BlackVPN has been in operation since 2009. The company was initially based in the US and later moved to Hong Kong. This is a big step forward as US companies can be affected by bans and message blocking.
BlackVPN offers various subscription packages for video streaming, data backup and torrenting. It is a log-free VPN service with good encryption, meaning it is secure. It also offers reasonable speeds and allows peer-to-peer (P2P) downloads on most servers (not in the US or UK).
BlackVPN didn’t have a standalone client, which meant that some features (such as a kill switch). BlackVPN has now developed its own clients for Windows, Android and iOS. Unfortunately, these beta clients are full of bugs and fail to connect to many servers. Even the Android client, which is no longer in beta, does not have a kill switch and cannot connect to many servers.
Key Data
| Features | Data |
|---|---|
|
Over All Rank |
#23 |
|
Usability |
Easy to use |
|
Log Files |
No logging policy |
|
Locations |
18 Countries, 31+Servers |
|
Netflix |
Yes |
|
Encryption/Protocol |
AES 256-bit |
|
Cost |
€49-99/Year |
Speed and Stability Test
All tests were conducted off-peak using the speedtest.net and speedtest.net apps, and all tested servers were located in USA. Connections were made using UDP and AES-256 encryption (default).
Speed Test – Black VPN – Desktop
| Location | Trial | Latency | Download Speed | Upload Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
NoVPN |
Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 |
10ms 12ms 10ms |
95.94 Mbps 96.96 Mbps 97.12 Mbps |
12.86 Mbps 12.88 Mbps 12.67 Mbps |
|
Canada |
Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Average |
140ms 142ms 141ms 141ms |
48.73 Mbps 65.26 Mbps 51.07 Mbps 55.02 Mbps |
11.09 Mbps 11.17 Mbps 11.17 Mbps 11.14 Mbps |
|
Switzerland |
Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Average |
324ms 333ms 342ms 333ms |
15.74 Mbps 16.17 Mbps 15.97 Mbps 15.96 Mbps |
7.64 Mbps 5.14 Mbps 8.37 Mbps 7.05 Mbps |
|
Netherlands |
Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Average |
294ms 283ms 294ms 290ms |
17.99 Mbps 17.87 Mbps 18.39 Mbps 18.08 Mbps |
6.23 Mbps 6.06 Mbps 5.98 Mbps 6.09 Mbps |
|
Australia |
Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Average |
363ms 367ms 362ms 364ms |
9.85 Mbps 14.67 Mbps 12.84 Mbps 12.45 Mbps |
2.49 Mbps 5.37 Mbps 5.91 Mbps 4.59 Mbps |
Speed Test – Black VPN – Mobile
| Location | Trial | Latency | Download Speed | Upload Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
NoVPN |
Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 |
13ms 13ms 12ms |
74.92 Mbps 74.07 Mbps 74.90 Mbps |
14.53 Mbps 14.33 Mbps 14.05 Mbps |
|
Canada |
Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Average |
136ms 138ms 137ms 137ms |
10.34 Mbps 8.41 Mbps 9.68 Mbps 9.48 Mbps |
12.26 Mbps 12.35 Mbps 12.53 Mbps 12.38 Mbps |
|
Switzerland |
Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Average |
353ms 343ms 407ms 368ms |
6.72 Mbps 2.39 Mbps 2.28 Mbps 3.80 Mbps |
9.49 Mbps 4.46 Mbps 9.24 Mbps 7.73 Mbps |
|
Netherlands |
Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Average |
293ms 287ms 289ms 290ms |
5.85 Mbps 9.89 Mbps 5.66 Mbps 7.13 Mbps |
0.95 Mbps 0.45 Mbps 0.43 Mbps 0.61 Mbps |
|
Australia |
Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Average |
362ms 361ms 373ms 365ms |
2.41 Mbps 2.29 Mbps 2.04 Mbps 2.25 Mbps |
6.47 Mbps 8.83 Mbps 7.36 Mbps 7.55 Mbps |
The Canadian servers were still the fast, while the other international servers struggled a bit, which was only due to the broadband speed on the desktop. This is more or less to be expected as the default encryption is AES-256 (high strength but high overhead). On mobile devices the slowdown is exacerbated as the hardware has more to contend with running encryption than on desktop. Speeds were somewhat inconsistent between the Australian server (desktop) and the Swiss and Dutch servers (mobile).
