Have you heard of **ExpressVPN**? This service offers a secure way to protect your online activities and data. With ExpressVPN, you can browse the internet anonymously and access restricted content easily. Find out more about ExpressVPN and how it can benefit you by visiting the link here: ExpressVPN.
Offshore Security is a Bulgarian company that launched its network, VPNArea, in 2012. Bulgaria, as you may know, is a haven for Internet users. So that’s a good start. While providing a serious VPN solution focused on privacy and security, their price remains accessible. And for that price, you’ll get a high-performance service. Over the past few years, their team improved both their network and their client. Let’s review VPNArea in details now.
Try this great service risk-free to protect your privacy when you're online.
As I said above, Offshore Security is a company located in Bulgaria, a country that:
So you can rest assured that your data will be safe with this provider. And that no state whatsoever will be able to legally request your data from the company, not to mention their strict no-logging policy.
In the last two years, they have really improved their offer in terms of value for money and countries covered (with dedicated servers). And they’re not resting on their laurels, as you will see in the rest of my VPNArea review.
What makes this provider attractive, in my opinion, is the fact that their servers in the UK are currently almost always empty. Because that means even higher performance for the users! I was immediately impressed by the speed when I tested this service. Especially relevant are the results I got for streaming videos. I could watch Netflix and the BBC as if I was in the UK. And being a “small sized” company, they’re still under the radars of various types of Netflix blocks etc. Don’t miss out and try for yourself risk-free with their money-back guarantee.
Also, the speed was fast on the torrent downloads!
The plans are what you can expect from a VPN offering a service with dedicated and high-performance servers. Indeed, the cost of a monthly subscription is not very competitive. But it’s perfect for those who want to give it a try. Because there’s no free trial, unfortunately… Therefore you must subscribe. And you can use the 7-day money back guarantee if you’re not happy with it. As far as I know, no one has ever been denied a refund, no worries here!
Much as with the other providers, the yearly package is the most attractive price-wise. Indeed, there’s a 50% discount on the yearly package. And you have the opportunity to get a dedicated IP address, which you can’t on a monthly plan. For example, if you buy an American IP address, you’ll get your own dedicated server, with no one else able to use it. For this kind of service, the price is highly competitive!
You can get even more discount since VPNArea regularly offers promotions on their website. Therefore, click on the image above to get the latest deals!
Offshore Security accepts payment by debit/credit card, PayPal and Bitcoin. So you can easily remain anonymous during the transaction.
| FEATURE | VALUE |
|---|---|
| Logs | No logs at all |
| Torrents | Torrents allowed |
| Netflix | UK, US, CA, DE |
| Multi-login | 6 simultaneous login |
| Covered countries | 70+ |
| Supported devices | Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, routers |
| Money back guarantee? | 7 Days |
| Protocols | OpenVPN (TCP, UDP), PPTP, IKEv2 |
| Traffic data | Unlimited |
| Encryption | Military 256 bit |
| IP Addresses | Undisclosed |
| Servers | 200+ |
As I mentioned a little earlier, no problem on that side. You can unlock almost all Netflix libraries, making it a very good Netflix VPN. I have tried to access some of the most popular ones, and you can find the result in my table above. There is a dedicated server to unblock American Netflix, so it should always work. While there is no dedicated server in the UK (yet), I found one that worked in a few minutes. And I could watch videos in high definition thanks to great speeds.
When they contacted me to update this VPNArea review, they told me they have implemented a solution that is virtually impossible to block. Even by the major streaming platforms like Netflix. It is only available in the United States, Canada and Italy for the moment. But the English market should get the upgrade very soon! I asked them for it.
And here’s another bonus point for Area VPN! In the list of special servers, you can find a server dedicated to the BBC streaming. It works great and you can watch the BBC iPlayer when abroad.
Good news for those of you who download torrents: This service is torrent-friendly. And their team has optimized some servers for P2P! Of course, that’s not a reason to use this VPN to download copyrighted content… This is just a friendly reminder.
During my tests, I was able to get 100% of my bandwidth (over Wi-Fi). But torrenting did not work with some of the servers: The ones without the P2P mention. I didn’t see that it was forbidden to use these servers to download torrents. But they may be blocked. That’s why I recommend using only those with the P2P mention. That way you’ll enjoy better performance during your downloads.
What about logging? First of all, Offshore Security is not required to log anything by their government. But they also enforce a strict no-log policy. And they do not record or keep any logs of your activity or your server usage. During the registration of your account, the only information you need to share with them is an email address. So you can easily subscribe today anonymously.
Their client includes a Kill Switch feature to protect your privacy. And you have two options here:
The purpose of the kill switch is to prevent your IP to leak if your VPN connection drops. Because your IP address, if in the clear, could help identify you.
Before reading this paragraph of my VPNArea review, you should take a look at my article about DNS leaks. Because it will help you understand what follows. Once you know everything about DNS leaks, you’ll quickly understand this feature is essential.
If you enable the Anti DNS Leak, you can ensure that all your traffic goes through the VPN connection. It is also possible to enable the IPv6 Leak Protection to prevent IPv6 leaks. Finally, the VPNArea software protects you against WebRTC leaks. As a result, websites will never be able to find your real IP address!
An alternative to this feature would be to select your own DNS servers (such as OpenDNS or GoogleDNS) directly in the software.
There are few VPNs at the moment that offer the possibility to connect to 2 VPN servers. And VPN Area is one of them. What is the point of this feature? To add a layer of protection to your connection. And to make it impossible to find your device. When enabled, your data goes through 2 servers and is encrypted twice. The only drawback of a dual VPN connection is the loss of speed. Anonymity has a price.
If you live in a country with strong censorship, like China or the United Arab Emirates, you should focus now. Because this feature is made for you. If you connect to a server with the mention Stunnel, the client will make your VPN traffic look like normal web traffic (SSL). And it will be impossible for the authorities to block your VPN connection.
I’m going to move quickly on this one because everyone knows what an ad blocker is. If you activate the option Ad Block & Malware Prevent, you will get rid of ads in your browser. Furthermore, you will get a notification if you ever visit a site that could be a scam. That’s always useful.
Personally, I’m not using this feature. Mostly because I like my traffic to be mixed with that of other users. But you can buy a dedicated IP address. In addition to this address, you will get a dedicated VPN server. It means that you’ll be the only one using it. So you’ll get better performance. And your IP address won’t be banned by Netflix or the other streaming sites.
You can kiss VPNArea Chameleon goodbye. The software has been replaced by a newer and better version that’s visually more appealing. They didn’t drop any feature. And it’s easier to use than before. However, the interface does not offer a classic look. Even if you’ve used VPNs previously, you’d need a quick adaptation.
After you launch the client for the first time, you need to register with your email and password. Then you’ll have access to the list of all the servers. Browsing the list is quite easy. You have several tabs at the top to filter servers based on their particularity. And a search feature. If you click on Special, you’ll find the servers for Netflix, double VPN, Stunnel, etc. And if you bought a dedicated IP address, you’ll find it in the corresponding tab.
The team behind Area VPN cleaned up the settings to keep only the most interesting ones. You can access the setting by clicking on the Settings button, at the bottom left of the client. The options are all on the same page, but there are tabs at the top to reach them more easily.
You can easily install Area VPN on all your devices running on Mac, Linux, Android and iOS. These are native applications. So you can easily connect using the OpenVPN protocol (which is not possible on mobile otherwise).
VPNArea is a great VPN focused on offering the best to its users. It is suitable for all those who need a complete VPN to watch streaming TV, surf anonymously, and download torrents without limits. Dedicated servers are affordable there!