Intro Hidemyass Free Premium Account
Hide My Ass! (HMA!) Is a UK-based company, with Its claim to fame being its number of readers — it has over 400 million now. This provider has witnessed its share of controversy with respect. It recently made updates service in the hopes of winning back the loyalty of its subscribers and redeeming itself. Hidemyass Free Premium Account
We took it For a test run to find out how much it’s improved and if it is worth the cost.
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What Is a VPN?
It generates an encrypted tunnel to when you trigger a VPN Protect your data as it moves from the computer to a host controlled by the VPN. From that point, your info releases onto the open net. It’s a simple idea, but one with tremendous impacts to your privacy and safety.
For starters, it prevents anyone lurking Network from observation or intercepting your activity. While the airport or coffee shop Wi-Fi system looks safe (it may even be password-protected) it is not reallysecure unless you are using a VPN. For another thing, a VPN may stop your Internet Service Provider (ISP) from collecting information about your online activities so it could sell anonymized user information to the maximum bidder.
A VPN makes it more Challenging to correlate your Online activities with your own identity. Because your traffic is exiting in the VPN firm’s server, you seem to have its own IP address, effectively hiding your true location. Additionally, it compels even the most determined attacker to try and sort through all of the visitors from other users on the exact same VPN server to obtain what they’re after. For these reasons, and more, you want a VPN in your lifetime.
Be aware that a VPN encrypts your traffic until it exits through the VPN server. Provided that the website you’re accessing uses HTTPS, your information must be secure all the way. Also, while VPNs can offer a modicum of anonymity, a tool such as the Tor system is much better at concealing your identity.
VPNs have long been used by journalists and political activists To circumvent censorship in countries with repressive internet policies. They are also useful if you are searching to circumvent geographical constraints on streaming content. A VPN can spoof your existing place, giving you access to restricted content like BBC streaming or MLB TV. Some VPNs don’t enjoy these activities (which may be in breach of terms of service or even local laws) and content providers like Netflix are breaking down on users who spoof their location and the VPN services they utilize to do it.
There’s a Fantastic opportunity Which you may have never laid hands on a VPN before. Do not worry if that’s the case! We’ve got an entire feature on how to prepare and use a VPN. Hidemyass Free Premium Account
VPN Protocols
There are several ways. My Preferred method uses the OpenVPN protocol, which is known for its speed and reliability. It’s also open-source, and therefore has been picked over for potential vulnerabilities by anyone with the interest to do so.
Hide My Ass utilizes OpenVPN on Windows, using an older variant That supports PPTP, and L2TP, too. There are also two distinct versions of the macOS app that, taken collectively, support IPSec (IKEv1 and v2), L2TP, and PPTP. Note that these older versions of the program have been phased out from the programmer. The iOS variant uses just IPSec, along with the Android app uses only OpenVPN.
That is a bit of a hodgepodge, and I am frustrated that Hide My Ass doesn’t provide OpenVPN on all platforms. Nevertheless, some of this issue is with the programs. Apple requires programmers to jump through additional hoops if they wish to include OpenVPN in a program, but many are starting to move in that way. I would like to view Hide My Ass do the same, across the board.
Your Privacy With Hide My Ass
With any safety item, you want to Be Certain that the Business behind it will be operating in your best interests. This is especially true for VPNs, which are intended to improve privacy and security. If a VPN company is simply as nosey as your ISP, there’s not much point in using it.
While I review VPNs, ” I read the Organization’s privacy policy And talk with agents in order to better understand how your data is used and stored. In the case of Hide My Ass, the corporation ought to be commended on its clear privacy policy. It states Hide My Ass logs your username, the timestamp of connection and disconnection, the number of data transmitted, your real IP address, and the IP address of the server you connected to. This isn’t radically different from what is provided by other services. In fact, it’s quite similar to Golden Frog VyprVPN’s policy.
