VyprVPN pro available in monthly subscription, hence the user is not bound in a quarterly or a yearly contract. Signifying that the consumer is the king, the products come with a seven day Money Back Guarantee, to keep all those doubting Thomases at bay.

One of the advantages being associated with Golden Frog is that it operates through its servers worldwide therefore service rendered is faster since you will be services by a local server. Add to that the access to unlimited speed and no usage or download restriction; it is a safer and a faster way to experience the VPN environment.

VyprVPN

Some of the salient feature of this pack includes the bundled PPTP packages with a 128 – bit encryption and unlimited speed with no cap on downloads. One can switch freely between VPN servers with unlimited IP addresses across continents at no extra cost. Its regular price is £10.49 however it is presently available for a limited time offer of £6.99.  The package also comes with a 5 GB online storage space from Dump Truck, another online product of the same company. This version has a limitation that this is only has a desktop option available and for mobile applications one has to upgrade to the VyprVPN Pro.

VyprVPN pro

Priced at £13.99 but available in a limited time offer of £10.49, this package offers all the services available with VyprVPN along with additional features like open VPN SSL, L2TP/IPsec along with 256 – bit encryption. A major difference between the VyprVPN pro and VyprVPN is that this product also comes with mobile apps for both Android as well as iOS phones.
Using either of the products, the website claims will restore your freedom. It helps you to come out of any restrictions posed by location, or ISP because one has the flexibility to choose from nine server locations across continents.

Support

Golden Frog in not just giving the controls to its users, it also takes the support to the next level both with voice and online support. Backed by a 24x7x365 online support staff, they ensure that your query is answered within 15 minutes of submitting the query online should you ever need it. In fact they have categorized their queries thereby providing the right solution in the minimum amount of time. If you do not wish to wait that long, you can chat with the online support representatives available and they will respond within a minute. We did try and it works!

Security

Technically speaking, Golden Frog comes with a very strong encryption even with its basic version VyprVPN coming with a 128 – bit PPTP protocol. This kind of security settings shall be enough for most of the home users. However they have taken it one step further in the VyprVPN pro providing 256-bit encryption which ensures that the users are completely secure.
With major servers located in Europe and North America, we observed that there were times when we tried to switch the servers, the connection timed out. As a protocol, Golden Frog also maintains all personal details and online logs for its users and can track down the various IP addresses used back to their customers. This can be intimidating given the fact that your details are out in the open on the web space for anyone to access. Even though the firm may boast of its encrypted security measures, but online poaching and hacking is the reality that we all are aware of!

The Process

Registration
For this review we have taken the basic version which is VyprVPN. Before downloading the product, you need to register by filling in your personal details like email address, payment option etc. Payment options are credit/debit card, and paypal.
Installation and connecting (VyprVPN)
Once the registration is completed, an email confirmation is sent to your registered email address and then you are all set. Click on the link given and start downloading immediately using your own unique username and password.

While logging in, you can choose server manually. Before connecting to the server, please check the firewall and the proxy settings, because when we tried to connect after installing the software, we were kicked out a few times by the VPN. Since the error message did not specify the reason for not being able to connect, we contacted chat support. They checked and informed that though they see our account as active, however, they did not see any activity of us trying to login into their servers! But the chat support executive immediately advised to check my firewall and proxy settings. He did admit that sometimes these are the factors, when it doesn’t go through, so after making all the advised adjustments, I was able to login and I was good to go!
Connection Speeds and reliability

For the purpose of testing the speed of the VPN we used a regular 1MBps residential broadband connection. We connected to the VPN server located in Los Angeles California on the website www.speedtest.net. Though it did take a minute to identify the VPN settings but came up with almost the same results

Connection without VPN

Connection setting to Los Angeles CA
Though we tried connecting to other locations like Frankfurt, Hong Kong etc. the speed did not disappoint us either.
Installing the software & connecting (VyprVPN pro)
The pro version provides flexibility to the user to be able to work between various VPN Protocols. Apart from PPTP, it also works on L2TP, OpenVPN in 2 encryption formats 160 bit and 256 bit encryption. The product also banks on the security as it mentions a stronger protocol Encryption.

Compatibility
Desktop version
The desktop version is available for different operating systems like Windows, Mac, and Linux. For windows Operating System it is available for Windows Vista, XP, Windows 7 and Windows 8. While for Mac OS X 10.8, 10.5-10.7. The website gives user friendly instructions and one can find them by choosing the relevant Operating system.
Mobile Version
The pro version concentrates more on the mobile applications available for both Android and iOS based phones. The iOS model encrypts wirelessly to all apple products including the iphone and i-pod touch. In the Android app, it simplifies the VPN connections and gives the flexibility to switch between servers without any problems just as one does on desktop version.
VyprVPN products support only one VPN connection per user; therefore if you want to connect to mobile device while still being logged into the desktop version, you will have to disconnect from the desktop account first. Golden Frog also gives the option of remotely disconnecting the desktop connection, thus enabling you to switch to the mobile device without any problems.
User Interface
Once a user downloads the software, Golden Frog creates a user space which their members can use to manage their account via unique username and passwords. The user dashboard updates the account holders on latest development on the products as well as the activities on their account. When we accessed our account, they were running a referral program for their users giving away free space for every referral of Dump Truck.

Conclusion

What we liked?

• Software is Easy to set up and use
• Connection is Fast and reliable
• No download limitation
• User friendly instructions for all supporting devices
• Reliable Customer Service
• Excellent tutorials that support just about every device imaginable
• Competitive pricing.

Areas of Improvement

• 7 day money back guarantee. Competitors are offering better solutions for longer duration of time even before a payment is made.
• No settings instructions given and error messages comes with no troubleshooting option

Dislikes:

• Trying to piggyback their product Dump Truck

Golden Frog does provide a strong VPN solution through their products and once again have shown that they are a force to reckon with. They have all the right things in place, be it pricing, customer support and easy user interface.  With basics in place, all they need to do is to keep up the good work and they can be leaders in the VPN segment.