Pricing Plans
BlackVPN has expensive pricing plans. In Euro currency, it has 3 different packages. Here is the list of pricing plans.
1 month access: €9,50
3 months access: €27,00
12 months access: €99,00
The Privacy plans allow access to all VPN sites except the US and UK servers. With the Global plan you have access to all VPN sites, while with the TV plan you only have access to the UK and US servers. You can request a refund within 14 days.
Network and Server Locations
In terms of network, I would describe BlackVPN as a mid-tier provider. Their VPN servers are located in strategic locations around the world. While not as large as some other networks, BlackVPN is large enough to provide privacy for its members in some countries and for some purposes.
BlackVPN has VPN servers in the US, UK, Canada, Switzerland, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Panama, Lithuania, Ukraine, Russia, Estonia and Singapore.
Data Protection and Encryption
BlackVPN will enable connection via SSL tunnels, IPSec/L2TP, PPTP and OpenVPN, the latter with 4096-bit RSA certificates (SHA51) for server authentication, AES-256 encryption and DHE for perfect forward secrecy. The provider will also install a NAT firewall that blocks unwanted incoming traffic when you connect to the VPN.
This not only allows you to surf completely anonymously, but also to download and upload large files via torrent and P2P clients securely and without copyright warnings. Please Note, US and UK VPN servers do not allow torrents.
In its terms of use, BlackVPN states that it does not collect or store activity, traffic, connection, bandwidth or DNS logs or your actual IP address. It may view connection logs with timestamps from the time you connect, but it deletes this information when you disconnect.
“Instead of keeping connection logs to prevent abuse, we rely on responding to abuse reports we receive and temporarily blocking access to sites and services affected by abuse,” the service provider said. Connections to abusive IP addresses can be tracked so that abusers can be traced and blocked. Monitoring usually continues until the abuse stops.
We cannot verify these claims until the service provider invites external auditors to examine its platform and publish a public report of the findings, but we appreciate this honesty. In addition, BlackVPN is registered in Hong Kong, a place where there is no mandatory data retention, allowing it to operate with minimal knowledge of its customers.
Customer Support
One of BlackVPN best and most surprising offerings is its customer service, which definitely exceeds expectations. The response time is impressive, less than 15 seconds through their fantastic live chat feature.
BlackVPN offers email, mail, social media and FAQs as customer support tools in addition to the live chat service.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Three-day free trial
- Flexible plans and payment options
- Excellent support
- Good Android app
- Good speeds
- Watertight security and transparent privacy
- No logs
- Based in Hong Kong
Cons
- No kill switchNo native desktop app for Windows
- Did not unblock Netflix US/BBC iPlayer in my tests
Frequently Asked Questions
Is BlackVPN good value for money?
Unfortunately, I can’t recommend it as most of the servers are down. Even if they are working, their security measures and privacy policies do not protect your personal information while using the network.
Can I use BlackVPN for free?
Yes, BlackVPN has a 3-day trial period. While you can try it completely free, you will find that the VPN does not work well at all during the trial period. Since there are some decent free VPN providers that work better than BlackVPN, the 3-day trial period is not really worth your time.
Will my data be safe with BlackVPN?
While using BlackVPN is inherently secure, it doesn’t really guarantee that your data will be safe online. Since your sensitive data can be compromised and your business is exposed to government demands, this is not a good VPN to protect your assets.Everything can be exposed when you use the internet, including your location, IP address and the websites you visit.
Can I get in trouble for using BlackVPN?
No, it is perfectly legal to use BlackVPN. While some countries restrict the use of VPNs, you can only get in trouble if you use BlackVPN exclusively for illegal activities. Since it’s one of the few VPNs you can try for free without having to give your payment card details, you have nothing to lose by trying it out.
Summary
When it comes to choosing a reliable VPN connection, BlackVPN comes into play because of its features and reliability. It gives you unrestricted access to the internet and a powerful protection system that keeps hackers and other online threats away from your network. With this software, you can easily bypass government, ISP and corporate restrictions so you can access any content you find online.
Compatibility with multiple platforms makes the software easy to use on all your devices. All in all, if you want to use a good and reliable VPN connection and you care about your privacy and digital rights, this is the VPN software you need to use.
