# VPN.sh Large VPN Review



## wdq (Jun 18, 2013)

_Before I get started with this review I'd like to let everyone know that this morning I was contacted by VPN.sh and asked if I wanted to write an honest review for a small amount of account credit. I accepted the offer. So this is a compensated, but honest review of VPN.sh. _

*A history of my VPN usage*

I have for a very long time always had some sort of VPN connection available to me. Many years ago I used companies like StrongVPN, Astrill, and Private Internet Access. All three of those companies are great, but once I started to get into the whole VPS scene I started simply setting up a VPN server along side of the web stack. It didn't use a whole lot more memory, and it was a lot cheaper.

As I have become more and more reliant on LEB providers, I ended up needing to have a separate KVM VPS around to keep my VPN up and running. This is especially the case as I have found that OpenVZ doesn't play nicely with certain types of VPN's like L2TP/IPSec. Those few dollars a month for the KVM box still cost less than a VPN from a provider like StrongVPN, so I just stuck with the KVM VPS.

*A new and interesting VPN provider*

Back in March I saw a very interesting offer on LET. A 100GB VPN from a brand new provider for just $20/year (less than $2/month). There was one location (Chicago), and it only supported PPTP and OpenVPN. It didn't have the L2TP/IPSec I needed, but the price was incredibly low so I decided to give it a try. 

The Chicago location is fairly close to me so performance was as you would expect from a VPN. I'm not constantly using my VPN but when I do use it the VPN is always up and is always giving me good VPN speeds. What I really didn't like was that I couldn't use it on devices like my Chromebook which don't support OpenVPN very well, and don't support PPTP at all.

*They pay very close attention to feedback*

I eventually ended up letting Liam know that I wanted to see L2TP support so that I could use the VPN on all of my devices. It took a few weeks but I ended up getting a private message from him announcing that there was a new node in the UK that supported L2TP and that he was planning to have L2TP in a new node in Chicago shortly. I was surprised and really happy that he listened to my feedback and ended up offering L2TP support. 

In that message he also asked me if there were any locations that I would like to see a VPN in. Many of those locations are now part of the fifteen locations offered by VPN.sh. 

That is the thing that I like most about VPN.sh. They are very open to suggestions and feedback. Even better is how they actually work to turn those suggestions into features very quickly. They are constantly asking people what they would like to see in the future with VPN.sh. 

*Conclusion*

So, in conclusion, I really recommend VPN.sh for anyone looking to have access to a VPN connection in various different places for a very low price. They currently offer two VPN plans 20GB for


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## David (Jun 18, 2013)

I got their 0.50 deal a bit ago & definitely agree with everything you said! VPN.sh is amazing.

Their UK location is pretty darn fast too, faster than my VPS's network over there.


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## Zach (Jun 18, 2013)

+1 for Liam and VPN.sh.  Great product.  Just picked up a VPN small the other day.


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## TheLinuxBug (Jun 18, 2013)

Nice review, even if you were compensated  

Cheers!


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## VPN.SH (Jun 18, 2013)

David said:


> I got their 0.50 deal a bit ago & definitely agree with everything you said! VPN.sh is amazing.
> 
> Their UK location is pretty darn fast too, faster than my VPS's network over there.


Thank you , glad to hear that the UK location is doing well for you!



Zach said:


> +1 for Liam and VPN.sh.  Great product.  Just picked up a VPN small the other day.


Thanks!



TheLinuxBug said:


> Nice review, even if you were compensated
> 
> Cheers!


, just as a side-note, when I asked @wdq about this is was made clear that I wanted it to be completely honest, regardless of compensation and that any criticism would also be welcome . Glad you enjoyed his review though!


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## nixcom (Aug 9, 2013)

I'm testing their service right now and the speed is amazing. btw Liam is offering a great friendly support.


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## atho (Aug 9, 2013)

+1 for this review too. I purchased the same promo and have not used them a lot, though with what i have used have been extremely satisfied and with the expansion of more locations recently (don't remember when) is definitely a great value and good service.


