SlickVPN review

[Presented by BestCloudBest.com]

Trying to find a “Virtual Private Network” (VPN) that meets your requirements? You might have come across many VPN providers that promise privacy, security, and many more features, however, they may not always live up to their promises. SlickVPN is a VPN provider that claims to offer a private and secure browsing experience, however, do its products/services match these claims?

Internet users that want privacy and security while browsing the Internet look for a VPN. Many users also look for a VPN to unblock geo-restricted streaming services, e.g., Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, etc. A noticeable number of Internet users want to use P2P/torrenting, which is another reason for them to use a VPN. 

We have reviewed SlickVPN, which is owned by Slick Networks, Inc., against all of these criteria. Does it meet your specific requirements and should you buy it? Read this review so that you can make an informed judgment. 

The main features of SlickVPN

You would certainly want relevant and useful features in a VPN that you buy, wouldn’t you? Let us now see what SlickVPN offers.

Your privacy at SlickVPN

Do you consider privacy a high-priority aspect when browsing the Internet? You are not alone since most VPN users consider it a high-priority area. We are happy to inform you that SlickVPN has a sufficiently robust privacy track record.

The company hides your real IP address and location. It maintains a “no logs” policy, and it emphatically declares it on the homepage of its website. SlickVPN maintains the same stance in its “Privacy Policy” too, where it states that it doesn’t track user activities using its VPN software. It doesn’t record your IP address, session timestamp, or any other information that VPN users want to keep private. 

This VPN provider specifies the personal information it collects and how it uses that. You need to create an account with SlickVPN to use its product, and the company collects some personal information during this process. It tracks email address, username, password, payment transaction details, emails sent to the company, etc. 

Note that you can delete your payment transaction details permanently from the SlickVPN servers if you prefer to do so. Once you close your account, SlickVPN removes all your data from its systems within a short period of time.

When you visit its website, SlickVPN tracks Google Analytics data, your IP address, which pages you view on its website, etc. This information has no connection with your Internet activities when you use its VPN, therefore, you don’t need to have any concern regarding this.

SlickVPN specifies the conditions under which it will share your personal information with government authorities or 3rd parties. The company states that it doesn’t sell or rent your personal information, however, it will share your information if court orders mandate that. 

SlickVPN mentions that it will share your personal information with 3rd party providers like payment processing companies or hosting providers if information-sharing is needed to provide its services to you. This VPN provider specifies that it won’t tolerate criminal, illegal, or abusive activities using its services, and it might share users’ personal information with relevant 3rd parties to stop any such activities. 

Slick Networks Inc. owns SlickVPN, and its jurisdiction is the USA. Since the USA is part of the “14 Eyes” countries that conduct mass surveillance, privacy enthusiasts don’t consider it as an ideal jurisdiction for VPN providers. Laws in this country can force VPN providers to share users’ information and logs with law enforcement agencies. 

However, SlickVPN hasn’t received any “National Security Letters” or FISA court orders as of 2nd February 2020. The company publishes a cryptographically signed monthly “Warrant Canary”, and it states that it has never placed any “backdoor tools” in its hardware or software that can violate users’ privacy. SlickVPN also mentions that it has never disclosed any VPN activities of its users with any 3rd party. 

Some privacy enthusiasts might have concerns about the jurisdiction of SlickVPN and its logging capabilities. We have seen that every VPN provider has logging capabilities, and we believe that common law-abiding VPN users should have no concerns with how SlickVPN implements its “no logs” policy. In our view, SlickVPN has a robust privacy track record. 

Is your data secure with SlickVPN?

Want to browse the Internet in a secure manner? Well, SlickVPN has good news for you then. This VPN provider has a robust security solution, starting with the VPN protocols it supports. SlickVPN supports OpenVPN, which has the reputation of being the most secure VPN protocol. On its website, SlickVPN has a “Protocols” page, and it recommends users to use OpenVPN.

SlickVPN supports IPSec too, which works with Mac OS X and iOS. It’s also a secure protocol, however, SlickVPN prefers OpenVPN over IPSec. While SlickVPN had supported PPTP earlier, it doesn’t do so anymore due to the security concerns with this protocol.

