IronSocket VPN Review

How Much Does IronSocket VPN Cost?

IronSocket VPN may not be the most powerful or affordable VPN on the market, however, it is a decent option for torrenting and streaming fans that want to share safely, or gain access to geo-restricted content from around the world.

If you choose to subscribe to IronSocket VPN, there is a choice of pricing options. As with any VPN service, the monthly rolling contract is the most expensive option. With IronSocket, a one-month subscription will set you back $6.99 a month. This is considerably cheaper than the average monthly price of a VPN service though.

If you are happy to commit to a slightly longer subscription plan, the IronSocket 6-month plan comes in at $5.99 or $35.95 when paid upfront. If you opt for the 1-year plan, the monthly subscription price will drop to just $4.16 which equals $49.95 a year.

The VPN provider offers 3 simultaneous connections as standard. However, if you require more, things become somewhat confusing. The website states that users have 3 VPN connections and three proxy connections simultaneously with any subscription plan. This means that for the monthly subscription prices detailed above, you will receive 3 VPN connections and 3 IP connections. You can pay for more connections, whether you need 4, 6, or 8.

Thus, if you require 4 simultaneous connections and 4 proxy connections, you will need to pay $1.50 a month, on top of your standard monthly subscription fee. If you need 6 simultaneous VPN connections as well as 6 IP connections, you will be required to pay an additional $3 a month on top of your normal monthly cost. Finally, if you need 8 simultaneous connections and 8 IP slots, this will cost an additional $8 a month.

Thankfully there is a decent range of payment options including PayPal, credit card, and anonymous payments with a gift card or Bitcoin. All of the IronSocket subscription plans come with a 7-day money-back guarantee too, for additional peace of mind. This means that you can test the product risk-free for a week and request a full refund if you are not happy with the service provided. However, a 7-day money-back guarantee is much less than other providers offer. In the VPN industry, providers typically offer a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Is IronSocket a Good VPN?

IronSocket is owned and managed by Hong Kong-based company, Pusa and Daga Hong Kong Limited. The provider offers access to 90 VPN servers across 40 different countries around the world including Iceland, Saudi Arabia, the US, Egypt, Cyprus, Hong Kong, Russia, and more. There are around 300 IP addresses available on the VPN service too.

IronSocket is a small but relatively powerful VPN but it does come with limitations. Firstly, the provider offers access to a small network of servers, which means that you have little choice when it comes to choosing a server location for streaming, gaming, or browsing.

There is also only a standard client for Windows, which means that you will have to manually set up the VPN client on any other devices that you own. There is also a disappointing 7-day money-back guarantee, which is much less than other VPNs offer. ExpressVPN, Surfshark, and NordVPN all offer a money-back guarantee of 30-days, ensuring you have sufficient time to test the product, change your mind, and request a refund if you need to.

Cyberghost is even more generous and comes with a 45-day money-back guarantee across all of its subscription plans. Therefore, we would be inclined to recommend one of these premium providers if you want access to an extensive network of servers and a longer money-back guarantee.

However, there is room for improvement when it comes to IronSocket’s no-logging policy. We would like to see its logging processes explained in greater detail and for the provider to complete an independent security audit of its privacy policy and software.

Is IronSocket Good for Streaming?

IronSocket is a relatively good VPN product when it comes to streaming unblocking performance, however, due to its limited network of servers, you may not be able to access streaming content in every country. However, IronSocket does offer Smart DNS Proxy to allow users to stream a range of services that may not typically be available in your region including Netflix, BBC iPlayer, HBO Now, Hulu, and more.

Using smart DNS proxy servers will not reroute your internet connection through the VPN tunnel, so it will not significantly affect your VPN connection speeds. Download speeds are impressive, meaning that you can watch your favorite shows in high definition and without buffering or lag.

Does IronSocket Support Torrenting?

IronSocket provides support for torrenting and P2P sharing. However, P2P sharing activity is only supported on selected IronSocket servers. Torrenting is supported on IronSocket’s Nicosia, Cyprus server, Jakarta, Indonesia server, Steinsel Luxembourg server, Amsterdam, Netherlands server, Moscow, Russia server, Taipei, Taiwan server, and the Vinnytsia, Ukraine server. There are no bandwidth restrictions so you can torrent as much as you like without worrying about your data consumption.

Thankfully IronSocket offers strong, military-grade AES-256 bit encryption as standard, in combination with the OpenVPN protocol and RSA-4096-bit keys to ensure your torrenting activity is completely private and secure.

There is DNS leak protection too, which can be activated in the VPN’s settings. IronSocket also comes with a reliable integrated kill-switch, to ensure no unencrypted torrenting files become exposed in the case that the VPN connection fails for any reason. If your VPN connection drops, it will automatically cut your internet connection until it is reconnected. This means that your real IP address and private data will not become exposed to hackers, your internet service provider, or the government so that your torrenting activity remains anonymous.

