Namecheap VPN review (UPDATED)

VPN
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Original post - https://www.reddit.com/r/vpnreviews/comments/9v2j0c/namecheap_vpn_fine_on_ios_bad_on_windows_10/

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I thought it would be fair to make an update post, since some issues I mentioned in the original post have been addressed.

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In regards to the iOS app, in my original post I said:

The in-app purchases price mark up is insane though - around 60% more expensive than on their website, so I’d recommend paying on their website if you do want to try them out.

While this is still true for me, it won’t be true for everyone. If you’re in the US, the markup will be 30%, because Apple slaps a 30% fee. I’m from the UK and the markup in app is around 60% because according to Namecheap:

We would like to explain that Apple sets the corresponding prices based on the USD price, and adjusts them periodically - and that’s why there may be a discrepancy.

Anyways, it’s not a huge issue, since you can sign up from the website and get the original low price.

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In regards to the Windows 10 app, in my original post I said:

The performance on Windows 10 is very unstable - both download speed and ping seem fine, but sometimes it takes 5-15 seconds just to connect to a website. I’m guessing this some sort of a IKEv2 certificate issue (I don’t know enough about this). I contacted Namecheap support who recommended switching to OpenVPN, but after I explained that there’s no option to do that, they just said they’ll look into it.

Namecheap support kept trying various fixes and found that IPv6 being enabled on my network adapter was the issue. I disabled it and all of the performance issues I mentioned went away.

Yes, it’s still IKEv2 only and the app is still pretty basic (apparently it’s still in beta, even though the software version is 1.2 :woman_shrugging:), but at least it’s now very much usable with great performance at a relatively low price.

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I ran some speed tests…

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Not connected to VPN:

Ping 9ms - Download 92.22 Mbps - Upload 6.10 Mbps

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Connected to Namecheap VPN (server in the same city):

Ping 14ms - Download 84.54 Mbps - Upload 5.66 Mbps

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Those seem like pretty impressive speeds.

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Namecheap has awful customer relations. They send me one email while on vacation to say my website domain name would go offline in 30 days due to some ICANN issue. They the took it down 15 days early while I was on vacation.

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Curious if you’ve compared it to private internet access? That’s been my go to for awhile, but I love NameCheap as a company so I’d be interested.

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Does it work with Netflix or other streaming services? Speed seems to be great so that would be a plus. Also, are the apps required or can I just use the VPN with any OpenVPN client I want?

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I’ve been using Namecheap for my (so far unused) domains for several years now. It’s nice to get some info on their VPN.

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Great review. I’m a huge fan of Namecheap. I have hundreds of domains through them and i get all my SSL certs through them as well. Good to hear they are actively updating their vpn. I’m about to give it a try today.

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I have been a customer of Namecheap for years and I haven’t had any issues with them. If it’s one single issue I fail to see how you can generalize that as “awful customer relations” which seems to imply they have a terrible relationship with all their customers. I’m a customer and my relationship with them is more than fantastic.

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That research comparison is how I ended up here! Did you find out anything about this?

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Doesn’t work with Amazon prime video (they’re very strict about VPNs). Not sure about Netflix though, I don’t have it right now.

It seems like you have to use the apps, there is no OpenVPN configuration info anywhere on their site

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Great, I glad you are happy. However, it’s extremely unprofessional to take down a domain in that way, ask anyone who works with the internet professionally.

Domains are very, very important to my business and most businesses. The domain is your website and or yeah your email addresses. I lots thousands of dollars in revenue waiting for my website to be reinstated. For some businesses it would be worse because the domain may be used internally to run things.

You don’t just take a domain down for some minor technicality without sending out a lot of notices, and perhaps even sending something in writing. Namecheap’s business is hosting domains so you’d think they know better.

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Amazon

Currently amazon.com doesn’t load using this VPN …

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(previous comment) They the took it down 15 days early while I was on vacation.

I lots thousands of dollars in revenue waiting for my website to be reinstated.

Honestly, why not sue them then? I’d at least get a consult about it.

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I understand where you are coming from. I was just stating I hadn’t had issues. By no means was I saying what happened to you was something minor that had no effect, I just took issue with the fact it seemed like you were implying their relations with all customers was awful. Sorry!