You want your VPN provider to secure your personal information, don’t you? Encryption is important for this, and SlickVPN uses a strong encryption solution. It uses the AES-256-CBC encryption with SHA-1 for hash authentication. SlickVPN also uses 2048-bit RSA keys, therefore, you can be confident about its encryption solution. 

Wondering about IP or DNS leaks? SlickVPN has you well-covered since its security solution prevents IP, DNS, and WebRTC leaks. This VPN provider offers a “kill switch”, which blocks your Internet connection if the VPN connection drops unexpectedly. 

SlickVPN offers a “Scramble” feature that hides the OpenVPN headers, which help you to bypass Internet censorship techniques like “Deep Packet Inspection”. You can also use its “HYDRA” feature. This feature uses multi-destination, multi-hop connections, therefore, it prevents cyber-attackers from tracking your online activities. 

We would like SlickVPN to offer “Perfect Forward Secrecy” (PFS), which can offer more security by changing encryption keys regularly. Several market-leading VPN providers offer this, and SlickVPN does fall short in this aspect. Having said that, we still consider that SlickVPN has impressive security solutions.

About SlickVPN's servers

SlickVPN has over 150 servers, and the company has its infrastructure in 142 cities across 40+ countries. It displays its list of servers on the “Server Locations” page on its website. 

SlickVPN claims to have 250+ anonymous IP addresses, and it states that it owns the DNS servers it uses. This VPN provider is present in all key geographies, e.g., North America, Europe, Middle-east, Indian subcontinent, Asia Pacific, Oceania, and Latin America. 

In Africa, SlickVPN is present in South Africa. SlickVPN also has its servers in Russia. While the company doesn’t have as many servers as some of the market-leading VPN providers, it has a reasonable number of servers across a wide range of geographies. As a result, SlickVPN offers good speed. 

What devices are supported by SlickVPN?

When you plan to buy a VPN, you would want one that supports all your devices, wouldn’t you? SlickVPN does the job for you! 

It supports Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and Linux. For Windows and Mac, you can use its custom apps. For Linux, it supports OpenVPN for Ubuntu and Mint, however, it doesn’t offer a custom client. You can use both OpenVPN and IPSec for your iPhone and iPad, whereas, SlickVPN supports OpenVPN for Android.

We would like SlickVPN to offer custom clients for all the platforms it supports. In this aspect, it falls short of several market-leading VPN providers that offer custom apps for all platforms. Custom clients make a VPN more user-friendly. 

Having said that, SlickVPN supports OpenVPN for all the platforms it supports, and OpenVPN is popular and easy-to-use. You can also use its detailed installation and configuration guides for OpenVPN, therefore, the lack of custom clients for some platforms doesn’t hurt. 

SlickVPN allows five simultaneous connections, which should give you sufficient convenience. You can use this VPN with your Chromebook, and SlickVPN provides detailed installation and configuration guides for that.

You can set up SlickVPN with your Asus-Merlin and DD-WRT routers. Finally, SlickVPN supports “Network-Attached Storage” (NAS) devices like QNAP and Synology. We find that SlickVPN has a rich offering as far as supporting various platforms is concerned. 

Unblocking streaming services

Shopping around for a VPN so that you can unblock geo-restricted streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, etc.? Well, you will have a mixed experience if you use SlickVPN.

The company claims on its website that it unblocks Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, HBO GO, etc. However, it can’t do this consistently. Netflix is often able to block SlickVPN.  

SlickVPN has a mixed success rate when it comes to unblocking BBC iPlayer. If unblocking these streaming services is a priority for you, then we recommend that you look for other market-leading VPN providers.

Does SlickVPN allow for P2P/torrenting?

Are you looking for a VPN to use P2P/torrenting services? SlickVPN will work well for you since it allows P2P/torrenting. It imposes no bandwidth restriction for torrenting, and you can expect good speed. 

Can SlickVPN bypass internet censorship?

A few countries employ Internet censorship technologies to detect VPN traffic, and China is an example. They often use “Deep Packet Inspection” for this purpose and blocks VPN traffic. SlickVPN has a “Scramble” feature that hides the fact that you are using a VPN, therefore, this VPN can bypass such instances of Internet censorship. 

