Webroot WiFi Security VPN Review 2024 — Does It Deliver?

Impressive Speeds on Short Distance Connections

Webroot WiFi Security was very fast on short-distance connections. When you need to connect further away from your true location Webroot WiFi slows down. The Webroot WiFi Security desktop app has an embedded speed test tool I found quite useful for speed testing.

Speed Test Results

With each of Webroot WiFi’s servers I saw a decrease in my download speeds, but these were so small that I could use the internet as I normally would without experiencing any slowed downloading times. As a baseline connection, I recorded download speeds of 73.51Mbps and upload speeds of 17.29Mbps.

My first step was running speed tests on servers within close proximity to the US (my actual location) and then on servers located further away from the US. I made sure to use the automatic server selection feature when testing the Webroot WiFi short distance servers to get the fastest options.

The fastest servers were those in the United States, with an 11.2% decrease in download speeds and a 54% increase in upload speeds. The Japanese servers followed the same pattern. I experienced a 29.7% drop in downloads and a 19.8% increase in uploads.

The United Kingdom had the third-best speeds for downloads. My downloads were 44.4% slower, which is a sharper drop in speeds, but a download speed of 40.93Mbps is still impressive. My upload speeds came in at 27.83Mbps, 37.9% faster than my base speed.

Australia’s servers were where I saw a disappointingly steep drop in my download speeds. It measured only 8.20Mbps, which is 88.9% slower than my base speed. Multiple tests were performed on the Australian server, with the same result each time. Upload speeds were 26.6% faster than my normal speeds at 23.53Mbps.

Drops over a long distance are not uncommon. There are only a few VPNs that are capable of keeping a decent connection to places like Australia. Other than Australia’s servers, all the servers on the network provided fast streaming and browsing speeds.

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Server Network — Limited Range of Options

Webroot WiFi’s server network is rather small with just over 700 servers spread out across 34 different countries. 700 servers is not a sufficient number to meet the demands of hundreds or thousands of VPN users. Overcrowding is more likely with multiple users vying for the same locations.

A majority of Webroot WiFi’s servers are in the western hemisphere and Europe. The network thins out near Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Oceania, with only a few countries providing servers. It would be great if Webroot WiFi Security covered more countries and offered better coverage in Africa and Germany.

I found that the servers themselves were easy to jump between when one was slower and potentially overcrowded. Connecting to every location was smooth and only took a few seconds.

Stay safe with Webroot WiFi Security

Security — Military-Grade Encryption

When it comes to security features, Webroot WiFi Security offers all the basics. It is worth mentioning that there are no advanced features like split tunneling, multihop, or ad-blocking. This program offers strong 256-bit encryption for all communication, which is the industry standard nowadays. It also offers four different protocols for you to choose from, so that you can get the level of protection you want for your online activities.

The default protocol is IKEv2, which is a widely accepted protocol in terms of reliable security. The other choices are: OpenVPN, which is balanced for protection and speed; L2TP Over IPSec, which is very secure but can be slower when getting around firewalls or performing; and PPTP, a simple protocol that prioritizes speeds for streaming but is less secure than these other options.

Webroot WiFi also has a kill switch option, which automatically disconnects your device from the internet if your VPN connection drops unexpectedly. That way, your IP address, location, and identity remain unexposed.

Using the ipleaktest.net tool, I found no vulnerabilities of any kind, including webRTC, IP, or DNS exposures. In other words, Webroot WiFi did a good job of encrypting and protecting my connection.

Privacy — Murky Logging Policy

Webroot WiFi Security claims on its website that it does not track, retain, or log any of your internet activity while using the VPN, but this assertion is false. Having reviewed Webroot’s privacy policy in more detail, I found that user information is indeed stored by the company.

Some of the information that is logged is standard for VPNs that require a subscription, such as your email and user credentials. However, while Webroot WiFi Security states that what you browse online or download is not collected normally, there are instances where this does happen.

The information is anonymized but is retained if the VPN crashes so the company can determine what caused the issues. What is logged is the region you connected with and the number of simultaneous connections, and, depending on what is pulled, some of your downloaded data and DNS queries may be recorded. The IP address you were assigned isn’t logged, and all of this information is automatically deleted every ninety days.

To learn all of this took some serious digging through the privacy policy. I understand the reason behind retaining this data, but I find that stating there is a no-logging policy is a bit of a generalized statement. While that data that is collected is anonymized to prevent it being traced back to you, this information is indeed being logged by the company somewhere. While the automatic deletion is helpful, ninety days is a long time for logs to be kept. I think Webroot WiFi Security should strive to reduce the amount of information they collect, as well as the duration that it is retained.

ExpressVPN is more ideal if you want a VPN that doesn’t log your web traffic in any way. Instead of making the data anonymous, this company simply doesn’t log it at all, and third-party audits have proven this fact.

Torrenting — Doesn’t Support It

Webroot WiFi Security VPN does not support P2P traffic or torrenting. Being that some of your data is logged during use, I wouldn’t recommend it for torrenting anyway.

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 Webroot WiFi Security Work in China? No!

With the absence of a server located in China or any obfuscation tools, Webroot WiFi Security is unlikely to be able to offer access to most China-restricted content. Active VPN users on the website’s community forums have also confirmed this information. Since I am not a resident of China, I am unable to personally verify its authenticity. Therefore, I decided to contact the support service for further clarification.

Upon inquiry, a member of the support staff informed me that the company is unlikely to set up servers in China any time soon. As far as my second question about whether this service would work in China, the representative ignored it, and I have yet to get an answer.

ExpressVPN is one of the few VPNs that will work in China. If you reside there or are traveling you’ll have access to all of the streaming content you’ve paid for, and more of the world wide web.

Please note that the protection of a VPN doesn’t give you license to commit illegal acts, so please exercise a basic level of caution when using a VPN in China.

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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.

You can contact Webroot Security WiFi through the application on your device. You just have to open the settings menu and select the ‘open support ticket,’ button.

Once you fill out a ticket with your inquiry, it’s sent to the support staff. They responded to each of my questions within twenty-four hours and answers were always clear and concise. You have access to the FAQ forums on Webroot WiFi’s website through the application as well, which is convenient if you don’t want to wait for a response.

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