An interesting VPN with a huge feature set and a surprisingly small price, Surfshark’s network has recently grown to more than 1,700 servers spread across an impressive 160 locations in 63 countries, for instance – it’s no wonder it ranks so highly on our VPN countdown.
There are Windows, Mac, iOS, Android and Linux apps, Chrome and Firefox extensions, and a website-unblocking Smart DNS system for games consoles, TVs and more.
Whatever you’re using, there’s no need to worry about annoying ‘simultaneous connection’ limits – you can install and run Surfshark on as many devices as you like.
The service is strong on the technical essentials, including strong AES-256-GCM encryption, OpenVPN and IKEv2 support, a no-logs policy, and a kill switch to protect you if your connection drops.
Surfshark allows P2P and BitTorrent via VPN on certain servers, and the CleanWeb tool provides ad-blocking as well. Its real strengths, however, are the rarely seen features it provides. One such feature is Whitelister, a split-tunneling tool that routes app traffic or websites outside the VPN tunnel. Letting you whitelist websites is smart, since some sites block access from VPNs. These can be anything from video streaming sites to banks. Surfshark’s solution is very tidy, going beyond most of the competition.
The other unusual feature is Multihop, which creates a VPN connection to a server and then bounces your traffic to a second VPN server for even greater security. Few competitors offer this feature, which trades enhanced privacy for speed. Both Multihop and Whitelister are powerful tools, and while you might not use them every day (or ever), they help justify Surfshark’s high price. More on these features below.
One rare feature Surfshark currently does not offer is access to Tor via VPN, which is available through NordVPN and ProtonVPN. Notably, ProtonVPN also offers multihop and split-tunneling.
Many VPN companies allow you to purchase add-ons to your base subscription. TorGuard, for instance, has an à la carte option for the number of simultaneous connections you want. NordVPN and others offer private static IP addresses, which are useful any time you find your VPN connection blocked. Surfshark includes static IP addresses in its subscription, but you have to share those with other users on the same server.
VPN Protocols
There are many different ways to create a VPN connection. My preferred option is OpenVPN, which has a reputation for speed and reliability. More importantly, it’s an open-source option, meaning that its code is available to be examined for potential vulnerabilities. Surfshark offers OpenVPN in its Android, iOS, Linux, and Windows apps. The excellent IKEv2 protocol is also available on all platforms and is default for macOS.
Support
If Surfshark doesn’t work for you, the support site has setup and installation tutorials, troubleshooting guides, FAQs and other resources to point you in the right direction.
Merchant’s website : https://surfshark.com/
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