Background Hidemyass Retail
Hide My Ass! (HMA!) Is a UK-based firm, with Its claim to fame being its massive number of readers — it has more than 400 million now. This supplier has witnessed its fair share of controversy with respect. It made updates in the hopes of redeeming itself and winning back the loyalty of its readers service to it. Hidemyass Retail
We took it To get a test run to find out how much it has improved and if it is worth the money.
Click here to sign up for Hide My Ass! Today!
What’s a VPN?
When you trigger a VPN, it creates an encrypted tunnel to Protect your information as it passes from the computer to a host controlled by the VPN. From there, your info exits onto the internet that is open. It’s a very simple idea, but one with tremendous impacts for your privacy and security.
For starters, it prevents anyone on your local Network from observation or intercepting your action. Though the airport or coffee shop Wi-Fi system looks safe (it might even be password-protected) it’s not actually safe unless you’re using a VPN. For another thing, a VPN can stop your Internet Service Provider (ISP) from collecting information about your online activities so that it could sell anonymized user data to the maximum bidder.
A VPN makes it more Challenging to correlate your Online activities with your identity. Because your visitors 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 to sort through all the visitors from different users on the same VPN server to obtain what they are after. For all these reasons, and much more, you need a VPN on your life.
Note that your visitors is only encrypted by a VPN until it exits through the VPN server. Provided the site your data should be protected all the way and its journey. Additionally, while VPNs can provide 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 net policies. They are also useful if you’re looking to circumvent geographic restrictions on streaming content. A VPN can spoof your existing place, providing you with access to restricted content like BBC streaming or MLB TV. Some VPNs do not appreciate these actions (which may be in breach of terms of service or even local legislation ) and content providers such as Netflix are also cracking down on users that snore their location and the VPN services they utilize to do it.
There’s a good chance That you may not have ever laid hands on a VPN before. If that is the case, don’t worry! We have got a whole feature about the best way to set up and use a VPN. Hidemyass Retail
VPN Protocols
There are many ways. My Preferred method uses the OpenVPN protocol, which is famous for its speed and reliability. Additionally, it is open minded, and therefore has been chosen over for possible vulnerabilities by anyone with the interest to do so.
Hide My Ass utilizes OpenVPN on Windows, with an older version That supports L2TP, and PPTP, also. Additionally, there are two distinct versions of the macOS app which, taken collectively, support IPSec (IKEv1 and v2), L2TP, and PPTP. Be aware that these old versions of this program have been phased out by the developer. The iOS variant uses only IPSec, along with the Android app uses just OpenVPN.
That’s a bit of a hodgepodge, and I am frustrated that Hide My Ass does not offer OpenVPN on all platforms. Nevertheless, some of this issue is using the platforms. Apple requires programmers to jump through additional hoops if they wish to include OpenVPN within a program, but a lot of them are starting to move in that way. I would like to see Hide My Ass do the same, across the board.
Your Privacy With Hide My Ass
With any safety product, you want to be sure that the Company behind it’s going to be working in your best interests. This is especially true for VPNs, which are supposed to increase privacy and security. If a VPN company is simply as nosey as your ISP, there is not much point in using it.
While I review VPNs, ” I read the Organization’s privacy policy And speak with agents in order to better understand how your data is stored and used. In the instance of Hide My Ass, the company should be commended on its clear privacy policy. It says that Hide My personal logs your own username, the timestamp of connection and disconnection, the number of information transmitted, your actual IP address, and the IP address of the host you connected to. This isn’t radically different from what’s provided by other providers. In reality, it’s very similar to Golden Frog VyprVPN’s policy.
What is noteworthy is that Hide My Ass Will store this data for two to three months, while VyprVPN stores it for only 30 days. Other services hold even less info, or else they dispose of it immediately. Hide My Ass says that it keeps this data for this period of time so as to improve performance, prevent fraud, and stop bad guys from using the VPN to send spam. The organization, notably, also lists file sharing as one of the illicit activities it requires this information to stop, regardless of the company being fine by means of BitTorrent on certain servers.
It might be possible that this information could be used To correlate a user’s identity to specific activity online, but it would likely be very hard. In spite of this information, an audience would need to know which VPN server to watch and then compare this action against Hide My Ass’s logs, and also be able to parse out the target’s traffic from everyone else using the same server.
The Hide My Ass privacy policy also clearly says that it Doesn’t monitor or store the actual content of your online activity. So, the service isn’t looking at your sites or the files that you are downloading. That is great, and just 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 that, and goes even farther. A company representative explained to me that the company doesn’t profit from user data at all.
