Hoxx VPN Review

Hoxx VPN offers a free VPN service, but is this company trustworthy? We looked into Hoxx VPN’s privacy policy and security features to determine if this free VPN service is worth using.

Hoxx VPN Review

Hoxx VPN is one of the few services that offer free VPN access. You might be tempted to give this service a chance if you need to secure your connection but can’t justify spending money on a VPN subscription. Hoxx VPN offers a free service with some drawbacks you should be aware of. Here’s our Hoxx VPN review to help you make an informed decision about this service.

How Does Hoxx VPN Work?

Hoxx VPN offers a free and paid service. You can get started with the free service by downloading an extension for Chrome, Firefox, or Opera. You can also download a VPN client for Windows, Mac, Android, or iOS depending on the device you are using.

Downloading and installing an extension or app is easy. You can then create your account from the software or extension interface. You will receive an email confirmation with your password.

If you decide to subscribe to the paid version of the service, you can do so from the extension or app interface.

We like the Hoxx VPN app. The client is easy to use, and you won’t have to go through an advanced setup process to configure your VPN connection.

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HOW DOES HOXX VPN PROTECT YOUR PRIVACY?

Hoxx VPN uses two different RSA encryption methods to protect your privacy. If you use the free service, the service will use 1024-bit RSA encryption to hide your online activities.

You will benefit from a more advanced encryption method if you purchase a subscription since the VPN provider will use 4096-bit RSA encryption for your connection.

Hoxx VPN will hide your IP address and provide you with a different IP address that will trick websites into thinking you are in a different location. Hiding your IP address also makes your activities difficult to track for your ISP and advertisers.

Hoxx VPN claims that you will get access to more than 50 servers whether you use the free or paid version of the service. You won’t get any restrictions on the bandwidth you use, and the service also claims to prevent cookies from tracking your online activities. You will get a static IP address when you use the service.

Hoxx VPN also promises secure end-to-end encryption and claims to block viruses and malicious sites.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE FREE AND PAID VERSION?

Hoxx VPN is one of the few VPN services to offer apps that are entirely free. The features of the free and paid versions of the service are somewhat similar.

You will get access to the same 50+ servers with both versions of the service but paid members have access to additional premium servers. You can switch servers as many times as you want with a free or paid membership.

There is a significant difference in terms of security since you won’t get access to the same encryption algorithm. Hoxx VPN will encrypt your traffic with a 1024-bit RSA algorithm if you use the free version of the service and will use a more secure 4096-bit RSA algorithm once you upgrade.

The system used to filter malicious websites and prevent cookies from tracking you seems more performing once you upgrade. You will also get access to customer support with a paid membership, including an email ticketing system and a live chat feature.

Free users don’t have access to tech support. The Hoxx VPN website has a few online resources you can use to troubleshoot problems, but these resources are very limited.

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Is Your Data Safe With Hoxx VPN?

Unfortunately, Hoxx VPN doesn’t have a great privacy policy. This VPN provider has to follow U.S. laws regarding data collection. Hoxx VPN collects enough data to identify internet users who access its services and to keep track of how you use these services.

The privacy policy is very transparent and gives you an idea of everything Hoxx VPN stores. The VPN provider will collect your name, email address, and more data when you create an account.

Your VPN client will collect data every time you use it. This data includes your IP address, the sites you visit, the browser you use, and the times of your session. Hoxx VPN will also collect data about the devices you use.

If you use one of the Hoxx VPN mobile apps, you will share your location with the VPN provider unless you turn this feature off. The company also uses cookies and third-party tracking pixels.

Hoxx VPN has partnerships with different ad networks and uses tracking pixels to show you targeted ads based on sites you have recently visited.

Hoxx VPN being based in the U.S. means that the company has to comply with law enforcement and hand these records over if they receive a court order. The use of tracking pixels is also problematic since the company claims to stop advertisers from tracking you online but is making money by partnering with ad networks that display targeted ads.

