Unblock VPN Review
5th April 2015
Summary:
Unblock VPN is one of many options available for online security and international content access.
Pros:
- low monthly rates
- multiple connections allowed
- fast connection speed
- 3 day money back guarantee
Cons:
- misleading bandwidth limitations
- slow customer service
- very few server locations
Overall Score: 63/100
This score is much lower than the 97/100 scored by our top rated VPN – Express VPN.
Overall, Unblock VPN isn’t the greatest value, and didn’t score very high in our review.
If you’re interested in checking them out though, sign up here: Unblock VPN.
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VPNs are a great way to protect your privacy online, and open up your access to any web content or services you want.
These Virtual Private Networks will typically encrypt all of your information and change your IP address, giving you unlimited access and protecting your activity from hackers.
People all around the world are taking advantage of this software, using it to bypass government censorship and get better versions of their favorite streaming services.
Unblock VPN is one such provider. It’s difficult to know how good of a deal you’re getting with so many to choose from on the market.
We’ve conducted a thorough review of Unblock VPN to see how their service and value compares to some of the competition on the market-here’s what we came up with.
Will Unblock VPN Work on My Operating System?
Okay, so the first question you want to ask yourself when you start shopping around for a VPN provider is definitely the most basic: Will it work with my operating system?
Take a look at the devices you’ll be using the software on, and see what systems they’re running.
Unblock VPN actually works with all major operating systems, including Windows, Mac, OSX, Linux, and Android. You can use it seamlessly with everything from an iPad to a smartphone.
Rating: 5/5-Works on all operating systems
What Kind of Features Does Unblock VPN Have?
This is a big category, so I’ve divided it up into some sub sections for you to break it down.
A VPN’s features are some of their biggest selling points, and a good way to weed out the winners from the duds.
Take a look at what they have to offer versus the price they’re selling it at, and make an informed purchase.
Here’s what you can get for your monthly fee with Unblock VPN.
Feature #1: Multiple Connections
If you live in a household where everyone has a device, or even if you just use a few different gadgets, it’s nice to be able to extend the VPN’s protection to more than one.
Many companies allow multiple simultaneous connections so you can do just that.
Unblock VPN allows up to three simultaneous connections – a great value for the money, and an excellent way to spread around the protection of the secure connection.
Rating: 4.5/5-Several connections permitted
Feature #2: Money Back Guarantee
A company that is willing to back their service with a solid refund policy instills a sense of trust just based on principle.
If you can get your money back within a certain period of time for having difficulties with the service, you can count on them to believe in what they’re selling you.
Unblock VPN actually offers their customers a 3-day money back guarantee. It’s not the lengthiest period of time to claim a refund in, but it’s something, and gives you a chance to determine how much you like their service, and whether they’re worth their monthly fee.
Rating: 5/5-Three day money-back guarantee
Feature #3: Number of Servers
The more servers a company has, the more chances you have to connect, no matter where you live. Plus, if you frequently travel, it has the added bonus of being able to travel with you.
Unblock VPN doesn’t have a very large network of servers, with only 18 locations. Most of these are located in the US and Europe, with one server in Israel as well.
Though it’s handy if you’re in these areas, travelling outside of those areas means you aren’t likely to be able to connect to a server.
Rating: 2/5-Very few servers
Feature #4: Referral Program
This is a feature that you won’t see very often with too many VPNs.
Some do offer a referral program though, that rewards members who get them business through word of mouth recommendations with things like free service.
Unblock VPN doesn’t have a referral program, which is not outside the norm. It does however mean that you won’t receive any perks for recommending them to your friends.
Rating: 0/5-No referral program
Feature #5: Data Logging
One of the main reasons people sign up for VPNs is to protect their privacy.
In an age of internet surveillance and increasing cybercrime, people want to know their activity isn’t going to be monitored by the very people they’re paying to keep it anonymous.
Unblock VPN never logs any of their customers’ activity, just keeping simple records of which servers are accessed at what times. No activity is ever monitored or logged.
Rating: 5/5-No activity logging
Feature #6: Bandwidth
If you use streaming services, or frequently download from the internet, you’ll want plenty of bandwidth to support your typical online activities.
If you have to worry about hitting a monthly cap, you may not be able to go about your business like you usually would.
Unblock VPN’s bandwidth policy isn’t exactly black and white.
Though they say they offer unlimited bandwidth with all of their plans, if you look at the fine print, there’s actually more to it than that.
They reserve the right to slow down a user’s connection if they exceed 60 GB of data in a month, in an effort according to them, to keep the quality of the connection high for other users.
Rating: 3/5-Unlimited bandwidth, with a cap?
How Secure Is It?
With VPNs, typically your data is encrypted and routed over a secure server.
Having a provider with air-tight protocols and solid encryption will prevent your information from being intercepted, and your activity from being spied on.
Unblock VPN offers three different VPN protocols, and 256-bit encryption – more than enough to keep your information safe and secure.
Rating: 5/5-Great encryption, very secure
What’s the Set Up Process Like?
This part is particularly important for people who have never used a VPN before, and may be unfamiliar with how they work.
If the set up process is complicated and difficult to understand, people are a lot less likely to keep it. Unblock VPN’s set up process is a little different than most – you don’t download any software.
Instead, when you create your account, you’re given a list of server codes. To get connected, you have to follow the directions on the website to edit your network connection settings.
It’s not terribly difficult, but it involves quite a few more steps, and a little more thought than simply installing software.
Rating: 3/5-Have to edit network settings
Is it Easy to Use?
This fits into a similar category as judging the set up process – the easier a VPN is to use, the better it is for customers who may not be familiar with how they work.
