One of the biggest privacy concerns with VPNs is whether or not they store your data. Privacy - Keeps Information Other VPNs Don’t As McAfee doesn’t have a kill switch feature, you could be at risk if the connection drops.
A kill switch automatically shuts down your connection if the VPN disconnects, protecting your identity. One thing I expected to see in McAfee’s VPN was a kill switch – but again, I was disappointed. I was relieved that McAfee didn’t leak any of my information I ran extensive leak tests to ensure that it could keep my IP address and identity hidden – and there were no IP, WebRTC, or DNS leaks on any of the servers I tested.
There is some good news regarding McAfee VPN’s security, though. The encryption is described as ‘bank-grade,’ but banks can use either 128-bit AES or 256-bit AES encryption, and McAfee doesn’t state which it uses. McAfee does give some information about its encryption (thankfully) – but even that isn’t totally clear. Most VPNs are very clear about their security features, so this was a bit of a red flag. I was surprised by how difficult it was to find information about McAfee’s VPN security – in fact, the support team told me that information about its security protocols is not available to the public. McAfee VPN has servers in places where other VPNs often don’t (e.g., Nigeria), but it lacks specialized servers such as CyberGhost’s optimized servers for streaming. India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, S. The 50 countries where McAfee has servers are: EuropeĪustria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, UK While its servers are distributed reasonably well, one problem that tends to arise when a VPN only has a small server network is that servers can quickly become overcrowded – resulting in slower speeds. McAfee Total Protection relies on a network of servers spread across 50 countries. Server Network - Limited Server Countries – But Well Distributed I asked one of my colleagues to test it out, and they couldn’t access Netflix at all.
I was disappointed to find that McAfee’s VPN service could only unblock Netflix and HBO Max – and even then, that wasn’t always the case. Not only that, but I found its speeds were too slow to stream in UHD most of the time. It unblocked a couple of the major streaming sites, but I couldn’t access most other platforms I tried. Unfortunately, McAfee’s VPN made streaming less enjoyable when I tested it. Try McAfee VPN risk-free McAfee VPN Unblocks Netflix (Sometimes) (But Can’t Access Much More) McAfee’s support is slow when you use the live chat – and the ticketing system advises you to use the live chat. Find out more about my experience using McAfee’s VPN. I was disappointed that despite Total Protection being available for most OS and devices, the VPN service isn’t available on macOS.
Easy to install – but not if you’re a macOS user.See the details of the server network available. McAfee only has 50 available server countries – very limited compared to some of the best VPNs. Close to home, the speeds were good, but servers in other countries were disappointingly slow. The results I got with my speed tests were mixed. I could unblock Netflix with McAfee Total Protection, but not much else. Try McAfee VPN risk-free Don’t Have Time? Here’s a 1-Minute Summary If you decide it’s not right for you, you can easily get your money back.
There’s also a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can try it risk-free. That said, it does allow for torrenting, and it’s straightforward to set up. I wasn’t particularly impressed with some things about McAfee’s VPN – its streaming capabilities are pretty limited, and its privacy policy is problematic. McAfee includes its VPN service in all its plans – though there are a few conditions that you have to consider – you have to be enrolled in auto-renewal to benefit from the VPN service, and the number of licenses you get depends on the plan you choose.
This review is only about the VPN part of McAfee’s Total Protection product – you can read about my colleague’s experience with the antivirus part in the full McAfee Total Protection review. Because McAfee’s strengths lie in its antivirus products, I didn’t have high hopes about its VPN service – so I put it to the test. McAfee Total Protection is predominantly an antivirus product, with the Secure VPN thrown in as a bonus. Best Parental Control for iPhone & iPad.IPVanish VPN vs Private Internet Access.