Bitdefender VPN - Test report

• Encrypted and anonymous on the Internet: That's the promise of the new BitDefender VPN. In our test report, we reveal how easy it is to use and how many functions await you. 

   

  VPNs have become an integral part of the Internet world: where the Internet was once considered the "wild west", we are now at home in a highly regulated and fragmented online world. Content that is available in one country is blocked in another. And nowadays, internet traffic is eagerly monitored by governments.

  Now VPNs come into play
  A VPN can help you to be anonymous and access content that is not available in your country:

  Content providers (e.g. film distributors in the USA or Asia) and governments often prohibit access to certain content. For example, new seasons of your favorite series from the USA are often not yet available from streaming providers in Germany. Or vice versa: if you are traveling, you often cannot access the content from home.
  

• You can protect your IP address and your traffic from prying eyes.

Bitdefender VPN 
The renowned security manufacturer Bitdefender has also developed a VPN Service in the program, which you can use to secure all incoming and outgoing data traffic on your PC, Mac or smartphone. It also allows you to connect securely to public Wi-Fi networks. Here are the exact details:

• Encryption protocol used: OpenVPN/HydraVPN
• Torrents: Allowed
• Servers: 40 servers in 26 countries
• Cost: 29,99€

Our test
First of all, we wanted to find out whether BitDefender's VPN product is really "secure". In short: YES. All tests on sites such as (dnsleak.com, ipleak.net or ipx.ac./run) were excellent. The true IP address and the geolocation were also blocked excellently.

BitDefender has 40 servers in different countries, which are well distributed in Europe, the USA, Asia and South America. Unfortunately, you cannot define the exact location or city within the country for the time being.

Performance tests
We also wanted to find out what the actual performance of the VPN is like. The goal is clear: the lower the impact on bandwidth, the better! Our tests show a clearly positive picture of the situation:

Netflix streaming

As mentioned at the beginning: A key issue for VPNs is streaming content from abroad (or domestic content abroad!). But what about performance? We tested the connections with servers in England and the USA. In both cases, the speed was more than sufficient for 4K HDR Netflix series like Better Call Saul:

As you can see: Even with the VPN switched on, the speed never dropped below the magical 16 MBit/second required for smooth 4K streaming.

Download tests

Of course, the pure download speeds are also important: Here we have very good news for BitDefender VPN users. Downloading a 5 GB file took around 17 minutes without a VPN. With the VPN enabled, it took just under 2 minutes longer - which is acceptable!

Gaming latency times
For gamers, it is absolutely critical that latency does not suffer when connecting to VPNs: As part of this, we used some dedicated ping tests for games like Rocket League, PUBG and Fortnite. The results are promising:

1. The latency times in gaming were only minimally higher, which has no effect on gaming. Even with 3D shooters, I didn't notice any noticeable delay or disadvantages.

    

   BitDefender VPN is that simple
   The great strength of BitDefender lies in its simplicity:

   Start the program and simply click on Connect:

   

2. To select a server, click on Country and then to Automatic. Simply select a country here and....that's it!
   
3. When you return to the main screen, you can connect to the server and see how much traffic has been used:
   

Operation
Although Bitdefender is spartan in terms of functionality, it also offers the most important functions: You can ensure that the VPN starts automatically with Windows and also activates automatically when you connect to an insecure Wi-Fi.

Conclusion

Bitdefender VPN shows how easy and well a VPN can work. The speed is great, the operation perfect for everyone.

Pro

• Outstanding speed
• Extremely easy operation
• Maximum security thanks to 256-bit AES and OpenVPN protocol
• Good customer service

Con

• You must have a Bitdefender product.

The price for Bitdefender VPN is relatively low compared to the competition at only 29.99€. Conclusion: Recommended purchase.