Avast VPN
The VPN SecureLine package is offered by reputable antivirus company Avast and provides an added layer of security to your internet connection. You can try it for free for 7 days via its free trial or get the paid versions. The VPN uses a strong bank-grade 256-bit AES encryption, and you will get the choice of using OpenVPN and UDP protocols.
The speeds of the VPN connections are above average, and you can use the VPN to watch Netflix content or other blocked videos in your region, as well as download torrents and share files via secure and anonymous P2P with Avast SecureLine.
If you want to find out all about this VPN service package offered by consumer security service leader Avast, read on through our thorough review.
General features
Overall ranking among VPNs: #16 out of 76
Ease of use: 4 out of 5
Server locations: 34 countries (including 2 in Canada, 2 in Germany, 2 in Russia, 2 in Spain, 3 in the UK, and 16 in the USA, as well as servers in countries that rarely are covered by VPN providers like New Zealand, Israel, and South Korea)
Number of servers: 55
Technical support provided: by phone or the online knowledge base and support forum.
Log files: none
Torrenting: allowed
Encryption: AES 256-bit
Location and jurisdiction: the Czech Republic
Netflix: works
Devices and platforms supported: PC, Mac, Android, iPhone, iPad.
Number of devices: up to 5 devices
Kill switch for added protection when the connection is lost: yes
The Pros of Avast VPN SecureLine
- Very good speed results
- A free 7-day trial version is available.
- Above-average overall performance and security
- Very easy to install, set up, and use
- Made and offered by a reputable and trustworthy provider
- Low costs for single-device use
- Strong and reliable encryption
- An unlimited bandwidth
- Kill switch and DNS leak protection
- Excellent customer and technical support
- Allows torrenting, P2P sharing
- Sold with a 30-day money-back guarantee
The Cons of Avast VPN SecureLine
- Much fewer servers and server locations than other VPNs
- It doesn’t offer VPN for routers
- Not so many features
- Works with official apps only
- No Bitcoin is accepted.
In a nutshell
Overall, Avast SecureLine has scored high on speed tests and security tests but has a limited number of servers and server locations as compared to the leading VPNs. Also, the pricing for the different products and services can be quite confusing.
The virtual private network provided by Avast will ensure that your privacy remains secure and safe while you use the Internet. It offers impressive speeds, but its lack of too many features, as well as the fact that the pricing is quite complicated and that it doesn’t provide VPN for routers, makes it a less preferred and recommended VPN service than some of the other feature-packed VPN services we have tested.
Then again, Avast VPN works with all major platforms and devices and can be run simultaneously on up to five devices. It has unlimited bandwidth and amazing speed, so it is a pretty good VPN.
Plus, you can use it to watch Netflix, download torrents, and share files via a Peer-to-Peer connection.
About Avast
Avast was first established back in 1988 and has since established itself as a reputable antivirus and security software and service provider, headquartered in Prague, The Czech Republic but has more than 1,500 employees located in 13 countries around the world.
The company claims to have more than 435 million active users per month and is the leader in consumer security and mobile security.
Avast offers all kinds of security solutions in several categories – Avast Consumer, Avast mobile, Avast Business, and Avast Platform.
It is clear that Avast is a much bigger company with longer experience than many of the other VPN providers on the market.
What is VPN
A VPN will create an encrypted tunnel between the VPN server and your computer through which the information becomes unreadable to anybody trying to spy on it or intercept it. This is especially useful when you are using public Wi-Fi networks to ensure that your privacy and your data stay safe.
The VPN tunnel will also keep your online activities hidden from your internet service provider, which eliminates the risk of your IPS selling or giving your anonymized user data, which is actually legal in the USA.
A VPN is very useful if you want to access videos and websites which are otherwise inaccessible due to regional or other restrictions. With a service like Avast VPN, you can tunnel out to a server in the country where the video is and can watch it without any restrictions.
In addition to masking your true location, this service makes it look like all of your Internet activity is coming from the VPN server, rather than from your own device.
Before setting up and utilizing a virtual private network (VPN), you should check local and national rules and regulations.
Still, keep in mind that a VPN service will not protect you from malicious software and online dangers, so you need to combine it with a reliable antivirus program as well.
