The second part of tryout with Steganos Online Shield 365 takes a look at how good is the software in practical terms. The first part of the review is here.
Connection Speed:
Anyone who has used a VPN or TOR from India would know the frustration of slow speeds, drop/cut-off connections and timeout errors while using them. With Steganos Online Shield, though there is a slight drop in speed , it is barely noticeable. My 4 Mbps download line behaves better than a 2 Mbps connection of a neighbour. Which is quite great. But the proof of pudding is in eating and so I set out to test it.
Doing a speed test with a VPN is a little tricky. The normal speed test sites will automatically switch you to the nearest ping server, which isn’t of use. With shield off, I would be plugged to Colombo server, and with shield on, into a server at Missouri, USA.
The workaround was to manually select a speed test server in USA - and I chose the American Broadband Nebraska site. Here is the speed test result with shield off which shows a download speed of 3.45 Mbps.
With the Steganos Online Shield 365 protecting my internet connection, the speed test shows a respectable 2.06 Mbps, which is quite good.
Free Download (limited):
The second best feature of Steganos Online Shield is their offer of free 500 MB downloads every month. Without paying a single Rupee, users can enjoy the benefits of the Steganos VPN for browsing, downloads and the like for up to 500 MB - totally free, every month. If I wasn’t so obsessed with connection speed, the ‘use-up-to-500-MB-for-free’ feature would have taken the first best feature spot.
Cheap Subscription:
Above 500 MB, you can buy subscriptions based on data usage or an unlimited annual license for about $80. At ~Rs. 4400/- an year it might seem a little steep, but at less than 1/3rd to half of what people pay for a good internet connection, Steganos might well be worth it.
I have a feeling that if Steganos finds a good partner in India, they would tie-up the VPN-for-personal-use segment very nicely in a few months.
With such great feature set, and ease of use, users would flock to Steganos. In the next part we will see if there are any downsides to Steganos Online Shield 365?
Related posts:
A look at Steganos Online Shield - part 1
Disclosure: As written in part 1 (one year free subscription).
Connection Speed:
Anyone who has used a VPN or TOR from India would know the frustration of slow speeds, drop/cut-off connections and timeout errors while using them. With Steganos Online Shield, though there is a slight drop in speed , it is barely noticeable. My 4 Mbps download line behaves better than a 2 Mbps connection of a neighbour. Which is quite great. But the proof of pudding is in eating and so I set out to test it.
Doing a speed test with a VPN is a little tricky. The normal speed test sites will automatically switch you to the nearest ping server, which isn’t of use. With shield off, I would be plugged to Colombo server, and with shield on, into a server at Missouri, USA.
The workaround was to manually select a speed test server in USA - and I chose the American Broadband Nebraska site. Here is the speed test result with shield off which shows a download speed of 3.45 Mbps.
With the Steganos Online Shield 365 protecting my internet connection, the speed test shows a respectable 2.06 Mbps, which is quite good.
Free Download (limited):
The second best feature of Steganos Online Shield is their offer of free 500 MB downloads every month. Without paying a single Rupee, users can enjoy the benefits of the Steganos VPN for browsing, downloads and the like for up to 500 MB - totally free, every month. If I wasn’t so obsessed with connection speed, the ‘use-up-to-500-MB-for-free’ feature would have taken the first best feature spot.
Cheap Subscription:
Above 500 MB, you can buy subscriptions based on data usage or an unlimited annual license for about $80. At ~Rs. 4400/- an year it might seem a little steep, but at less than 1/3rd to half of what people pay for a good internet connection, Steganos might well be worth it.
I have a feeling that if Steganos finds a good partner in India, they would tie-up the VPN-for-personal-use segment very nicely in a few months.
With such great feature set, and ease of use, users would flock to Steganos. In the next part we will see if there are any downsides to Steganos Online Shield 365?
Related posts:
A look at Steganos Online Shield - part 1
Disclosure: As written in part 1 (one year free subscription).
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