Among the best VPN services that are budget friendly, Mullvad VPN has been one the most prominent options you would find a great option. Of course, it is a small provider based out of Sweden. One of the secure service providers, it has been known for the best privacy that it offers its users. It can be your best bet for almost each of your requirements ever.
Mullvad VPN Cyber Monday – An Overview
If you are checking out the best VPN services that provides you with an absolute privacy, Mullvad should be the prime option that definitely offers you a great degree of service quality ever. A great service that is fastest, anonymous and secure to the core, it also excels with the best support for torrenting and P2P file transfer.
Security
When it comes to the security features, Mullvad VPN can be a great option for your needs in an extra security features and a great degree of performance for an enhanced privacy level.
The AES 256 encryption is what would provide you with a huge performance characteristics. You can make a choice between two VPN protocols viz OpenVPN and WireGuard. Implementing WireGuard was so far a manual option, and a little complicated at that, but recently Mullvad added the built-in support for the protocol. The mobile apps use WireGuard alone.
If you are a Windows user, you may need to use WireGuard manually, but Mullvad promises to make changes to the system in the near future. The built-in kill switch is one of the thoughtful inclusions. You can prevent your IP address from being exposed in the case of a connection drop.
All servers on Mullvad have SOCKS5 proxy connections enabled. The integrated DNS leak protection can be what would make it one of the excellent options.
Based in Sweden, Mullvad VPN is a part of Fourteen Eyes Alliance. While we normally do not recommend opting for the VPNs from the 14 Eyes Alliance, Mullvad may be an exception. Despite being from the 14 Eyes Alliance, the VPN service does provide you access to a truly enhanced experience ever.
Speeds
VPN definitely reduces your speeds, and you won’t get the exact speed of your network when using a VPN service. Mullvad VPN provides a faster speed performance than the average speed offered by most of the VPN service providers.
The speed tests, when connected to different servers, indicated a speed reduction of up to 20 to 30 percent on a UK based server. In contrast, the reduction was considerable on a US server, which accounted to as much as 40 percent!
In any case, we would indeed consider the speeds quite effective and impressive. Most of the reviews put it at around 10th place among 80 different VPNs tested. That should make it a great way to go.
Number of servers
The number of servers is a bit limited. The 778 servers located in around 38 countries around the world. The service also offers you access to five simultaneous connections. Most of the servers are located in the European region, and that may be a concern in some scenarios. You can find the exact servers in each of the regions through the server list which is regularly updated.
You also have bridge servers located in certain regions that further enhances your experience. However, a few regions are not covered adequately. For instance, South America (Brazil) and Africa (South Africa) only count one country each.
The Logging Policy
Most of the VPN services do claim that they have strict no logs policy. But, in many cases, this has been proved to be far from being true. The fine print in the privacy policy always some loopholes that would authorise the service provider to have access to a few of the features on your network.
Mullvad provides you with a numbered account. You do not sign up to it using your email and password but through a numbered account. The no logs policy has been one of the strongest features, and we have found it to be that way even after scrutiny. That should definitely be the strongest privacy policy ever. The lack of login information should be something that should provide you with an access to an unprecedented anonymity ever.
The VPN service will not log any of the details such as
- traffic
- Domain Name System (DNS) requests
- connections, or any kind of timestamp
- IP addresses
- user bandwidth
- account activity
Which Streaming services does Mullvad VPN support?
It can provide you with access to an enhanced service quality when it comes to the streaming services. Mullvad can provide you access to Netflix on certain servers. Netflix can detect VPN services and thus can be a huge concern in watching the geo-blocked content.
The same thing was observed with BBC iPlayer and Hulu. Except for HBO Go, most of the streaming services do not go through the Mullvad VPN.
If you are someone who is looking for a VPN service for unblocking a streaming service, you are in for a rude shock. It does not work with most of the streaming services.
What about the Mullvad VPN customer service?
When it comes to the comprehensive setup guides, the Mullvad VPN website takes the lead. Most of the examples and use cases provide you with access to an enhanced experience. The addition of searchable FAQs that form part of the package can be a great option ever.
The email support system is yet another thoughtful inclusion. You can generate the GPG key to create an encrypted email service. However, something we found a tough and annoying concept is the lack of live chat support. Now that we have found the live chat support on most of the VPN services, that sounds to be one of the wrong things ever.
