ISSUE389|COMPUTER SHOPPER|JULY2020 47
Atlongerdistances,
SecureLineisstillpretty
speedy.ConnectingtoaUS
server sawour ping rise from
14 to 85ms,but download
speeds went down by just
22%, and uploadspeeds
werestill within 5% of a
VPN-free connection.
Thatmeans there’s easily
enough speed forHDvideo
streaming,gamingand P2P
applications. Connections to
Singapore and Australia
werepredictably slower,
withspeeds droppingbyas
much as 60 to 86%, but
that’snot terriblebyVPN standards.
It’s also worthmentioning that we had no
problems getting US Netflix to streamover
Boston or NewYork connections, and BBC
iPlayer streamed happily whileconnected
through aUKserver.
Avast’s mobile appshaveasimilarlook
and feel to thedesktopversion. The Android
version matches it forfeatures –which isn’t
difficult, given how streamlined it is –while
theiOS version dropsthe kill switch feature.
Both areabout as easytouse as possible:
unless you need to change location, youjust
tap thebutton and go.
UPWARDLYMOBILE
PerformanceonAndroid was even more
impressive than on the desktop.Speeds
dropped by around 4% on aUK-to-UK
connection,and by just 3.3%(download) and
4.3% (upload) on atransatlantic connection.
We suspect this might have been achieved
viathe use of virtual locations, whereby
European servers spoofaUS location, butif
so,itdoesn’tmatter,asUSNetflixworkeda
treat, and Doileak.com’s tests didn’t detect
anything out of the ordinary.
Speeds were alittle slower on ouriPad,
withdrop-offs of 7.4% and 3.7% on aUK
connection,and 19% and11% while
connecting through theUS. That’s still in
SPECIFICATIONS
OSSUPPORTWindows, macOS, Android,iOS•DETAILS
http://www.avast.com•PRODUCTCODESecureLinethesameareaasthedesktop client,however,
and it’s hardlytroublinglyslow.WELL HIDDEN
Avastprovides aSecureLine browser
extension, butrather than the usualfree
proxy VPN,this acts as aconvenient control
forthe full-fat VPN, enabling youtoswitch it
on and off at the clickofabutton in your
browser toolbar.Wefound this handy while
browsing the web,and if you wantadditional
security and ad-blocking features, youalways
have theAvast Secure Browser.
There’s also asizable online Knowledge
Base with FAQs, as well as atraditional
support service and24/7 livechat. We found
thesupportresponsive,polite andhelpful;
the responsetoone query was alittle short
on detail, telling us basic instructions on
which locations to use forP2P,but not the
best waytoaccess them. Still, given how
easythe app is to use,this isn’t likely to be
aproblem formanypeople.
As we saidearlier,Avast doesn’t get
involved in theusual monthly charges and
multi-year discounts. Instead,itoffers
SecureLineat£15 ayearfor asingleiOS or
Android device,and £50ayear forPCand
Mac; if you want supportfor multiple clients,
there’s also afive-devicesubscription for£65
ayear. That puts it in the same ballpark ashigh-end VPNs suchasNordVPN or
ExpressVPN, butit’s alittlepricier than
budget options such as StrongVPN,
SurfShark or Windscribe.Ifyou want to test
it outbeforeyou buy,there’s also aseven-day
free trial available on allplatforms.DRAWINGTHE LINE
Avast SecureLine is easytouse,speedy and
affordable.The only real problem is that in a
very competitive market it doesn’t offer any
significant advantage over itsmany rivals,
including stablemateHMA!Pro and our
current VPN Best Buy holder,CyberGhost
VPN(Shopper381). These both offer some
sort of additional feature that makes them
that little bitmore compelling –and they’re
slightly cheaper,too.
Similarly, while SecureLine’s security
credentialsare perfectlygood, it can’tclaim
to be any more secure than the competition.
It all adds up to aperfectly good VPN, but
one whose most distinctive pointisits slick
interface –and it takes more than that to be
worthchoosing over therest.
StuartAndrews⬇Akill switch lets
you block all internet
access if the VPN is
disconnected⬅SecureLine provides
around 55 servers in 34
countries, with adecent
selection in Europe