How much does SlickVPN cost?

SlickVPN offers 3 pricing plans, which are as follows:

Its monthly plan costs $10 per month;

A 6-months plan where SlickVPN bills you $30 every 6 months, which works out to $5 month.

A yearly plan where you pay $48 once a year, i.e., your monthly average cost is $4. 

When we compared SlickVPN with other market-leading VPN providers, we found that its monthly plan is slightly expensive. Its 6-months plan compares well with the competition, and its yearly plan offers good discounts.

SlickVPN provides a secure payment process. You can pay using PayPal, moreover, SlickVPN accepts popular credit cards like Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover. The company accepts Bitcoin payments, and you need to use BitPay for this. 

SlickVPN has a 30-days refund policy. The company claims on its website that if you aren’t satisfied with its product, then you can raise a refund request within 30 days of purchase, and SlickVPN will honor it. This VPN provider offers no free trial. We find that the 6-months and yearly plans of SlickVPN are very much comparable to its competitors. 

The pros and cons of SlickVPN

You need to weigh between the pros and cons of a VPN provider before you decide to buy it, don’t you? Let’s take a close look at the advantages and disadvantages of SlickVPN.

It offers the following advantages:

·  SlickVPN has strong privacy credentials, thanks to its “no logs” policy.

·  It maintains a transparent warrant canary. Although its jurisdiction isn’t ideal for a VPN provider, this transparency on its part should satisfy privacy-focused users.

·  It offers robust security with OpenVPN and IPSec protocols, excellent encryption, “kill switch”, protection from IP/DNS/WebRTC leaks, “HYDRA”, and “Scramble”. 

·  You can use SlickVPN with all key platforms, and you get 5 simultaneous connections.

·  The custom clients from SlickVPN are easy to use.

·  SlickVPN has its server infrastructure in key geographies across the world, therefore, you can get good speed.

·  You can use P2P/torrenting services without any bandwidth restriction.

·  SlickVPN offers excellent guides and FAQs, and it provides satisfactory customer support.

·  While the monthly plan is a bit expensive, the 6-months and yearly pricing plans of SlickVPN compare well with its competitors.

·  SlickVPN offers a 30-days money-back guarantee.

There are a few disadvantages of using SlickVPN, and these are as follows:

·  It doesn’t consistently unblock geo-restricted streaming services like Netflix, BBC iPlayer, etc.

·  SlickVPN doesn’t offer custom clients for Linux, Android, and iOS. Although it supports OpenVPN on all these platforms and provides excellent installation and configuration guides, VPNs offering custom apps for all platforms are more user-friendly. 

·  You can’t get a free trial with SlickVPN.

·  SlickVPN doesn’t offer live chat support. 

·  This VPN provider doesn’t offer PFS, which is an advanced security feature.

A few quick facts about SlickVPN

Wondering whether to buy SlickVPN? A quick summary of a few key facts could help you to make a decision. Here we go:

·  SlickVPN is an American VPN provider with strong privacy and security credentials.

·  It supports all key platforms, offers good speed, and allows 5 simultaneous connections.

·  SlickVPN provides excellent documentation and satisfactory customer support.

·  You can access P2P/torrenting with SlickVPN, however, it can’t consistently unblock geo-restricted streaming services like Netflix.

·  SlickVPN has competitive pricing plans and offers a 30-days money-back guarantee, however, it offers no free trial.

Is SlickVPN easy to use?

You would surely like a VPN that’s easy to use, wouldn’t you? SlickVPN is sufficiently easy to use, and you can see that the moment you visit its website. The website displays all key menu options like pricing, help, etc. prominently, and you can easily find its features, documentation, etc.

The buying process is easy, and the SlickVPN website prominently displays the “GET STARTED” button. You can complete your purchase in a few intuitive steps, e.g., selecting a pricing plan, entering an email address, and selecting a payment method.

On the “Help & Support” page of the website, you can find all the installation and configuration guides you need. This page neatly categorizes the guides by the various platforms that SlickVPN supports. 

