Our KeepSolid VPN Unlimited review looks at the updated version of this service. We look to see if there are still the same problems with data leaks, how the performance compares to other providers, and how much the improvements change the service.
KeepSolid VPN has had since the back end of last year to settle down with its improvements, but will these change it from the messy service it used to be.
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Recommended For:
- Torrenting
- Personal data protection/ privacy
- Streaming
- Personal VPN server or dedicated IP address
Pros
Cons
Plans and Pricing
VPN Unlimited offer two pricing plans, one if for 5 simultaneous device connections and the other is for ten devices.
5 Devices
5 Device Billing
10 Devices
10 Device Billing
Lifetime
$199.99
Limited time offer
$299.99
Limited time offer
3-Years
$2.78
Billed Once at $99.99
$4.17
Billed Once at $149.99
1 Year
$5.00
Billed as $59.99 yearly
$7.50
Billed as $89.99 yearly
1 Monthly
$9.99
Billed Monthly
$14.99
Billed Monthly
There is also the chance to have personal servers in various locations. A VPN server with unlimited traffic is $19.99 per month. This delivers 100Mbps connection, 2GB RAM, and a single-core CPU.
This offers eight locations and come under the “Special Offer” tab. If you select the Americas, Europe, or Asia & Pacific, the full range of locations is shown, yet the price changes and not all have unlimited traffic.
These range from $24.99 (1 TB) per month to $49.99 (3 TB) per month. Annual subscription drops the price, and the lifetime subscription for a personal server is $499.
Users can also purchase a static IP for $14.99 per month on top of an active VPN Unlimited subscription. This static address offers 1TB of data per month.
Payments are accepted in credit cards, PayPal, Amazon, Bitcoin, and gift cards. There is also a 7-day free trial and a 7-day money-back guarantee on the VPN services. (Check out our best Bitcoin VPN guide)
Key Features
Privacy
VPN Unlimited takes the same approach as other providers and uses the best VPN protocols. By default, they use OpenVPN with AES-256 encryption. These are known to keep personal data private and secure.
On top of this, the company has its KeepSolid Wise technology for additional security. It takes OpenVPN and mixes it up a little to add to the obfuscation. This helps bypass geo-restrictions as it converts VPN traffic to regular HTTP traffic.
One of the critical concerns is the company is based in New York. The USA is one of the founders of the 5-eyes alliance
Logging
In June 2019, KeepSolid updated its privacy policy to explain more in detail what they store and what they don’t.
The privacy policy claims they do not monitor, store, or log user’s internet activities. This includes any site users visit.
All they collect is the amount of bandwidth used for each session and session dates if you use personal servers or IP addresses.
They also retain the number of connected devices for each account. You can access this info from the “User Office” and remove devices you don’t wish to connect.
For the duration of the session, connection type, browser, IP, and operating system are collected automatically.
However, the company claims these are deleted once the session is over.
One thing worthy of noting is they may collect data such as names and contact info from third parties.
This comprises research, marketing, sales lead generator companies, social platforms, and other publicly accessible sources.
They also collect payment history from payment processors like Google, PayPal, Apple, Payment wall, and Stripe, but not payment information.
When signing up, they also ask users to link their social media accounts.
This you can see above, they may use, and they use third-party service providers in different locations to store or transfer this data.
Finally, KeepSolid VPN doesn’t mention “Zero logging” on their website. Many companies use this as a selling point.
Ease of Use
Supported Devices
You can have up to 5 devices connected simultaneously unless you opt for the second plan, which allows 10 devices to be connected under one account.
Many other VPN providers give you a number you can connect simultaneously. VPN Unlimited takes a different approach.
You can register 5 devices if you need to register a different device; you are allowed to delete one device per week.
These slots don’t let you freely connect to the service with different devices once you reach your limit — a client and a browser extension count as two devices.
Apps
There are apps for Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Linux, Windows Phone and Apple TV, and an option for Wi-Fi routers.
One thing to note is the inclusion of the kill switch in the Windows VPN client. However, in testing, this didn’t work all the time as expected.
The Mac VPN app also had a few failings with the kill-switch and didn’t run as smoothly as the Windows app.
Unless there is another means to prevent DNS leak protection, these kill switches are crucial for stopping user data from being exposed.
