HMA VPN

HideMyAss! was established in 2005 in Norfolk, England, by Jack Cator. It has been created in order to circumvent the restrictions of his school to have access to games or music from their network. 

He made it in just a few hours using an open-source code. After attracting more than a thousand users, Cator incorporated ads. In 2014, the company introduced HideMyPhone! service, which allowed mobile phone users to make their calls appear to come from a different location. In 2015 HMA was acquired by AVG Technologies for $40 million and became part of Avast.

What does HMA provide?

1. Multi-device: up to 5 connections simultaneously
2. Multi-platform: iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Linux
3. No bandwidth limit: No restrictions on uploads or downloads
4. Network: 930+ servers in 190 countries
5. Guarantee: 30 day money back guarantee
6. Support: 7 days a week

Price & Trial

The service provides a single tariff (subscription) and four subscription periods, from one month to three years: 1 month - $11,99 / 12 months - $6,99/mo ($83,88) / 24 months - $4,99/mo ($119,76) / 36 months - $2,99/mo ($107,64).

The payment can be done through Credit Card, PayPal, Skrill. To use the trial version, the user must enter the payment data. By default, the trial is given for a 7 days period, but here is a link for 30 days trial. At the end of trial, if not to cancel a subscription, a user will be charged $83.88 plus tax for the initial 12 months period. Also, to verify a credit card, it will be charged $1, but don’t panic - they’ll give it back after.

HMA interface

HideMyAss VPN Pro Windows version’s interface contains the following: 

1. Settings (general, network security, current network profile, kill switch, account, help center, diagnostics, logs);
2. About HMA (check for updates, privacy policy, terms of service, refund policy);
3. Application management;
4. Mode selection (three modes of operation: Instant, Location, Freedom - the last one automatically connects to the nearest location/country with the least censorship);
5. Mode control - to change IP address, to disconnect VPN.

Let’s also take a look at the Android version. Install and run the app, click “Already Purchased”, paste your license key. After authorization you will see the HMA homepage. The interface is fully consistent with the application for Windows.

Tests

Our test stand: ASUS laptop (F555LJ), Intel 2-core CPU, Nvidia GeForce 920M 2Gb, RAM 12Gb (4+8), 254Gb SSD, 1 Gbit/s connection via UTP network cable, channel bandwidth 100 Mbit/s.

Test #1: Speed. Several speed tests without VPN show the following average values for our Internet connection: 88.5 Mbps download speed, 60.5 Mbps upload speed, 89 ms ping. 

Now, let’s connect via HMA VPN to several different locations and measure again. We end up with such average results: 29.5 Mbps download speed, 20.75 Mbps upload speed, 155 ms ping. Rather drastic difference. 

Test #2: DNS leak. In all three modes, including Instant, we’ve checked whether DNS requests are being leaked when connected via VPN, or not. This was done using DNSleaktest.com. The results paint an imperfect picture - about 50% protection.  

Test #3: Geo location. Browserleaks service helps us see our “virtual” location is perceived as a real one. With 5 different locations in a row HideMyAss hides our “private parts” 100%.  

Test #4: Blacklists. To see whether IP provided by HMA are or aren’t blacklisted anywhere online, we used IP Blacklist check service. 99% all clear addresses is a pretty good result.

HideMyAss review: Conclusion

HideMyAss VPN has everything so that users can use the Internet without censorship (except for the darknet). The speed is enough to confidently view streaming video 1080p 60fps. Some servers are suitable even for 4K 30fps. And there’s a large number of servers: over 900 servers in 280 locations, almost in every country on the globe. HMA relies on OpenVPN technology. 

Editors rating: 4.2 / 5

Check next: Best VPNs list.