Hoxx VPN Review

Hoxx VPN in their official website claims that they offer ‘ultra-fast browsing without compromising speed’. Is Hoxx VPN able to achieve that? Let’s do a speed test using speedtest.net to see if these claims are true. The following shows my internet download and upload speed before connecting to Hoxx VPN.

• Ping – 5 ms
• Download Speed – 91.07 Mbps
• Upload Speed – 47.28 Mbps

The following image shows the speed test carried out after connecting to its Netherland server using its free version. We connected to the VPN from different locations that include, USA, UK, Australia and Japan.

As you can see, the speed is significantly less than the original connection for this server. Let’s connect to another server which is located in Japan and check its speed from different locations.

Look at how drastic the download and upload speed are!. They are not even closer to half of the speed of the original server. Even their pings are higher than normal that shows a higher network latency. This clearly shows this VPN gives you poor speed despite their claims.

Like they are hiding information about the encryption they use, this is another area where they provide suspicious statements. According to their website, they offer more than 50+ locations with their free VPN version. Despite this claim, many users have complained that they see only a limited number of locations in their applications.

Good VPNs normally reveal how many servers they have. But, Hoxx VPN seems to hide that information as well which clearly indicates their lack of transparency.

They specifically mention that their ‘Locations change every day” and that ‘we add new servers every week”. Does that mean they are actually adding new servers? Because, if so there should be a larger number of servers by now. But we don’t see something like that in their applications.

For example, their Windows application shows only 6 countries which are Japan, USA, Netherlands, France, Canada and Germany. Their premium version is said to offer ‘more locations’. But the premium server only shows 12 countries which is ridiculously low compared to premium VPN.

Free servers:

Premium servers:

Awkwardly, its IOS application only showed up Netherlands as the server location.

This where Hoxx VPN has displayed its honesty. In their official websites’ frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), they are specifically saying that they do keep logs for a certain period just to prevent illegal actions. More importantly, there is no mention of any no logging-policy whatsoever, which is typically highlighted by most good VPNs with strict privacy policies.

Not only that, if you take a look at their privacy policy, you would be surprised as to what type of data they are logging. Although the policy doesn’t specifically say it is only for their website, It is apparent when you use their ‘services’, they keep track of information like your browser, access times, page views, and IP addresses.

Furthermore, they work with legal authorities. Meaning that if you are caught doing something suspicious or illegal, they will inform the authorities without notifying you.

And more concerning is:

And finally:

It also admits that they use cookies and other tracking technologies to collect your information. Not only that, they use third-party trackings like Google Analytics and Advertising.

Moreover, both DNS and WebRTC leak tests proved negative, but some of the past reviews state that their browser extensions have DNS leaks.

Encryption and Protocols

Strong encryption is a key that ensures the privacy of your data. Hoxx VPN does not mention the type of encryption they support. They state in their official website that their free plan provides ‘end-to-end encryption’ and the premium version provides ‘More advanced end-to-end-encryption’.

And there are several other places they pretend that they provide privacy through encryption. Nevertheless, if a VPN supports strong encryption like 256-bit AES, they will shout out that on their website. But, Hoxx VPN seems to deliberately hide what encryption method they specifically use. This leaves us enough suspicion of its lack of privacy.

However, past reviews say that they use 4096-bit encryption with their premium plan. This is not stronger encryption that has been broken or proved to be hackable. This means that their free version has far worse encryption. So if you use the free version, beware because your data is not fully protected from third parties while you use this VPN.

Hoxx VPN provides applications for most of the device types including Windows, MacOs, IOS, Linux and browser extensions which seemed to be a huge advantage. Its application download and install is pretty easy. But when you try to open the application, you will realise that it is a huge disappointment.

When you try to connect to the VPN servers, the application keeps showing the endless connecting circle like the following figure shows, which is a waste of your precious time.

After you keep trying to connect several times, you will be asked to enter an auth code. Next, connecting to a server also takes a considerable time. If you are lucky enough, finally you will land on the following page which indicates that you are now connected to the VPN server you selected.

The most frustrating part is, If you close this window, then the application will no longer connect to the VPN server. You have to again click on the Hoxx VPN icon and wait until you get connected to a VPN server from scratch.

Not only that, if you have already opened a browser window, the VPN connection is not applied to that window. Therefore, Hoxx VPN is not that easy to use and cannot recommend to any novice VPN user. Its IOS and Android applications on the other hand are pretty straightforward and easier to use.

Also, if you try to access a torrent website like Pirate Bay using this VPN, you will be highly disappointed. Hoxx VPN does not support torrenting anonymously because your IP address is exposed once you go to a torrent website! So if you are looking for a VPN that supports torrenting, definitely stay away from this VPN.

Since Hoxx VPN applications have basic functionalities, you cannot expect more useful features like embedded speed testing which are offered by many other good VPNs with their free accounts. Also, Hoxx VPN does not support Geo-blocking. Or you cannot access Netflix and other streaming services using this VPN. This is another huge disadvantage of this VPN that many users complain about.

To ensure seamless streaming and access to Netflix and other popular streaming services, it’s recommended to explore our guide on the best VPN for Netflix that offers advanced features and reliable unblocking capabilities.

You can connect with their customer support through email and this is the only method of connecting with them. If you look on the bottom right and upper left corners, you can see the ‘email-us’ link on their website. If you click on it, it will directly open your email client with their email address. There is no form for you to directly fill in and submit which would have been much easier for you.

Right after you email your query to them, they will send you an acknowledgement that they received your request which is a positive point. But, we still have not received a reply from them. They have a good collection of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), but as discussed, they lack specific details like encryption method and number of servers.

Most good VPNs give priority to their customer support and provide more user-friendly customer support methods such as 24/7 live chat support even for free versions. But this VPN provides 24/7 customer support for its premium users only. Hence, Hoxx VPN cannot be considered as having supportive customer service.

Features and Allowances

Hoxx VPN does not provide advanced security features like split tunneling, dynamic, shared IPs, and multihop networking that better support the security. But it provides some additional features like family malicious website filtering and static IP addresses with the free version.

And Its premium version provides advanced malicious website filtering and PAC functionality to bypass some websites. When compared with Better VPNs like ExpressVPNs, the privacy and security you get with these features are minimal.

Unlike many good VPNs, Hoxx VPN offers only 2 packages to choose from. It has only one premium plan available which costs you $1.99 per month. The two packages mainly differ in the speed, locations, and type of encryption.

The Free plan claims to give you access to 50+ locations without any bandwidth restrictions. However, most of its VPN applications do not prove this. For example, their desktop application only showed 6 locations while the IOS application shows only one location.

And other features of the free plan which include zero-configuration setup, malicious website filtering, and eliminating geo-restrictions look promising. However, the free version doesn’t offer you good encryption which is the biggest downside if you use the free service.

Its premium package on the other hand provides you more features like advanced end-to-end encryption, advanced malicious website filtering, and supports more server locations. Besides, it offers a 7-day money-back guarantee. You might have noticed that these are just vague statements. Because, they lack the specifics like how many servers, what exactly they use for website filtering, etc.

Nevertheless, as a positive factor, they have several different payment methods including credit card, Bitcoin, Litecoin, etherium, and Alipay.

Conclusion

Based on our experience using this VPN, we never recommend this to anyone. HoxxVPN lacks many features that a reliable VPN should have like stronger encryption, no-logging policy, faster speed, and good customer support. Therefore, you should go for a better VPN service like ExpressVPN or NordVPN for a better VPN experience.