The little mole that could

Mullvad is a Sweden-based VPN provider with a long-standing reputation for privacy and efficiency. It has a place in our best roundup of VPN services as the best option for privacy, thanks to the many ways it protects your identity. However, how does it perform in other areas?

After trying it out, it turns out that privacy isn’t the only area where Mullvad sticks to it. It has a clear pricing policy, a great app, and is blazing fast, even beating ExpressVPN in this regard. The only thing it doesn’t do as well is communicate with Netflix, but in any other way, Mullvad can tunnel through anything, just like the mole it’s named after.

Using the Mullvad VPN app

Let’s first take a look at the Mullvad VPN app, which is nearly identical across all devices, whether you use it on Windows, Mac, Linux (one of the few VPNs to offer a GUI for Team Penguin), Android, or iPhone/iPad. . —there is also a browser extension, but only for Firefox. Note that the Firefox version is free to use for everyone, but it comes with all the caveats associated with VPN browser extensions.

I have been using Mullvad on both my Linux machine and Android smartphone for over six months without any problems. The app is as stable as possible with no crashes, crashes or anything. Trust me, it was nice to come back to Mullvad after reviewing PureVPN and its many software issues.

The client Mullvad

The app is easy to use, as it really only has three buttons: one for settings at the top, one for the country selection screen, and finally one that turns the app on and off. It literally couldn’t be simpler, and the fact that Mullvad relies more on plain language than pictograms means there’s no possible confusion about what each button does.

The app’s map graphic doesn’t do anything, though when you connect to a server it will focus on the location you’re at with a little animation. If you want an interactive map that lets you connect wherever you click, check out IVPN or NordVPN.

Connection times are extremely short, which is nice, and I like that when you’re connected you can easily switch locations; just hit the button, select a new server and you’re done.

server selection

There are two ways to connect to a server: click on a country or location and Mullvad will select one for you. Alternatively, you can choose a specific server by clicking the drop down arrow icon on the location and selecting your country of choice from an alphabetical list. That will give you a list of cities, and beyond that, a list of servers.

This is something that I actually didn’t like much about the app. The process of choosing a server is a bit cumbersome. It works fine in the Israel example above, which has only one location and only three servers, but it gets annoying if you want a specific server in a large country like the United States. Then your screen will look like this:

It’s hard to see where the list ends or where the next location is. Since you can’t resize the app on the desktop, you’re stuck with this small screen to perform these actions. I realize this is a minor complaint, but it sounds like it would be an easy fix.

Also, Mullvad has two types of servers: one running on the OpenVPN protocol and one running on WireGuard. I like this setup as it eliminates the possibility of confusion, but if you’re a Mullvad newbie it might take a second to figure out how to tell the difference between the two types. WireGuard servers will say “wireguard” or “wg” while OpenVPN servers usually don’t have a special label. Just a heads up.

What can Mullvad VPN do?

Now that we’ve established that Mullvad drives like a dream, let’s take a look at what it can do and how well it works. Mullvad’s main appeal is as a secure and private provider. It makes no pretensions to being able to communicate with Netflix, for example. That being said, I have communicated with a few servers, I just wouldn’t count on it, that’s all.

Mulvad Security

When it comes to security, Mullvad acts together. I like how it only lets you choose between two types of VPN protocol, WireGuard and OpenVPN, both of which are fast and secure. There’s no chance for a newbie to mess up and use a poor protocol and expose your traffic, which is a good thing.

I’ve tried various connections using ipleak.net, a site that can track down any security issues with a VPN connection, and found no issues. Mullvad seems to be rock solid when it comes to security.

Another thing I like is that Mullvad has a kill switch that is not only on by default, but cannot be disabled under any circumstances. For some unfathomable reason, many VPNs will have their kill switch turned off by default, which means you could expose your traffic should your VPN server go down, even for just a second. Fortunately, Mullvad avoids this problem entirely.

Other cool security features include various blockers, which can help you avoid running into trackers and malware. You can also use Mullvad as a blocker for adult content, including gambling, which is nice if you have kids in the home.

If you’re an experienced VPN user, you’ll be happy to hear that Mullvad lets you play with the settings as you please, although I’ll add the usual disclaimer that you should only mess with this if you know what you’re doing. . You can also set up split tunneling, which is useful if you only want to protect part of your Internet traffic.

Is Mullvad trustworthy?

When it comes to VPN privacy, there is always the issue of what I like to call the “black box.” Few VPN providers care to explain how their product works, relying instead on vague terms and phrases made up by vendors that don’t hold up to scrutiny.

Though not Mullvad. Like its equally private competitor, IVPN, Mullvad pretty much lays it all out for all to see. For example, in its privacy policy, the company explains some of the technology it uses to destroy your records, and elsewhere on the site, Mullvad provides the names of its parent company, its address, and the full name of most people who work on it.

On top of that, Mullvad is moving towards so-called diskless servers, which make it nearly impossible to keep logs and speed up connections. As this type of server uses only RAM instead of hard drive space, there is simply no way for files to be stored long-term, giving clients peace of mind.

We use VPN to keep our browsing private. Paradoxically though, it’s hard to trust a VPN unless it’s very open about how it works. Mullvad VPN passes this test with flying colors thanks to its transparency.

Speed

Mullvad offers some incredible speeds, even faster than IVPN, which is saying something, and comfortably beats ExpressVPN by a country mile. The WireGuard protocol, which I mainly used in my tests, definitely played a role. OpenVPN wasn’t that fast, although it got close enough.

RELATED: How to test your VPN speed (and how to speed up a VPN)

As usual, I tested the speeds in the morning using www.speedtest.net, connecting to five locations around the world. The results are in the following table; I connected to WireGuard servers each time.

These speeds are very, very good. It is extremely rare to see results like this. On relatively close servers in Israel and the UK, I lost virtually no speed, while the speed loss when connecting to the US was barely noticeable. Only Japan experienced a significant drop, but it’s on the other side of the world and it was late afternoon when I tested.

The only thing that suffered was ping, properly known as latency, and even that wasn’t too bad, and only really far away places suffered much. That being said, the ping was worse using OpenVPN instead of WireGuard, but not by much.

Price

When it comes to pricing, Mullvad keeps things simple. They are 5 euros per month, regardless of the time you hire. Sign up for a month? 5 euros Sign up for six months? $30 That’s a breath of fresh air in a market where you feel you need to weigh the pros and cons of plan lengths. Just find out how many months you want to use the service, multiply it by five, and you’re good to go.

It’s great because if you just want to try the service for a month, you don’t need to commit more than a few dollars. On top of that, Mullvad also offers many different ways to pay, including cash, which is a bit inconvenient as you need to send an envelope full of bills to Sweden, but ensures anonymity.

At 5 euros a month, which usually converts to $5-$6 USD or so, Mullvad isn’t the cheapest option, but I really like this consistency. In a market where far too many services, like Surfshark and NordVPN, to name just two, play the bait-and-switch game with customers, charging a low initial price and then stinging them after the honeymoon, Mullvad stands out.

RELATED: Surfshark VPN Review: Blood in the water?

Should you sign up for MullvadVPN?

I recommend Mullvad to one and all. You know what you’re getting when you use it thanks to the company’s transparency, it’s easy to use and ridiculously fast. Add to that a decent price and you have a winner.

That being said, if you want a VPN primarily to communicate with Netflix, Mullvad shouldn’t be your first choice. You can use Mullvad and combine it with a decentralized VPN for streaming, or sign up for ExpressVPN, which is pretty good in the Netflix cracking game.