FastVPN Review (2024): Namecheap’s VPN Unblocks Netflix
FastVPN, previously known as Namecheap VPN, is an affordable VPN service that promises to unblock Netflix and keep you safe online.
For the most part, it delivers, as it’s cheap and good at unblocking Netflix. However, we found that it lacks advanced security features commonly found in premium VPNs.
If you’re looking for a better, safer VPN that’s cheaper in the long run, we recommend Surfshark. We tested 150+ VPNs, and Surfshark is one of our top bets due to its blazing speeds, foolproof security, comprehensive features, and solid privacy policy.
Limited offer: Get 82% off on Surfshark + three months free!
FastVPN: Pros and Cons
What We Like:
- Unblocks Netflix and other streaming services thanks to its 1,000+ servers across 75 locations
- Affordable, making it ideal for users on a budget
- 30-day money-back guarantee lets you use the VPN risk-free
What We Don't Like:
- Does not unblock Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and Disney Plus
- Slow speeds, therefore not ideal for gaming and streaming
- Technical issues with the Windows and macOS app
FastVPN is an excellent option for unblocking Netflix on a budget. It’s also super easy to use and is available on Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Linux, and routers.
The Namecheap VPN also has a Google Chrome browser extension that makes it easy to unblock streaming services. We found that FastVPN easily unblocks various Netflix libraries, as well as BBC iPlayer, and HBO Max. However, it can’t unblock Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, or Disney Plus.
On the plus side, FastVPN is an affordable VPN provider with a wide server network and decent speeds. So, it can come in handy when you need to change your IP address to access geographically restricted websites and videos.
Visit FastVPN to learn more about its unblocking functionality.
| 💵 Price | From $0.99 a month |
| 📱 Operating systems | Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux |
| 💻 Connections | Unlimited |
| 💳 Payment methods | PayPal, Credit card, Cryptocurrency |
| 🔒 Protocols | OpenVPN, IKEv2 |
| 📥 Torrent options | Torrenting allowed |
| 📅 Money-back guarantee | Money-back guarantee, 30 Days |
| 📋 Logs | Keeps logs |
| 🎬 Works with |
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How Much Does FastVPN Cost?
True to its name, this Namecheap VPN is one of the cheapest VPNs you can get, at least in the beginning. Its monthly plan goes for only $0.40 for the first month, after which it renews for $7.88/mo.
FastVPN’s annual plan is billed at $18.88 for the first year (or $1.57/mo), after which it renews for $34.56 annually.
With FastVPN, you can cancel and get a refund within the first month of your subscription, thanks to its 30-day money-back guarantee. You essentially get a 1-month free trial.
Compared to other VPNs, FastVPN doesn’t give you the best value for your money. Similarly, cheap options can unblock more streaming services and offer better security features.
By comparison, ExpressVPN’s 12-month plan costs $ 6.67/mo. Surfshark, known for its affordability, goes for $ 1.99/mo if you get the 24-month subscription.
- FastVPN by Namecheap 1 year $1.57mth Deal View offer
- FastVPN by Namecheap 1 month $0.99mth View offer
Namecheap accepts the following payment methods:
- Credit or debit card
- PayPal
- Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin
While PayPal and card payments are super convenient, cryptocurrencies let you remain completely anonymous, as you won’t need to provide any personally identifiable information.
Do you get your money’s worth with FastVPN?
While the Namecheap FastVPN seems pretty cheap at first, we consider its real price to be $7.88 per month (monthly plan) or $2.88 per month (annual plan).
We recommend you opt for a similarly priced VPN that provides much better speeds and features. For instance, Surfshark is available for as low as $ 1.99 per month and has fast speeds, unbeatable streaming capabilities, and advanced security and privacy features.
You can try Surfshark risk-free thanks to a 30-day money-back guarantee. Click the button below:
Does FastVPN Work With Streaming?
FastVPN unblocked multiple Netflix libraries, namely in the US, UK, Germany, India, and more. But does the Namecheap VPN work with other streaming services?