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## drmike (Aug 9, 2013)

My issue with these VPN services comes down to one thing, price.

20GB for $2+

100GB for $5+

These aren't rake you over the coal numbers like US cellular carriers charge for such transit amounts, but they are high.

Consider the cost of something like a SecureDragon or BuyVM VPS at $1 a month (or less).   You get way more transit and a VPS that is flexible to do other things with.  Sure you can even run your own VPN within it.

But, there is a market for the non DIY crowd.


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## acd (Aug 9, 2013)

At buyvm, 1.25/mo (on a 1 year commitment) gets you slightly less than 250GB/mo of vpn transit and you have to maintain it yourself. Securedragon is ~0.92/mo (on a 1 year commit) for slightly less than 125GB/mo with the same management requirement.

2-5$ for pptp/ipsec+l2tp/openvpn with no monthly maintenance and basically no setup sounds about right. The difference in cost is about 0.5-1 tickets per month. Hell, your time spent managing the VM you use for the VPN probably costs more than a dollar per month and you're not going to be doing all that much more on a 32-128MB vps.


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## drmike (Aug 9, 2013)

BuyVM = 500GB @ $15/year  vs. VPN - 20GB @ $2/mo or $24/year (12 months would be 400GB or less than 1 month of BuyVM bandwidth)

SecureDragon = 250GB @ $11-15/year   vs  VPN - 20GB @ $2/mo or $24/year (12 months would be roughly same transit as 1 mo of SecureDragon)

Clearly, VPS offers trump VPN offers on bandwidth and cost.

100GB VPN per month = $5 or $60 a year.

Even if VPS is only used for VPN, you are still saving quite a bit.  Now if you lack the know-how then by all means, VPN provider wins for less complexity.


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## acd (Aug 9, 2013)

You get less than half. I expect both companies (buyvm at least) charge data in both directions against you and there is vpn protocol overhead. I'd be extremely surprised if vpn providers did the same; a customer service rep would have a really hard time explaining/justifying to a customer why they can only use half of the bandwidth they paid for.

Initial VPS/VPN setup is probably on the order of 5 USD at US minimum wage including the time/value of the script you wrote/googled for/efforted + monthly 10 minutes average of preventative maintenance and fix-stuff-that-goes-wrong (like 1.2 USD at min. wage). The crossover point is then ~3 mo for buyvm or ~2.4 mo for the 32 mb secure dragon (assuming you're paying yearly for the VM and monthly for the VPN).

Not accounting for price breaks on vpn.sh for paying semi-annually or annually (which exist), or the value added by having multiple vpn endpoints available.


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## drmike (Aug 9, 2013)

Good points @acd.  I am playing adversary so others can distinguish some differences between the service and determine when to subscribe to what 

This ---> Not accounting for price breaks on vpn.sh for paying semi-annually or annually (which exist), or the value added by having multiple vpn endpoints available.

The multiple endpoints are quite a feature, especially where you can arbitrarily bounce around them session to session.


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## VPN.SH (Aug 14, 2013)

buffalooed said:


> Good points @acd.  I am playing adversary so others can distinguish some differences between the service and determine when to subscribe to what
> 
> This ---> Not accounting for price breaks on vpn.sh for paying semi-annually or annually (which exist), or the value added by having multiple vpn endpoints available.
> 
> The multiple endpoints are quite a feature, especially where you can arbitrarily bounce around them session to session.


The last point there is exactly the reasoning with VPN providers charging more per GB of bandwidth than a lot of VPS providers.

As you mentioned, you can pickup a shed load of bandwidth from a VPS provider for a small cost, and setup your own VPN on it. I completely agree that this is a cost-effective method if you only need one location and have the understanding of setting up a VPN.

