ExtremeVPN

ExtremeVPN is a new service getting a ton of hype due to its reasonable prices and impressive performance. But does it have what it takes to compete with its much more established competition?

To satisfy my curiosity, I thoroughly explored everything it offers. I tested all its features, including speeds, security and privacy features, gaming and torrenting capabilities, and ease of use.

ExtremeVPN is worth a try, but it has yet to catch up to the best VPNs. It offers excellent speeds and some of the best customer support around. However, it lacks a few advanced security features, like an ad blocker, and currently has limited device compatibility. If you want to avoid risking it with a new service, check out this list of the top VPNs available today.

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Streaming — Great For Secure Streaming

Our global team had great experiences securely streaming the platforms available in their respective regions. Most team members could stream in HD and didn’t encounter any buffering.

ExtremeVPN could also hypothetically allow you to access content from other regions. However, this action goes against most streaming services ToS and is seen as copyright infringement. Our testers only streamed platforms available in their respective countries for these tests.

Works With: Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, Max, Peacock, BBC iPlayer, ESPN+, and ITVX

Our tester in the US could securely stream on Hulu without any issues. On most servers, the shows loaded instantly, and she could stream in HD without buffering.

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She also tested ExtremeVPN with other platforms such as Netflix US, Peacock, Crunchyroll, YouTube TV, Max, and others, and its US servers worked just as well.

Our teammate in the UK also tested it with platforms such as BBC iPlayer and ITVX. Our UK colleague could also instantly load HD videos on Netflix UK. He mentioned that it did take a few tries before he could log into his iPlayer account. However, once he logged in, he could stream without any issues.

Testers in Australia and South Africa had no issues streaming their local libraries with ExtremeVPN either. This was impressive because most platforms utilize anti-VPN technologies. While these are meant to prevent people from watching in unapproved regions, you can still get blocked even when you’re using servers in your own country.

Overall, ExtremeVPN will be an excellent streaming VPN for many people. However, remember to check if ExtremeVPN has servers in your region before you choose it for secure viewing. My team and I do not recommend using it (or any other VPN) to watch content unavailable where you live.

Speed — Usually Offers Fast Rates

ExtremeVPN gave us fast speeds overall — especially on servers nearby. My team members and I also tested dozens of ExtremeVPN servers in different locations worldwide, purely for speeds. We only carry out these tests to demonstrate a VPN’s overall performance. As mentioned earlier, we urge you to always use your VPN responsibly.

To ensure fairness, all our speed chart tests are recorded from a single location using the same internet connection. Our dedicated UK tester observed speeds on each server at least 10 times before creating averages. She used the WireGuard protocol since it was the fastest.

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The local UK server dropped our speeds by only 5%. This is impressive, considering that most VPNs decrease speeds by 10-20% on nearby servers.

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Some servers far away dropped our speeds significantly. For instance, we lost approximately 85% of our speeds when we connected to the server in Barbados. Although Barbados is far from London, this was surprising since we had better results with some more distant servers.

This leads me to believe there was some overcrowding on the Barbados server. Support told me the app automatically chooses the least crowded server in the location you choose. However, I wish it displayed a load percentage, like many other VPNs do.

When I tested speeds from my location in Nairobi, I had similar results for both servers nearby and far away. So overall, ExtremeVPN has very good speeds. I’ve only tested a handful of VPNs that are faster, and not by much.

Gaming — Good Ping On Nearby Servers

ExtremeVPN let me play Roblox with practically no lag while connected to a server in South Africa. This was the closest server to my location in Nairobi and had a ping of 51ms. I also tested it with servers in the US and Europe and, in most cases, could play without any issues. The ping on the servers I tested ranged between 55-123 ms.

For reference, you need a ping that’s below 85ms to get quick responses to your inputs while gaming.

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I couldn’t get my game to load at all when I tested the server in India (ping 300 ms). I could load games with servers in Houston and Japan, but I always struggled to get my character to respond instantly when I entered commands.

Overall, ExtremeVPN works well for gaming, but only on servers nearby. However, this isn’t a huge deal because I’ve never found a VPN that works well for gaming on faraway servers.

Server Network — Large With Great Distribution

ExtremeVPN has a large server network of 6500 servers in 78 countries. There are only a handful of VPNs with more servers and locations overall. However, a larger number of the top VPNs do give you access to more countries.

The servers are very well distributed globally, with some in every continent. I like that it has servers in some rare countries like Bulgaria and Lithuania too. It also has servers in Russia which is very rare even for top VPNs.

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I wasn’t satisfied with the answer I received when I asked customer support whether or not ExtremeVPN owns all its servers. The agent merely told me that it co-owns its servers but didn’t provide more information.

I tried to follow up, but the agent told me that’s all they know. I always lean towards VPNs that own all their servers since that cuts out a middleman. On the plus side, it does use RAM-only servers. These add an extra layer of privacy since they delete all data with each reboot.

I also like that ExtremeVPN servers are city-level, which should let you easily estimate a server’s distance from you. Unfortunately, support could not clarify what percentage of the servers are virtual. There’s no information available about which servers are physically located either. So, you’ll never know how far away they really are.