What is noteworthy is that Hide My Ass Will store this information for two to three weeks, while VyprVPN stores it for only 30 days. Other services hold even less info, or else they eliminate it immediately. Hide My Ass states that it keeps this data for this particular period of time so as to enhance performance, prevent fraud, and prevent bad guys from using the VPN to send spam. The organization, notably, also lists file sharing as one of the illicit activities it takes this information to stop, regardless of the firm being fine with the use of BitTorrent on some servers.
It May be possible that this information could be used To correlate an individual’s identity to particular activity on the internet, but it would probably be very difficult. In spite of this information, an audience would have to know which VPN host to watch then compare that activity against Hide My Ass’s logs, and also be able to parse out the target’s visitors from everybody else using the exact same server.
The Hide My Ass privacy policy also clearly says that it Doesn’t track or store the actual content of your online activity. So, the service isn’t looking at your sites or the documents that you’re downloading. That is great, and exactly what you want to hear from a VPN company.
Before, some VPN companies monetized users by Injecting ads into their web traffic. Hide My Ass states it doesn’t do this, and goes even farther. A company representative explained to me the company doesn’t gain from consumer data at all.
The actual location of a VPN company also matters, as it Can notify what protections are given to clients. Hide My Ass works under the jurisdiction of England and Wales, also has its company headquarters in London. Notably, the UK at does have mandatory data retention legislation. That’s not perfect. Other VPN services operate in countries without mandatory data retention laws, or in ones which have privacy protections for consumers. Hidemyass Free Premium Account
I do not think It’s possible to make a decision Concerning the advantages of a company based solely on its own location. However, it is very important to understand that the policies and laws at work in a business with intimate access. I encourage visitors to consider this information, and pick a VPN service by which they can feel comfortable.
Programs and Server Places
A Vital differentiator between VPN services is the amount of Servers and their geographic distribution. Lots of servers means you’re more likely to find. For its part, Hide My Ass has a commendable 876 servers at its disposal. Nevertheless, Private Internet accessibility, NordVPN, and TorGuard VPN have over 3,000 servers. Those are my benchmarks for robustness in the VPN server category.
Geographic distribution of those servers is very important. Lots of locations means more to choose from for purposes, but also ensures that no matter will be a server for the very best performance. Hide My Ass has a very impressive server locations across some 220 countries. It is easily.
The list of server locations Provided by Hide My Ass is noteworthy because regions ignored by other VPN companies are covered by it. It’s, for example, server locations that are numerous throughout the continent of Africa–a rarity among VPN businesses. Additionally, it maintains servers in China, Russia, and Turkey, that have net policies.
Some customers might be concerned about a VPN company’s Use of virtual servers. These are software-defined servers which produce servers that are many are effectively operated as by a single physical server. Virtual servers may also be configured to behave as if they are in 1 state when they are really in another, which is a problem if you’re concerned about where your information is traveling.
A company representative told me that a full 225 of the 286 server locations are all servers. Only 61 of the host places are hardware, and 450 of Hide My Ass’s 876 servers are all virtual. That’s far beyond services. NordVPN TunnelBear, IPVanish, and TorGuard use infrastructure.
A company representative explained that bulk of the Firm’s physical server infrastructure is located in Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Miami, New York, Prague, Seattle, and Singapore. This doesn’t quite jibe with what Hide My Ass lists on its website. I’d love to see future versions of Hide My Ass be clearer about when you are connected to a virtual host.
Setup and interface
Obtaining Started with Hide My Ass! Is super simple and the upgraded apps are very user-friendly. As soon as you sign up for your account, you will be given a license key. You can use this or your credentials (username and password) to log into almost any program. For the purpose of this review, we’ve tested out the Windows client and the iOS program. Hidemyass Free Premium Account
Desktop
As Soon as You’ve Logged in and launched the client, you’ll be greeted with the Success! screen. Click Got It! To get the main screen of this app. Here you have Freedom Mode: Location Mode, Immediate Mode, and three choices for modes.
