Smart DNS Proxy is a service offered by Global Stealth Inc. has been providing online security and anonymity services to well-known clients such as Apple, Microsoft and IBM for over 20 years. Smart DNS Proxy is designed to unblock websites and streaming services while providing intelligent DNS and VPN services. In this Smart DNS Proxy review, we examine the service’s advantages over traditional VPN services and point out its potential weaknesses.
Features
The main features of Smart DNS Proxy are:
- DNS Proxy
- No loss of speed
- Encrypted Internet traffic
- Insecure Internet connections No security
- 400 servers in 80 locations
- Download torrents
- Maintain reliable speed
- 5 simultaneous connections
- Smart DNS server IP addresses
- Get a smart DNS proxy service
- Unlimited device access
- VPN services
- Fast unblocking of websites
Speed Test
The difference between Smart DNS services and VPNs is encryption. VPNs help protect online privacy and anonymity by encrypting your data. This slows down your connection speed. SmartDNS service, on the other hand, is different. It helps unblock websites from other countries without encryption.
It does this without the loss of speed that you have when using a VPN service. I haven’t noticed any speed loss when using the SmartDNS proxy.
Server Locations
Smart DNSProxy offers just over 30 servers in over 30 countries around the world. However, they do not specify whether they provide virtual or physical servers to users.
Fortunately, you can rely on using this VPN since all of its servers guarantee P2P activities to users in the right way. Here is the list of countries where the Smart DNS servers are located
- Angola
- Australia
- Austria
- Brazil
- Bolivia
- Canada
- Denmark
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hong Kong
- India
- Ireland
- Italy
- Japan
- Malaysia
- Mexico
- Mozambique
- Nepal
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Norway
- Russia
- Saudi Arabia
- Singapore
- South Korea
- South Africa
- Spain
- Sweden
- Sudan
- Switzerland
- Turkey
- Ukraine
- United Arab Emirates
- United Kingdom
- United States of America
- Vietnam
Pricing Plans
Smart DNS Proxy offers four plans – $4.90 per month, $12.90 for 3 months, $39.90 per year, and $49.90 for two years. All paid plans have the same features, a 30-day money-back guarantee, and a free trial. They accept PayPal and credit cards, but unfortunately not Bitcoin.
Privacy Protection
Smart DNS Proxy points out its poor privacy and logging policies. The information is minimal and even difficult to monitor.
For example, the front page of the website doesn’t mention the issue at all, at best saying “Zero logs!”.
The reference to the privacy policy does not help either. The documentation focuses on website use, not VPN use, and even at this level the explanations are frustratingly vague.
A Google search for “login” on the Smart DNS Proxy website eventually found the best page, with the company’s explanation of “what it means to have a VPN that doesn’t log in.”
Apparently, no browser history or web traffic is logged, while Smart DNS Proxy’s own zero-knowledge DNS prevents external DNS leaks.
While it doesn’t appear that Smart DNS Proxy does any significant logging, the lack of clarity and transparency is a problem. Most small VPNs will never have the time or resources to perform a public privacy audit, but they should at least be clear and understand what they are doing.
Streaming Services
Surprisingly, this service does not support US Netflix streaming. As a result, you will have to reply on other VPNs to unblock the famous US media streaming service.
User Experience
Installing and running the Android and iOS app is really simple and straightforward. Once installed, the app is very user-friendly and intuitive enough for beginners to understand without any help. The app lets you turn encrypted VPNs on and off and switch between servers seamlessly.
The Windows and Mac apps are also very intuitive and easy to navigate. This allows users to select their preferred servers and see which servers are ideal for services like Hulu and HBO. Upgrading to the paid version is also very easy and can be done on the official Smart DNS Proxy VPN website.
Customer Support
Smart DNS Proxy has 2 types of Customer Support: Live chat and Ticket/email
The live chat is very responsive and helpful, however, they are less knowledgeable when it comes to the technical side of the business and are mainly there for general questions. Ticket support makes up for this, as it has a multi-layered support system and is equally helpful and supportive.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Good speed across all server locations
- Easy unblocking of streaming sites
- Great pricing
- P2P support
- Linux and router support
- Working in China
- 14-day free trial, no credit card required
Cons
- Collects user data
- Very few security features
- Weak encryption capabilities
- VPN is vulnerable to IP and DNS leaks
- No shutdown switch
- No shared tunnels
- Support for old and outdated VPN protocols
- There is very little information about VPN services on the website
Conclusion
It is really smart that one service is efficient enough to bypass the limitations of all other services. They offer users an easy way to browse content that is blocked by the service provider.
This frees our screens from having to check locations. For users who can’t access services like YouTube, Google and Facebook, this is the easiest way to overcome government barriers.
If such a service is equipped with a virtual private network security layer, it can also protect your data from third-party access. But at the moment it is still in the testing phase.
Hopefully, in the near future Smart DNS Proxy will provide us with the full package of privacy, security and freedom while surfing the Internet.
