Speed
|
7.9 / 10 |
Servers
|
7.1 / 10 |
User Experience
|
8.4 / 10 |
Support
|
8.4 / 10 |
Pricing
|
7.8 / 10 |
Cienen Review 2024: Before You Buy, Is It Worth It?
Reading time: 2 min
Updated on Dec 1, 2024
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Written By Eric Raue Cybersecurity & Tech Writer
Cienen Overview
If you’re in a hurry, here’s the bottom line — You can get more servers globally, better VPN features, and 24/7 customer support with Surfshark for the same price or less. So why bother reading on?!
Cienen VPN offers high speeds and up to 7 simultaneous connections on one license. For the Dedicated plan, they provide 10 multiple connections, which is an impressive number. This is much better than the usual 2-5 simultaneous connections permitted by most other VPNs.
Cienen encrypts your data and hides your IP, making your connection anonymous. With zero tracebacks, monitoring, or logging, this VPN is perfect for those who want safe and private browsing. Bypass geo-restrictions and even access VOIP apps like Skype without ISP blocking.
Cienen VPN has unlimited bandwidth and blazing fast speeds. They support PPTP and L2TP protocols on their Shared IP plan. If you want to access the OpenVPN protocol, try their Dedicated VPN plan. You can even run your own VPN server with the MikroTik router program.
While access to the Shared IP plan is offered through 24 servers in 17 countries, Dedicated VPN and MikroTik plans are provided in 10 countries.
This VPN disappoints with no free trial and no apps for non-Windows OS. However, it shines with the ability to stream Netflix and delivers impressive speeds. Movie enthusiasts might find it to be their go-to VPN.
Speed
- 7.9
/ 10
Why Most Speed Tests are Pointless & How We Correctly Test VPN Speeds
Speed determines how fast content uploads, so if you're torrenting or streaming, you want the speed to be somewhat identical to your regular internet speed. Since a VPN encrypts your data, it usually takes a bit longer to send your data back and forth, which can slow down your connection. However, if your ISP deliberately slows down your connection (also known as throttling) a VPN might increase your internet speed. Testing a VPN is somewhat pointless because new servers pop up and affect speed. Your speed can also differ according to your location, so your speed test might not match ours. Having said that, we tested the speed in numerous locations to provide you with the average.
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Servers
- 7.1
/ 10
Cienen VPN has 24 servers in 17 countries (for Shared IP plan) and 10 servers in 10 countries for other plans.
Server Locations
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User Experience
- 8.4
/ 10
For Windows users, installation of this VPN is simple. All you need to do is download the software for your 32 or 64-bit processor. Once the installation is complete, open the app, log in, select the server, and connect to it.
While there are no apps for other platforms, it can be manually configured on Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, Amazon Kindle, Chrome OS, and routers.
Manual configuration takes a couple of minutes extra and there are step-by-step guides on the website. This VPN can be used to access geo-blocked streaming websites such as Netflix and BBC iPlayer. It’s great for streaming games as well, given the unlimited bandwidth and premium speeds.
Before you make a final decision, we highly recommend you check out some alternative VPNs which may offer better features and prices.
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Support
- 8.4
/ 10
How We Test Customer Support and Why Should You Care
We personally test the customer support team of every VPN we review. This means asking technical question through the live chat feature (where applicable) and measuring the response time for email questions. Whether you need to connect to a specific server, change your security protocol, or configure a VPN on your router, finding a VPN with quality customer support should be important to you.
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Pricing
- 7.8
/ 10
Cienen offers the following plans
Editor's Note: We value our relationship with our readers, and we strive to earn your trust through transparency and integrity. We are in the same ownership group as some of the industry-leading products reviewed on this site: ExpressVPN, Cyberghost, Private Internet Access, and Intego. However, this does not affect our review process, as we adhere to a strict testing methodology.
| United States | |
| 2007 | |
| No | |
| 7 | |
| 3 days guaranteed |
