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

Consistently Average Connection Speeds

A thorough speed test of Rocket VPN’s service showed that it slowed my connections by half. With such a decent speed, you can stream online content and unblock YouTube videos you might not be able to access while traveling. It should also be possible to make VoIP calls without any difficulty.

Speed Test Results

Streaming speeds for the US, UK, French, and German connections averaged 13-20 Mbps. The speeds weren’t terrible, but they were lacking when compared to other top-notch services.

I first ran an Ookla speed test using my regular connection without Rocket VPN turned on. I had a base speed of 40.69Mbps when the test was conducted. I experienced a 50% decline in speed after connecting to a local server. Connections to servers in the UK and France did not produce better results – both declined by 64%. I conducted real-world testing on Youtube, and no fluctuations were detected while watching videos in 1080p resolution.

After testing Rocket VPN’s performance over short-distance servers, I decided to test it over a long-distance server in Australia. Since I only achieved average speeds from nearby servers, I did not expect results from a place as far away as Australia would be fast. As expected, the Sydney server slowed down my internet speed by 65%.

Overall, the performance of Rocket VPN was quite average on both local and long-distance servers. Be aware that VPN speeds can vary quite a bit. You have to take into account your internet connection and your location. Thus, your speed test results can differ from mine.

Server Network — Minimal Server Options

The Rocket VPN service offers the option to select from 7 virtual locations worldwide, including locations in the US, UK, Germany, and France. The only other locations outside these servers are Australia, Japan, and Singapore.

There is also no option to select city-level servers, which can be particularly frustrating if you reside in a large country such as the United States. It is worth mentioning that Rocket VPN utilizes Hotspot Shield’s servers, which means you are sharing your internet traffic with Hotspot Shield users.

Consider using Cyberghost in order to have access to more server options. As of right now, it has 11,670 servers in 100 countires, making it one of the best VPNs on the market. My experience indicates that performance is also very good, although your results may vary depending on where you are located and the speed of your connection.

Security — Unknown Security Implementation

This VPN leaves you completely in the dark when it comes to security. There is no information available on the protocol, cipher, handshake, authentication, or whether Perfect Forward Secrecy is employed. It is possible that this VPN does not encrypt your data at all, giving you a false sense of security when your ISP can still track everything you do online.

Sadly, there is no kill switch available with this VPN provider. So, your internet connection won’t be automatically terminated if there is a problem connecting to the VPN server or if the connection drops. It is important to keep this in mind when using the VPN, especially if you are concerned about the security of your browsing data.

In the absence of a leak protection feature, I conducted a few leak tests of my own to see if Rocket VPN was fully leakproof. To be more precise, I checked for IP leaks, DNS leaks, and WebRTC leaks. Rocket VPN appeared to be very safe, protecting all my personal information. It is my virtual information that is visible, so there are no surprises.

ExpressVPN should be your choice of VPN based on its technical security capabilities. With top-tier encryption solutions, sophisticated obfuscation ciphers, and additional mechanisms for verification, it represents the pinnacle of VPN technology.

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.

Privacy — Risky and Confusing

Contrary to its claim to have no-log privacy policies, Rocket VPN collects a great deal of data. The information that Rocket VPN logs include your name, email address, credit card information, IP address, timestamps, and other data collected during registration. Further, the VPN collects invasive data about people’s devices, advertising identifiers, device identifiers, local networks, ISPs, and much more.

There is a tremendous amount of data being retained, which makes Rocket VPN capable of accessing much more data than you would think. Several VPNs are available on the market that either store non-invasive connection logs or none at all. Thus, this service is not worth paying for.

The company has its headquarters in Ireland, which is not a member of the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliance. As a result, this VPN is unlikely to be compelled by government authorities to disclose details about its users.

Torrenting — Not Advised

The Rocket VPN service is not optimal for torrenting since it only offers a handful of server locations. So, you shouldn’t expect fast downloads or uploads when using torrents. It also does not provide many features that might assist you in downloading torrents safely. The program logs too much information, and there is no kill switch to prevent accidental IP exposure.

You should know that peer-to-peer file sharing without permission is unlawful, and we do not support violating any laws. When in doubt, please check with local regulations within your area before torrenting and only downloading files available in the public domain.

Does Rocket VPN Work in China? No!

Rocket VPN doesn’t provide any obfuscation features to conceal the fact that you’re using a VPN if you’re an expat in China. Plus, I’m not sure what encryption and security protocols it employs. I reached out to the company’s customer support service to confirm this but received no response.

Smaller VPNs like Rocket VPN usually aren’t capable of bypassing the Great Firewall. A safer alternative like ExpressVPN can be used to access blocked websites in highly-censored countries. The protection offered by a VPN doesn’t allow you to commit illegal acts, so follow basic precautions when using a VPN in China. While non-government approved VPNs are banned in China, no foreigners have reported being fined or sanctioned for using them.

Support is provided through an email address and an extremely limited FAQ. My several attempts to reach Rocket VPN’s support team via email were unsuccessful. The FAQ page provides information aimed more at potential customers and less at troubleshooting. Consider switching to a service that offers 24/7 support if you are critical to obtaining answers immediately.