In essence, we would consider the total customer service quite limited in nature.
Is Mullvad VPN good for Torrenting?
Mullvad VPN is best suited for torrenting, and in case you are using a VPN service solely for the best torrenting experience, the Mullvad VPN should be your best choice ever. But it should be noticed that you would not be able to use torrenting in the areas where you sued for using torrenting service.
If you have been in any of the 14 eyes jurisdiction countries, you will not be able to use the torrenting feature. Mullvad is one of the fewest of the VPN services that do support torrenting. While they do not mention it right away in their brochures and other related information, Mullvad does provide you access to straight forward Bittorrent guides.
Apps and Extensions
Mullvad VPN does provide you access to an enhance and extremely high-quality performance with its apps and clients for several platforms. The VPN service ha special clients designed for Windows, Mac, Linux and iOS.
The Windows client does provide you access to firewall-based DNS leak protection and kill-switch. The options available for tinkering with the advanced settings can be a great option. In fact, we would recommend opting to mess with advanced settings only if you know what you are doing. The client is quite minimalistic. It does work seamlessly and provides you access to all the features that you may be looking forward to in terms of security and privacy.
Apart from Windows, you also have dedicated clients for macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android. All of them are almost equivalent in terms of features. The mobile apps are currently in beta and may have a few bugs.
The fully-featured graphical user interface (GUI) is a feature that makes the Mullvad Linux client a unique option in its own right. Given that the Linux users are quite rare, that should definitely make it one of the excellent options. The detailed installation instructions are available for different Linux platforms such as Ubuntu/Debian, Fedora 23/24, Fedora 25/26, Mint/Debian, and Elementary Freya.
You will also find detailed guides for the different platforms such as Windows, Mac OS, Linux, iOS, Android, and Qubes OS.
Mullvad VPN does not come with any browser extensions. In fact, browser extensions would be a thoughtful inclusion for ensuring an easy operation on the devices which have a low configuration.
How much does Mullvad VPN cost?
Mullvad VPN does provide you access to a simple flat rate plan. You will be charged at £5 or $5.40 a month. That should be less than half of what most of the competing VPN services charge. However, you do not get any discount even if you opt for longer contracts.
Making payments is not a difficult task, either. You can make different payment options such as PayPal, bank transfer, Swish, and credit card payment.
A Few Pros and Cons
Pros
- Excellent and enhanced connection speeds.
- The accounts are completely anonymous
- An efficient kill switch
Cons
- May not have advanced features
- Cannot access many streaming services
A Few FAQs
Where is Mullvad VPN based?
Mullvad is a commercial VN service located in Sweden. It was launched back in 2009 and operates using OpenVPN and WireGuard protocols.
Does Mullvad work with Netflix?
Mullvad VPN may not work efficiently with Netflix. In fact, the service will not work with most of the streaming services that include Hulu, BBC iPlayer and a wide range of other services. Except for HBO Go, it may not work efficiently with other streaming services on all servers. You can find it unblocking the services only on some servers.
Does Mullvad Work in China?
Yes, Mullvad does work in the Chinese region. It can bypass the China’s firewall efficiently. Mullvad makes use of dedicated and specialised servers to get around the blocks and firewall system in place in China.
Does Mullvad have a free plan?
None of the VPN services offers you a free plan comprising of their premium features. Some of them offer you a seven day free trial that is bundled with their plans. But, to avail the trial plan, you need to sign up for any of the subscription plans.
On Mullvad, however, you need not opt for any subscription plan to use the free trial. But, the free trial will only last up to three hours. If the service can satisfy in three hours time, you can opt for the flat rate subscription at $ 5.40 per month. There are no additional plans available. You won’t get any discounts on long term plans either.
The Concluding Thoughts
Mullvad VPN is indeed a powerful option and meets most of the needs you may have with respect to a solid VPN service. Of course, if streaming is what you are looking for, you may be in for a rude shock. The security features and the speeds are quite impressive. It is quite affordable and offers you a better degree of ease of setting it up. If you are new to VPN services, Mullvad VPN should be a great service you would want to go with.
In essence, if you are looking forward to high security, low prices, and bypassing censorship, we would definitely look ahead to Mullvad VPN one of the excellent VPN services ever.