AVG VPN Review

More Detailed Information

If you want all the details about our testing of AVG VPN, keep on reading.

Privacy

Let’s get this out of the way. When it comes to privacy, AVG is simply not a good choice for a variety of reasons. One, they’re based in the Netherlands, a Five Eyes member that may force companies to give them customers’ data. This wouldn’t be such a big deal if the company itself didn’t log customer data, but that isn’t the case with AVG. Rather, the company logs a ton of unnecessary information, such as our:

• Name
• Address
• Email
• Phone number
• Account number
• Password
• Payment information
• IP address
• Billing data
• Operating system
• Hardware
• City or country of device and network
• URLs of websites visited

Our research on VPN usage tells us that 40-percent of people use a VPN for general privacy. If you belong to that 40-percent, we’re just going to say it: AVG is a poor choice. That’s because of how much data it logs. What surprised us the most is that it logs URLs of websites visited and IP addresses. Those are key pieces of data. If someone cross references them, they’d be able to put together who visited which websites while connected to AVG.

But who would go to those lengths? Well, the government, for one. AVG is based in the Netherlands, a member of the Nine Eyes alliance. The Netherlands has laws that would allow law enforcement and other government agencies to demand data from companies in their jurisdiction. For example, for criminal investigation. If the government requests data from AVG, the company has no other option but to comply.

We don’t condone cybercriminals, of course, but logging IP addresses and URLs undermines the integrity of a VPN.

Security

Of course, government requests for user data are rare. What’s usually more important for VPN users is getting privacy and security while browsing. That means hiding your IP address from hackers, your internet provider, the people you interact with online, and even the websites you visit. It’s important to make sure your VPN isn’t leaking your IP address. To do that, we perform DNS and WebRTC leak tests.

• DNS: To use an analogy, DNS is to IP address as name is to Social Security Number. In other words, DNS stands for Domain Name Server, and it’s what you type in to get to a website, most likely (that’s a lot easier than typing in a whole numerical IP address!). Using a website called DNSLeakTest.com, we found that our web traffic was truly encrypted when we had AVG VPN turned on.

• WebRTC: We love using Chrome as our default web browser due to its seamless interface and speed, and we aren’t afraid to say it. However, one disadvantage that Chrome has is the fact that it defaults to WebRTC when it comes to high-bandwidth activities like sharing files or video chatting. Rather than going through an intermediate server, WebRTC technology lets browsers communicate with each other directly, which means that they need the other’s private IP address. Chrome isn’t the only browser that defaults to WebRTC— Opera and Microsoft Edge do too. To see if AVG VPN was leaking our private IP address on Chrome, we used a tool on the ExpressVPN website and found no leaks.

So while AVG is clearly not ideal when it comes to their privacy jurisdiction and privacy policy, at the very least, they did the basic job of encrypting our online activities and device IP addresses.

Features

Again, people have various reasons for using a VPN; some people may want a VPN for Netflix, while others may want a VPN for torrenting. Whatever the reason, we’re pleased to say that AVG VPN works with both Netflix and torrenting, so you shouldn’t have any difficulties accessing entertainment.

Looking for a VPN for business? Unfortunately, AVG doesn’t have split tunneling, so you’ll have to route all of your traffic through their encrypted tunnel. So if you needed to connect to a public office network at the same time that you use your VPN, AVG is not a viable option.

Now, as we said previously, on all compatible devices (which includes Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS), AVG will shut down all of your web browsers and apps if the VPN fails. That way, although you’ll lose your encryption, there’ll be nothing to encrypt, keeping your web activity safe from your ISP.

Speed Tests

Now, many things affect how fast your internet is aside from which plan you buy from your ISP. That includes things like distance to the server, operating system, app versions, and more.1 So we urge you to take our speed tests with a grain of salt.

Now, although some estimates say that on average, VPNs slow down browsing speeds by around five percent,2 we do not find this to be the case with most of the VPNs we’ve tested, and that includes AVG. While we saw decent speeds for Mac, there was a ton of latency when it came to Windows, so it’s safe to say that AVG is not one of the best Windows VPNs. Here is the raw data from our speed tests.

While the Windows download and upload speed differences were actually smaller than those on our Mac, the amount of latency on Windows makes AVG not an ideal pick for gamers. Overall, it’s a better VPN for Mac, with only 25 percent more latency with the VPN connected.

Pricing

While our AVG VPN pricing page goes over their subscription options in more detail, it’s definitely something we consider in our testing, as well.

As you can see, AVG is not a completely free VPN, but instead a VPN with a free trial for a week, which counts for something. And beyond that free trial, AVG’s prices are pretty good, although certainly it’s not the cheapest VPN we’ve ever seen. To get the lowest price, sign up for two or three years, which oddly have the same monthly cost of $3.99. Of course, there are also bundles with AVG antivirus software available, so check out our AVG antivirus pricing page to learn about your options in greater detail.

Now, in terms of what an individual subscription to AVG VPN actually includes, we were able to use five devices at the same time and overall. That’s a bit of a disappointment, as we have many more than five devices and the average household in the U.S has over 10 IoT devices alone.3

In sum, if you want to use a VPN on its own for five devices or under, AVG remains a decent option.

Mobile Application

Interestingly enough, for 31 percent of VPN-users, the biggest reason to use a VPN was to be able to connect to public Wi-Fi, risk-free. If that’s the case, then there’s a good chance that they’re using a mobile VPN, most likely connecting to see the score of the game as they wait in line to return a package (one of the seventh circles of hell, in our opinion). For AVG, that means downloading:

• iOS: AVG Secure VPN & Proxy Server app, 4.7 out of five stars.
• Android: AVG Secure VPN– Unlimited VPN & Proxy Server, 4.4 out of five stars.

These are nearly perfect ratings, and we agreed that AVG’ mobile apps were really easy to use. Of course, they also have apps for Windows and MacOS that we did the speed tests on, but it’s nice to know that we’re covered on mobile, as well.

Recap

The bottom line is that, unless you’re very concerned about privacy, AVG VPN will work for most people, Mac-users in particular. With relatively fast speeds and reasonable pricing, it definitely performed the basic functions of a VPN and is worth the money.

If AVG VPN isn’t for you, that’s okay; we’ve tested out dozens more, so you’re bound to find one option that works. Not sure where to start? Read our guide of the year’s best VPN service.