In Instant Mode, you can click the arrow And you’ll be connected to the server for your current site.
In Location mode, you can choose that You link to. Click Change Location to view your alternatives. There is a drop-down listing which enables you to choose servers based on various criteria. We all will show you an alphabetized state listing. Clicking on the arrow to the left of each country name will show you locations within that nation.
Speedy Access shows you a list Recently connected to, as well as some choices that were recommended. Streaming will provide you a selection of two servers acceptable for unblocking popular streaming services like Netflix, one at the united states and one in the UK.
Peer to Peer shows You all servers that permit P2P filesharing. Finally, there’s the Favorites choice; to mark a server as a favorite, you can click on the center to the right of this server name.
Going back To the main screen, the one alternative here’s Freedom Mode, that is targeted at users that wish to bypass censorship. This mode will connect you to a host in the nearest country that’s deemed to be free of censorship.
You can Get into the Settings by clicking the menu icon at the upper left corner of the main display and choosing Preferences. Here, you’ll find three tabs: General, Network Security, and Kill Change. In the Generalscreen, you may change your startup options, such as starting if the program starts or when you turn on your pc.
Additionally you Possess a Personal Privacy department home one alternative that relates to Quick Access in Location Mode. Then you can uncheck the box, if you want to conceal your history.
Next, We have the Network Security screen in which you may choose settings for wifi protection. You can also turn on the IP shuffle feature which makes it harder for someone to find where you are by periodically changing your IP address. One more option in this screen lets you use TCP using OpenVPN. This is only recommended if UDP is blocked or throttled. TCP is more stable, but UDP is generally faster.
The Tab is the Kill tab, so that it works for many applications, where you are able to toggle on this feature. You could even add single software and choose whether or not to use it.
This Is a app and it’s definitely both visually pleasing and searchable.
Mobile
Many Providers will have a mobile app that’s unrecognizable compared to the desktop version. However, HMA! Has streamlined its product, and also the iOS app looks nearly like the Windows version.
Once you’re Logged in, you’ll get to the main display, which is exactly like the main screen in the app. Here you can choose from Location Mode, Immediate Mode, or Freedom Mode.
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The Only real difference is that when you select Location Mode, your choices are presented in a different manner. You have three tabs: Nations, Cities, and Favorites, but lacking are Quick Access, and the options found from the desktop client, such as Streaming, Peer to Peer.
To Get into the streaming servers in the app, you will need to visit the Cities listing and locate the Liberty Island server beneath US, New York. Even the UK Town server may also be located to BBC iPlayer and UK Netflix.
Moving on, The settings to the app can be retrieved by clicking the menu icon and select Settings. There you have two choices: Private privacy and Link Rules.
In The Link Rules segment, you can correct wifi security settings and decide whether to auto reconnect when wifi or mobile connections are disrupted.
The privacy section has 1 option: Share usage data with third parties for analytics, which will be your consent to”enable app and apparatus use data to be shared with third parties for analytics.” Keep in mind this is enabled by default so that it may be one of the first things that you wish to turn off.
In General, This is a sleek and intuitive program, but many users might be missing additional features such as a kill button and the choice to switch protocols.
Servers and performance
The Hide My Ass! Network comprises more than 850 servers. A number of these are virtual servers, but a customer service representative was unable to inform us how many. Hidemyass Free Premium Account
As we Discussed previously, HMA presents many choices for choosing the right server, such as distinct modes and the ability to mark servers as favorites. Are indicated with a emblem.
We analyzed Numerous servers in the usa and also the UK for performance of streaming, surfing, and downloading. When surfing, there were no problems, besides there being an obvious slowdown in page loading times when attached with a UK server. This isn’t unusual for geographically distant servers (the evaluations were completed in Toronto, Canada), but might be bothersome, especially for users with already slow internet speeds.
