The highlight of the app is probably its Connection Rules panel, where you're able to decide exactly when the VPN automatically connects or disconnects (when you're accessing an insecure network, a trusted network and so on.) It's effective and easy to do, and the latest release extends this with split tunneling, the ability to decide which apps use the tunnel, and which don't. But, it doesn't display the country it's chosen, and you're just told you're connected to the 'Optimal Location.' That's a bizarre omission, especially as the desktop client does tell you the precise location it's selected, but hopefully Avast will fix it soon. There was some better news with the app's 'Optimal Location' feature it connected us to our nearest UK server, as we'd expect. There’s still no favorites system or recent servers list to speed up reconnections. Connect and disconnect with a tap, and choose your location from a long list (even longer here, as it's just a single list with no option to filter by continent).
WHAT IS AVAST SECURELINE VPN. ANDROID
We checked out SecureLine's Android app to see if it might hold some surprises, but for the most part, it worked much like the desktop edition. The client warns of the risk, and any exposure is only brief, but we'd still prefer it didn't happen at all. The kill switch did leave us vulnerable if we switched servers, as the client closed the current connection and initiated a new one, but allowed unprotected internet access in between. There's still a minor hassle in that it didn't automatically reconnect, but it only took one click to do this ourselves, and hopefully this won't happen often enough for it to be a problem. When we enabled the kill switch, the app protected us properly, blocking internet access as soon as the VPN dropped. If the client window isn't visible and you miss the notification, you might think you're protected, even when the VPN is down. If the VPN were to drop, and the kill switch is off, there's a problem: the client interface displays a warning, and there's a notification, but it doesn't automatically reconnect. There were no failed connection attempts or connection drops, either- SecureLine was very stable. Connect times were quick at around 5-6 seconds, even with the most distant locations some apps routinely take 4 to 5 times as long. Otherwise, though, the client's core features worked well. We could always choose the UK directly from the location list, but that's a little less convenient than it should be.
We noticed one odd issue with the client when we asked it to connect from the UK to our 'Optimal Location', it always chose Ireland. And a Browser Integration panel enables installing SecureLine’s own Firefox and Chrome extensions. Activating the kill switch should block internet access if the VPN connection drops. You can have the client automatically protect you as soon as you connect to the internet, or when you access unsecured Wi-Fi networks, for instance. The Settings panel isn't exactly stuffed with options - no ability to change the protocol, for instance (it's strictly OpenVPN-only) - but the features you get are worthwhile. But that's not unusual, and Avast apparently deletes this after 30 days, so for instance data logged on January 3rd is deleted on February 2nd.Īvast's various apps collect some basic analytics data of their own: OS version of the device, the actions you're taking in the app (enabled this feature, disabled that one, maybe uninstalled and reinstalled.) That's also commonplace, though, and if you're uncomfortable, anyway, you're able to turn off this kind of data collection in the app Settings panel.Īvast SecureLine also provides browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox (Image credit: Avast)
The not-so-great news is there's a degree of session logging, including connection timestamps, the IP address of the server you're using, and the amount of data transmitted.
WHAT IS AVAST SECURELINE VPN. FULL
The good news is that it doesn't log your full originating IP address (the last value is removed, like '212.100.56.000'), your DNS queries or anything else which could identify the websites you visit, the services and applications you use, or whatever else you might be doing online. It's gained a kill switch since our last review, too, protecting users if the VPN drops, and the clients block DNS and WebRTC leaks, too.Īvast also deserves some credit for its VPN Privacy Policy, which contains plenty of detail on what the service logs, and what it doesn't. Avast SecureLine does keep some session logs on its users' activity online (Image credit: Avast) Privacy and loggingĪvast's support for the highly secure OpenVPN protocol using AES-256-GCM gets it off to a good start in the privacy stakes.
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