This is before we even get to the shady contradictions between their latest Transparency Report and their Privacy Policy. Effectively, AnchorFree could be forced to hand over your personal data (and be prevented from notifying you). The United States is a member of the Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance, and current US law allows the Government to invoke gag orders on VPN companies. This takes us to the major flaw of an otherwise impeccable VPN. Their network uses a hyper secure AES-2526 encryption to ensure the privacy of your data from everyone – except AnchorFree. In fact, it is also used by security giants such as McAfee, Bitdefender and even Vodafone. AnchorFree claims this is thanks to their exclusive Hydra Protocol which is based on TLS and OpenSSL.

While I only tested the free version, users reported download speeds of double other VPNS, lower latency and increased ping times. Of course, where Hotspot Shield blows its competitors out of the field is the incredible speeds they offer. Customer support is available 24/7 (although through live chats or support tickets, they are famously slow to respond to emails). I couldn’t access Netflix, but with the premium service you can stream Netflix, access geo protected YouTube videos and even the obstinate UK based BBC iPlayer. Hotspot Shield provides great protection, in the even that a server fails, a kill switch will automatically disconnect you, instantly hiding your real IP address and sensitive information. You can run up to 5 devices simultaneously, and AnchorFree supports anonymous torrenting and even provides a guide to get you started. One click of the power button and boom, you are protected! On the free version, you are automatically given a server (in my case the United States) but if you upgrade to Hotspot Shield Elite you can choose your server from 61 countries. The black backdrop, with a star-studded world map and simple power button in the middle is aesthetically awesome. It took less than a minute to find it, download it and fire it up. The first thing I noticed when I downloaded Hotspot Shield was its sleek design and beautiful simplicity.

Hotspot Shield VPN: unparalleled speed at a priceNow for the pros, of which there are many. Good design, decent speed, and easy to use

Free download hotspot