VPN could be very useful, not only keeping you anonymous on the internet but also allows you to access the content and service usually blocked or restricted based on where you live. For example, when I am overseas in China where Google services are blocked and inaccessible I need a good and reliable VPN connection to climb over the Great Wall. Believe it or not, it’s not that easy to come across a good VPN service that is cheap or even free with reliable bandwidth to consume.
PenguinProxy is a secure, anonymous and community-powered VPN service. Unlike most of the centralized VPN providers, PenguinProxy is a decentralized service, aka Peer-to-Peer or P2P, that doesn’t need any servers to operate the service and utilizes the bandwidth of connected users. Because of that, the service offers a more secure and anonymous experience and is much cheaper to run and operate.
PenguinProxy is currently still in beta, therefore it’s completely free to use. It works on Windows, Mac OS, and Linux, as well as Chrome and Firefox as the extension. Just download a VPN client version that works on your computer and run it to join the network to enjoy a fully end-to-end encrypted VPN experience.
I installed the Windows version on my computer and it seems straightforward. It runs quietly in your system tray and can be turned on or off very easily by right-clicking to the icon. You can also choose the country you want to VPN from right from the app.
Is it really free?
As long as it’s in beta, yes, it’s free to use. Once it’s out of the beta, the company behind the product will start charging users a small yearly fee, around $5/year, to cover development costs, while still keeping a limited free tier. However, it will never include ads in the app or sell data about the users. A promise to praise and hope to keep.
What about the internet usage?
Since it’s a Peer-2-Peer service, the more you contribute the faster speed you get out of the service. You can set bandwidth upload limits in the PenguinProxy client. However, if your internet speed, especially the upload speed is capped low, it’s recommended not using the service.
Which protocol is supported?
Here comes a short one, it supports and only focus on HTTP at the moment. They have no plan to support any other protocols. You need to look elsewhere if you are looking for one that supports Bittorrent.
Overall
I haven’t tested it out extensively since I am already using PrivateInternetAccess, a paid VPN service that so far runs super well for me. But by the quick look of it, it seems to be another good alternative VPN services you should try if you are in the market looking for a cheap or even free one at the moment.