BottomLine: Hotspot Shield VPN is no doubt the best VPN available in the industry in the contemporary times. It allows you to login to the anonymous world of internet by merely providing the access codes, thereby setting you free from the obligation of entering your user id and password. And it is quite easy-to-use as well, by running and installing the small sized exe files at your PC, Mac or other computing device. You can buy it at much slashed rates as compared to others in the industry and it also accompanies multiple payment options. However together with these pluses, hotspot Shield VPN also owns certain cons to its name that are worthy to be taken care of before the users turn their backs to it and switch over to some other VPN provider. It has servers located in the United States, and speed is also not that much appreciable, though it worked fine to run streaming websites... [Read More]
Editor`s Rating:
Hotspot Shield is a VPN service provider based out of Silicon Valley, Mountain View, California, USA. They started out in 2005 by providing free WiFi services. Hotspot Shield defines it's work as ‘dedication to public service’ and to match that claim; they offer a free download of their VPN software, Hotspot Shield. I’m sure anyone must have guessed by now that there must be a catch to all this free stuff. Well, there is. The free download version of the Hotspot Shield VPN software is slow and full of advertisements. However, it is an unlimited trial service!
Accolades for Hotspot Shield
According to the people at Hotspot, their VPN software has been downloaded more than 100 million times. They do not give out the crucial information that how many of them were ‘free’ downloads. Anyway, they also list down the names of various top-notch newspapers that have covered Hotspot shield’s services in their publications, such as:
1. The New York Times
2. CNN
3. Fast Company
4. FOX
5. The Wall Street Journal
6. BusinessWeek
Moreover, Hotspot Shield has been given 4.5/5 stars by venerable internet software websites such as C|Net, PCWorld, and Softonic.
Device / OS Support
Hotspot Shield’s cross-platform compatibility is also extremely versatile as it runs on Mac OS X 10.6, 10.7, 10.8, iOS, Android 2.x, 4.x, Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7. More importantly, Hotspot Shield now also offers compatibility for Windows 8.
VPN Packages
As already mentioned, Hotspot Shield offers a free-downloadable version of their application, keeping in line with their core philosophy of helping people. They also offer a paid plan, called Hotspot Shield Elite, costing $29.95. This plan offers a 100% secure transaction through a 2048-bit SSL encryption, 30-day money-back guarantee, and a 24/7 ticket support supplemented by a free telephone support across a range of locations such as North America, Europe, Australia, and other international locations.
Payment Modes
The services for Hotspot Shield can be paid for through all the major gateways and credit cards such as VISA, MasterCard, AMEX, and PayPal.