Once you have the connection set up, Unblock VPN is pretty easy to use. All you have to do is go into your network connection, and select the server you set up earlier.
Rating: 3.5/5-Easy to use, a pain to change servers.
Logging In
You only have to log in when you initially set up the VPN server connection, and the process is pretty simple. Your system will prompt you when it’s time to put in your username and password.
Changing Servers
Changing servers is a little more complicated. Since this is a VPN connection you have to set up manually, you also have to change your server code manually.
You’ll have to go back to the list provided to you on your account page of the site, and then copy and paste a new server code into your connections menu.
What If I Need Help?
Great customer service isn’t always easy to come by, but it’s really important if you want to be able to get help when you need it.
Being able to contact customer support any time and any way you like is a big plus, particularly if you’re worried about finding your way around the software.
Here I went over a few different points with Unblock VPN’s customer service, to see how well they did in terms of availability and promptness.
24/7 Support?
Since VPNs are made for travelling it’s important that you be able to get prompt customer service at any time of the day, no matter what time zone you’re in.
Unblock VPN offers 24/7 customer support, so you’re never waiting overnight for a response.
Rating: 5/5-Customer support at any time
Channels
There are a few different ways you can typically get in touch with customer service: live chat, e-mail, or by phone.
The more options a provider offers, the better, because you can contact them in the way that’s most convenient for you.
Unfortunately, you can only reach Unblock VPN’s customer service through e-mail.
Rating: 2/5-No live chat or phone option
Customer Support Test
To see just how good their customer service was for myself, I contacted Unblock VPN’s customer support team.
I wanted to get a sense for how fast they responded both outside of regular business hours, and during peak times. Here are the results.
E-mail Support Test #1-Sunday/11:52 a.m.
I submitted my first request at a very reasonable time of day, inquiring about a few features of the VPN.
Oddly enough, I didn’t receive a response to this inquiry until a few minutes after submitting my second one.
It was as if my question had been sitting an inbox, and my second one had triggered some kind of alert to get someone’s attention.
The length of response time was absolutely crazy though – I thought they were never going to get back to me.
Result: 15 hours
Rating: 1/5-Unacceptable wait time
E-mail Support Test #2-Monday/2:46 a.m.
Strangely enough, my second attempt to contact customer service triggered a response much faster than the first. In less than an hour, I had a reply from customer support.
Again, I’m wondering if my second inquiry somehow triggered an alert that got things moving along, just based on the odd timing of the responses
Result: 51 minutes
Rating: 4.5/5 – Very fast response at odd hours
It’s difficult to say how reliable the customer service is with Unblock VPN. On the one hand, you have a very fast response that came back almost instantly, and another that took 15 hours.
It’s hard to tell if either of those was just a fluke, or if there’s some kind of problem with their service. Either way, it’s safe to say that service is not the most reliable.
How Fast is Unblock VPN?
The faster your VPN is, the better time you’ll have streaming videos and downloading photos.
Though there’s usually a slightly slower connection when routing to other servers, it shouldn’t be enough to significantly affect your browsing experience.
Here were the results from the speed tests with and without Unblock VPN.
Without Unblock VPN
With Unblock VPN
So as you can see, the speed difference was pretty negligible.
The download speed was less than 2 Mbps faster on my regular connection than with the VPN – a very small and pretty standard difference that isn’t likely to affect my activity very much.
Rating: 4.5/5-Almost as fast as standard connection
How Much Does Unblock VPN Cost?
The price of a VPN connection is likely to make or break the deal for you. If their monthly rates are sky high, no matter how many features they have, you aren’t likely to sign up for a service plan.
Unblock VPN’s prices are very reasonable, with rates starting at just $5 a month, and incremental discounts for purchasing more than one month at a time.
Rating: 5/5-Very low monthly rates
The X-Factor
This is the final category that determines how good of a value a VPN is for you.
Typically, it’s your overall impression of the company as a whole-their marketing style, the accessibility of their website – things like that.
The X-factor is a way of summing up your overall impression of a company, and identifying what makes them stand out, whether that be good or bad.
With Unblock VPN, it was a bad thing. The website was very poorly set up, with information scattered everywhere.
Even the basic VPN set up guide wasn’t where it felt like it should have been, and took a few minutes to find.
On top of that, it’s obvious that the site has been poorly translated from another language, with unusual and difficult to understand phrasing.
As a result, everything from their contact page to their features descriptions are difficult to decipher.
And it come across as very unprofessional, giving me the impression that I would be sending my money to some unknown overseas company.
It also begs the question, if the site is this difficult to make sense of, how reliable will their communication skills be for customer service?
Rating: 5/20-Poorly designed site, unintelligible language
Conclusion
My overall impression of Unblock VPN was not a great one. Here’s what we learned about them and their product:
Selling points:
- compatible with all operating systems
- multiple connections allowed
- 3 day money back guarantee
- (almost) unlimited bandwidth
- fast connection
- low monthly prices
- 24/7 customer service
- secure connection
- no data logging
- relatively easy to use
What needs improvement:
- very few server locations
- extremely slow customer service
- complicated connection set up
- poorly designed web site
- language and communication problems
- no referral program
- unclear/misleading bandwidth limitations
Overall Score: 63/100
Overall, I was really frustrated with the lack of professionalism displayed by the company, and particularly the poor customer service.
This VPN gets the job done in terms of providing you with a fast, secure connection, but that’s about the extent of it.
To get Unblock VPN, sign up here: Unblock VPN
To see the highest rated VPN that scored a 97/100, click here: Express VPN.
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