Customer service at SlickVPN

You would surely want your VPN provider to provide robust customer support, wouldn’t you? We are happy to note that SlickVPN scores well here.

First of all, the SlickVPN website has all the installation and configuration guides that you need. Secondly, its website has a comprehensive FAQ section. You will likely not need much customer support after you check out these guides. 

If you need customer support, then you will need to create a ticket. SlickVPN has a competent customer support team, and the company responds promptly to tickets. This VPN provider doesn’t offer live chat support. While this can be seen as a disadvantage when compared with the market-leading VPN providers, the overall customer support capabilities of SlickVPN are robust enough. 

What's the jurisdiction of SlickVPN?

The parent company of SlickVPN is Slick Networks, Inc., which is based in Anderson, South Carolina, USA. SlickVPN displays a Weston, Florida, USA address on its website. Its jurisdiction is the USA, which is one of the “14 Eyes” countries that conduct mass surveillance. 

While this is not an ideal jurisdiction for a VPN provider, we don’t think that SlickVPN poses any particular privacy issue for common law-abiding VPN users. The company has a “no logs” policy, moreover, its “Warrant Canary” shows that it has never received any “National Security Letters” or court orders. 

About the no logs policy of SlickVPN

SlickVPN offers a “no logs” policy, and it claims that clearly on its website prominently. On its “Privacy Policy” page, the company declares that it doesn’t track user activities when the users log into its VPN service. 

SlickVPN clearly mentions on its privacy policy page that it collects certain information about users. It clarifies that this information is required to create users’ accounts, and the information includes email address, username, password, payment transaction details. 

SlickVPN specifies that it processes this information in accordance with applicable laws. This is standard practice, and users should have no concern about this.

SlickVPN also specifies that it will share your personal information with government authorities or other 3rd parties if the applicable laws require them to do so. The company makes it clear that it will not allow anyone to conduct illegal activities using its infrastructure. Once again, this shouldn’t cause concerns to any law-abiding common VPN user. In our view, SlickVPN implements its “no logs” policy well. 

About the encryption and protocols of SlickVPN

SlickVPN has a robust set of security solutions. It supports OpenVPN and recommends users to use it since it’s the most secure VPN protocol. This VPN provider also supports IPSec, which is another secure VPN protocol. It did support the PPTP protocol earlier, however, it has stopped supporting it. We endorse this decision since PPTP has security vulnerabilities.

SlickVPN uses AES-256-CBC encryption with SHA-1 authentication, moreover, it uses 2048-bit RSA keys. That’s a strong encryption solution! 

This VPN offers a “kill switch”, therefore, your Internet connection is blocked if the VPN connection drops suddenly. SlickVPN has a “Scramble” feature, which bypasses Internet censorship techniques like “Deep Packet Inspection”. Its “HYDRA” feature uses multi-destination, multi-hop connections to prevent anyone from tracking your Internet activities.

SlickVPN prevents all IP, DNS, and WebRTC leaks. Unlike some leading VPN providers, SlickVPN is silent about “Perfect Forward Secrecy” (PFS), which changes your encryption keys regularly. Overall, we find that the security solutions employed by SlickVPN are comprehensive.

Our short conclusion of SlickVPN

Internet users can find it hard to choose a VPN provider since this market witnesses a strong competition. SlickVPN is a privacy-focused VPN provider, and although its jurisdiction is the USA, it implements a robust “no logs” policy. You can get excellent security features with SlickVPN, e.g., secure protocols, excellent encryption, etc. 

It can’t unblock geo-restricted streaming services like Netflix consistently, however, you can use SlickVPN to access P2P/torrenting services. SlickVPN supports all popular platforms, and you can connect 5 devices simultaneously. Since it has a sufficient number of servers in all key geographies, you can get good speed with SlickVPN.

It doesn’t offer live chat support, however, the company provides excellent documentation, FAQs, and robust ticket-based customer support. Although SlickVPN doesn’t offer custom apps for all platforms, you can use this VPN easily, thanks to its helpful guides. 

SlickVPN doesn’t offer a free trial, however, its pricing plans are competitive and the company offers a 30-days money-back guarantee. We believe that SlickVPN is certainly a good buy.