Unblock-Us Review

UPDATED Mar. 2024
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– – – – – – Important Update – – – – – – – 

Unblock-Us is now StrongVPN as they acquired this small VPN provider to offer even better services. You can read our StrongVPN review here.

– – – – – – Important Update – – – – – – – 

The first thing that you need to know about Unblock-Us is that it really isn’t an actual VPN service, despite the fact that it claims to be faster than any VPN service out there. This might be true, but it’s still not a VPN service. It is actually a service that routes your DNS queries through its servers, which essentially covers up your location when you are using sites that offer services based on location.

So, if you live outside of the US and want to get all of the shows and movies that Americans get on Netflix, this would be the kind of service that you would want to use. And when it comes to providing that service, Unblock-Us doesn’t disappoint. Continue reading our Unblock-Us review to learn more about its strengths and weaknesses.

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Interface

Unblock-Us is a company that understands that people who will be using their service want to do it in a simple, easy, and quick manner. Because of that, they made sure the user experience is smooth and easy.The interface itself is nothing to write home about. The client is pretty basic, but it gets the job done. All the features and commands are clearly marked and you shouldn’t experience any difficulties choosing a server to connect to or turning the connection on and off.

Performance and Reliability

As previously stated in our Unblock-Us review, Unblock-Us made some serious claims that they are faster than any VPN service out there. We did some tests and it turns out that they were not lying. To test the speed, we pretty much did the same thing we always do – we turned off the service and ran a speed test, then we turned it on and performed a speed test again.

What we saw was that there was almost no change in the speeds we were getting with and without Unblock-Us running. The download speeds remained the same and were consistent throughout the day. Upload speeds dropped minimally. The company says they have over 100 servers across the world, so you shouldn’t experience any issues trying to find one near to where you are.

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Multi-Platform

Unblock-Us works on tons of different devices. It’s compatible with just about any computer, router, mobile device, smart TV or gaming console you can possibly own. Of course, it is compatible with just about any operating system as well. However, it is not compatible with Linux, which is a bit disappointing.

Features

Unblock-Us offers both SmartDNS and SmartVPN technology. Both of them allow users to bypass restrictions and access blocked or off-limits websites by changing the IP address so that the website can’t tell where you’re connecting from. The difference – and the advantage of VPN over DNS – is in the fact that a VPN also provides additional security and privacy by encrypting the data you send. However, Unblock-Us doesn’t offer just any ol’ VPN – they offer SmartVPN, which is faster than the regular kind because it doesn’t really encrypt your data. Instead, it seals the data and transports it in a protected form.

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As we already mentioned above in this Unblock-Us review, this VPN provider seems to be using only the PPTP protocol. We were surprised by the lack of detailed information about the security protocols they use, but our guess is that they opted for this particular protocol because it allows their technology to be more compatible with a wider range of devices.

The company is equally secretive about their server locations. They seem to operate over 100 servers, but it is not exactly clear where they are located. However, since they promise their users access to over 20 Netflix regions (mostly in Europe, the United States, Canada, some South American countries, as well as Australia and New Zealand), we can assume they have servers in all those places.

Unblock-Us has very high device compatibility and promises excellent, almost untouched connection speeds. This service supports a great number of channels, including all the most popular ones. Finally, Unblock-Us does not limit the number of devices you can connect to your VPN or DNS. You can use all the devices you want, as long as they are on the same network, using the same Unblock-Us subscription.

Security and Privacy

It’s hard to grade Unblock-Us’ security and privacy since it is not a VPN service but rather a service that reroutes DNS queries. Unblock-Us claims that for this exact reason, using their service is a lot more secure than using any other VPN service.

However, Unblock-Us seems to be using PPTP, which is generally considered the least secure protocol. Still, if you are very technical and you are looking for top-quality VPN service, you probably wouldn’t be looking at Unblock-Us. On the other hand, if you just want to watch movies and shows online, this provider might be perfect for you. Unblock-Us does not keep any activity logs, not after they moved to Barbados to avoid Canadian data retention laws.

Support

The support service is excellent. There’s a forum that allows you to ask experts about the service, and you can also contact them through email if you have pressing matter. The email queries were answered promptly every time during the research phase of this Unblock-Us review and they always linked us to the information that we were looking for. Unblock-Us claims that the support team works around the clock and judging by the service we received, it’s probably true.

Whether you are using it on your phone, laptop, desktop, smart TV or just about any other type of device, Unblock-Us is going to have a perfectly illustrated setup guide available for you. Unblock-Us is easy to use, but if you still don’t get it, the guides should be enough to get you through the setup process. This shows us that Unblock-Us really cares about your overall experience and goes through a lot of effort to make sure that you get exactly what you need.

