Buffered has server locations in over 42 countries and is always expanding in request to their users, so chances are that if you need a server in your country or near you, they’ll have one up and running soon. They even have some servers in South Africa which are notoriously hard to reach. Buffered also offers 24/7 customer care, a great client, a decent 256-bit encryption, port discovery, P2P, a 30-day money back guarantee. All features will be reviewed throughout the review.
**Official website: https://buffered.com
Buffered VPN offer high-speed for streaming on geo-blocked sites, Unlimited bandwidth with Easy to use client and Apps for Windows, Mac and Linux,Instant Setup and partnered with Flash Routers and Sabai Technologies.
Pricing and Packages
Buffered’s VPN services are very high and start of at a pricey $8.25 a month, and that’s just for the annual plan! This is interesting as price is always an issue with VPN services, as the final purchase decision is usually made with price being the finalising factor. So with a high price of $8.25, we would be expecting some top notch features and services from Buffered. One nice thing about Buffered was that they do not discriminate between their price plans, and no matter what package you decide to buy, you will still receive the same features if you had purchased another plan. Like every VPN these days, the price tends to increase as you become less committed to their services and goes up even higher than the supposedly cheap $8.25 a month. Buffered has 3 plans: a monthly plan, bi-annually and an annual plan. It should also be noted that you pay for the bi-annual and annual plans in bulk, meaning you are billed for the entire year/6 months when it’s time for renewal.
Buffered’s plans start off at their cheapest at $4.12 for a 2-year-worth of their service. The price begins to increase dramatically as you become less committed and raises to $6.59 for the yearly plan. The price goes up even further when you choose the monthly package, peaking at around $12.99. Buffered’s plans are expensive and one of the most expensive I’ve seen as of yet.
Payment Options
VPN’s should offer a range of payment options and your purchasing and buying security should be of their utmost concern, so you would expect Buffered to offer a range of payment options also. However, this is not the case. Buffered only offers two options for payment, all major credit/debit cards, such as Visa, MasterCard, and American Express, and the secure third-party application – Paypal.
PayPal is one the most secure ways to pay for goods on the internet as it allows its users to have control over their balance and to only accept payments once they have received their products. However, I was unable to find any alternative payments like CashU, Alipay, etc. However, they now offer the option to pay Bitcoin which is good. Paying via Bitcoin is one the most secure and private ways to pay on the web, which is for me. it is satisfying.
Buffered VPN Setup and User-Friendliness
Setup was incredibly easy and took around 5 minutes. Once you have completed your purchase, you are welcomed by your own little dashboard that is contained in the Buffered website. Here you will be able to go to the ‘downloads’ sections and choose the appropriate system to run the download on. I chose Windows as that was the system I had running at the time.
Once you’ve chosen, it is pretty straight forward from there, just follow the installation instructions, save the files and setup a desktop shortcut and you’re good to go. It is also good to know that you do not need to restart your computer following the installation, which is always a bonus.
The client is clean and is designed in a way that makes it feel like a really advanced piece of technology. It is a simple design and not intimidating like some of the other clients that VPN servers use. The client opens up by asking you to select a country to connect too, and I was impressed with the number of countries to choose from.
Once connected to a server, the app will give you a range of interesting statistics about the speed and upkeep of the server you are on which is nice to know and something you don’t see with a lot of other providers. You can even run your own internal speed tests if you wish. In addition, the app gives plenty of settings and configurations for your security and application. The ‘connection options’ tab will let you change the presents and you also have the option for auto-connecting and even an option to toggle your port settings. Overall, a very good client.
Servers and Speeds
As mentioned above, Buffered offers servers in over 37 different countries worldwide and in some hard to reach places, like South Africa. This server base is always expanding and they even take requests from their users on where they want to put the next servers, so if you’re lucky they may put a server right next door, no matter where you are.
The connection to all servers was very good and the connection rarely dropped. The metrics I found were very similar to the tests run on the client itself, confirming that the client can even run a sufficient speed test internally. With a solid 10-13MBPS when connected in the UK and only a small drop-off to the states, these speeds are perfect for any internet-based searching, P2P sharing, and HD streaming. In addition, you would be glad to know that we found no DNS or IPv6 leaks through the VPN tunnels that we’re compromising our locations. Overall, their network was fantastic and worthy of a mention.
Compatibility
Buffered is compatible with a number of devices and can be connected to an impressive 5 devices simultaneously. It has recently launched software for both IOS and Android (which I was unable to try) and is also compatible with Mac, Linux, and even your router. They do not offer the biggest range of devices and aren’t too impressive in this department. Hopefully, we’ll see upgrades and more compatibility in the future. That being said, they have a range of really good tutorials on how to download and install their software on a range of systems and devices.
Customer Support
Like many VPN services, Buffered offers 24/7 customer care to all its users and also has a large knowledge base with numerous online tutorials on how to set up the VPN on nearly anything. Unfortunately, there was no live chat option which was disappointing as this is something you now see with a lot of other services, and they usually offer very quick customer service. However, Buffered boasts they have a quick reply to their ticket system so I gave it a go. To my surprise, they replied within minutes and was incredibly friendly, knowledgeable and helpful which is something you rarely see, especially with a ticket-based support system.
Privacy and Security
Any good VPN service should have lock-tight security and privacy, as this is the whole point of a VPN in the first place. Buffered’s security is pretty good and is industry standard, with 256-bit military encryption, SHA-1 for data authentication and RSA 2048 for handshaking purposes. The service also runs OpenVPN which is currently the safest and faster security protocol available so it would be a no-brainer to choose anything else in its place. Despite this, it would be nice to see some customization in terms of security and protocols like other services do.
Some protocols slow down your system and it can be nice to mix it up so you can achieve the best speeds depending on where you are. However, as previously mentioned, Buffered’s speeds are fantastic so the lack of options is compensated nicely. In addition, Buffered VPN keeps no logs, which is great for security and privacy breaches. They do, however, keep some logs for up to a month for customer service issues and troubleshooting, as many other providers do.
Free Trial and Refund Policy
Unfortunately I couldn’t find any sign of a free trial on the Buffered website, which is strange as a free trial is a unique selling point and will encourage people to commit and purchase the service after. However, there is an impressive 30-day money-back guarantee which you are covered by, which enables users to claim their money back “hassle-free” if they are unsatisfied with the service.
Conclusion
Buffered is a very good VPN service and is definitely one you should look into. They offer a good global reach with 42 countries available and have an excellent windows client. They offer industry-standard security with military encryption of 256-bit but compensate with impressive connection speed and reliable network. The only issue I have with the service is that it is quite expensive even for the yearly plan. Despite this, they offer a 30-day money-back guarantee so you are free to give it a go. After this review, I would recommend Buffered as a good, reliable VPN service.
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