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

I Got Fast Speeds on Short and Distant Servers

I was pleased with the fast speeds I got with Disconnect during my tests. Although the VPN has a small network of servers, I didn’t experience any significant drop in speeds even with distant servers.

Speed Test Results

During my tests, I got decent speeds slightly above 18Mbps, an 18% drop from my base internet speed.

Before I connected to the Disconnect servers, my base internet speed was around 22Mbps. With just 6 server locations to choose from, I didn’t expect to have fast speeds. Surprisingly, I got a download speed of 19Mbps with the server in Frankfurt, 20Mbps with the server in New York, and 17Mbps with the London server. Even on the most distant server from me (the server in Singapore), I still got 14Mpbs — a 36% drop in speed.

However, the latency was high across all the servers. I got an average latency of 200ms, which means that Disconnect isn’t ideal for activities like gaming, where a latency of less than 100ms is recommended. A low latency VPN is suitable to avoid lags where split-second decisions need to be made, like in gaming.

Server Network — 100+ Servers in 6 Locations

Disconnect has over 100 servers in only 6 locations: New York, California, Frankfurt, Toronto, London, and Singapore. I successfully connected to all of the offered server locations on both iOS and macOS devices. It always worked on the first try, and I never got disconnected unexpectedly.

It’s easy to find the best server, as Disconnect automatically defaults to the fastest option in your chosen country. Even though my connections were reliable, I found the small server network limiting — especially for unblocking censored websites and streaming sites. A larger server network also helps ensure faster speeds by preventing overcrowding, which happens when too many users connect to the same server at once.

So, it’s usually preferable to use a VPN with a massive server network for unblocking popular streaming services. For example, the likes of CyberGhost with thousands of servers in 100+ locations gave me super-fast speeds and unblocked all streaming sites during my tests.

Editor's Note: Transparency is one of our core values at WizCase, so you should know we are in the same ownership group as CyberGhost VPN. However, this does not affect our review process, as we adhere to a strict testing methodology.

Security — Military-Grade Encryption but Few Security Features

While Disconnect may have good encryption and solid protocols, I strongly advise against using it due to the lack of an automatic kill switch. Without this critical feature, your online security and privacy are at risk. In the event of a server crash or connection error, your IP address, real location, online activities, and identity could be exposed, leaving you vulnerable to cyber threats.

Security features offered by Disconnect include:

• Military-grade encryption – Disconnect uses AES-256-bit encryption to safeguard your connection from malicious third parties. I was also thrilled to learn that it uses top-of-the-line 2048-bit Diffie-Hellman encryption for key exchange, which guarantees you unbeatable Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS) protection. This is a security feature that protects each VPN session with its own “private key.” This means that even if a third party somehow hacks your connection, a brand new set of keys would be used to encrypt your next session and keep your data safe.
• Multi-protocols – with its use of top-rated security protocols like OpenVPN and IKEv2/IPSec, you can rest assured that your connection will be safeguarded against any potential threats. Don’t overlook the importance of this crucial security feature when choosing a VPN.
• Ad-blocker and tracker-blocker – an ad blocker blocks advertisements, while a tracker blocker blocks online tracking tools. These features in VPNs enhance user privacy and security by preventing advertisers and online trackers from collecting user data. When I tested Disconnect’s tracker-blocker on an ad-heavy video site, it stopped multiple trackers from Google, Facebook, Amazon, and third-party marketers. For me, it was redundant since I already use a free ad-blocker. If you don’t have one yet, Disconnect’s tool may be a good solution.

This security protocol and encryption standard are military-grade features to keep you protected from hackers, but with weak or poorly designed VPNs, some data like your real IP address and location can still leak out.

To ensure all this data stayed private, I ran multiple DNS leak tests on every server location. Each server passed my DNS test, confirming my real IP and location stayed hidden while I was connected.

I became concerned when I went back to do more DNS testing a second time. Disconnect started showing a server near my real location, which made me think I might have a data leak. I reached out to support and was relieved that I only saw Disconnect’s encrypted servers and my real IP address wasn’t compromised.

Privacy — Might Share Data

I studied Disconnect’s privacy policy, and it’s very transparent about the information it collects. Disconnect only gathers the personal information you voluntarily provide (such as your email address while communicating with its support team). At the same time, it will remove any personal data within 30 days of your request to do so.

It worries me a little that Disconnect is headquartered in San Francisco, which is in the United States. This puts it under the jurisdiction of the Five Eyes Alliance, an international intelligence-sharing agreement between the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Under the agreement’s rules, companies based in the US can share customer information with any government that is part of the alliance. Disconnect is transparent about these requirements and says that it will share your information with law enforcement agencies upon request.

Support agents told me that users’ online activities are never logged. However, Disconnect’s privacy policy says it could be legally forced to share your email address and billing information from the credit card you use to pay for your subscription. Some of this information is also shared with Stripe, Disconnect’s payment provider. This kind of information exchange isn’t unusual with online payments. However, many VPNs offer the option of paying with cryptocurrencies, which lets you stay completely anonymous since your identity isn’t tied to the transaction.

If you need a VPN to stay private online, I suggest you use CyberGhost instead. It’s based outside of the Five Eyes alliance and has special, NoSpy servers that are physically located in Romania — a country with no internet surveillance laws. You can stay completely anonymous by paying with various cryptocurrencies.

Torrenting — Unfortunately, It Doesn’t Support P2P

It was disappointing to learn that Disconnect prohibits torrenting generally. Normally, it’s legal to torrent in many jurisdictions as long as you’re not involved with any illegal file sharing. But Disconnect blocks torrenting totally on several ports commonly used for torrenting in the past with its VPN. It claims this prevents abuse and advises its users not to use its VPN for torrenting or P2P.

So if what you need is a VPN that outrightly supports P2P, my recommendation would be CyberGhost. You can try CyberGhost with hundreds of P2P servers in 100+ countries that are optimized to give you faster speeds as you torrent safely.

Does Disconnect Work in China? Yes

Disconnect lacks stealth or obfuscation tech, but users reportedly use it in China per the company’s support. While I can’t confirm its effectiveness there, it’s noteworthy that Disconnect operates where non-government-sanctioned VPNs are banned by a strict Firewall. The leading VPNs have only managed to bypass this with one such technology.

If you’re planning a trip to China and need to access content from your home country, I strongly recommend considering ExpressVPN as your go-to solution. While Disconnect may seem like a viable option, it lacks stealth technology and leaves me skeptical about its effectiveness in China. With ExpressVPN, you can rest assured that your online activity remains private and secure while accessing the content you need. That said, please note that using a non-approved VPN in China is illegal, and my team doesn’t advise our readers to break any country’s rules.

Editor's Note: Transparency is one of our core values at WizCase, so you should know we are in the same ownership group as ExpressVPN. However, this does not affect our review process, as we adhere to a strict testing methodology.

Disconnect has limited support options. You can check an FAQ for answers to some basic questions, but you have to email support for more technical issues. Email support took several days to reply when I asked about the Android device app. However, after the initial response, I was assigned a service agent who gave answers within 24 hours.

Since Disconnect’s customer service team is only available between 9 am to 5 pm PT, don’t expect a response outside of those times. You can also reach out via a Twitter account that accepts direct messages, but reply times are inconsistent (from 1 hour to 3 days). In addition, Disconnect features a blog where you can read the latest happenings in the VPN industry and with the service itself.