SwissVPN Review 2024: Before You Buy, Is It Worth It?

Speeds Were Disappointingly Slow

Despite a considerable drop in my base connection speed, I was still able to surf the internet, download torrents, and watch movies. Speeds are restricted to only 15Mbps with the standard package that I purchased, but you can get higher speeds by spending $2.20 more. You can initiate a free Speed Boost option several times a month, which supposedly increases your speeds for three hours. However, I didn’t notice any increase in speeds.

Considering SwissVPN only has one server hub, I didn’t have the option to select a server. After initiating the speed boost option with the standard package, the VPN redirected me to a Zurich server and a Lupfig based server.

Speed Test Results

SwissVPN significantly reduced my upload and download speeds. Keep in mind that the results may vary depending on your location, your internet provider, and the time of day. Tests like this will help you understand how SwissVPN is likely to affect your connection.

My first step was to test the speed of my web connection to establish a baseline data, after which I added SwissVPN to the mix. As shown below, my base download speed was 41.84 Mbps and upload speed was 346.77 Mbps.

I ran the test again after I connected to SwissVPN using the OpenVPN client. I got a download speed of 3.47Mbps and upload speed of 1.02 Mbps.

SwissVPN will use a significant portion of your bandwidth and provide slow download and upload speeds. Since your device and the VPN server exchange data faster when its server network is large, you can usually expect much higher bandwidth and lower ping from larger server networks. With just a single server hub, SwissVPN simply can’t keep up.

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Server Network — Overly Limited Server Network

Unfortunately, SwissVPN’s number of servers won’t blow you away. There is only one data center in Zurich, which is extremely limited in comparison to the many data centers offered by top competitors. As this VPN focuses on privacy rather than unblocking content, I suppose it isn’t entirely unusual.

SwissVPN does not require registration and represents itself as a solution that allows you to browse the internet safely by connecting you to a Swiss encrypted server. Despite that, SwissVPN is rather limited in its functionality as you can only connect to Switzerland-based data centers.

Security — Basic Security Features

While SwissVPN provides a decent level of encryption, it isn’t the strongest standard available. It uses AES (128-bit) tunnel encryption and Diffie-Hellman (1024-bit) key exchange to ensure your information and activities on the web remain anonymous.

Supported protocols include OpenVPN, SSTP, L2TP/IPSec, and PPTP, so you can select the level of security that you prefer and the option that best suits your platform. OpenVPN is considered an industry standard with no known weaknesses.

As shown below in the screenshot, SwissVPN is not capable of protecting your data or keeping your real IP address or physical location anonymous. Despite testing several randomly-assigned swiss IP addresses for DNS leaks, I always came up with disappointing results.

But if you need an added layer of security, you can subscribe to a packet firewall filtering service for $2.20 per month. I purchased this firewall feature and was able to block all incoming internet connections and allow all outgoing ones. It also ensured my IP address and DNS requests remained private during connection dropouts.

Overall, SwissVPN appears to be a capable VPN service that offers just enough to satisfy average users if you’re willing to pay for extra security features that should very well come standard. The service does not provide advanced features such as a kill switch or split tunneling. If you’re an advanced user who might want more control over your web connection, it’s best to opt for a stronger VPN, like ExpressVPN, that’ll meet your needs comprehensively.

Privacy — Logs Some Data

SwissVPN’s official website states that your personal data is never logged. According to the privacy strategy of its owner, Monzoon Networks, your specific identification information including a login, password, session ID, location address, hardware MAC address, IP address, and request information will be collected to give you access to the network.

This VPN service collects a great amount of information when compared to other VPN services. It would be very beneficial if it were possible to provide transparency regarding the data it collects and what it does with it without making claims to provide a “no-log service.” As some of its competitors have done, it would be great to have an independent auditor examine these cases in detail.

All the data is stored in the company data centers in Zurich and Frankfurt, although it is stated that it may store data in another country “if the handling is actually intricate.” This means that your data could end up practically anywhere without your prior knowledge, which gives me some pause when it comes to using this service for critical tasks. There is simply too much ambiguity with how SwissVPN handles your personal data.

Being headquartered in Switzerland gives SwissVPN an instant edge on privacy compared to most of the competition. Besides having strong privacy laws, it is not part of the 14-Eyes surveillance network and is not governed by US or EU law. While this fact is comforting, I am still troubled by all of the data that this VPN keeps and stores.

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Torrenting — Supported But Not Advised

SwissVPN is unacceptably slow and lacks sufficient security features to be recommended as a VPN for torrenting. SwissVPN makes no mention of torrenting or P2P traffic on its website, so I reached out to customer service. Support was able to confirm that you are allowed to torrent or participate in P2P file-sharing activities as long as you follow the law and are not violating anyone’s rights.

To test its effectiveness, I connected to the VPN, opened a torrent client, and downloaded a file available in the public domain. My average speed while torrenting with SwissVPN was 4.2 Mbps, compared to 41.84 Mbps without a VPN. The speed of SwissVPN is not the only limitation in terms of torrenting as it also lacks a kill switch and has no adequate logging policy.

My team and I don’t condone participation in any illegal activities. Please check the rules and regulations in your country to ensure you are not in breach of any laws.

Does SwissVPN Work in China? No!

The company’s website does not reference the VPN’s ability to circumvent censorship in countries like China. Even though SwissVPN may be able to bypass China’s Great Firewall through its SSL VPN protocol, its distance from China will make this advantage insignificant. Even if online surveillance cannot detect your activities, you are unlikely to get fast speeds since there are no servers located near China. Additionally, this VPN doesn’t offer any additional obfuscation tools that would make it work in censored regions such as China.

Non-government approved VPNs are illegal in China, but there have been no public cases of tourists being penalized by the Chinese government. The common practice is that China fights VPNs by technologically blocking them, and not by chasing after the people who use them.

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I recommend that those who are seeking a live chat system start looking elsewhere, as SwissVPN does not offer this service. To contact the company, you can use the web-based email form provided on its website.

Clicking “Help” on the site will take you to a form where you have to fill out some data before you can submit the message/ticket. It is required to fill in a name, an email address (to check if they have responded), a subject, and a message.

The screenshot upload function is not currently available, so you will have to be very explicit if your problem is of a specific nature. A captcha is also required to prevent bots and automated submissions.

The customer service team responded fairly quickly and was very helpful when I had questions related to torrenting. The staff is available to assist in both English and German. Additionally, SwissVPN maintains an active Twitter account where updates are regularly posted.

The website offers an extensive and growing collection of helpful articles that are sure to get you up and running quickly if you prefer troubleshooting on your own first. But you should be aware that it only contains 31 articles, most of which are FAQs.These are short questions and answers rather than full-length informative articles in the traditional sense.

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