When a company selects a name, it is often chosen to convey a positive impression. However, a name alone is insufficient.
FastestVPN, for instance, was not as fast as expected during our review, despite the name suggesting otherwise.
The VPN’s website lists several capabilities, including unblocking streaming platforms and a strict no-logging policy.
However, many VPNs tend to exaggerate their abilities for marketing purposes. In this review, we will take a closer look at FastestVPN and examine its features, security, privacy policy, customer support, and overall performance.
We will also evaluate whether or not the VPN lives up to its name and can provide fast speeds as advertised. By the end of this review, you should have a better understanding of whether or not FastestVPN is the right VPN for your needs.
FastestVPN Overview
FastestVPN is owned by Fast Technology Ltd. and is headquartered in the Cayman Islands, an autonomous British Overseas Territory.
This location has the advantage of being subject to local law rather than British government regulations, making it ideal for VPN service providers to operate securely and privately.
Furthermore, the country’s data protection laws have undergone significant improvement. FastestVPN has 500 servers across 52 countries, which is a relatively small number compared to VPN providers such as ExpressVPN and NordVPN, which have thousands of servers worldwide.
A small number of servers can result in overcrowding and slow connection speeds. It is unclear if the servers at FastestVPN have undergone a security audit or if they are rented. The US has the best coverage, with 14 servers spread across the country, from the east coast to the West, followed by Europe.
FastestVPN Pricing Plans
The VPN does not provide a free trial period or a free VPN option, which means there is no way to test it before purchasing it.
Instead, customers have to choose between three packages: monthly, annual, and lifetime, which cost $7 per month, $24.95 per year, and $40 for a lifetime subscription, respectively.
The plans come with 2TB of cloud storage and access to a password manager. Payment can be made via major credit cards, PayPal, or cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Ethereum, and Dash for anonymous payment.
While the VPN offers a 15-day money-back guarantee, it is shorter than the 30-day guarantee offered by most other VPNs.
Can FastestVPN Unblock Streaming Services?
Unblocking geo-restricted streaming services is a crucial feature for any VPN provider, and FastestVPN does a decent job in this regard.
The VPN can unblock popular streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, BBC iPlayer, and Amazon Prime Videos and has dedicated servers for streaming.
However, the streaming quality can be poor at times, resulting in buffering and interrupted playback. While it’s good that FastestVPN allows access to a wide range of streaming services, users may need to be patient with the streaming quality.
How Fast is FastestVPN?
FastestVPN’s speed performance is disappointing, especially given its name. Speed is essential for online activities such as gaming, downloading, and streaming.
Our speed test using a 100 Mbps connection revealed that while the UK server provided us with a download speed of 15.72 Mbps and an upload speed of 9.84 Mbps, the closest US server offered us a download speed of 25.84 Mbps and an upload speed of 16.47 Mbps.
However, from a distant location like Japan, the upload speed was 8.29 Mbps and the download speed was 4.32 Mbps, which is significantly lower than our initial connection speed.
The slow speeds of FastestVPN are not sufficient for reliable streaming, gaming, or even basic browsing, leading to poor streaming experiences. Despite the company’s promises of high-speed performance, our tests revealed that FastestVPN is one of the slowest VPNs we have reviewed.
While we anticipated some speed reduction, we did not expect such a significant drop from our initial connection speeds.
Is your Data Safe with FastestVPN?
FastestVPN is located in the Cayman Islands, which is a favourable location for privacy since the country does not have data retention laws and is not under the surveillance of the Five Eyes alliance nations.
FastestVPN has a strict no-logs policy, as stated in its privacy policy. It only stores your email address, which is removed once your account is deactivated. However, their no-logs policy has not been independently audited.
All of FastestVPN’s apps utilize military-grade AES 256-bit encryption, making it impossible for anyone to monitor your online activities or trace your online identity. The VPN uses several protocols, including IKEv2, IPSec, TCP, UDP, and L2TP, but it does not support the OpenVPN protocol, although you can manually install it.
FastestVPN has many built-in features, such as malware protection, ad-blocking capabilities, split tunneling to control your VPN traffic, an automatic kill switch, and IPv6 and WebRTC leak protection.
All of FastestVPN’s 500 servers support torrenting, but they advise against using their servers in Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and India for torrenting. The VPN claims to work in China, but only if you manually configure it with OpenVPN, OpenConnect, or AnyConnect protocols.
Apps and Support
FastestVPN offers native apps for multiple platforms, including iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, and Amazon Fire TV Stick, and it’s also compatible with routers. The Windows app is easy to download and use, while the Android and iOS versions can be downloaded from the respective app stores.
Additionally, FastestVPN provides Chrome and Firefox extensions that can be downloaded from the browser web stores.
FastestVPN’s Windows app features a “smart-connect” button that is supposed to connect users to the best server automatically. However, during testing, it only connected us to the server we previously used, which is disappointing.
FastestVPN provides customer support via email and live chat, and users can also refer to the setup tutorial and FAQ page on the website for assistance. However, the live chat support didn’t provide much useful information during our testing, and it took longer than expected to receive a response.
What VPN can I use Instead of FastestVPN?
If FastestVPN does not meet your needs, there are several alternative VPN services you can consider. ExpressVPN is a popular option known for its fast connection speeds, strong security features, and wide server network.
NordVPN is another popular VPN service that offers excellent security and privacy features, including a double VPN. CyberGhost VPN is a user-friendly VPN service that offers fast speeds, a wide server network, and strong security features.
Other alternatives you can consider include Surfshark, Private Internet Access, and ProtonVPN. It’s important to evaluate each service based on your specific needs and priorities to find the best fit for you.
What we like
- The VPN is located in the Cayman Islands, which is great for privacy.
- The strict no-logs policy is reassuring, although it hasn’t been independently audited.
- FastestVPN’s apps use military-grade AES 256-bit encryption, and the protocols IKEv2, IPSec, TCP, UDP, L2TP, and PPTP, which provide strong security.
- The built-in malware protection, ad blocker, split tunnel, automatic kill switch, and IPv6 and WebRTC leak protection provide extra layers of security and privacy.
- FastestVPN supports torrenting on all of its 500 servers.
- The native apps for various platforms and compatibility with routers make it easy to use and set up FastestVPN.
What we dislike
- The customer support via live chat was not as helpful as we would have liked, and it took longer to receive information than a Google search.
- FastestVPN doesn’t support the OpenVPN protocol like other VPNs, although you can manually install it.
- The no-logs policy hasn’t been independently audited, which could be a concern if you prioritize privacy.
Final Thoughts
FastestVPN falls short of its claims of being a fast and reliable VPN service. While it has some features, such as strong encryption and a no-logs policy, it lags behind other VPN providers in terms of speed and server network.
Additionally, its customer support is not very responsive or helpful. If you’re looking for a VPN service that can provide you with fast and reliable connections, there are better options available on the market.