Goose VPN Review & Test 2021 - Keep This in Mind Before Buying

GOOSE VPN offers only a modest number of servers and locations compared to other VPNs, so I’ve always wondered: How good could it possibly be? I was very excited to put it to the test. GOOSE VPN is based in the Netherlands and was created in 2014 by the Dutch company Goose BV.

At the moment, it has a VPN server network of 100 servers across 20 countries, which is consistently expanding by user request. I made sure to do extensive research on and test every single aspect of GOOSE VPN — from speeds to security features, device compatibility, and even torrenting.

First impressions: The GOOSE VPN desktop app is designed simply, easy to use, and offers a useful 24/7 live chat service.

Given most people use VPNs for Netflix, it was my first point-of-call in terms of testing. I was pleasantly surprised by the ease with which it managed to bypass geolocation restrictions. Unfortunately, it had mixed success with other streaming platforms.

However, the VPN supports P2P (specifying which servers are optimized for torrenting and which for streaming video).

While my online experience wasn’t negatively affected by GOOSE VPN’s speeds, I was disappointed to see how much it decreased my internet connection speed. I realized that it is not good for gaming (in fact, if you are a dedicated gamer trying to find the best VPN, you might want to check out these recommendations).

But most importantly, with a growing threat of cybercrime, internet restrictions, and censorship worldwide, it was reassuring to see that GOOSE VPN is very secure. With 256-bit AES encryption and supporting a variety of protocols (OpenVPN with 2048-bit RSA key, L2TP/IPSec, PPTP, and IKEv2), the VPN ensures your safety online at all times. Not only was it effective in protecting against DNS and IPv4leaks, but it also does not keep logs. It also offers useful features like a kill switch.

Overall, I found GOOSE VPN to be a decent VPN, but with a lot of room for improvement. Given the fact they offer a money-back guarantee, I think it is worth a try.

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GOOSE VPN Features — Updated in October 2021

Streaming — Unblocks US/UK Netflix, but Not All Streaming Platforms

Goose VPN allowed me to unblock Netflix US, CA, Netherlands, and the UK; HBO Max; YouTube TV; and Hulu. But I couldn’t access Disney+, BBC iPlayer, or Amazon Prime Video US. While it works seamlessly for some of the most popular streaming platforms, it is, unfortunately, limited and inconsistent.

Unblocked: Netflix (US, UK, CA, NL), HBO Max, YouTube TV, and Hulu

I had no trouble unblocking the US and UK Netflix, Netflix Canada, Netflix Netherlands, YouTube TV, Hulu, Amazon Prime UK, and HBO Max.

I was particularly happy to have access to HBO Max, which I have been unable to unblock in the past using different VPNs. I chose to connect to the regular US server option, which only took a couple of seconds, and then I was able to stream and watch Search Party, Girls, and the newly released Hacks show without any buffering.

Blocked By: BBC iPlayer, Disney+, and Amazon Prime Video

Sadly, GOOSE VPN didn’t allow me to unblock Disney+ nor BBC iPlayer. My attempts to log in to the Disney+ platform led to a blank error page, whether I tried connecting through the regular US server or a smart server through the VPN’s Cyber Alarm optimization feature. Similarly, Amazon Prime Video could not be unblocked no matter which server I was connected to.

Good VPN couldn’t bypass a few streaming platform’s geoblocks, including Amazon Prime Video

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Speeds — Average Speeds that Get the Job Done

Testing the speeds of GOOSE VPN, my average results were:

Pings: 87.5 ms

Download: 27.06 Mbps

Upload: 4.71 Mbps

These results are slightly below average and leave a lot to be desired. My speeds were between 75 and 90% of my original connection speed, depending on which server I connected to.

Specifically, I tried out servers in the UK, France, US, Asia (Hong Kong, Singapore), Spain, Australia, Germany, and Bulgaria – with Bulgaria and Spain (the servers closest to my physical location) being the fastest.

Yet, while the speeds varied slightly depending on the server, the variations were relatively insignificant and did not affect my overall experience browsing, streaming, and downloading files. I did not have any problems with buffering, and I found that the VPN’s speeds, while unimpressive, were fast enough for HD streaming and seemed adequate.

Are GOOSE VPN’s Speeds Fast Enough for Gaming? No

GOOSE VPN’s speeds are not fast enough for gaming. I was initially very excited to be able to access games from all over the world and successfully connect to multiplayer games using the VPN. However, I quickly realized that my average ping time of 87.5 milliseconds would not be adequate to play whichever game I wanted.

For gaming, the lower the ping, the better – as a gamer, you would ideally want a ping time no higher than 20 milliseconds, far from what I was getting while not even playing. During a simple game of Among Us, my ping time went through the roof.

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Server Network — 100 Servers in 20 Locations that are Added to Weekly By Request

Goose VPN, at the moment of writing, has a very modest but solid network of 100 servers in 20 countries. However, it also offers users the unique ability to request for a server to be added by simply filling in a form or sending an email to them. The process is very easy, and it takes on average only a couple of days for the GOOSE VPN team to add a requested server to their offerings – something they do weekly.