The actual place of a VPN company also issues, as it Can inform what protections are afforded to customers. Hide My Ass works under the jurisdiction of England and Wales, and has its business headquarters in London. Especially, the UK at does have data retention legislation. That’s not ideal. Many other VPN services function in countries without data retention legislation, or in ones which have privacy protections for consumers. Hidemyass Retail
I don’t think it is possible to make a determination About the advantages of a company based solely on its place. It is very important to understand the laws and policies on the job in a business with this kind of intimate access. I encourage visitors pick a VPN service, and to consider this advice.
Servers and Server Places
A key differentiator between VPN providers is the number of Servers and their distribution. A great deal of servers means you’re more likely to locate a server that’s not bogged down with other consumers. For its part, Hide My Ass has a commendable servers at its disposal. That said, NordVPN, Private online Access, and TorGuard VPN have over 3,000 servers apiece. Those are my benchmarks for robustness from the VPN server class.
Geographic distribution of those servers can be very important. A great deal of locations means more to pick from for functions that are spoofing, but also ensures that no matter where you travel there will likely be a server for your performance. Hide My Ass has an extremely impressive 286 server places across some 220 nations. It is easily the record among the VPN providers I have reviewed.
The list of server places that were accessible offered by Hide My Ass is noteworthy since it covers places often ignored by VPN businesses. It’s, for example, server locations that are numerous across the continent of Africa–a rarity among VPN companies. It maintains servers in China, Russia, and Turkey, which have net policies that are repressive.
Some consumers May Be concerned about a company’s Usage of servers. All these are software-defined servers which produce servers that are many are effectively operated as by a single server. Virtual servers may also be configured to act as though they are in 1 country when they are in a different, which is a problem if you are concerned about where your information is traveling.
A company representative told me that a complete 225 of the 286 server places offered by Hide My Ass are virtual servers. Only 61 of the host locations are hardware, and 450 of Hide My Ass’s 876 servers are all virtual. That’s far beyond providers. NordVPN TunnelBear, IPVanish, and TorGuard use physical infrastructure.
A business representative explained to me that bulk of the Company’s physical server infrastructure is located in Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Miami, New York, Prague, Seattle, and Singapore. This doesn’t really jibe with what Hide My Ass lists on its website. I’d like to see future versions of Hide My Ass be clearer about when you are linked to a virtual host.
Setup and interface
Obtaining Started with Hide My Ass! Is super simple and the updated apps are extremely user-friendly. You will be given a license key, As soon as you sign up for your account. You can use your own credentials (password and username ) to log into almost any program. With the aim of this inspection, we have tested the Windows client and the iOS program. Hidemyass Retail
Desktop
As Soon as You’ve Launched the desktop and logged in, you’ll be greeted with the Success! screen. Click Got It! To get the app’s screen. Here you have Freedom Mode: Immediate Mode, Location Mode, and three choices for modes.
In Immediate Mode, you can click on the arrow And you’re going to be connected to the server for your existing site.
In Location manner, you can choose which You connect to. Click on Change Location to see your alternatives. There is a drop-down list which enables you to select servers based on different criteria. We all will show you an alphabetized country listing. Clicking the arrow will show you locations within that nation.
Speedy Access shows you a list of servers you have Recently connected to, in addition to some choices that were recommended. Streaming will give you a selection of two servers suitable for unblocking popular streaming services such as Netflix, one in the US and one in the UK.
Peer to Peer shows You all that allow filesharing. Finally, there’s the Favorites choice; to mark a server as a popular, you can click on the center to the right of this server name.
Going back To the main display, the one alternative here’s Freedom Mode, which is aimed at users that wish to bypass censorship. This mode will connect you to a host in the nearest state that is deemed to be free from censorship.
You can Access the Settings by clicking the menu icon in the top left corner of the main screen and choosing Preferences. Here, you will find three tabs: General, Network Security, and Kill Change. In the Generalscreen, you may change your startup options, such as beginning when you turn your computer on or when the program launches.
You also Possess a Private Privacy section housing one alternative that relates to Quick accessibility in Location Mode. Then you can uncheck the box if you would like to conceal your recent history.
Next, We have the Network Security screen in which you may choose settings for automatic wifi protection. It is also possible to turn on the IP shuffle feature making it harder for somebody to find your location by periodically changing your IP address. One option in this display lets you utilize TCP using OpenVPN. Nonetheless, this is only recommended if UDP is blocked or throttled. TCP is more secure, but UDP is typically faster.
The Last tab is the Kill Switch tab, so that it works for many programs, where you are able to toggle on this attribute. You could add single applications and decide whether to use it to those.
This Is a app that is robust and it’s definitely both visually pleasing and searchable.
Mobile
Many Suppliers will have a mobile program that’s unrecognizable compared to the desktop version. However, HMA! Has streamlined its product, and the iOS app looks almost like the Windows version.
