Newshosting VPN Review

Newshosting is a big name in its field. However, just how reliable is Newhosting as a VPN service, viz-a-viz speed, and security? This Newshosting VPN review aims to find out.

The VPN is primarily offered to users as an incentive to purchase the Usenet services of Newshosting. It’s a good marketing plan, but is it good enough to justify the added cost?

Security and privacy

Newshosting VPN is known, just like its actual Usenet provider parent company Newhosting, for its focus on security. Indeed, the product is proudly marketed as a “zero log VPN”. Newshosting VPN has a solid array of different ways to protect your browsing, namely:

• NAT firewall
• Zero-log policy
• 256-bit SSL encryption
• OpenVPN, PPTP, and L2TP protocols

One noticeable absence on that list is the oft-used and widely-utilized kill switch that VPNs include to make sure that a connection drop doesn’t leave your actual identity exposed.

One good thing is the ability to choose between the protocols you want – this is helpful since many users know best about their needs and what trade-offs they’re willing to make, which might not be the case in VPNs where the protocol is selected for you (or only one is available).

Does Newshosting VPN keep logs?

This is where Newshosting VPN might lose the most points in our review. Newhosting VPN’s claim of zero logs can easily be contested. Theoretically, they could use their Privacy Policy as legal justification to snoop on user’s data since it might give them the right to do so.

Ideally, a VPN (particularly one marketed as zero logs) shouldn’t log any kind of data, but Newshosting logs sessions, including a user’s “approximate” location, IP address, date and time logged in, cookies and web beacons. This can theoretically (and easily) be put together to create a personal profile and link the activity to the user.

Check out our Best VPN No Logs list or choose the best one on the list: NordVPN.

Speeds and performance

We have good expectations from Newshosting VPN in the speed area, and they didn’t surprise us in the least: Newshosting VPN has speeds matching the best VPNs out there.

We were able to snag download speeds around 20-30 Mbps when connecting and hopping around different servers (for both download and upload speeds). The connection speed was similarly amazing, with the response time averaging 15ms from their side.

A big reason behind this is the actual server count: Newshosting VPN has more than 70 servers in nearly 20 countries, and more than 7,000 IPs to offer a user at any given moment.

Ease of use and multi-platform support

Newshosting offers users the ability (and instructions) to set up the Newshosting VPN client on Windows, MacOS and iOS, Android, and even Ubuntu. Custom apps are available for:

• Windows
• Mac

… but you can set it up on virtually most devices you can think of, including routers – however, this comes with a catch.

The VPN provided by Newshosting can be set up on routers using open source firmware from either DD-WRT or Tomato. The protocols available here will be OpenVPN and PPTP.

The app itself is easy to use (where a native client is available) with a server list, a spread-out design, and the ability to auto connect.

Unblocking Netflix and other streaming platforms

VPNs are used the world over to get around Netflix and Hulu geo-blocking, in addition to other streaming services (the BBC iPlayer comes to mind, which is only technically available for UK residents).

Many VPNs are cracked down upon by Netflix in particular, blocking whatever TV show or movie you’re hoping to watch until you turn off your proxy.

It’s surprising, then, to find that Newshosting VPN is able to easily bypass whatever region-specific blocking we throw at it. This makes it a good choice for entertainment platforms, given the good speeds.

P2P and torrenting

Any good VPN worth its salt should be considered an all-rounder, unblocking P2P connections and paving the way for secure torrenting.

While Newshosting VPN allowed us to torrent downloads on a network where it isn’t specifically designated for P2P (meaning the location bypassing is solid), it’s clear to see there’s no real focus paid towards users who would be described as “torrenters” as a label.

In such a situation, it’s best to look for a VPN that makes note of it being good for torrents – preferably with a SOCKS5 proxy on offer.

Online censorship in China and elsewhere with Newshosting VPN

Given the dire condition of censorship and online surveillance currently on the rise in many, many countries – of which China deserves special mention due to its Great Firewall – it only makes sense that users wish to arm themselves with a VPN.

A good VPN for countries that have regressive attitudes towards the Internet might offer a stealth connection mode, double VPN, Tor over VPN, multi-hop, and so on.

Unfortunately, Namehosting offers none of these features (it doesn’t even offer a kill switch). We would recommend searching for a VPN specifically dedicated to making the internet a less-restrictive place.

Customer support

Newshosting VPN offers customer support in the form of:

• FAQs
• Support tickets
• A physical address
• Phone support for billing inquiries

Unfortunately, we were let down by Newshosting VPN’s lack of live support.

While the FAQs are well-detailed, our interaction with their representatives leaves a lot to be desired. This translates to the sad realization that the available options aren’t great either, with replies taking days to come, if at all.

Other Newshosting VPN reviews echo this sentiment, even when we contacted them through the company, which is worrying.

Pricing

Newshosting essentially offers the VPN as a part of its Usenet services. As such, it’s bundled along with the packages for those services:

• Lite: $10.00/month
• Unlimited (yearly payment): $12.95/month
• XL Powerpack (yearly payment): $15.83/month

All of these come with a free 14-day trial (or a limit of 30 GB, whichever happens first), but there’s no real mention of a refund policy or money back guarantee on the purchase page. Nonetheless, we were able to find out from the Terms of Service that the refund policy is 7 days.

The VPN itself costs $4 a month, which is a good price, but unfortunately it can’t be purchased on its own. Payment options are also limited to PayPal and credit cards.

Bottom line

Newshosting’s VPN service should be considered as an add-on when going for their Usenet services. It might not be worth it to most, given the lack of privacy, shady logging policy, and absence of some basic privacy features. However, at this price, it’s hard to argue that it isn’t a good deal.