Hide.me is a VPN I only started following after a reader recommended it to me and I purchased a package afterwards. I hope to add it to the series of tests on this blog about secure VPN wall flips for China. After purchasing it, I used it for a while on Macbook, IOS/iPhone, Window 10, and the overall connection success rate, post-flip speed, and drops were not bad, especially its “Streaming” server for YouTube and other streaming media playback. Speed performance is all good. It should also be noted that I only tested its app direct connection, and did not continue to test its manual configuration.
Note: There will be a major firewall upgrade blocking operation at the end of September – beginning of October, so be aware!
Barry: I’ve been hoping to convey a message to my readers that the firewall will be around for the foreseeable future; with it, using any VPN or other tool in China is a dynamic process and there’s no one-and-done solution. That’s why I keep updating the [Daily Test] section. The purpose of the test is to tell you the real usage of the changed VPN at the moment, whether it is available or not, and I will tell you so. In order to speed up the testing, I will be running only SpeedTest tests on it as it is only a reference for the speed test.
Local device and network: Windows10/200M/WiFi;
Speedtest Ping: 10ms; Download: 232.56Mbps; Upload: 22.77Mbps;
Hide.me VPN Connection Test in China:
The following Test servers from “All”
Protocol:Automatic;
Note: For the first server test, I will be testing all three tools at the same time, SpeedTest, YouTube Connection Speed, and Netflix Fast. For the subsequent server tests, I will only run the SpeedTest and Fast speed test tools through SpeedTest and Fast. The main purpose of this is to give the reader a general reference comparison of the speed test results between the various tools.
USA – California – Los Angeles: First success. (Time efficiency: 22s)
Speedtest Ping: 221ms; Download: 0.56Mbps; Upload: 1.06Mbps;
Youtube Connection Speed: 5300Kbps;
Netflix Fast: 130Kbps;
USA – Central: First success. (Time efficiency: 15s)
Speedtest Ping: 201ms; Download: 0.56Mbps; Upload: 1.91Mbps;
Netflix Fast: 190Kbps;
USA – Dallas – Texas: First success. (Time efficiency: 25s)
Speedtest Ping: 211ms; Download: 0.74Mbps; Upload: 3.46Mbps;
Netflix Fast: 210Kbps;
Japan: First success. (Time efficiency: 18s)
Speedtest Ping: 69ms; Download: 0.84Mbps; Upload: 5.03Mbps;
Netflix Fast: 1.2Mbps;
USA – West Coast: First success. (Time efficiency: 16s)
Speedtest Ping: 171ms; Download: 0.84Mbps; Upload: 2.24Mbps;
Netflix Fast: 420Kbps;
Canada: Failed. (Try once)
Sweden: Failed. (Try once)
Vietnam: First success. (Time efficiency: 25s)
Speedtest Ping: 433ms; Download: 0.19Mbps; Upload: 1.79Mbps;
Netflix Fast: 110Kbps;
The following test servers from “Streaming”
Protocol: Automatic;
USA For HBO: First success. (Time efficiency: 27s)
Speedtest Ping: 242ms; Download: 0.62Mbps; Upload: 1.88Mbps;
Netflix Fast: 13Mbps;
USA For ESPN: First success. (Time efficiency: 17s)
Speedtest Ping: 229ms; Download: 0.45Mbps; Upload: 1.48Mbps;
Netflix Fast: 8Mbps;
USA For Amazon Prime: First success. (Time efficiency: 20s)
Speedtest Ping: 222ms; Download: 0.14Mbps; Upload: 2.3Mbps;
Netflix Fast: 7.4Mbps;
USA For Hulu: First success. (Time efficiency: 20s)
Speedtest Ping: 232ms; Download: 0.47Mbps; Upload: 2.51Mbps;
Netflix Fast: 8.8Mbps;
USA For Disney+: First success. (Time efficiency: 1m24s)
Speedtest Ping: 227ms; Download: 0.58Mbps; Upload: 1.41Mbps;
Netflix Fast: 8.8Mbps;
USA For Netflix: First success. (Time efficiency: 21s)
Speedtest Ping: 228ms; Download: 0.4Mbps; Upload: 2.6Mbps;
Netflix Fast: 7.9Mbps;
UK For Netflix: First success. (Time efficiency: 55s)
Speedtest Ping: 301ms; Download: 8.43Mbps; Upload: 0.92Mbps;
Netflix Fast: 5.4Mbps;
UK For Disney+: First success. (Time efficiency: 14s)
Speedtest Ping: 298ms; Download: 4.44Mbps; Upload: 1.72Mbps;
Netflix Fast: 7.8Mbps;
UK For BBC iPlay: First success. (Time efficiency: 30s)
Speedtest Ping: 292ms; Download: 8.72Mbps; Upload: 1.67Mbps;
Netflix Fast: 6.8Mbps;
Italy For RAI: First success. (Time efficiency: 14s)
Speedtest Ping: 316ms; Download: 9.72Mbps; Upload: 1.59Mbps;
Netflix Fast: 12Mbps;
Italy For Disney+: First success. (Time efficiency: 16s)
Speedtest Ping: 305ms; Download: 7.67Mbps; Upload: 1.37Mbps;
Netflix Fast: 7.2Mbps;
Italy For DAZN: First success. (Time efficiency: 41s)
Speedtest Ping: 294ms; Download: 19.27Mbps; Upload: 1.19Mbps;
Netflix Fast: 15Mbps;
Germany For Netflix: First success. (Time efficiency: 15s)
Speedtest Ping: 287ms; Download: 9.15Mbps; Upload: 1.61Mbps;
Netflix Fast: 8.2Mbps;
Germany For DAZN: First success. (Time efficiency: 12s)
Speedtest Ping: 263ms; Download:11.6Mbps; Upload: 0.91Mbps;
Netflix Fast: 9Mbps;
France For Netflix: Failed. (Try two times)
Summary: I tested Hide.me VPN in Windows 10 China today. The server I tested is divided into two parts, one is the server selected from “All”, the server I selected from this part is based on its ping value, the connection success rate is quite high, but the speed can be improved. The other part is to test the servers in its “Streaming” option. I have tested all the servers in its “Streaming” option once, and the total is 15 streaming server. Judging from the test results, the streaming servers are indeed optimized, and the speed is significantly improved, whether tested via SpeedTest or Fast.
notes: the connection protocols supported by this VPN are IKEv2, OpenVPN, SoftEtherVPN, WireGuard, and SSTP. today’s test was only via its Automatic protocol. I will test other protocols as well in the future regarding the VPN’s wall-climbing situation in China. Also for Macbook, iOS/iPhone, this VPN is also connectable via App(Auto), I haven’t tested it publicly for these devices but I’ve been trying it privately for a while now. For Android devices I’m not sure, as I don’t have an Android device in hand.
The VPN has a free version, but it should be noted that the one I tested was the paid version. I’d recommend the paid version though, the free version doesn’t have many servers.
Hide.MeVPN Windows10 Version: 3.5.0; Protocolo: Automatic
Today’s Test Score: ★ ★ ★ ★