BullGuard VPN Review 2024: Before You Buy, Is It Worth It?

Poor Speeds

I experienced average to poor speeds when connected to BullGuard’s servers. The fastest servers were in the United States and the United Kingdom, which were still far slower than I’m used to. Despite a few instances of increased upload speeds, I had significant drops, and the latency was also high.

Speed Test Results

I conducted speed tests on several different servers. My base speed without connecting to the VPN was 180.26Mbps for downloads and 31.60Mbps for uploads.

Even though the US servers were the closest to my true location, I still experienced an 82% decrease in download speeds. However, my upload speeds were slightly faster, with a 5.9% increase. It was a similar story in the UK. I had a decrease in download speeds of 88%, but an increase in upload speeds of 13.2%.

Using servers further east from my location was when I started to see poor speeds across the board. When I connected to an Australian server, download speeds were 92.3% slower and upload speeds were 11.4% slower than my base speed. Hong Kong had the slowest of all with a 92.7% decrease in download and a 71.2% decrease in upload speed.

Server Network — 2,000 Servers in 16 Countries

BullGuard has a server network that spans 16 different countries with 2,000 IP addresses for you to connect to. I found this interface easy to use, and my computer connected to each server in a matter of seconds.

You aren’t allowed to select which server you connect to. Instead, you have a list of countries to choose from, and the software randomly picks the server in that country for you.

While this number of servers may sound like a lot, this is actually small in scope compared to competitors’ networks out there. Many of the servers are located in and around the UK, which makes sense given that BullGuard is based in the United Kingdom. However, if you’re far away from these countries, you may have slower speeds.

This short list of server options also means that it will be more difficult to access restricted content in countries you’re traveling to that employ heavy censorship policies.

Security — Military-Grade Encryption

While not listed on the website, I confirmed with the support team that BullGuard uses AES 256-bit encryption to protect your data. I ran a couple of DNS leak tests to determine how well BullGuard masks your IP address. I was pleased to see that my location and IP address were kept secret with each DNS leak test that I conducted.

This makes perfect sense, as BullGuard has its own DNS server. This means that all DNS requests are only within the BullGuard server, so there is nowhere for it to leak to.

BullGuard also offers additional security features like a kill switch that instantly shuts down the internet if your VPN suddenly disconnects. There is also an “invisibility on LAN” feature, which makes your computer invisible to other users sharing a local area network.

However, while I know from the support team what level of encryption BullGuard uses, there isn’t much outside of BullGuard’s own advertising that really proves how successful this is at protecting your information. I haven’t been able to find literature on third-party audits that prove this VPN is really impenetrable.

Despite this, my tests and experience with the VPN have shown me that the security features and customization options for BullGuard are one of its strongest selling points.

Privacy — Logs are Kept

BullGuard logs personal data, and this is true across all subscriptions and forms of internet security you purchase from them. What I appreciated about BullGuard’s privacy policy was how clear it was regarding this, as well as being transparent about what specific information it keeps.

The information that BullGuard logs may include your name, address, email, phone number, and credit card information. The reason cited for logging this information is to provide a better product and for marketing purposes.

You do have the right to restrict how it uses your data, as well as request that it deletes any and all information stored about you. It only stores information that you provide or the information it accesses as you use the website.

BullGuard logs personal information that some users may not like. If you’re not comfortable with a policy like this for your VPN provider, you may want to look into those with a no-logging policy instead. ExpressVPN does not log user information of any kind and has been audited by third parties proving this.

Torrenting — Secure for Torrenting

BullGuard supports torrenting and is compatible with programs that are optimized for these activities. Any of its servers can be used to torrent with qBittorrent, Transmission, uTorrent, or Vuze. Even more impressive, BullGuard will automatically select the fastest server for this. Even so, the slow overall speeds of BullGuard make it ill-suited for speedy torrenting.

BullGuard is a secure choice for torrenting because of its security measures like a kill switch and AES 256-bit encryption. Please note that I nor my team condone illegal torrenting. If you want to torrent any content, make sure you adhere to your local laws before engaging in P2P file-sharing. Research your area and confirm that the content you’re torrenting is in the public domain.

Does BullGuard Work in China? Yes!

BullGuard will work in China, however, there are no local servers located in or near China. I personally don’t live in China, so to confirm this I reached out to a representative and they ensured me that BullGuard will work in China. However, most of BullGuard’s servers are based in and around the UK so you might have trouble finding a server close enough and fast enough to perform your online activities while visiting China.

Keep in mind that using VPNs that aren’t approved by the Chinese government is illegal. Despite this, there have been no cases of Chinese officials punishing tourists for using non-approved VPNs. Rather, they enforce these laws by technologically blocking these services.

The BullGuard support staff were quick to respond and thorough when answering my questions. Whenever I reached out to them, they responded to me within 24 hours.

The VPN offers a 24/7 chat option, as well as email for any personal assistance you need. There is a forum on the site that may already have the answers that you’re looking for, but in my experience, it was lacking in information and instead often had representatives just responding to questions with “Please contact our support department directly to investigate this issue.”