However, if you're wanting more locations than just one, and don't want to deal with setting it up yourself, then going with a VPN provider is a great idea. Many of our clients need a small handful of VPN locations, and originally used a selection of VPS providers. Obviously this then results in a set monthly cost to each one of those providers, which would generally end up costing more than we charge for 17 locations.

In terms of bandwidth, we've noticed that the vast majority of people really don't need huge amounts, hence 100GB being our "Large" package. Obviously we can offer more by request, but generally speaking it's rare for us to see users using up their full allotment.


Hope that's helped to clarify the pricing structure a little.

Liam


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## nixcom (Aug 14, 2013)

Of course you can go for a vps instead and setting up your own vpn but keep in mind that some customers aren't familiar with that kind of stuff.


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## HostUS-Alexander (Aug 16, 2013)

Nice to see 'other' non VPS Reviews  Liam is some Lad!


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## itsinmyeyes (Apr 9, 2014)

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I cannot find info anywhere on this. How did you get vpn.sh working with the chromebook. I've tried 3 or 4 different servers and cannot get it working. I am using L2TP/IPsec + PSK on the chromebook with the info that vpn.sh has given me, but I cannot figure out what I'm doing wrong for the life of me. This is a long shot, but could you just tell me what you did to get it working?


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## HalfEatenPie (Apr 9, 2014)

You can setup VPN.sh on the chromebook by following these steps:

https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/1282338?hl=en

Although it's a possibility you might have to rearrange and break down a file or two to fit the chromebook's requirements but vpn.sh should have already provided the necessary information.


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## Thelen (Apr 13, 2014)

Nice review, but why do you need L2TP?


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## Chuck (Jun 2, 2014)

*Adult-Oriented Content:*


VPN.SH does not allow adult content and will suspend/terminate any offending account.


From the terms of service:


NOTICE: IF YOUR ACCOUNT IS FOUND TO CONTAIN ILLEGAL ACTIVITY, ILLEGAL MP3 FILES, PIRATED SOFTWARE, HACKER PROGRAMS, WAREZ PROGRAMS, OR ANY OTHER ILLEGAL FILES, YOUR ACCOUNT WILL BE TERMINATED IMMEDIATELY, WITHOUT NOTICE, AND A £30.00 CANCELLATION FEE WILL APPLY. ADDITIONALLY, VPN.SH WILL NOTIFY THE PROPER AUTHORITIES OF YOUR ACTIONS.


The whole point of a paid VPN is privacy.


I just don't get whats the point of getting a VPN that logs. if its logging, isn't it defeating the purpose? its like using a condom with a hole in it.


If you are giving them that much information, you are better off just using your ISP rather than sending all of your traffic through some shady little VPN provider that may or may not keep to its supposed privacy practices.


What's up with adult content is Not allowed?


I know I'm new here. Probably people won't agree with me.


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## VPN.SH (Jun 2, 2014)

Hi @Chuck. We don't keep logs. Our TOS/Privacy Policy/DMCA policy were unfortunately put together by a previous staff member of VPN.sh who we let go a while back, and we're currently working through to get new policies up.

No content can actually be hosted with us, as we offer VPN services rather than VPS services, and so things such as the comments regarding adult content don't affect the service anyway. I'll drop you a PM when the new policies are up and ready so that you can take a second look.

Liam


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## Chuck (Jun 3, 2014)

liamwithers said:


> Hi @Chuck. We don't keep logs. Our TOS/Privacy Policy/DMCA policy were unfortunately put together by a previous staff member of VPN.sh who we let go a while back, and we're currently working through to get new policies up.
> 
> No content can actually be hosted with us, as we offer VPN services rather than VPS services, and so things such as the comments regarding adult content don't affect the service anyway. I'll drop you a PM when the new policies are up and ready so that you can take a second look.
> 
> Liam


I will be waiting for that new policies. I'm looking for cheap and no log VPN.

Thanks.


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## Chuck (Jun 23, 2014)

The primary UK VPN was working fine until today. Today it just times out. Is this a done thing now?


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