When it comes to logging, IronSocket offers a decent logging policy where it states that it only stores the minimum amount of data necessary for it to operate its service and manage user accounts. However, the provider does store a limited amount of user data including the time and date of each VPN session, the IP address utilized for the session, the server connected to, and bandwidth transferred during the session.

This is more than most providers store and it is somewhat worrying that the company has not completed an independent security audit of its product and policies. Therefore, IronSocket cannot be regarded as the best VPN for torrenting as we do have some security and privacy concerns in regard to its no-logging policy. However, there is a range of torrenting-optimized servers which is more than many VPNs offer.

Is IronSocket Good for Gaming?

When you connect to a VPN, all of your internet data traffic is rerouted through a secure encrypted tunnel and exits through a remote VPN server. This means that all of your incoming and outgoing data is encrypted so that no one, including hackers, governments, or your internet service provider, can access your data or decipher what you are doing online.

A VPN utilizes a significant amount of power and data to quickly encrypt, decrypt, and transfer data. This means that if your computer has low processing power, you may experience delayed response times when gaming. Despite this, every online gaming service is different.

IronSocket offers access to VPN servers located all over the world. Gamers also have the option to test latency between the gaming service and a VPN server that is located in close proximity to your actual geographical location, or close to where the game service is hosted. Thanks to this, you can try a range of VPN servers to identify the best one for your individual gaming activities.

Is IronSocket Private?

IronSocket ensures complete privacy and security for its users. It utilizes SSL VPN and IPSec VPN servers, as well as HTTP, proxy, smart DNS proxy, and SOCKS5 proxy. It also utilizes standard VPN connection protocols such as PPTP and OpenVPN.

If you use the OpenVPN protocol, the VPN utilizes RSA-4096 bit encryption keys as well as military standard AES-256 bit encryption to ensure your private data is undecipherable. The PPTP protocol is significantly less secure than OpenVPN and operates on 128-bit encryption over GRE Protocol number 47.

The VPN also offers privacy protection for torrenters and P2P file-sharers too. The app is compatible with torrenting clients such as uTorrent, BitTorrent, and more. However, not all of the provider’s servers are optimized for P2P sharing and torrenting.

There are some additional privacy features including “drop protection” which is IronSocket’s version of a kill switch. This feature serves to cut your internet connection if the VPN connection fails for any reason. This ensures that your real IP address and location do not become exposed or discovered by your Internet Service Provider, third parties, or cybercriminals. The app also allows users to choose the apps that will automatically be shut down if the VPN connection is interrupted.

IronSocket also offers the option to configure smart DNS leak protection, choose your desired VPN protocol, and alter specific protocol settings such as the encryption level for OpenVPN, L2TP, or PPTP, and activate the smart DNS service or proxy servers.

Does IronSocket Have a No-Logs Policy?

When it comes to its no-logging policy, IronSocket states that it only stores the minimum amount of data that is necessary for it to operate its service and manage your VPN account. The provider claims to not store any activity logs related to the content you access while connected to the VPN.

The privacy policy further states that some session information is stored during the use of the VPN. It is clear that IronSocket stores the time and date of your VPN session connection and disconnection, the IP address utilized for the session, the server accessed, and the amount of data transferred during the session. This is more information than most providers store and we would like to see the company complete an external privacy audit of its policies and service.

Does IronSocket Have a Large Server Network?

The Hong Kong-based service Iron-Socket provides a relatively small network of servers with just over 90 servers across 38 countries including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Does IronSocket Offer Good Customer Support?

When choosing the best VPN product for you, it is necessary to consider the customer service on offer in case you run into any difficulties while setting up or using the VPN. If anything goes wrong, you want to have the peace of mind that a customer support agent is on hand to help you.

IronSocket provides a client for Windows only, however, it can be installed manually on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, smart TVs, gaming consoles, routers, and more with configuration files or third-party software such as Tunnelblick or OpenVPN Connect. On Windows, simply download the IronSocket EastVPNConnect Installer for a quick and simple setup process.

If you do need to install the Hong Kong VPN on any other devices, there is a tech support section of the website that offers a range of setup guides. These support articles are well-written and comprehensive, however, if you do require additional help there is customer support in the form of email, customer support ticket, or web forum. However, IronSocket provides no live-chat customer service, which is somewhat disappointing considering most premium VPNs do offer 24/7 live chat customer support as standard.

Author Cliff Durward

Hi, I'm Cliff. I'm based in Cleveland, Ohio, with my wife and two kids. I have a keen interest in cybersecurity and have been writing about it for around a decade now. Due to my background in computer science, I am familiar ...
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