Check out the table below for a summary of what FastVPN can and can’t unblock:
| Platform | Can [Provider] unblock it? |
|---|---|
| Netflix (US) | ✔ |
| Netflix (UK) | ✔ |
| Disney Plus (EU) | ✖ |
| Hulu (US) | ✖ |
| BBC iPlayer (UK) | ✔ |
| Prime Video (EU) | ✖ |
| HBO Max (EU)* | ✔ |
Unfortunately, we couldn’t unblock Hulu or DisneyPlus, even with the updated FastVPN browser extension that promises a lot of unblocking options.
FastVPN and Netflix
Still, we had a blast rewatching our all-time favorite ‘Supernatural’ on Netflix. We didn’t face any buffering issues while connected to a FastVPN server and could even stream in the best quality.
However, given that the Namecheap VPN can’t unblock all major streaming services, we can’t recommend it if your only purpose is streaming.
If you want a great streaming VPN, we recommend Sufshark, which comes at an affordable price yet unblocks almost any platform effortlessly.
Torrenting With FastVPN
FastVPN supports torrenting on all its servers, but we’re not convinced you should use it for that purpose.
For one thing, there are no specialized P2P servers. FastVPN also doesn’t have the strongest privacy policy and is based in the US, a region known for its online surveillance.
On the bright side, when we ran an IP test to see if the Namecheap VPN actually protected you, we found that we did not get any IP leaks. This is pretty much the bare minimum for a VPN, however.
For a truly private torrenting experience, we recommend Surfshark due to its strict no-log policy.
FastVPN Servers and Locations
FastVPN has a moderately sized network with over 1,000 servers in over 50 countries. This is adequate for the average user’s needs. You can choose to connect to a specific server or automatically select the best possible one. The locations include the following:
- Africa: Nigeria, South Africa.
- Asia & Pacific: Australia, India, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates.
- Europe: Albania, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Moldova, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom.
- North America: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru, Mexico, and United States.
Dedicated IP address
When you connect to a FastVPN server, it assigns you a random IP address, masking your location and keeping your real address hidden. However, it does not offer a dedicated IP that is unique to you. Given the low price point, the lack of this extra option isn’t surprising.
If you want a dedicated IP, Surfshark is an excellent provider that offers this feature as a handy add-on.
How Fast is FastVPN?
Using a VPN can slow down your internet connection, though not to the point that your daily activities should be disrupted. So, we tested Namecheap VPN to see how fast it is.
Thankfully, we did not face any issues with streaming or browsing. However, it didn’t work well with gaming because the ping was quite high.
Due to this, we cannot recommend Namecheap VPN despite its decent speeds. Instead, we think Surfshark does a much better job of providing consistent speeds that are well-suited for all online activities, including downloads, streaming, and gaming.
Speed test results for FastVPN
We used the trusted website speedtest.net to check FastVPN’s speeds on different servers. We first conducted a test without a VPN to check our internet speed. These tests were conducted from our office in the Netherlands.
The table below shows our FastVPN speed test results.
| Server | Download (Mbps) | Upload (Mbps) | Ping (ms) |
|---|---|---|---|
| No VPN | 203.08 | 241.52 | 5 |
| US (New York) | 189.47 | 67.89 | 92 |
| US (Los Angeles) | 185.91 | 48.63 | 144 |
| UK (Birmingham) | 181.38 | 99.83 | 16 |
| Japan | 113.37 | 35.38 | 234 |
| Australia | 146.45 | 59.84 | 202 |
| The Netherlands | 193.53 | 137.01 | 5 |
| Germany | 194.05 | 146.89 | 11 |
| Brazil | 125.67 | 39.06 | 211 |
| Canada | 167.96 | 56.27 | 97 |
| South Africa | 160.78 | 67.27 | 188 |
The VPN did not interfere with our browsing experience on varied websites and apps. There was no unusual lag, and we could stream videos on YouTube and Netflix as usual.
