AVG Secure VPN review: A well-known security brand takes on VPNs

AVG Secure VPN in short:

• P2P allowed: Yes
• Unlimited system connections: No, 10 simultaneous system connections
• Business location: Czech Republic
• Number of servers: 700+
• Number of nation areas: 50+
• Cost: $53.88 for a yr

AVG is a widely known model within the private safety {industry}. Right together with Avast, Norton, and McAfee, it’s a family identify amongst safety software program due to its very talked-about antivirus suite. In latest years the corporate has branched out to offer a complete host of non-public safety providers with one in all them being the AVG Secure VPN.

I’m all the time stunned to return throughout an antivirus firm working its personal VPN community. So many antivirus suppliers go for white label providers from established VPN suppliers that it’s a rarity to discover a safety firm answerable for its personal. Nevertheless, can this antivirus model efficiently department out and compete with the giants within the VPN {industry}? Let’s have a look to search out out.

Further studying: See our roundup of the best VPN services to find out about competing merchandise.

What are AVG Secure VPN’s options & providers?

When you open up the AVG Secure VPN Windows app you may instantly see similarities to different AVG apps akin to AVG Internet Security. The title bar, for instance, is nearly a carbon copy of different AVG apps. In the upper-left nook you’ve gotten the AVG emblem together with the product identify. To the suitable there’s a menu icon with further settings. 

You can inform this comes from an antivirus firm slightly than a VPN service — even the bigger app window is extra consistent with trendy antivirus apps slightly than the smaller vertical home windows most VPNs go for these days.

Diving into the principle a part of the app you’ll discover a big on/off slider within the middle of the display screen. Below which can be two tiles: The first one exhibits the nation location of your chosen server, and the second exhibits your present IP tackle. Once linked, this tile additionally exhibits your new VPN IP in addition to the period of time the connection’s been lively.

You can then click on the Change Location button on the backside to open up a listing of all accessible servers. AVG’s server community within reason sized with over 700 servers throughout 50 some-odd nations. It even gives particular groupings for streaming and torrenting particular servers. The streaming server listing specifically is slightly restricted with simply U.S., UK, and German areas, however good to have nonetheless. 

Sam Singleton

Dive into the settings below Menu > Settings on the principle display screen and also you’ll discover that there’s not a lot right here. There’s the choice to start out AVG Secure when the pc begins up (however not join), in addition to an choice to allow native system entry. The latter is for accessing gadgets in your native community like printers when the VPN is enabled.

Additionally, there’s an web kill swap possibility that’s activated by default. There are additionally choices for numerous notifications, in addition to a secure listing the place you’re ready so as to add personal networks in case you don’t need the VPN to connect with them routinely.

Since our final overview, AVG Secure VPN has added a piece for VPN protocols in addition to further language choices for the app itself.

Notably, AVG Secure VPN doesn’t embrace widespread options supplied by many opponents. Useful options akin to split-tunneling, multi-hop, or ad- and tracker-blocking are all lacking in motion.

The app itself is obtainable for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS.

How a lot does AVG Secure VPN value?

Sam Singleton

In regards to pricing, AVG Secure VPN does issues a bit in another way. While most VPN providers supply month-to-month pricing choices, AVG Secure solely gives a minimal of a one-year subscription. Two- and three-year subscription plans can be found as effectively for a barely diminished value. 

Its option to solely supply long-term subscription plans is a doubtful one. Many VPN customers pay for his or her subscriptions on a month-to-month foundation and being locked in to a minimal of 1 yr generally is a flip off. The total pricing is nice, although, at simply round $54 for a yr and sits firmly in the course of VPN providers with reference to pricing.

Seemingly to fight this long-term dedication, AVG Secure VPN gives a free two-month trial of its VPN service for all new customers. You’ll nonetheless be required to create an account and safe a fee possibility, however you may simply cancel anytime inside that interval and never must pay a cent.