Sign-Up
When you begin to sign up, you will find the process a little different from other VPN companies. You can make a VPN Unlimited download without signing up first.
On the download page, you select your OS from the drop-down list. The apps themselves, if they are current, are accessible from Google Play Store, Windows Store, and Apple.
Standalone apps are downloaded from the KeepSolid website.
You can install the app and create an account directly from the app. All you do is enter an email and password. It asks for confirmation, yet you don’t have to do this.
Your account will be deactivated after 24-hours if you don’t confirm your email.
Once you do confirm, you begin the 7-day free trial. Until this runs out, you are still not asked for payment details.
Setup
During testing, other VPN Unlimited reviews were taken a look at, and a trend was showing itself.
During setup with the Windows client, things were not as smooth as they could be. On some occasions, after signing up, messages were asking for registration confirmation.
This can lock you out of the VPN, and the links in the confirmation email are a one-shot deal, so you can’t go through the process a second time.
As mentioned, the app asks social media to be linked, which doesn’t do much for privacy. Adding to this, there can be anti-virus warning messages in the app. installing a second time didn’t show these messages.
For newer users who want manual configuration files, these need to be generated from the website and need to be done for each device as they all have spate login identities.
Once you are up and running, the interface is clean and uncluttered. Here, you have a world map with locations and your current location. However, this map doesn’t add any other features.
There is a convenient drop-down where you can select countries and servers. There is also the settings menu, which allows you to tweak some common settings such as the protocol, killswitch, and trusted networks where you can whitelist networks where the VPN won’t be used.
You can have the VPN automatically start if you are in a public Wi-Fi area, or turn off when you are on your home connection.
Advanced Features
There are not many advanced features apart from protection against malware, an ad blocker, and a firewall, which can prevent users from being tracked.
You can set the VPN to start with your system, and there is WEBRTC protection, though these are things you expect from any good VPN.
Browser Extensions
There are browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox, and Opera. These don’t offer much aside from masking your IP for streaming and protecting against WebRTC leaks.
Performance
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Speed Test
VPN Unlimited has a small network compared to others, it comprises of 400 servers in 70 locations. This is well short of some market leaders. They do have some server locations in well-placed countries.
In our download speed tests, we went through several servers that were spread across the globe.
We checked ping times for latency, which is essential for some users, and looked to make sure it was a physical server and not a virtual server.
After a couple of test runs, we saw reliable connections, and each server in the test was connected to multiple times without issue.
Server connection times were slower than market leaders, but once connected, things were as they should be.
On a 75Mbps connection, we saw speeds with a drop off only 20-25% for local connections. US servers saw a drop off around 30%, which is still fast enough for streaming.
With some far-off and remote countries, we did notice severe drop-off, but the cases for using these places are slim.
Overall, the performance was decent and better than other VPN’s who have more extensive networks.
Customer Service
One thing they do stand out for is their customer service. Users have five options to contact the company. There is a 24/7 live chat. Email options, which you get a reply inside an hour.
There is also an extensive FAQ page, a contact form, and there are many in-depth manuals.
Netflix
VPN Unlimited highlights particular servers for streaming. This includes iPlayer, Hulu, and of course, Netflix, among others.
Although access to Netflix can change weekly, all the US servers we tested granted access without any issues. The same was for iPlayer in the UK also.
Torrenting
While not outright declaring support, the service does allow torrenting. The company makes a point that they are focus orientated rather than for downloading.
You can torrent, yet there have been cases where connections have been throttled on torrenters. This is much worse than other VPN’s offer. There are only 5 servers you can download torrents from.
Users should remember the privacy policy. The company malfunctioning VPN service is not too keen to keep identity private if copyright-protected content is downloaded.
Wrap Up
The company has made a few improvements, yet aside from the kill-switch, there are no new features as such.
While they offer an affordable option over long periods and the chance of your personal use server and IP.
They do offer a little something different. Yet, with the logging concerns and features which don’t work correctly and the device limitations, you can end up paying a similar rate for a less specified or functioning VPN service.
Bottom Line
VPN Unlimited offers decent protection, performance all for a reasonable price. If security is a concern, it may be suitable. (Get VPN Unlimited and SAVE 75% with this Special Deal)