However, depending on the server being used, Netflix was a bit slow to load. Even so, this wasn’t a deal-breaker, as we did not experience any lags or interruptions while a show or movie was playing.
Furthermore, although we could successfully download torrents with FastVPN from some of the best torrent sites, the download speeds were quite slow. FastVPN also causes lag when gaming and sometimes even disconnects, which is quite disappointing.
Overall, Namecheap’s FastVPN offers average speeds that will be adequate for everyday needs, but only if you’re not a heavy gamer and don’t download torrents often.
Is FastVPN Safe?
FastVPN uses industry-standard encryption and secure protocols to keep your data safe. However, it lacks other vital features, such as a kill switch, and has questionable privacy practices.
This VPN service also has a glaring lack of additional security features that you can find on premium VPNs. FastVPN does not offer a double VPN, ad blocker, GPS spoofer, or dedicated IP addresses.
We therefore don’t think it’s a completely secure VPN provider. Instead, we recommend Surfshark, which offers a wide range of security features and foolproof privacy at an affordable price point.
Does FastVPN leak your data?
We tested Namecheap VPN to check if it actually changes our IP and prevents DNS leaks. We’re happy to report that we did not find any IP, DNS, or WebRTC leaks while using this VPN.
Can you sign up to FastVPN anonymously?
To set up FastVPN by Namecheap, you need to provide your name and email address. You can easily use a fake name and generic email ID to set this up, so you can stay anonymous.
The good news is that Namecheap accepts Bitcoin payments, so you can pay anonymously without revealing your credit card or banking details. However, keep in mind that this won’t keep Namecheap from collecting information about your IP and browsing habits.
Logging and privacy
Namecheap VPN is located in the United States, which is part of the Five Eyes alliance. This alliance has been known to engage in serious spying activities and is associated with international surveillance organizations.
Namecheap claims to not keep logs, but the company’s terms of use and privacy policy seem to contradict this. Here’s what we found in its terms of service:
“Because the Internet is an inherently open and insecure means of communication, any data or information a user transmits over the Internet may be susceptible to interception and alteration. You should not have an expectation of privacy in any content, including accounts of files transmitted through these VPN services.”
We reviewed its privacy policy closely and found that the company collects quite a lot of information about users, including your IP address and demographic information. They also use third parties to track your browsing to personalize your experience.
Moreover, your non-personally identifiable information may be shared by Namecheap with advertisers and business partners. This is certainly concerning and not ideal for a VPN service.
Additionally, in the FastVPN macOS app settings, there’s an option to allow the company to track your usage. Although they claim to only use this information for troubleshooting, it seems uncanny for a VPN provider to want to track and store this data.
Considering this, FastVPN is not the best VPN from a privacy standpoint. Instead, we recommend Surfshark because it’s based in the privacy-friendly Panama and has a strict no-logs policy, so your data is never tracked or stored.
Protocols and encryption
FastVPN from Namecheap also uses AES-256 encryption, which is the same standard used by banks and the military. This wards off third parties interfering with your data and traffic while you’re connected to the VPN.
Namecheap VPN supports the following secure protocols:
- OpenVPN: Widely recognized as the standard for VPN protocols, OpenVPN is open-source and one of the most widely-used protocols among the 150+ VPNs we tested.
- WireGuard: Fast and secure, WireGuard is a promising new protocol that’s faster and safer than even OpenVPN.
- IKEv2: This protocol is ideal for mobile use, as its reconnecting abilities are lauded by tech experts.
Unfortunately, OpenVPN is not available on FastVPN’s macOS app. And even on Windows, we faced some technical issues where we needed to change protocols to get the VPN to work.
We recommend using WireGuard as it’s the fastest and most secure VPN protocol.
Kill switch
A kill switch automatically blocks all incoming and outgoing internet traffic if your VPN connection stops working. This ensures that your privacy remains protected and your IP address stays hidden when the VPN server disconnects.