We did not See any lag or buffering whilst streaming 1080p with any of the test servers and were able to play online games with no difficulties.
HideMyAss! and Netflix
Hide My Ass! unblocks Netflix! But do not expect to simply link to some Waiter and go. We had no luck when we analyzed servers with US Netflix using the desktop client. However, if you choose the Streaming choice in the dropdown within Location Mode, you will see two choices: a US host (USA, New York, Liberty Island) and a UK server (UK, Donkey Town). Note that in the app that is cell, you will have to find these within the Cities list in Location Mode.
Connecting Without issue server gave us access to Netflix Into the US. Linking to the UK one allowed access to BBC iPlayer in Addition to UK Netflix. Many providers only focus on supplying US Netflix access, so it is refreshing to see one that strives to give access to the UK library too. What’s more, BBC iPlayer is seriously cracking down on VPN use, so the capability to unblock this service is a nice perk.
If you are On the lookout for Amazon Prime Video, you might need to go elsewhere. HMA! Is having trouble unblocking this service at this time and a customer support representative informed us that there is no estimated time for when it might be functioning .
HideMyAss! in China?
Hide My Ass! Doesn’t work reliably in China. It used to, but recent HMA! Responses in service forums have suggested that the service doesn’t more work for a few users. You can try your luck, but you’d best look elsewhere, if you need a China VPN.
HideMyAss! Speed test performance
For any VPN That can be used with our evaluation procedures, ongoing speed tests which were designed to be as empirical as possible are conduct by us. We utilize a test server to connect to VPN servers in Germany, the UK, Australia, Hong Kong, and the Usa. For each and every place, we download a test file (50MB in size) in the US server. This is done four times per day at six-hour intervals. The typical download speed for each test is recorded and the data is displayed.
You can view From the easy chart below how HMA! Compares to another VPN services we’ve been testing. It is near the front of the package in regards to download rates, while it does not have the fastest rates.
You can see that the spread in results is not as tight as some of the evaluation VPNs by clicking on the Detailed tab. This means in regards to speeds you might see some inconsistency.
It’s Important to be aware that these tests are not definitive and may only function as an overall indication of the functionality you might see. The internet’s volatility adds a substantial variable of randomness. What is more, you see smaller or discrepancies, and more wait times with a slow link. Hidemyass Free Premium Account
Customer Services
If you Want Any help while establishing or using the support, HMA! Has a couple of alternatives for you to select from. Clicking the Help tab on the website, you’ll find a Knowledge Base and a Getting Started section. These each home posts associated with setting up questions. So before searching for other options, that you might want to explore both there is some crossover.
Additionally, You’ll find. This can be segregated into various subjects; while some are recently active, some seem to be out of date. There are a number of general FAQs.
If you don’t Discover what you’re searching for, or you simply want a fast reply, you can click the live chat button in the base right-hand corner of this display. The service is educated and prompt, and representatives were able to solve most issues we encountered. At one point, there was a representative unable to answer some security questions and advised he’d escalate the issue. This has been responded to in under two hours that’s quite fast for an email response.
Safety and privacy
Hide My Ass! Is based. The UK is also a Five Eyes (and Fourteen Eyes) country, so it’s part of an alliance that enables monitoring by external authorities. Plus, it is home to the Snooper’s Charter which imposes regulations British ISPs that affect user privacy.
For many Data retention legislation in their home country are not really an issue. This is because they operate with a real policy whereby no visitors or link logs are kept by them. Even if they do keep connection logs, they can not be tied to an individual user.