Pricing
Avast VPN is currently offered for $59.99 for PC or Mac per year and only $19.99 for Android or iOS phones or devices, but you can buy a license for up to 5 devices for $79.99 per year. The monthly license for mobile devices is just $2.99, and one for up to 5 devices per month is $8.99.
There is also an option to buy a two-year plan for $149.99 or for three years for $219.99. You will also get an option for a monthly subscription for $8.99 for one device.
There are other combinations between a number of devices and the months and years which you can explore too.
The best news is that you can try the program out before buying it, thanks to the 7-day free trial offered by Avast. After the trial period, you will receive a discount for your subscription as well.
As you can see, the pricing and various combinations offered can be a tad confusing. Still, monthly VPN coverage is cheaper than other VPNs, and if you opt for the 5-device license, anyone can use it on any device, so you can cover the entire family with a relatively affordable subscription.
The payment can be made via credit card, PayPal, and wire transfer. Cryptocurrencies are not accepted.
You can opt for the Avast Ultimate security package, which includes Avast Premier Antivirus, Passwords Premium, Cleanup Premium, and SecureLine, all in one for a price of $119.99 for 1 PC.
Also, you will receive a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you will be refunded if you are not completely happy with the service.
Keep in mind that Avast may refuse to give you a refund after these first 30 days if you have downloaded or uploaded more than 10GB of data via the Avast VPN or if you have connected to one of its servers over 100 times during the initial month.
Ease of use is superb – both for computers and mobile devices
You can hide your IP address and secure your internet connection with a single click of a button.
You will see Your location button on the screen and can change it instantly by choosing any country or server on the list.
You can access the Preferences menu in order to customize Avast SecureLine to meet your preferences and needs. You can choose to start up the program and connect automatically every time you boot up your computer so that you will stay protected at all times.
The Avast SecureLine for Android and iOS devices is as easy to use and as intuitive as the desktop service. You can connect to any server of your choice with a single tap.
Keep in mind that you will be asked to share your credit card information if you choose to try out the mobile Avast VPN app and take advantage of the 7-day free trial. This is not the case if you download and install the desktop trial version.
Interface and setting up
The VPN by Avast is frill-free software. It can be downloaded quickly and installed easily, even if you have no idea how VPN works and what exactly it does. All you need to do is follow the instructions on the screen, and you can set the VPN up in a matter of minutes.
There are no flashy extras or complicated mechanisms; instead, the design is minimalistic and soothing. When you connect to a private, public, open, unsecured, or unknown network, you can activate the VPN service and select a server from the available list. If you’d rather have the program choose the best server for you, you can have it connect to an Optimal Location.
It can slow your internet connection a bit, but the overall speeds are among the fastest among VPN services. It varies depending on the server and the country you choose. All connections allow for fast downloads, seamless video watching, and overall excellent performance without any annoying disconnections. The bandwidth is unlimited, which is a definite plus too.
Apps and features
Avast definitely knows how to make life easier for users who have no idea what VPN is and how it works. In fact, you can easily install the SecureLine software even if you are completely new to security software thanks to the easy-to-understand and intuitive installation wizard and interface.
When installing the Avast VPN on a Windows PC, you will not be asked to register, provide your e-mail address or enter any payment or personal information.
Once installed, you will see a Connect button, and each option comes with easy-to-understand captions that will explain its functionality to novices. For example, it will tell you that when your VPN is on, your location will appear to others as <Japan, Israel, Germany, and so on>.
You will also be able to see whether you are connected, disconnected, or in the process of getting connected to one of the VPN servers at all times.
The program will notify you via pop-up notifications whenever there is a change in your VPN status, which some people may find annoying. Thankfully, there is an option to turn these notifications off.
The location picker has a filter that you can use to find servers on a certain continent or to find dedicated Peer-to-Peer optimized locations as well.
As for the settings, you can choose the automatic VPN connection option in case you access an unsecured Wi-Fi network or choose to start the VPN service as soon as you turn your computer on, no matter where you are and no matter the type of internet connection you are using.
The SecureLine system tray icon can be accessed and right-clicked for quick access to the features and settings, but in order to use another server rather than the default one, you will need to access the full client to pick it and change the settings.