How is AVG Secure VPN’s efficiency?

To check AVG Secure VPN’s speeds I measured connection speeds throughout its servers in six completely different nations all over the world after which in contrast them to my baseline web velocity. AVG Secure VPN’s speeds weren’t something to put in writing residence about. The common obtain speeds clocked in at 31 % and add speeds at a paltry 19 % of base speeds. 

While this may not look good, it’s vital to notice that VPN connection speeds are a notoriously finicky metric. There are plenty of parts that may have an effect on how briskly your connection velocity is and all outcomes needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Regardless, the speeds you’ll get from AVG Secure gained’t make it your fastest VPN option, however they need to be sufficient for many shopping or video streaming actions.

Sam Singleton

In regards to unblocking capabilities, AVG is a little bit of a combined bag. On one hand, the devoted streaming servers all carried out flawlessly. They had been capable of entry each main streaming service I attempted together with Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Disney Plus, and HBO Max. Unfortunately, the identical can’t be mentioned for the opposite servers in its community. While testing servers outdoors of its designated streaming server listing, I discovered that Netflix blocked each connection and the opposite streaming websites had been hit and miss.

Ultimately, whether or not AVG Secure VPN will probably be a very good match for these of you wanting to make use of a VPN for unblocking streaming web sites will come right down to what nations you could entry. If the content material you need to watch is within the U.S., UK, or Germany, then stream away. If it’s from some other nation, you’re probably out of luck and it’d be finest to think about one other VPN supplier.

How is AVG Secure VPN’s safety and privateness?

Sam Singleton

AVG Secure gives just a few protocol choices to select from. Along with the industry-leading WireGuard and OpenVPN, it additionally gives its personal proprietary protocol known as Mimic. The identify comes from the corporate’s intention to assist mimic HTTPS site visitors and due to this fact extra simply bypass VPN blockers. I personally didn’t discover a lot of a distinction when utilizing the protocol when it got here to accessing web sites, so mileage may range right here.

AVG Secure VPN and its guardian firm Avast are each situated within the Czech Republic which isn’t a member of any worldwide indicators intelligence alliance. Therefore the corporate gained’t be topic to authorities data-sharing necessities.

The firm’s VPN privateness coverage is fairly simple — if not spectacular. It doesn’t log your originating IP, DNS queries, shopping historical past, or private knowledge akin to emails.

The firm does, nonetheless, join timestamps for connections. The firm says it wants this knowledge to calculate peak instances for service demand with the intention to optimize community capability. AVG additionally tracks the quantity of information transmitted, which it says it wants “to plan for new network capacity and server improvements.” The firm says all of this knowledge is saved for 35 days after which deleted.

In addition to that server-side data, AVG can even log knowledge from the VPN shoppers, together with connection occasions (connects, disconnects, failures, and so on.), to take care of service high quality. It additionally logs “application events” akin to auto-connects and uninstalls in addition to crash studies that customers ship again manually. All of this knowledge is saved for 2 years after which deleted.

Clearly, AVG just isn’t probably the most privacy-conscious relating to knowledge assortment. So in case your livelihood will depend on you having probably the most personal service potential that is in all probability not the one you need.

Is AVG Secure VPN price it?

AVG Secure VPN has some good issues going for it. It’s simple to make use of, it does a good job unblocking streaming providers, and the truth that it gives 10 simultaneous system connections is admirable. It does sadly log some internet exercise knowledge which can alienate privateness advocates, however the firm is a minimum of upfront about what it retains and for the way lengthy.

If you need a VPN from a widely known safety firm that does the fundamentals proper and isn’t overly complicated then AVG Secure is a good sufficient selection.

Editor’s observe: Because on-line providers are sometimes iterative, gaining new options and efficiency enhancements over time, this overview is topic to alter with the intention to precisely replicate the present state of the service. Any adjustments to textual content or our last overview verdict will probably be famous on the prime of this text.