Unfortunately, HMA! Isn’t among these VPNs and contains a privacy policy which users will find off-putting. For one, when utilizing the support, you can expect that your IP address will be logged, together with the number of data and timestamps used. This is a large no-no for VPNs in general. The truth is that this information can and has been used to track the activity of people, Though an IP address is considered to be information. IP addresses are used to help find and convict offenders. While we don’t condone actions that are criminal, we’re pro-privacy, also it simply doesn’t cut. Hidemyass Free Premium Account
Moreover, Hide My Ass! Logs the VPN IP address Attached to a session. This is the IP address when it is visited by you that a website operator can view and document. Considering the actual and VPN IP addresses are logged, involving the VPN and end site logs, it would technically be possible to piece together each of an individual’s online activity. You might have seen news of a 2011 FBI situation involving HMA! In which it handed over logs that were used to track a hacker that is LulzSec down. Clearly, this is a black marker for privacy.
1 way to Make this less of an issue and to perhaps confuse things a bit is to make the most of this IP address shuffle feature. This periodically transforms out your IP address to get a different one, when enabled in the Network Security screen of the desktop app. It wouldn’t cause you to squint but may add a layer of obfuscation.
Privacy Issues on the safety front, Hide My Ass! Fares fairly well. It utilizes. This perfect forward secrecy and is in conjunction with RSA keys. It uses exactly the OpenVPN protocol UDP by default, but you can change to TCP inside the desktop client. PPTP, L2TP, IPSec are also available, depending on what app you are using.
The background versions boast a kill button which can be tailored To work for apps. A kill button will kill the connection should the VPN connection drop for some reason. This feature isn’t available in the mobile programs
A live chat Customer service representative advised us that there’s not any DNS leak protection. However, another firm representative promised us that there is actually DNS and IPv6 leak security, but no WebRTC leak protection. Really, when the service was tested by us we did not observe any DNS leak problems aside from leaks that are WebRTC. HMA! Whereas personal ones would be preferable from a privacy perspective, does use public DNS servers.
One handy Attribute that Hide My Ass! Offers is automatic wifi security, which is customized in the in the Network Security part of the client or the Connection Rules tab of the app that is mobile configurations.
Features and pricing
Hide My Ass! Provides one product with prices you register for. It’s definitely not among the cheapest providers available. A 12-month planwill set you back $6.99 a month, which is higher than the normal cost for a similar duration. What’s more, a great deal of top VPN providers will offer an extended plan; for example, a two- or three-year term with discounts. Hidemyass Free Premium Account
If You’re not prepared to sign up for a term yet, HMA! Does provide a turn-key program for $7.99 a month or you could pay on a monthly basis for $11.99 per month. These prices are a bit above average if you compare to competitors.
Payment Choices include UnionPay, PayPal, and credit cards. Regrettably bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are not viable payment methods. There is a generous 30-day money-back guarantee, so if you are not fully satisfied with the support, you’ll have your payment deducted.
So what do You get for your money? Hide My Ass! Has a community of over 850 servers in over 180 nations. Some are dedicated to accessing streaming websites and specific servers permit P2P filesharing (read: torrenting). All plans have unlimited bandwidth and you can join up to five devices concurrently. Programs are available for Windows, MacOS, iOS, and Android. The VPN can be configured using Linux and some routers. Pre-configured routers are available as an alternate.
From a Security standpoint, HMA! Offers automatic wifi security, perfect forward secrecy, strong encryption, along with the programs come with a kill button. On the other hand, the coverage issues which plagued the ceremony remain, so privacy is a problem.
Wrap-up
For the most part, HMA! Offers a great support. It has fast speeds, unlimited bandwidth, and an adequate community of servers. It’s in a position to unblock streaming services such as BBC iPlayer, Netflix UK, and Netflix US. Plus, it offers customer care , strong security, and intuitive apps.
On the Surface, it seems like HMA! Would be a good option for torrenters, with no data Caps and a few servers suitable for P2P. However, the issues with the solitude Coverage are a concern for those looking to torrent, as well as any other privacy-conscious users. Really, this is the major turn-off for this Provider, but it is a large one. Other concerns include the inability to work Reliably in China along with the somewhat hefty price tag. Hidemyass Free Premium Account
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