As Soon as You’re You’ll get to the main display, which is essentially exactly like the display in the desktop app. Here you can Pick from Instant Mode, Location Mode, or Freedom Mode.
Click here to sign up for Hide My Ass! Today!
The Only real difference is that when you pick Location Mode, your options are presented in another manner. You’ve got three tabs: Nations, Cities, and Favorites, but missing are speedy Access, and the extra options found in the desktop client, such as Streaming, Peer to Peer.
To Get into the streaming servers in the program, you will need to visit the Cities list and locate the Liberty Island server under US, New York. Even the UK, Donkey Town server can be found on this list for access to UK Netflix and BBC iPlayer.
Moving on, The settings for the app can be retrieved by clicking the menu icon and selecting Settings. There you have two choices: Link Rules and Private privacy.
In The Connection Rules section, it is possible to correct wifi security settings and choose whether to auto reconnect when wifi or mobile connections are interrupted.
The solitude section just has 1 alternative: Share utilization data with third parties for analytics, which will be your consent to”allow app and device usage information to be shared with third parties for analytics.” Bear in mind that this is enabled by default so it may be one of the first things that you wish to flip off.
Overall, This is a slick and intuitive app, but some users may be missing extra features such as a kill button and also the choice to switch protocols.
Servers and functionality
The Hide My Ass! Network includes more than 850 servers covering more than 190 nations. A number of them are virtual servers, but a consumer service representative was not able to tell us how many. Hidemyass Retail
As we Discussed previously, HMA presents many options for selecting the right server, including distinct modes and the ability to indicate servers as favorites. Servers that allow P2P are indicated using a symbol.
We tested Servers for functionality in the US and also the UK in terms of surfing, surfing, and downloading. Besides there being a noticeable lag in page load times when connected to a UK server overall, when browsing, there were no issues. This isn’t unusual for distant remote servers (the evaluations were completed in Toronto, Canada), but might be frustrating, particularly for users who have already slow internet speeds.
We didn’t See any lag or streaming whilst streaming 1080p using any of the test servers and could play online games without any issues.
HideMyAss! and Netflix
Hide My Ass! unblocks Netflix! But don’t expect to link to any Server and go. When we tested random servers with US Netflix with the client, we had no chance at all. However, if you select the Streaming option from the dropdown inside Location Mode, then you’ll see two choices: a US server (USA, New York, Liberty Island) and a UK server (UK, Donkey Town). Be aware that in the cell app, you will need to obtain these.
Connecting Server gave us access with no difficulty to Netflix. Connecting to the UK one allowed entry to BBC iPlayer in Addition to UK Netflix. Many suppliers just concentrate on providing US Netflix accessibility, so it is refreshing to see one which strives to provide access to the UK library too. What is more, BBC iPlayer is breaking down on VPN usage, so the capability to unblock this service is a wonderful perk.
If you are On the lookout for Amazon Prime Video, you may need to go elsewhere. HMA! Is having trouble unblocking this support at this time and a customer care representative advised us that there isn’t any estimated timeframe for when it might be working again.
HideMyAss! in China?
Hide My Ass! Does not operate in China. It used to, but HMA! Answers in service forums have suggested that the support doesn’t longer function for a few users. You could try your fortune, but should you want a reliable China VPN, you’d best look elsewhere.
HideMyAss! Speed test performance
For any VPN That is compatible with our evaluation methods, we conduct ongoing speed tests that have been designed to be as empirical as you can. We use a test server to connect to VPN servers in Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Australia, the Usa, and Germany. For every location, we download a test file (50MB in size) in the US server. This can be done four times per day in intervals. The average download rate for each test is listed along with the aggregate data is displayed.
You can see From the Simple graph below HMA! Compares to another VPN services we’ve been analyzing. It’s near the front of the pack when it comes to median download rates, while it does not have the fastest rates.
You can see that the spread in outcomes is not as tight as some of the evaluation VPNs by clicking the comprehensive tab. This usually means in regards to speeds you might observe some inconsistency.
It’s Important to note that these tests are not definitive and may only serve as a general indication of the performance you may see. The volatility of the web adds a significant variable of randomness. What’s more, you’ll likely see perhaps smaller or larger discrepancies, and more wait times using a slow connection. Hidemyass Retail
Customer Services
For those who Want Any help whilst establishing or using the service, HMA! Has a few alternatives for you to choose from. Clicking the Help tab on the website, you’ll find a Getting Started section and also a Knowledge Base. These each house posts related to setting up questions. There is a crossover so before searching for other options that you may want to explore both.
