VPN Steganos Online Shield 365 Review

With today’s rampant issues about breaches in security, identity theft, hackers, and viruses while connected to the internet it is becoming ever more important to make sure you are secure online. This is where the Steganos Online Shield 365 comes to play. It is a VPN service which will change your physical IP and encrypt all of your data being transmitted online. Read more to take a look at my review of the Steganos Online Shield 365 or choose the best VPN service with the help of the authority website VPN Finder.

What is Steganos Online Shield 365?

What is a VPN?

First I should briefly go into what a VPN or Virtual Private Network is. When connected to a VPN you are connecting to an external server which then takes your physical IP address, assigns your computer one of their IP Addresses from their servers and then uses an encryption algorithm to mask your data and IP from the rest of the internet. If you wish to learn more please check out the Wikipedia Virtual Private Network page.

The Steganos Online Shield 365 is an online VPN (Virtual Private Network) service. It encrypts all of your data whether you are shopping, going online to check your bank account, browsing websites, or anything while you are online.

• Protects your internet connection using encryption.
• Protects you whether at home or on a WiFi hot spot.
• You can feel safe browsing websites without a worry thanks to your protected IP Address.
• Guard yourself against theft of passwords, credit card details, or your online identity.

Installation

Although installation was very simple to setup.  The only issue I had is that I chose to use the “Default” setup and did not notice that the “Custom” option would have allowed me to simply opt out of installing a browser toolbar and Registry cleaner. I was able to simply uninstall these though. If you decide to install the software I would suggest using the “Custom” option and un-checking the boxes as the offered software isn’t needed as there are far better free solutions out there like CCleaner or Glary’s Utilities.

Other than that the Steganos Online Shield 365 itself installed very quickly and simply. Using the ‘Softonic’ installer to install and download the VPN software you followed the steps and avoided the pitfalls of installing unnecessary software it installed very easily and quickly. After installing all I had to do was input the provided license key and I was ready to connect.

Using Steganos Online Shield 365

Using the VPN service was very easy to use. It literally is one click of the button. After connecting you are not even aware that you are connected to the service while I was doing my daily online activities. There was no noticeable slowness or lag which can sometimes happen while connected to a VPN.

 

 

Test System

I used my ASUS Ultra Book running Windows 8 Pro 64 bit. I connected to the internet using a wireless connection with no security key.

Speed Tests

I tested the connection speed while on and off of the Steganos Online Shield 365. You will notice in the screenshots below that your download and upload speeds while connected to the VPN will be slower. But not as much as I would have expected. I still managed a respectable 8 meg download speed which is more then OK for basic online activities such as browsing, shopping, accessing your favorite social networks or even if you are streaming music.

 

I also tested the connection by going to services like YouTube and Netflix and there was no discernible lag or delays while on there. (Note: It is not advisable to use the service for streaming purposes as it is un-necessary unless you are using the VPN to access video streaming sites that normally are not reachable from your location.)

Downloading while connected did not take any longer though I did have some initial delay while it started then resumed at normal speeds.

Security Test

Unfortunately the one thing I couldn’t really test is to see how secure it really was. I was able to run a free online port scanner “Shields Up”  to see if there were any vulnerabilities it could find scanning common ports hackers use to try and gain access to your information. When I ran the scan it did show the following:

All this means is that the site could not find any easily accessible vulnerabilities. And considering they would have to first go through the Online Shield 365’s servers the VPN service does offer another level of security.

This does not mean you should not still practice safe online habits:

• Have an updated anti virus and spyware detection software
• Do not open any email attachments that you do not know or understand
• Only browse trustworthy sites (like here at Dragon Blogger!)
• Using secure passwords
• Regularly clearing your cookies and cache files on your browser
• Having a home router between your computer and ISP modem.
• Setup WEP Encryption or higher for all wireless devices that connect to your home network.

Connection Issues

The only thing that happened after I started using the service is after rebooting my laptop it didn’t auto-connect back to the wireless network. I was able to repeat the issue after every reboot. It was a simple fix though. I had to manually go in and re-connect to the wireless and I was able to connect again. I don’t know if this is due to the VPN service, Windows 8, or the Laptop. So take this with a grain of salt. If you decide to use this software let me know in the comments below to see if this is a trend or not.

I did not have any direct issue using the Steganos Online Shield 365 application or service while testing though!

What I Liked

It was simple to use and tell when it was online or not. That and it did mask who I was online and added another level of security.

What I Didn’t Like

The main thing I didn’t like was the installation process. Being tricked into installing “crap ware” and browser tool bars by the installer was annoying. I understand the need to try and up sell, but this should have remained a stand alone installation without attempting to install unneeded and unwanted tools onto my computer.

Free Trial

If you wish you can go and try out the service and test it for yourself. You get 500 megs of transfer (upload and download) to give you an idea on how the service works.  If you wish to purchase a years service it is $79.99. You can go to the Steganos website to try it out today.

Overall I was pleased on how simple and easy the Steganos Online Shield 365 service was to setup and use. If you are looking for an online VPN service to use and you can afford it then I would suggest checking this one out.

Update

Steganos has revamped the download for the application to make sure users aren’t greeting with adware or installing stuff they aren’t interested it, so feel free to download Steganos Online Shield 365 from this link.