The company is transparent about the information collected and doesn’t seem to store more data than necessary to comply with U.S. laws, but this privacy policy defeats the purpose of using a VPN if you want to protect your online privacy.

How Fast Are The Hoxx VPN Servers?

Server speed is another potential drawback of using this VPN provider. You can’t expect to get fast servers from a free VPN provider, but speed tests reveal that servers are sometimes slow enough to make the service very difficult to use.

There are over 50 different servers to choose from, but it’s possible that Hoxx VPN attracts more users than the servers can handle by offering a free VPN service.

You might get better server speed if you decide to upgrade to a paid account since you will have access to additional premium servers.

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Is Hoxx VPN A Reliable Option?

We talked about how the service uses RSA encryption earlier in our Hoxx VPN review. Most VPN providers use AES 256-bit encryption instead.

You should know that cybersecurity experts have figured out how to crack RSA encryption algorithms. You should also know that RSA algorithms are suitable in some scenarios, but they tend to use more CPU resources. This algorithm could drain your phone’s battery quickly if you use the Hoxx VPN mobile app.

Encrypting your traffic with an RSA algorithm is a step up from not using any kind of encryption, but there are better alternatives to explore in terms of performance and safety.

The protocol used by Hoxx VPN is another cause for concern. Most VPN providers rely on the OpenVPN protocol to establish a secure tunnel between your device and the server it communicates with. This VPN tunnel encrypts everything your device sends or receives when properly configured.

Hoxx VPN uses an HTTP tunnel that encrypts the data sent and received by your browser. An HTTP tunnel isn’t going to stop other apps from establishing unsecured connections.

Using an HTTP tunnel is also an issue because many websites use APIs to give you access to content and services from third-party providers. These APIs put you at risk for DNS leaks since this is a known issue with HTTP tunnels.

There is also a risk of an IP leak if a program other than your web browser connects to the web or if the HTTP tunnel malfunctions for one reason or another. Hoxx VPN doesn’t seem to offer any kind of failsafe feature to prevent unsecured connections outside of the HTTP tunnel.

Are There Any Other Drawbacks To Using Hoxx VPN?

You should know that Hoxx VPN doesn’t allow torrenting. It wouldn’t be smart to download files via a P2P client since this VPN provider keeps a log of your activities and doesn’t offer a secure VPN tunnel through which your torrenting client can establish a safe connection.

Hoxx VPN also claims that you can use the service to stream videos online. However, users reveal that the servers don’t work with Netflix. This streaming service blocks VPN servers to prevent users from accessing content outside of their region and it seems that Netflix has successfully blocked all the Hoxx VPN servers.

The lack of support for the free version is another issue. You won’t be able to get help if you run into a problem and might not find any relevant resources to troubleshoot your problem.

Pricing isn’t easy to figure out. Signing up for the free version of the service is very easy, but Hoxx VPN claims that paid subscriptions start at $1.99. However, there is no information about how long this $1.99 subscription would last.

Other sources list $40 a year as a price. This price is more affordable than what a lot of VPN services offer, but might not be justified due to the privacy and security problems that exist.

Are There Any Better Alternatives To Consider?

We recommend that you consider these alternatives to Hoxx VPN. There are other free options you can use, and you might want to look into purchasing a subscription to benefit from fast server speed and use a reliable VPN service.

Turbo VPN

Turbo VPN could be an interesting alternative to Hoxx VPN because this service offers free VPN connections. This free service isn’t ideal because there are very few servers available and you can only use one device at a time.

Turbo VPN will limit your bandwidth if you are using the free version of the service. You won’t be able to watch Netflix until you purchase an add-on, and will find that server speed is often very limited.

However, Turbo VPN is worth trying because this VPN service uses the OpenVPN protocol. This protocol encrypts your entire connection instead of encrypting data sent and received by a single application such as your web browser.

