Note: This wouldn’t be the regular product review; in this Zenmate VPN review, I will keep everything short and valuable for the basic and advanced users of VPN. At the end of the review, you will get an idea of whether it’s worthy and safe to use! Or not.
Here are the quick stats about the tests which I have performed.
| IP Leak Test | I have found no leakage in the connection while checking and testing the IP leak and webRTC leak. Here is the test. | GOOD |
| DNS Leak | DNS requests have been exposed, and your identity may reveal. Here is the test. | POOR |
| Speed Test | I have found 45% less speed with a VPN connection, which is really low. Here are the test results. | POOR |
| American Netflix | A specific server is currently working for US Netflix unblocking. Here is the test. | GOOD |
| Torrenting IP Check | My IP was the same as the VPN server, which means it’s good but a DNS leak could expose the IP. Here is the test result. | GOOD |
| Reddit Rating | I have lots of opposing views on Reddit, about 85% were not happy, but keep in mind they were talking about extension, not VPN client. | POOR |
| Author Rating | I will give only a 2.5 rating out of 5. | 2.4/5 |
Let’s start…
Zenmate presence in the market is quite long now, they have started with a browser extension. That Proxy extension was ad-free and easy to install and use, and these features gave Zenmate enormous popularity and lots of users in a short period.
After sometimes they launched “Zenmate Premium,” the full version of the VPN client with major encryption protocols. In short, they only changed the IP location before, but now, they are encrypting Internet traffic as well.
Zenmate VPN is using the platform of OpenVPN, which is considered the most secure VPN protocol, so there is no doubt about privacy, but keep in mind it only gives you 128-bit encryption, not 256-bit (which is military-grade encryption).
As I have mentioned above, it’s not a talking review. Now, I am showing you how I have tested this Zenmate software and evaluated the service.
Let’s find out…
How do I evaluate the VPN service?
In this process, I will show you, whether this service takes your privacy seriously or not. I have tested Zenmate in real-time, step by step, from different aspects, which are:
- IP Leak Test + WebRTC Leak Test (checking if there are loopholes)
- DNS Leak Test (is that leaking your DNS while streaming or downloading?)
- Check Torrent IP Leak (which IP goes from the torrent Client)
- Speed Test Results (how much it will reduce)
- US Netflix working or not
- Is Zenmate encrypting the Internet traffic or not
Test #1: IP Leak Test with advanced Browser WebRTC Leak test
There are many sites and tools which are constructed by VPN providers to spread the scare and sell their products. I’m using VPNInsights tools to ensure the results I’m gathering are legitimate and authentic.
To check correctly, I opened the “incognito” Tab and connected the Zenmate.
Now I’m opening the IP Leak Tool site. You have to disconnect your VPN to compare the results.
In the first box, I have seen what is my current location which is correct. Now I will connect the Zenmate server and run the test to check if it’s working or not.
I’ve connected with the Australian server, and that seems perfect, so the first setup of relocating the IP, is completed. Now, check if your webRTC is leaking your original IP or not.
You can see that the “IP leak Tool” section on the right comes up with some IP, which is fake IP. That means Zenmate is not leaking your IP through WebRTC. You can learn more about what WebRTC is and how it works.
In conclusion, I have to say that Zenmate VPN does its job pretty well. It changes the IP address and also prevents the browser from leaking your real IP, which is impressive.
Let’s check how it deals with the DNS Leak Test.
Test #2: DNS Leak Test Exposed
In this, I checked the DNS leak while being connected to Zenmate. It’s a significant factor to check, especially if you are looking to buy a VPN for torrenting.
Sometimes VPNs fail in between torrent download processes and reveal the IP address to ISP or other torrent downloaders.
Let’s start…
I will choose once again the tool site VPNInsights to check whether Zenmate leaked the DNS request or not. Here is the DNS Leak Test TOOL.
Well, surprising results:
Zenmate fails to provide the anonymous and interrupting connection, as you can see that the connection is continuously changing another Location and IP with ISP as well, it’s not revealing my real Identity but those fluctuations might get you caught while torrenting and stop watching American Netflix.
Your ISP is easy to determine if you are using a VPN service.
Test #3: Check Torrent IP With Zenmate Connection
In this test, I will show the IP going through my uTorrent client when Zenmate was connected.
Let’s start by opening the tool “check torrent IP.”
So there is no IP change here; we cannot rely on Zenmate. As I see in the previous test, which was continuously recording the 100 requests, shows that Zenmate is exposing the DNS. So, it means that while you were downloading a torrent file, Zenmate is also changing the IP in between that time.