FastVPN’s kill switch is pretty reliable and terminates your connection the moment your VPN becomes compromised. However, the feature is only available on the FastVPN Windows app and not on macOS, Android, or iOS.
This means your IP could be leaked when a secure connection to a VPN server is lost. This definitely brings down the security of Namecheap VPN on macOS.
Is FastVPN Easy to Use?
FastVPN is pretty straightforward to install on any device. It’s available on Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Linux, routers, and as a Google Chrome extension. We did not face any problems when installing it, right from creating an account to the actual VPN download.
However, we encountered a couple of technical glitches when using the apps, as explained in the sections below.
FastVPN on Windows
FastVPN was easy to install on Windows, but we faced a couple of glitches while trying to get it to work. We had to switch the protocol from WireGuard to OpenVPN and then back again to initiate a connection.
Apart from this, the other options worked well, and the interface was easy to navigate.
FastVPN on Mac
It was easy to install FastVPN from the Mac App Store. The interface is clean and easy to understand. However, the macOS app lacks some features, such as a kill switch and the OpenVPN protocol. Only IKEV2 and WireGuard protocols are available on macOS.
We also faced some issues where we couldn’t switch server locations easily. We had to quit the app and reopen it to be able to change server locations. This was a frustrating experience, as FastVPN failed to perform the most basic of VPN functions.
FastVPN on Android
FastVPN’s Android app is easy to navigate but lacks a kill switch. We didn’t face any issues when connecting to servers and didn’t notice any unusual battery drain.
Customer Service
If you face any problems when using FastVPN, customer support can help you out. There’s a handy customer support option within the app that will lead you to a page where you can submit a ticket, leave feedback, or start a live chat for immediate assistance.
The live chat is conveniently available 24/7. Moreover, it connects you with a human rather than a chatbot to make sure your issue is understood and resolved efficiently. Note that you need to log in with your username and password to chat with a customer support agent.
When we tried contacting customer support, the experience was pretty smooth. The live chat was helpful and responsive, albeit a bit slow to reply. We asked about torrenting, and the agent informed us that all the servers support P2P file sharing.
The live chat provides the quickest way to resolve any issues. but you can also choose to submit a ticket. We tried this and heard back from the customer support team within several hours, which was convenient enough.
FastVPN money-back guarantee: How to get a refund
FastVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, which means you can get all your money back as long as you cancel your subscription before the 30 days are up.
To get a refund, all you need to do is start a live chat with a support agent and let them know you’re availing of the 30-day money-back guarantee.
Do We Recommend FastVPN?
FastVPN is cheap and good at unblocking Netflix. However, the VPN fails to provide comprehensive security and privacy features. As such, we do not recommend Namecheap FastVPN because there are plenty of better alternatives in the VPN market.
Our top pick is Surfshark because it consistently offers good speeds, top-notch security, and foolproof privacy. Moreover, it comes at an incredibly affordable price point of just a few dollars a month when you sign up for a 2-year plan. The best part is that you can always get a refund within 30 days if you’re not satisfied with the service.
We have all the answers you need about FastVPN from Namecheap. Here are some of the most common questions we hear about this provider. In case we haven’t covered your query, feel free to let us know in the comments below so we can get back to you.
No, FastVPN is not a free VPN. However, it’s quite affordable at just $0.82 for the first month. However, bear in mind that the price increases to $7.88/mo after the first month.
Yes, FastVPN can unblock several Netflix libraries including Netflix US, UK, Germany, India, and more.
FastVPN is mostly safe thanks to its strong levels of data encryption. However, Namecheap’s FastVPN logs a significant amount of user data for different purposes, including your IP address and dat. Aside from that, the company is based in the United States, which is part of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance. This means the VPN may hand over user data to government authorities if asked to. In short: Namecheap VPN cannot guarantee a safe and anonymous internet experience.
It’s very easy to download Namecheap’s FastVPN. Just visit the website, select a plan, create an account, and complete your payment. Then, download the app on your devices and sign in to start using this affordable, efficient VPN service.
What Our Experts Think About FastVPN
