For the uninitiated, a VPN or Virtual Private Network is a service that allows you to access the internet as if you were connected to a private network – meaning – it will enable you to access the internet securely and anonymously. Furthermore, besides securing and offering anonymity over the internet, a VPN also helps you bypass region-specific content on the internet. So you can enjoy your favorite content (unavailable in your region) back at your home. Surfshark is a newcomer in the VPN services space to give you some background. It is based out of the British Virgin Islands and has over 1040 servers in around 61 locations. However, when compared to some of the other VPN services, Surfshark holds a bunch of advantages with its unique set of features such as kill switch, whitelist, camouflage mode, and different VPN connection types like Physical, Virtual, P2P, and MultiHop. To begin with, Surfshark has over 1040 servers across 61 different locations around the world. It offers a 30-day money-back guarantee scheme that allows you to apply for a refund in case you are not satisfied with the service. Further, the service also provides a 30-day free trial for you to experience all the different features and decide for yourself if you wish to continue further. Surfshark is available across different platforms including macOS, Linux, and Windows on the computer side and iOS and Android on the mobile. It is also available in the form of browser plug-ins for Chrome and Firefox browsers. What’s more, Surfshark also holds an advantage over some of the other VPN services with the ability to protect multiple devices at once simultaneously. With that said, let’s dive in and look at all the different features of Surfshark VPN in detail.
CleanWeb
One of the major concerns for a lot of users on the internet these days is the annoying ad-trackers. To deal with this, Surfshark VPN offers what it calls, CleanWeb. CleanWeb is a neat little feature that allows you to surf the web without encountering ad trackers or worrying about malware or phishing attacks. Further, the service has an updated database of various malicious or infected websites that actively help it to prevent you from accessing such websites.
Whitelister
Similar to CleanWeb, another nifty feature with Surfshark is the Whitelister option. As the name suggests, the Whitelister feature offers you the ability to allow specific apps or websites to bypass the VPN connection. For this, the service uses split tunneling technology that creates separate tunnels for the traffic to pass through. So, for instance, if you want to access some country-specific content on an app and do not require other apps to use the encrypted tunnel, you can pass the former through VPN and the latter through the usual path utilizing this feature. Unfortunately, Whitelister is only available on Windows for computers and on Android for mobile phones.
Kill Switch
While CleanWeb and Whitelister ensure that your browsing experience is secure and free of ad trackers, there are times when your network connection drops or crawls to a slow. For such times, Surfshark offers a kill switch, which disconnects you from the internet as soon as it notices a weak network connection, to safeguard your privacy by preventing your sensitive information from leaking out on the internet.
MultiHop
Unlike the usual VPN services, Surfshark also offers a unique way to connect over the secured connection by connecting to multiple countries at once to add an extra layer of security. Essentially, you can connect to two countries, instead of one, before establishing a connection with the destination server. And by doing so, there is an added extra layer of security to your identity.
Camouflage Mode
When you use a VPN service, chances are, your internet service provider can see that. So, to deal with this, Surfshark has a dedicated mode, called camouflage mode, which makes sure that your service provider cannot tell that you use a VPN. It does so by making your connection seem like normal traffic. Thus, eliminating any signs of VPN.
Privacy and Security
Coming to privacy and security, the Surfshark VPN offers a bunch of features to ensure user privacy is not compromised at any cost. For this, the service claims to stick to a no-log policy, which basically means that, irrespective of what you do on the internet, the service does not keep a log of details like your IP address, browsing history, session information, connection timestamps, etc.
Further, about security, Surfshark says it uses AES-256-GCM encryption to protect users’ personal information and also uses IKEv2/IPsec as a default protocol across all its apps. Besides this, the service also provides the option to choose OpenVPN, which is one of the famous and commonly used open-source protocols for VPN. While some of the older protocols, such as PPTP or L2TP, do offer security, they, however, lack the connection reliability and speeds, which is what protocols like IKEv2 and OpenVPN ensure does not happen.
24×7 Customer Support
Last but certainly not least, Surfshark offers 24×7 expert support on its platform to allow users to connect to the experts and get solutions for their queries.
Surfshark VPN Pricing
Surfshark VPN offers three different plans – 1 month, 25 months, and 12 months. Currently, the 25 months and 12 months plans are on discounts, with the 25 months plan available at 84% off for USD 47.76 (@ USD 1.91 per month), down from USD 298.75, and the 12-month plan available for 50% off at USD 71.88 (@ USD 5.99 per month) down from its regular price of USD 143.40. You can sign up and download SurfShark VPN from here.