Turbo VPN also uses 256-bit AES encryption to protect your privacy. This algorithm is safer than the ones used by Hoxx VPN.

We recommend that you use Turbo VPN if you need a free service because this company doesn’t record any of your online activities and won’t log your IP address.

Turbo VPN has some drawbacks due to the limited number of servers, but this service is safer and will respect your privacy.

TunnelBear VPN

TunnelBear VPN offers a limited VPN service for free. You will get 500MB of data for free each month and can get an additional 1GB of data if you mention the service in a tweet.

This limited service isn’t ideal if you want to download large files or stream videos, but it’s a viable option if you want a free VPN you can use to browse the web.

Speed can be slow, and you won’t get access to Netflix. However, this company has a strong privacy policy and a good reputation.

You don’t have to worry about TunnelBear VPN keeping logs of your IP address or online activities, and there are no known issues with IP or DNS leaks while using this service.

We like the TunnelBear VPN app because there is a feature that will automatically connect you to the fastest server available. The app also has a kill switch feature that will interrupt your connection if your device drops the secure VPN connection.

There is a great online knowledge base, and you can use this service to protect up to five devices at once. If you decide to subscribe to this service, you can get a yearly plan that will cost you the equivalent of $4.99 a month.

Private Internet Access VPN

If you think you don’t have room for a VPN subscription in your budget, we recommend that you take a look at what Private Internet Access VPN offers. You can purchase a three-year subscription that will end up costing you the equivalent of $2.91 a month.

Private Internet Access VPN supports several platforms and protocols, including OpenVPN. 

You will get access to unlimited bandwidth and can use this service for P2P.

We like this VPN provider because there are no issues with IP leaks and reviews tend to be very positive. This service is a great option if you are looking for a VPN provider who will block ads, online trackers, and malicious sites.

You can trust Private Internet Access VPN and its strong privacy policy. This company doesn’t keep any logs of your online activities.

You can protect up to ten devices at once and the service is very easy to setup. You will get access to more than 3,000 servers and the company is actively adding more servers to its service.

There are few drawbacks you need to be aware of. If you need help, you will need to send an email or a ticket but won’t get access to a live chat feature. You should also know that not all the servers work with Netflix.

IPVanish

IPVanish is another great option to consider if you are willing to pay for a VPN service. It’s an affordable option since a yearly subscription will end up costing you about $ a month.

We like the user-friendly app. It’s available for different platforms and you can also download a router app that will encrypt your entire connection. The app is very easy to navigate and there is a built-in kill switch feature to prevent IP leaks.

There are no traffic logs kept by IPVanish. You can connect to more than 1,200 different servers in more than 60 different countries.

You can use these servers for torrenting or streaming videos. You can safely browse the web thanks to the 256-bit AES encryption and switch server whenever you need to.

This service performs well on speed tests, and you can protect up to ten devices at once. The main drawback is that you can contact the support team via email but won’t get access to a chat feature.

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Overall Rating For Hoxx VPN

We need to end this Hoxx VPN review by stating that this service isn’t a suitable option if you need a fast and reliable VPN service. Our rating for Hoxx VPN is 2.25 out of five possible points.

There are a few things we like about Hoxx VPN. You can download the app and get started for free. Getting access to over 50 servers is interesting for a free service, and Hoxx VPN works on several platforms.

The use of the HTTP tunnel is problematic if you need a secure and anonymous connection, but this protocol is suitable if you simply want to access geo-restricted content. If you are looking for a free proxy service to change your IP location, Hoxx VPN could be a good option as long as you don’t mind the fact that this service will keep logs of your online sessions and possibly show you ads.

We don’t recommend Hoxx VPN if you are looking for a safe and anonymous option since this VPN service keeps logs of your online activities and doesn’t use the best encryption and VPN tunneling options available. We recommend that you explore other options available and look into purchasing a subscription instead of using a free VPN service.

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