OpenVPN Review

Even though OpenVPN can easily bypass geo-restrictions, it’s not enough to allow you to stream your favorite movies or TV shows using streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, and others. You’ll need to use servers provided by the community, but not even they guarantee that you’ll be able to unlock everything.

If you want to use any streaming platform without any geo-restrictions, it’s best to subscribe to an official VPN service like NordVPN, ExpressVPN, or SurfShark, as they will provide fast and reliable servers that can stream on almost any platform.

Again, this depends on the server you connect to. If you trust a server to be secure and reliable, while providing excellent speeds, you’ll be able to have a seamless gaming experience. On the other hand, finding a reliable server that will provide you with lag-free gaming is difficult.

Your option is to either find a community server that is suitable for gaming or subscribe to a VPN service provider that supports OpenVPN.

As mentioned earlier, OpenVPN itself won’t keep any of your data, because it’s primarily a network protocol. All you need to connect to its OpenVPN app is your email address and a password. With that in mind, there’s no data collection in that regard.

Still, with such a large community and so many servers available, OpenVPN can’t guarantee that some other servers aren’t collecting and using your data. Be cautious when choosing servers to establish connection as the company won’t be held accountable if your data is leaked or used on some third-party server.

Using OpenVPN through a VPN service provider is a different story as they provide reliable servers and take care of strict logging and privacy policies. Always review the privacy policy of the specific provider you are considering, as they may differ in terms of what data, if any, they collect and for how long they retain it.

Keep in mind that these vary depending on whether you use your own server, or are subscribed to a VPN service provider. Their policies may differ.

OpenVPN protocol is equipped with a plethora of useful features that allow you to have a seamless and secure experience browsing on the internet. Here are some of them.

• Amazing speeds: OpenVPN has two profiles – one that prioritizes speed and one that prioritizes safety. If you want to prioritize speed, you can use it with the UDP protocol and enjoy a swift browsing experience.
• AES-256-bit encryption: OpenVPN uses the implementation of industry-standard AES-256-bit encryption called OpenSSL encryption, which is reliable and prioritizes your privacy.
• Compatibility: OpenVPN is compatible with the most used systems and platforms such as Windows, Linux, and macOS, as well as mobile operating systems Android and iOS.
• Kill Switch: OpenVPN itself may not have the kill switch, as it’s only a protocol, but its client app OpenVPN Connect is equipped with a kill switch that blocks any potential data leakage and security vulnerabilities when a dropped connection occurs.
• No-logs: OpenVPN won’t collect your sensitive data and has a no-logs policy, but because it’s an open-source community, it can’t guarantee that using third-party servers will protect you from the data being collected.
• Number of Devices: You’ll be able to connect to 10 devices simultaneously when using the OpenVPN free license.
• Can Work in China: It can bypass the Chinese security firewall and operate in China too.

OpenVPN is an open-source protocol, and as such, both the protocol and the app are free to use. The pricing structure on the official website refers to other tools that OpenVPN offers in its catalog. Most community servers that OpenVPN offer are free. If some server is too expensive to access, it’s more affordable and reliable to subscribe to an official VPN and pay a monthly fee to use thousands of reliable servers.

OpenVPN supports torrenting. Thanks to its amazing speeds and security standards, OpenVPN allows you to download torrents fast when you use the UDP protocol. But you should approach torrenting with caution.

There are plenty of free servers that you can connect to with OpenVPN. Still, you should know that some of these servers are in countries where torrenting is illegal. If you’re not knowledgeable on the matter, it’s a better idea to subscribe to a reliable VPN provider that is based on this protocol, as they may be equipped with dedicated torrenting servers.

OpenVPN doesn’t have any explicit physical servers. It does have a large community where at least 30 servers can be found. Most of the servers are free, while some may require payment to use their resources. Keep in mind that the company doesn’t own any of these servers.

If you decide to use OpenVPN as part of some other VPN service provider, you’ll be able to connect using some of their dedicated servers.

OpenVPN is a VPN protocol and as such it doesn’t come with an Ad Blocker. Some VPN service providers offer an ad-blocking feature as part of their package, but it’s not something that comes with OpenVPN or OpenVPN Connect app.

If you’re extremely tech-savvy, you may be able to set up your Ad Blocker through OpenVPN, Raspberry Pi (or a VPS), and dnsmasq. This GitHub repository may offer insightful ways to set up your own VPN with Ad Blocking services. Still, the process is complex, time-consuming, and more expensive than subscribing to a VPN service that is based on the OpenVPN protocol and offers ad-blocking as a feature.

Even though OpenVPN can easily bypass geo-restrictions, it’s not enough to allow you to stream your favorite movies or TV shows using streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, and others. You’ll need to use servers provided by the community, but not even they guarantee that you’ll be able to unlock everything.

If you want to use any streaming platform without any geo-restrictions, it’s best to subscribe to an official VPN service like NordVPN, ExpressVPN, or SurfShark, as they will provide fast and reliable servers that can stream on almost any platform.

In the following sections, we’ll discuss how this VPN protocol works and how much of an expert you need to be to create a secure virtual private network (VPN).

How Easy Is It to Set Up?

The ease of setting up OpenVPN depends on whether you have any technical expertise and whether you worked with computer networks, servers, or VPN protocols in the past. If you did, that’s great, but you’ll still have to go through a tasking setup to make it all work perfectly.

In order to set it up effectively, you’ll need to install the OpenVPN Connect application, configure the servers that you’ll use, generate the IP addresses for all the devices that will use OpenVPN to connect to the network, and ensure properly implemented authentication procedures to maximize your privacy and security while using OpenVPN.

A much more simplified option is to subscribe to some VPN provider that uses the OpenVPN protocol, which is more aimed at beginners.

How Easy It Is to Use For a New User?

As mentioned above, OpenVPN may be too difficult to use for a beginner, which is why subscribing to some official VPN providers may be easier and more effective. Providers like SurfShark and ExpressVPN use OpenVPN protocol, so navigating through their reliable servers will be easier and more effective.

Moreover, all those providers have a dedicated guide that will help you get started with a VPN service and set it up on your devices. Alternatively, you can set your OpenVPN protocol automatically, by using the app of your VPN service provider and let it configure everything automatically. The app will prompt you to use OpenVPN TCP or OpenVPN UDP connection.

Platform compatibility

OpenVPN can be configured using any of the available platforms such as Windows, Linux, macOS, as well as Android which uses an official OpenVPN client. Additionally, iOS-running devices like iPhones and iPads can use the official OpenVPN Connect app to configure the VPN connection.

Browser Compatibility and Extensions Available

OpenVPN itself is typically not used directly within web browsers or as a browser extension. However, there’s an official OpenVPN Server Finder Chrome extension that allows you to browse the available servers within the community.

OpenVPN doesn’t have typical customer support. That said, while you won’t be able to access the support via email or live chat, you can visit the Support Center and get help via a ticketing system. There are also plenty of articles about using OpenVPN, while the Resource Center also offers some helpful information. Keep in mind that the Resource Center is more focused on the paid services that OpenVPN offers.

OpenVPN is a versatile and highly secure open-source VPN protocol that, when properly configured, provides robust encryption, authentication, and privacy features. Its transparency, cross-platform compatibility, and strong community support make it a solid choice for safeguarding online communications and ensuring user privacy. But, because it’s difficult to set up and requires you to be connected to a reliable server, it may be better to subscribe to a VPN service that uses OpenVPN protocol such as SurfShark, ExpressVPN or TotalVPN.