You can see which servers are dedicated to streaming and support P2P

I found all of the servers I tested reliable and with respectable speed. It was really easy to find the server I needed, and optimized servers for P2P and video streaming were highlighted. The simple server load indicator allowed me to connect to any server by pressing the ‘Connect’ button manually in under 3 seconds! It will be exciting to see the network of available servers expand in the near future.

Server locations:

Security — Solid Security with Extra Virus Protection

GOOSE VPN is definitely secure. Its AES-256-bit encryption technology ensures robust security. While you can choose from four different protocols to secure your online environment (IKEv2, L2TP/IPSec, PPTP, and OpenVPN), my preference was for OpenVPN, which is known to be one of the most reliable ones and is based on OpenSSL.

A test for DNS leaks revealed I was safe, and another for IP leaks on IPleak.net revealed that I was facing no breaches. DNS protection is built into the Windows and MacOS apps, but IPv6 leak prevention isn’t. You’ll need to manually turn that off on your computer.

Finally, a scan through VirusTotal gave me the all-clear from viruses. What was also great to see was that GOOSE VPN not only has a built-in ad-blocker but it even offers protection against malware, spyware, and viruses. For someone who doesn’t want to pay for expensive virus protection software, this is a fantastic option.

The VPN’s kill switch ensures that you’ll never browse unsecured, even if your internet connection unexpectedly drops. It worked well and I didn’t encounter any problems when losing IKEv2, although you’re not able to reconnect for approximately 30 seconds after your protocol has failed. Protocols vary between platforms, with PPTP missing from macOS and iOS, and no OpenVPN for Mac OS X. Features like the kill switch, auto-connect, protocol choice, and DNS control are missing from the Android app. I’d hope to see this updated in the near future.

The kill switch worked effectively and can be enabled in the settings menu

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Privacy — Maximum Privacy with Strict No-Logs Policy

It was refreshing to see that GOOSE VPN highly respects its users’ privacy. The fact that GOOSE VPN is based in the Netherlands, which is a member of the Fourteen Eyes alliance network, had me worried that my data could possibly be shared.

However, GOOSE VPN’s privacy policy is explicit and very clear: it has a strict no-logs policy, which means that it doesn’t collect your IP address, browsing history, session information, or any other identifiable data. This means that if an authority were to request data related to a user, GOOSE VPN would be unable to provide it because it does not save it.

Torrenting — Simple, Speedy, and Secure

GOOSE VPN allows torrenting and makes it easy. To test this out, I tried to download a movie from uTorrent and managed to do so fast and without any issues. I appreciated that

GOOSE VPN marks out the servers that allow and are optimized for downloading torrents with the letters P2P since not all servers work for torrenting. To find a P2P server, simply click on the ‘Country’ tab in your Goose application and choose any server with the P2P icon next to it from the dropdown list.

The P2P-optimized servers available include Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Poland, Romania, Singapore, Sweden, and Switzerland. Since GOOSE VPN does not save logs or IP addresses, I felt untraceable and anonymous on ThePirateBay! If you love your torrents, I’d definitely recommend GOOSE VPN.

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Does GOOSE VPN Work in China? No

Browsing through GOOSE VPN’s servers on offer, it was disappointing to see that there weren’t any in China. I did successfully connect to a Hong Kong server, but that still did not allow me to watch all the content I wanted to on Tudou, and I was faced with incredibly slow loading times for streaming the few videos accessible to me.

Reading more about the status of VPNs in China, I found that GOOSE VPN is blocked by the Chinese government and so it will not work if you are inside the country either.

I contacted customer support and a member of the GOOSE VPN team confirmed this, mentioning also that they had a working solution to this problem a year ago but it was, unfortunately, blocked. Given the fact that there are now a number of other VPN services that do provide access to Chinese servers and the growing popularity of Chinese content, I hope to see a positive development on this front in the future.

Simultaneous Device Connections — Unlimited

You can connect as many devices as you want with GOOSE VPN with unlimited bandwidth. Since most VPNs restrict your simultaneous device connections to between 5-10 (which doesn’t work for large households and families with multiple devices), I loved this feature and found that it adds great value to the VPN.

To test out if my speed and performance would be affected by simultaneous device connections, I connected my iPhone, laptop, and desktop all at the same time and found there were no problems whatsoever.

Device Compatibility — All Major Operating Systems

GOOSE VPN is compatible with all major operating systems, including Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Linux and routers, Android TV, Synology, Raspberry Pi, Chrome OS, and Tor browser.

Particularly, I found that the Chrome browser extension makes access to geo-blocked websites incredibly simple. I personally tested Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS and found that it works pretty much the same on all of them, minus some minor layout differences. Design and UX match across all platforms, allowing users to adapt quickly to using the VPN on different apps smoothly.

You’ll need to install Goose VPN manually on Linux, but the guides provided will talk you through installation and adding the protocols.

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