ExtremeVPN doesn’t provide dedicated IPs, which is disappointing. Dedicated IPs are useful for maintaining a stable and unique online presence, important for activities such as running a website.

Most top VPNs do offer dedicated IPs for an additional fee. If this feature is important to you, you can find VPNs with great server networks that offer dedicated IPs in this list.

Security — Has the Most Crucial Features

ExtremeVPN keeps you safe online with all the necessary security features. So, it’s a good choice for providing protection from hackers and snoops.

However, you will miss out on a few advanced features, such as ad and malware blockers, private DNS servers, and double VPN. If you want all the latest security options, check out this list of VPNs that offer more premium features.

Encryption

ExtremeVPN uses military-grade AES-256 encryption for a high level of security for your data​. This encryption is nearly uncrackable and is used by all the top VPNs in the market.

Security Protocols

ExtremeVPN allows you to switch between OpenVPN, IKEv2/IPSec, and WireGuard protocols. I was happy to see WireGuard as one of the options because it’s the best protocol for maintaining high speeds without compromising your online security.

OpenVPN is also a great addition as it is an open-source protocol. It benefits from continuous scrutiny and contributions from a global community of developers, enhancing its security. You can also connect to older protocols like PPTP or L2TP, but I’d only do this as a last resort as the newer protocols are better overall.

Kill Switch

ExtremeVPN offers a kill switch known as IKS. This is a critical security feature that immediately disconnects your device from the internet if the VPN connection unexpectedly drops.

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This prevents your IP address and personal data from being exposed. It’s particularly useful in ensuring continuous protection, especially when using unsecured networks like public WiFi.

IP & DNS Leak Protection

It also offers IP and DNS leak protection, which is crucial. This feature makes sure that all your internet traffic, including requests to resolve domain names, is routed through the VPN’s encrypted tunnel. This prevents accidental exposure of your real IP address or DNS requests.

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Additionally, it protects you from WebRTC leaks (short for real time communication). I also appreciate that it has IPv6 protection as that technology is becoming more popular.

Split Tunneling

ExtremeVPN also offers a split tunneling feature, which allows you to choose which apps go through the VPN’s encrypted tunnel and which connect directly to the internet. This can help manage bandwidth and ensure sensitive activities are protected while allowing less critical applications direct internet access, optimizing performance without compromising security.

Privacy — Doesn’t Store Your Data

ExtremeVPN is privacy-friendly, but I have a small concern. I would prefer proof that its policy has been independently audited to verify its privacy practices, with the results openly shared.

Does ExtremeVPN Keep Logs? No

ExtremeVPN has a strict no-log policy, so it won’t log or store your data. Its privacy policy clearly states that it only collects the data necessary to maintain its service. It collects:

• Username
• Password (kept encrypted)
• Email address
• Payment details

It also states that it stores program analytics and statistics to improve overall service delivery. However, none of this data is identifiable.

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While reviewing the privacy policy, I found a section that wasn’t very clear. But, an agent quickly clarified that ExtremeVPN doesn’t collect any activity or connection logs.

Was ExtremeVPN Audited? Maybe

I couldn’t find any concrete proof that ExtreemeVPN’s policies or apps have undergone independent audits. When I connected with support to get more information on this, the agent told me that they had been audited by multiple parties. I asked to see the report or some kind of proof, but the agent couldn’t provide either of them.

So, I can’t tell for sure whether or not it has been audited. Top VPN services often hire independent experts to make sure they follow their policies. I have no reason to believe ExtremeVPN hasn’t done this, but I would find them more trustworthy if these reports were publicly available.

Based in the British Virgin Islands

ExtremeVPN is strategically headquartered in a privacy-friendly country. It’s renowned for its robust privacy laws and absence of mandatory data retention regulations. The BVI’s independence, even from the UK, which is part of the 5/9/14 Eyes surveillances group, means it’s less likely to share data with other countries. This, along with ExtremeVPN’s policy of not storing user data, make it a secure choice for privacy.

Does ExtremeVPN Work in China? No

Unfortunately, you can’t use ExtremeVPN in China. I contacted customer support, and the agent confirmed that the VPN won’t work in that region.

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Although the Chinese government has banned some VPNs, there haven’t been any publicly-reported cases of tourists getting penalized for using one within the country. My team and I don’t condone any illegal activities, and I highly recommend that you familiarize yourself with the country’s laws before you choose to use a VPN there.

If you decide to use a VPN, you can try one of these providers that have been proven to work in China.

Torrenting — Great Choice, and Supports P2P on All Servers

ExtremeVPN is a great option for torrenting. I downloaded a 1.2 MB file in less than 15 minutes while connected to a South African server — it takes me about 12 minutes with my base connection. So, ExtremeVPN hardly increased my wait times at all.

This was really impressive since the server is more than 4,500 km away. Unfortunately, this was the closest server to my location in Nairobi, so it could be even faster for you. It also offers port forwarding, which you can use to increase your downloading and seeding speeds.

I felt safe torrenting with ExtremeVPN because of its kill switch and DNS/IP leak protection. This is in addition to its solid privacy features, which are important in a VPN for P2P.

Torrenting is legal in most countries, but downloading copyrighted files isn’t. My team is strongly against copyright violations, so we ask that you please only access torrents in the public domain.