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Pricing Options

1 Month
3 Months
6 Months
1 Year
2 Years

1 Month
$4.99
3 Months
/
6 Months
/
1 Year
$4.16
2 Years
/

With Unblock-Us, pricing is pretty simple – $4.99 per month covers all of your devices. If you want to pay for a full year in advance, the price is $49.90. This really isn’t too bad considering the fact that you can use it on an unlimited number of devices. If you are interested in testing their services prior to committing to Unblock-Us, there’s a handy 7-day free trial.

Unblock-Us Pros & Cons

At the end of this Unblock-Us review, here’s a quick overview of the features that wowed us and the aspects of the service that could use some improvement.

Pros
  • Excellent support and guides
  • Compatible with just about every device
  • Week-long free trial
Cons
  • Not really a VPN service
  • Not compatible with Linux

User Reviews (11)

Unblock-Us customer rating based on 11 user reviews.

The Unblock-Us reviews listed below reflect the opinions and experiences of real users and are in no way influenced by the VPN provider reviewed here. Before publishing each review, our team checks whether it was submitted by an actual user in an effort to prevent false or spammy reviews.

  1. John Newton | July 28, 2020

    I’ve been using UnBlock-Us for several years to view UK television from overseas with 100% success. The networks block VPNs. This is the only way I have found that works consistently. I cannot comment on customer support.

  2. Cynthia L Colombo | September 12, 2019

    I have been emailing back and forth for 6 HOURS and my relatively simple problem is still not solved. If I was able to talk to a person, like in the past, this would have been a 15 minute fix. I have had this same problem everytime I change routers and when I could talk to someone over the phone it was resolved quickly and easily.

    • Cynthia L Colombo | December 9, 2019

      Totally agree. I have been emailing back and forth for 6 HOURS and my relatively simple problem is still not solved. If I was able to talk to a person, like in the past, this would have been a 15 minute fix. I have had this same problem everytime I change routers and when I could talk to someone over the phone it was resolved quickly and easily.

  3. Tee Frank | August 27, 2019

    Hours and hours of back and forth emails- but no results.

    ZERO phone access to Customer Support. They probably just outsourced it to India- but no one seems to care at this Company.

  4. tre dog | March 1, 2019

    unblockUS worked great until it didn’t. in fact stopped working at all. cancelled service but still keep getting charged on credit card. emailed support and no reply. fishy..

    • Ronald Robertson | July 23, 2019

      Unblock US is a fraud. I have been requesting my password reset link for a month and no one responds. I have called their listed number in Arizona, the telephone rings once and then the call is cut off.

  5. Boakyewaa Glover | June 7, 2018

    I’ve used Unblock-Us for 6 years!! Without any interruption, cancellation, or changes. I signed up in 2012 and I’m billed each month like clock work. The service has become a very integral and normal part of my entertainment life. I live online, on my Apple TV, Amazon TV and the like. I moved from the US 6 years ago and if I hadn’t set this up I would have missed so many shows. I am a movie and TV junkie so Unblock-Us has been fueling my addiction.
    Just recently though, I’ve tried to use it to watch some UK shows on NowTV but it’s not working. I don’t know if I should switch or not. I almost feel like I would be breaking up with a boyfriend. Definitely one of my longest relationships ever!
    I signed up to Unblock-Us when I moved from the US to another country in 2012 and joined an American company in the country. I recently resigned after 6 years, so maybe it’s time to also explore new DNS/VPN providers?

  6. Brian Borrero | January 15, 2018

    The speeds are ok at best. Most of the time, it’s not annoying, but sometimes it is, so I can’t really recommend it, there are better VPNs, ExpressVPN for one.

  7. Adam Dahlberg | November 10, 2017

    An average VPN with average speeds and below-average privacy.

  8. Ryan Larkins | July 19, 2017

    Thank God for the trial. Not that it’s awful, but there are definitely way better options out there.

  9. Jeremy MI | June 12, 2017

    Unblock-us is a very unstable service. I use their SmartDNS cuz I only want to watch Hulu and stuff but the connection is dropping like every hour or so. I canceled my subscription but they still billed me for the period I paid, didn’t give me my money back.

  10. Garreth Jones | March 14, 2017

    I’ve never seen such great speeds through VPN as with Unblock Us. I mean, I didn’t run any speed tests or anything but I can tell that the connection is just as fast as it is when I’m using the Internet normally.

  11. BooBooBear | January 5, 2017

    It’s an okay service I guess. Streaming is pretty seamless. I had to buy a Netflix account tho but at least now I get to watch everything I used to watch when I was back home in the USA (I live in Argentina now) and it makes me feel like home. The price is decent I guess, I’m not sure how much other services are charging.

  12. Susie Kwan | November 16, 2016

    I’m so happy with my subscription. I finally get to watch anything I want. Did you know that Netflix has different shows and movies for different countries? My son explained that to me and got me the subscription for Unblock Us and now I can watch anything! Yay!

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