The Android SecureLine app has pretty much the same features and settings. You can easily connect or disconnect to a VPN server with a single tap and choose a specific location from the list of servers provided.
With the Android mobile app, you can select a nifty auto-connect system, which will turn the VPN on as soon as it detects that you have connected to a network that is not on your Trusted Networks list or when you are using your mobile data connection to access the Internet.
The supported platforms
Avast VPN SecureLine works with all popular platforms, including Windows XP and above, Mac OS X 10.9.x and above, Android and iOS. As we noted, this VPN service does not support routers.
You can use the VPN simultaneously on 5 devices at the same time if you choose the 5-device package.
Testing Avast SecureLine
First and foremost, when we tested SecureLine on a Windows 10 PC, we noticed that running it had a minimal effect on the overall performance of the system. The program can be accessed via the system tray icon and the main app. The design of the interface is clean and simple, and all you need to do is select the server of your choice from a pull-down menu. You can allow Avast VPN to find the best server automatically as well.
At the time of the testing, there was no problem accessing and watching video streams on Netflix while using Avast VPN, which is pretty rare for VPNs because Netflix blocks them in order to prevent people from accessing videos that aren’t available in their geographic location.
The speed test results
Although it is perfectly normal to expect a slowing down of your internet connection when using a VPN, with Avast SecureLine, the latency actually improved. This is excellent news for gamers who want to use Avast VPN for online gaming.
When testing the uploading and downloading speeds with SecureLine on, we noted a slowing down of the downloads with a mere 6 percent, which is minimal as compared to other VPNs we have used. The upload speed was slowed down by just 4% when using SecureLine, which is another excellent result.
Overall, the scores from the speed test for Avast VPN were above average.
Torrenting with Avast VPN
You can download torrents when using SecureLine, as it supports peer-to-peer connections. You will need to use one of the listed data center locations by the Company, which include: Prague in the Czech Republic, Frankfurt in Germany, Amsterdam in the Netherlands, NYC in New York, Miami in Florida, Seattle in Washington, London in the UK or Paris, France.
This is a large number of servers, so you can find the one which is the fastest and nearest to you and enjoy torrenting or P2P file transfers safely and anonymously with Avast VPN.
Encryption and security
Avast SecureLine uses strong AES 256-bit encryption and offers two types of protocols – IPSec and OpenVPN and UDP. The program offers secure DNS leak protection to keep your information from leaking from the VPN tunnel and has a nifty Kill-Switch, which will shut down your work as soon as it detects a loss of connection. This can help keep your online privacy safe.
The 256-bit encryption is currently the best and most reliable protection available at the moment, which is why it is used by most government agencies, banks, and security professionals.
Netflix and streaming
Avast claims that SecureLine VPN can be used for streaming, but that there are several servers which are optimized for streaming which you should use to watch geo-blocked video content.
The servers optimized for viewing Netflix streams or others are located in the UK and the US.
If you want to watch videos that are restricted in your country, you might want to try a few different methods to see which one works best.
Although the US servers appear to work fine with Netflix, it is possible that Avast VPN will be blocked in the future.
Privacy and logging
With the increasing number of controversies regarding the logging of our online data and browsing history, of course, we are all concerned about how the different websites, platforms, and programs handle and store our personal data content.
According to Avast, SecureLine VPN will store only the connection logs of the users, including the time of connecting and disconnecting, as well as the bandwidth usage. The company claims that this is for diagnostics and purchase processing purposes only and prevention of abuse over VPN connections.
Avast will not collect information regarding the actual websites you visit and the files you upload or download, nor will it log your IP address.
Avast will not be injecting ads into your traffic, nor will it be selling your user data to third parties according to the Czech based company. You can read the complete Privacy Policy of the Company here.
Thanks to the brute-force strong OpenVPN protocol with AES-256 bit encryption, your privacy will remain as safe as possible when using Avast SecureLine. The DNS leak protection and the Kill Switch offered by Avast VPN is an additional privacy protection features that will ensure that your data and internet usage will remain protected and secure at all times when using SecureLine.