Test #4: Zenmate Speed Test Results
VPN providers suppose to reduce Internet speed because of tunneling and encryption. But most VPNs will slow down too much because of loaded and slow servers. In this testing segment, I will check how much Zenmate servers reduce the speed of your regular bandwidth.
I have performed this test with Ookla®, Speedtest® 4 to 5 times with different servers and found pretty low results.
Speed Test Without Zenmate:
With Zenmate VPN Speed: US Server
These servers were almost 45% down the regular internet speed, which is really slow. Best VPNs generally show a speed degradation of 10% to 12%.
Test #5: Does Zenmate Work With American Netflix?
After Netflix’s decisive action against VPN providers, VPNs have faced a huge and strong blockade from Netflix. Since then, every VPN has been trying to update its servers to provide access to Netflix continuously, but very few of them are still working with Netflix.
Let’s try to see if Zenmate is working with US Netflix or not.
I talked earlier this morning with one of the support members, and she said to connect to a Zenmate server called “united states media” and enjoy the access.
I have tried Netflix access myself, and it’s working perfectly. Here is the screenshot of US Netflix unblocked.
Test #6: Testing Zemate Encryption
In this part of testing, I would conduct a few tests and check whether the internet traffic is encrypted or not. For this purpose, I would check the network encryption using “Wireshark.” What this software does, is simple. It will analyze each packet received from and sent through your connection and displays the details.
To perform this test, I will compare results with and without a VPN connection and will show you if Zenmate is encrypting your traffic or not.
Without Zenmate VPN
On the left-hand side, you can see the “Wireshark” view, and on the right-hand side, I have opened “beencrypted.com.” So I can clearly see and understand the domain inside the packet information.
With Zenmate VPN
Let’s jump into Zenmate and refresh all, and see what happens.
I have now connected the US server of Zenmate.
There are many results, but I couldn’t see any readable content or domain. I couldn’t find any related “text,” and all information is in chipper text form, an encrypted information form.
So, here Zenmate Wins,
It’s encrypting the internet traffic, but as it involves a DNS leak, I believe it’s not secure enough to provide continuous encrypted traffic.
What Redditors said about Zenmate
Reddit is one of the biggest social media sites where people share their thoughts about everything. Sometimes, there are fake comments commercially advertised by marketers, but 98% of experts are out there.
I have been investigating Zenmate users’ experiences and found a pretty colossal discussion about glitches and issues that people are facing with Zenmate service. But most of them were from 2016 to 2017 or from that era when Zenmate was only available in the shape of an extension.
Here are a few of them:
ZenMate VPN Browser Extension Deanonymization & Hijacking Vulnerability (3.5 Million Affected Users) from r/netsec
Will Google Chrome Extension ZenMate VPN work for terrenting? from r/VPNTorrents
Is there a way to cancel ZenMate subscription? ( I was hacked ) from r/VPN
Is Zenmate VPN safe to use?
I am pretty sure that you could judge the Zenmate’s efficiency and safety on your own by the evaluation shown above. I can say that your usage somehow decides whether Zenmate is safe for you or not. But, it would not be wrong if I recommend you to stay away from a VPN which leaks DNS.
DNS leak overshadows Zenmate privacy as a whole, and as a result, you cannot trust the good results of IP leaks or Torrent IP leaks too. For Torrenting, it’s a straight no from my side. Yeah, it can be suitable for streaming purposes as it was able to unblock US Netflix.
Share this article
About the Author
Rebecca James is an IT consultant with forward thinking approach toward developing IT infrastructures of SMEs. She writes to engage with individuals and raise awareness of digital security, privacy, and better IT infrastructure.
More from Rebecca JamesRelated Posts
ExtremeVPN Review (2024): Fast, Affordable, User-friendly
ExtremeVPN is a modern VPN with some of the most fantastic privacy, security, streaming, and torrent...
StrongVPN Review: Is It Strong Enough to Use In 2024?
StrongVPN is one of the oldest yet most overlooked VPN service providers, giving the impression that...
Does Bitdefender VPN Provide Enough Defence? Detailed Review
Bitdefender is a trustworthy brand that offers cybersecurity solutions for homes and businesses, inc...
How TorGuard VPN Really Guards Your Privacy? Detailed Review
TorGuard VPN emerges as a strong product that provides an anonymous VPN, a business VPN, and a priva...
Does FastestVPN Provide Fastest VPN Service? Detailed Review
FastestVPN marked its way in the industry in 2016. The VPN claims to have the jam-packed features re...
PrivadoVPN Review: Is It Fast, Secure, and Private to Use In 2024?
PrivadoVPN is a small yet mighty VPN provider that offers free and premium plans. The paid version p...
