Thunder VPN Review – Is It Safe in 2024

Nowadays, the question of online security and free web access has gained more attention and importance. The market offers consumers a great variety of VPN providers with a multiplicity of features. And here the question arises: ‘How to choose a decent service?’

Each of us has a particular way of life, meaning the job, routine duties, and other day-to-day things. You would probably prefer to dive into hours of VPN technical settlement in order to understand how it works. A variety of protocols, encryptions, transportation layers, and other related stuff will make you work hard. And that is what our resource is made for.

We have a strong background that allows us to create accurate, clear, and comprehensive descriptions of those services that offer free plans. This piece of information will be enough to create for you an imagination about VPN and the capabilities of the particular vendor.

We discover the privacy policy, speed possibilities, safeguard options, and more notable points of a virtual private network. Thus, you do not need to waste your precious time revealing things that we have already written about and composing them in a structured and simple form.

Pros

• Easy to install
• Unlimited bandwidth
• No registration

Cons

• Privacy Policy is superficial
• Speed deterioration almost 100% for all available servers
• Only one fuzzy security option
• No information about embedded security technologies
• Only for Android
• The network system is not working correctly
• Only two available servers
• Live support does not answer
• Does not work in countries with strict boundaries of free web usage

Thunder VPN Features

This provider offers services only for Android at the moment and can present a concise set of features. To start using the application, you just need to download it without any additional steps. Designers decided to implement a fancy cartoon solution in visual representation. At first glance, it looks like a VPN for children.

We did not find much information on the official website about their possibilities and potential.

That is not enough to fully comprehend what this software really is and how it is good. We are going to dive deeply into the app’s functionality and individual traits in the following sections. Thus, we will figure out exactly what the “AMAZING FEATURES” phrase means from the screenshot above.

Privacy and Logging

In this section, we are going to see how the provider treats the consumer’s data, what exact information he collects, and for what purpose.

VPN services have privacy policy pages on their websites where they gather all their principles and approaches regarding keeping, selling, or sharing the users data. We examined the privacy statements of the current provider and highlighted all the important points.

The Privacy Policy page is a kind of document that depicts the approaches and methods regarding keeping, selling, or sharing the user’s data. Often, you can find it on the specific provider’s official website or within the software.

Thunder VPN does not have a full-fledged privacy policy page; nonetheless, it has a dedicated section inside the Terms of Service page.

The privacy policy section starts with a short sentence where the provider claims not to gather personal identifying data and to avoid user’s traffic logging or browsing activity.

The statement above describes six points of data that are being collected. Every item has a technical implication and does not imply the user’s identifying information. It is a very common practice to gather such intelligence for analyzing statistics.

The main sense that we want to emphasize here lies in the second paragraph. They do not analyze the gathered data by themselves, but with the help of third parties. This fact pushes us toward the idea that Thunder VPN does not have such a comprehensive staff to identify breaches in the software.

We just saw all the provisions of their privacy policy, and it was quite clear from the first glance. However, the document is very short and superficial. There is no information under what jurisdiction this vendor works or what obligations it has in case of a legal claim.

Considering that Thunder offers paid plans, it should cooperate with third-party payment providers. We did not see any information about whether they or the payment party collect the user’s credit card details or if they have an age limitation. And that is not all the possible questions.

Speed Tests – How Fast is Thunder VPN

Internet connection speed is a paramount indicator. The comfortability and efficiency of your online activity depend a lot on velocity. VPN affects the internet service provider network (ISP), including speed capabilities.

The deterioration may be very different, starting from a few percent and finishing almost with the whole capacity. In a minute, we will see what you can expect from the current provider on the free plan.

Usually, we conduct tests for desktop applications, browser extensions, and mobile apps. However, in this case, we did the speed test only for the Android platform because it is only one existing software.

PC Test

This block is empty, seeing that there is no application for desktop.

Browsers’ Extensions Test

This block is empty, seeing that there are no extensions for browsers.

Mobile Test

Commonly, we make tests for two locations: the first is the US geo, and the second is a randomly selected server from the European region. But not always it is possible to do so, owing to the fact that some providers impose restrictions.

If we do not have the ability to choose the servers we want, then we use those that we can. In this particular case, we are limited with server selection and have only two available locations: the Netherlands and Poland.

While proceeding with the speed test, our attention is focused on three indices:

• Download speed index;
• Upload speed index;
• Ping time response index.

The download index shows how fast you can consume the income traffic, the upload speed shows how fast you can load the content from your local machine to the internet, and the ping time is the latency that it takes for data to travel from your device to the opposite side and back. The appropriate ping time for most activities should not be higher than 100 ms. 

The vertical image shows the results of the ISP. The indexes are:

• download speed is 85.2 mbps;
• upload speed is 86.3 mbps;
• ping time is 3 ms.

The top-right image shows the performance of the Dutch server. The indexes are:

• download speed is 3.95 mbps;
• upload speed is 63.3 mbps;
• ping time is 113 ms.

The download speed is about 95% below the ISP speed, and the upload speed loss is nearly 27%. Ping time has increased from 3 ms to 113 ms.

The bottom-right image shows the performance of the Polish server. The indexes are:

• download speed is 3.85 mbps;
• upload speed is 50.5 mbps;
• ping time is 68 ms.

The download speed has been cut by nearly 95%, the upload speed has decreased by approximately 41%, and the ping time has increased from 3 ms to 68 ms.

The performance of the Android application is very weak. Both servers showed almost absolute download speed deterioration, a tangible upload speed decrease, and a too high value of the ping time of the Dutch server. The ping time of the Polish location is suitable, but it makes no sense seeing that the download index is very close to zero.

About Safety – How Secure is Thunder VPN?