In addition, You’ll find a Community button which contributes to a forum section. This can be segregated into different topics; while others are recently active some seem to be out of date. Below that, 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. The service is prompt and knowledgeable, and agents were able to resolve most problems we encountered. At one point, a representative advised he would escalate the issue and was not able to answer some security questions. This has been responded to in.
Safety and privacy
Hide My Ass! Is based. The UK is also a Five Eyes (and Fourteen Eyes) country, which means it is part of an alliance that enables monitoring by outside authorities. Plus, it’s home to the Snooper’s Charter which imposes regulations British ISPs that greatly affect user privacy.
For many VPNs, data retention legislation in their home country are not really an issue. That is because they function using a real policy that is no-logs whereby they don’t maintain any traffic or connection logs. When link logs are kept by them, they can’t be tied to a single user.
Unfortunately, HMA! Is not among these VPNs and contains a privacy policy which most users will discover off-putting. For one, when you can anticipate that your IP address will be logged, along with the amount of data and timestamps used. This is a for VPNs generally. The fact is that information can and has been used to trace the activity of people, Though an IP address isn’t universally considered to be information. IP addresses have been used to help find and convict criminals. We’re pro-privacy while we do not condone activities, and this coverage simply does not cut it. Hidemyass Retail
Additionally, Hide My Ass! Logs the VPN IP address Connected into a session. Here is the IP address that a site operator can view and document when you see it. Considering the real and VPN IP addresses are logged, between the VPN and end website logs, it might be possible to piece together all of a user’s internet activity. You might have seen news of a 2011 FBI case involving HMA! Where it handed over logs that were utilized to track a hacker that is LulzSec down. Clearly, this can be a black marker for solitude.
One way to Make this less of a problem and to possibly confuse matters a little would be to take advantage of this IP address shuffle feature. When enabled in the Network Security screen of the desktop program, your IP address is periodically switched by this outside for another one. It would not make you untraceable but may put in a layer of obfuscation.
Privacy Issues on the security front, Hide My Ass! Fares fairly well. It uses. This perfect forward secrecy and is in combination with 4096-bit RSA keys. It uses the protocol over UDP by default, however you can change to TCP within the client. PPTP, L2TP, IPSec are also available, depending on which program you are using.
The desktop versions boast To work for specific programs. A kill switch will kill the connection should the VPN link drop for some reason. This attribute is not available in the mobile apps
A live chat Customer service representative informed us that there’s no DNS leak protection. But another company representative assured us that there is in fact DNS and IPv6 leak security, but no WebRTC leak security. Really, when the service was analyzed by us for leaks, we didn’t see any DNS leak issues aside from leaks that are WebRTC. HMA! Whereas personal ones would be preferable from a privacy perspective, does use DNS servers.
One handy Attribute that Hide My Ass! Provides is automatic wifi security, which is customized at the in the Network Security section of their desktop or the Connection Rules tab of the app configurations.
Features and pricing
Hide My Ass! Provides one merchandise with prices you register for. It is definitely not among the least expensive services which could be an immediate turnoff for some users. A 12-month planwill put you back $6.99 per month, which can be higher than the normal price for a similar term. What is more, a lot of top VPN providers will supply a protracted plan; for example, a two- or – term with even steeper discounts. Hidemyass Retail
If You’re not prepared to sign up yet, HMA! Does provide a turn-key program for $7.99 per month or you can pay on a monthly basis for $11.99 a month. These rates are a bit above average when you compare to competitors.
Payment Options include credit cards, PayPal, and UnionPay. For much more privacy-conscious consumers, bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are not viable payment procedures. There’s a generous 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can have your payment refunded if you are not satisfied with the service.
So what do You get for your money? Hide My Ass! Has a community of more than 850 servers in over 180 countries. Some are dedicated to accessing streaming sites and specific servers permit P2P filesharing (read: torrenting). All plans have unlimited bandwidth and you may join up to five devices simultaneously. Apps are available for Windows, MacOS, iOS, and Android. The VPN can be manually configured with a few routers and Linux. Routers are available as an alternate.
From a Security standpoint, HMA! Provides automatic wifi protection, perfect forward secrecy, strong encryption, and the apps come with a kill switch. However, the logging coverage problems that plagued the ceremony in the past stay, so privacy is still an issue.
Conclusion
For the most part, HMA! Offers a service. It’s infinite bandwidth speeds, and an adequate community of servers. It’s able to unblock popular streaming services such as Netflix UK, Netflix US, and BBC iPlayer. Additionally, it gives intuitive appssecurity, and superb customer support.
On the Surface, it seems like HMA! Would be a good option for torrenters, without a data Caps and some servers. However, the problems with the privacy Coverage are any other, as well as an issue for those looking to torrent privacy-conscious users. 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 and also the price tag. Hidemyass Retail
Click here to sign up for Hide My Ass! Today!