Tech support by Avast
Avast has a huge and very resourceful support site with a number of useful and detailed setup, usage as well as troubleshooting guides for all of Avast’s products. The SecureLine VPN section is a tad limited as compared to the other security products offered by the company, but still, it has all the basic information you will need in several main categories, including Technical Issues, Basic Usage and Subscription, and Purchase.
There is also a SecureLine FAQ section which includes most of the relevant topics, but it is not as detailed as the FAQ sections of other leading VPN providers.
In case you have trouble finding a solution to a problem or the answer to a question you have online, you can post your queries in the Avast Support forum – namely, in the SecureLine section of the forum. You can expect to receive an answer or a helpful reply within an hour of your post.
You will need to register to post in the forum, but you can access all posts without logging in and search through the sections and general support forum for solutions for your specific problem with Avast VPN.
Both the knowledge base and the forum are searchable, so you can quickly search for a specific issue you are having before posting your own question in the support forum.
In case you can’t seem to resolve your particular problem, you can go ahead and contact the customer support of the Company directly via the web form available here. Avast promises to respond within two business days to any question or query.
Avast has a 24/7 technical support call center – Avast Total care which you can use when you want to get help by tech experts. The number is 1-844-340-9251, and it uses a ticketing system with a number which you can use to get free advice and diagnosis.
Avast doesn’t offer Live Chat support and hasn’t provided an e-mail to use for tech support, which some people may find off-putting.
You can always try to contact the Company via its official Twitter or Facebook accounts, but we are not sure how quickly Avast would respond on social media.
The fact is though that the Company has a 24/7 phone support service which will allow you to connect to a real live person and hopefully find a solution for a problem or issue you are having with SecureLine or any other product and service offered by Avast.
You can also use the ticketing system and contact technical or billing support online, and expect to receive an answer within the next 24 hours too.
So, given the huge and useful knowledge base, the support forum, the 24/7 phone support, and the ticketing system, we must say that we are very satisfied with the customer and technical support offered by Avast.
Final verdict
We love Avast SecureLine because it is extremely easy to set up and use on all kinds of platforms and devices, so you don’t need to be a tech expert if you want to install and use this VPN service.
The program won’t slow down your computer or another device and has above-average speeds when it comes to latency, downloading, and uploading via VPN. This makes it an excellent solution for online gamers and for those of you who want to watch Netflix or other streaming services anonymously, safely, and to unlock geo-blocked video content.
Avast VPN also allows P2P connections and torrenting, which is great news for people interested in downloading torrents and exchanging files securely.
It is a secure program, which uses the highest range and safest encoding to ensure that your data and information transferred remain anonymous and safe from prying eyes no matter what internet connection you are using and where you are.
Avast’s VPN software is one of the easiest to set up and use in the industry. It lets you join straight when an unknown network is detected and gives you access to 55 servers spread throughout the globe. DNS leakage prevention and the Kill Switch safeguard your data even if the connection to the server is lost, so you can relax knowing that your online privacy is not at risk.
It has unlimited bandwidth, and all speed tests show great results.
The VPN package may not be as feature-packed as some of the other VPN services which we have tried, but it is secure enough, fast, and very easy to use and you get a free 7-day trial, as well as a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can test it before actually buying a subscription.
The price for a license for a single mobile device is pretty low, and so is the monthly plan for computers. The pricing of the different packages can be a bit confusing, but you get a huge option of different bundles, so you can pick a package for the number of devices you want and for the time period you need.
It is available for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android devices, so you can choose the package you need according to the types of devices you and your family use.
Avast will not log your internet browsing history and will not sell it or give it to third parties.
We don’t like the fact that you cannot set SecureLine on a router and that it has fewer servers than other VPN providers.
But overall, we trust Avast and would rate its VPN as above average, so if you are looking for a reliable VPN service, customer and tech support that is easy to access, and want to invest in a proven security package, Avast SecureLine could be the prime option for you.
You can also get it as part of the full Avast Ultimate Security package which includes Avast Antivirus Premier, SecureLine, Password Premium, and Cleanup Premium which is a top-notch security bundle available at a reasonable price too.
If you are a beginner and not so tech-savvy and want to use a secure and easy-to-use VPN connection, Avast SecureLine is definitely one of the top choices at the moment.