The security aspect of the current virtual private network is like a mystery: there is no information about it either on the official website or the application itself. We found only one option called ‘Apps Filter’ that may be an analog of the Split Tunneling feature.

It means that you can manually select which applications on your device will be passed through the encrypted environment and which will work directly through the ordinary internet. But it was just our guess; the provider did not add a description of it.

Since the application is available for downloading only on the Play Market, we decided to look there for some data about the safeguard, but again, we did not detect anything. As the last solution, we tested the VPN with a special online tool that helps to understand if your real IP is visible to an outsider.

The very top part of the screenshot shows the IP address of the VPN but not the real one; it indicates some liability. The central part is about WebRTC detection. WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication) is a technology that enables peer-to-peer communication directly in the web browser, allowing for the transfer of data, audio, and video without needing additional plugins or applications.

This technology can discover the genuine IP address (both public and local) even if a VPN is turned on. The test showed that Thunder’s encrypted network disguised your real IP address in this case too. The last part of the screenshot, as well, did not reveal the real IP address of our internet service provider.

Notwithstanding that the provider did not give any explanations about the security side, we have managed to reveal the simplest things that are also available for every consumer. But we still do not know what protocols are being used here and what encryption types are being used.

Nowadays, the variety of protocols is wide; both deprecated and modern are used across distinctive VPNs. This IP leak test is the simplest form of verifying the security’s strength. It is not enough to confirm the reliability of an app’s security regarding modern technologies that can disclose identifying data if security measures are outdated.

Desktop Apps

This block is empty, seeing that there is no application for the desktop.

Mobile Apps

In this section, we are going to talk about the visual representation of the app, its general functionality, and individual peculiarities.

The main screen includes three interactive icons: the hamburger menu icon in the left upper corner, a location selection icon in the right upper corner, and the turn-on/off button a little below the central image. Also, there is a field with four additional, clickable items above the image.

The hamburger menu icon opens a general menu that contains a settings tab and some general fields.

It is the place where developers usually put the security options. Here we also see just a list of common features, and it is better to locate them in the general menu.

An interesting thing was revealed while we were investigating a four-icon field above the image on the main screen. All four icons are clickable and link you to the same informational bar.

And here is hidden a weird detail. As you can see, the location on the screenshot is France, Paris, but the actual connected server is Polish at the moment. And the same thing happens at another location. We selected a Dutch server, but this statistical window again showed the French geo. We decided to check the state of affairs, and it appeared that the speed tester and IP leak online tool also showed the French location. Their network system has an issue: regardless of what location you choose on a free plan, anyway, you will be connected to the French server.

A pretty thing is that you are not required to pass registration in order to use an unpaid service; just download the application and use it. During our exploration, we did not encounter prompts about bandwidth restrictions, and we did not find any information about them on the website either.

Browser Extensions

This block is empty, seeing that there is no desktop application.

Performance

The current block is not going to be verbose. Thunder VPN impacts ISP connection speed too much; the download speed fell almost to zero. The security core of the application is undefined because the provider did not give any information about it, neither on the website nor in the application.

Despite the fact that we checked with an IP leak online tool that the user’s real IP address is not visible, it is not far enough to be sure that the protocols and encryption type correspond to the cutting-edge, reliable standards.

A significant problem is that the network architecture works incorrectly and refers you to the French server despite your choice.

Work in Highly Restricted Countries

There is no information about this question on the application or the official website.

Server’s locations

The application counts 28 locations within 19 countries, and only two locations are available for the free version. And remember that these two locations are also fake, and you will be redirected to the French server.

What Bonuses Does the Paid Version Offer, and How Much Does It Cost?

The paid subscription proposes a stingy stack of additional features.

The first point says that premium users will get 20+ locations instead of 4 locations dedicated for free. But when we were examining the app, we found only two free locations, not four, and they do not work properly.

Other points claim that you may receive unlimited speed, five simultaneously connected devices, streaming, your encrypted network will keep connected when the screen is off, and you will not be disturbed by advertisements.

We are curious about the point of multiple devices. What is this option for if the application is available only for Android? And what do they mean under the “Streaming” option? We suppose that it could be servers optimized for some streaming services. But it is just our assumption, and this point is vague and unclear for us.

The weekly subscription costs $2.8, the monthly subscription is $4.6, which is less than $1.2 per week, and the annual subscription is $28, which is $2.3 per month.

About Support

Inside the application’s general menu, there is a ‘Help & Feedback’ tab.

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How do you think you can get to the correspondence with live support?

The predefined options and the ‘Other questions field’ are related to your feedback, and you will not receive an answer. Also, there is a ‘More’ option that will redirect you to Android’s mail application, where you can write your question. We sent them a letter and did not receive an answer.

Thunder VPN Review: Final verdict

The privacy policy is very superficial, and it is not even an individual document, just a small section of the Terms of Services page.

The download speed has a downgrade of almost 100%, which is making the online workflow impossible. In addition to the velocity issue, their network functions incorrectly: while you select one location, the application always connects to the French server and does not inform you about it.

The security component of the application is a mystery: the application does not offer any reasonable configurations, and the official website has not given a bit of description about it. We managed to use an external tool that shows if your real IP address is visible while the VPN is set on.The test was successful, but it was just the simplest check, and it does not inspire strong confidence about the safeguard measures of Thunder VPN.

The support service is shoddy: within the “Help & Feedback” field, there is the “More” option that will direct you to a mail application where you can write a letter to their email address. However, they performed this field in a dim color and called it “More,” not something like “Write to our support.”

From the first glance, it is not evident that this field is specially assigned for the purpose of writing directly to the customer support service. Furthermore, we sent them a letter and did not receive an answer.

Considering all the facts, we can not assess this company as a reliable virtual private network provider; they have weaknesses on all sides.