Wannaflix VPN Review (2019)
Wannaflix Highlights
- Country: Hong Kong
- Logging: No (Traffic), Yes (Connection), No (IP address)
- Bypass VPN Block (DPI): ShadowsocksR, Shadowsocks, v2ray, Eclipse
- Pricing: $6.99 (per month)
- Allows P2P/ Torrent: Yes
- Simultaneous connections: 5
- Live Chat Support: No
- Custom clients/apps: No
- Alternative website: N/A
- Trustpilot rating: 5.8 out of 10 (4 users)
My First Impression
Being active since 2018, Wannaflix is a newcomer to the VPN industry. People behind Wannaflix focus on evading the Great China Firewall and Netflix VPN detectors. Even though the company is relatively small, it has been successful. In this article, I will analyze Wannaflix‘s privacy policy, pricing, and whether Wannaflix can evade the VPN block.
Does Wannaflix keep logs?
You can find information about Wannaflix logging policy on the Privacy Policy page. Wannaflix claims that no user identifiable information is collected.
We do not collect logs of your activity, including no logging of browsing history, traffic destination, data content, or DNS queries. We also never store connection logs, meaning no logs of your IP address, your outgoing VPN IP address, connection timestamp, or session duration.
To sum up, we can conclude that WannaFlix does not keep:
- traffic logs (i.e. user activity)
- IP address
Does WannaFlix offer Stealth VPN to bypass Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) and similar firewalls?
Countries like China, Turkey, Russia, UAE, Egypt implement firewalls that block access to VPN services. As an example, China uses the Great Wall of China (GFW) system to block most VPNs and proxies. Some VPN providers offer extra protocols, often called Stealth VPN or anti-DPI protocols, that help users to bypass VPN blocks and access free internet.
Wannaflix offers four different protocols Shadowsocks, v2ray, ShadowsocksR, and Eclipse. There is also a SmartDNS for a Smart TV or an Apple TV. You can also use Shadowsocks (SS) only, however, it is not advisable, as SS is an easy target for VPN blocking firewalls. The only unfamiliar protocol on the list is Eclipse, which is basically OpenVPN combined with an obfuscation method. The good news is that all the protocols are available on most of the platforms on third party apps/programmes.
Testing WannaFlix
As usual, I test the VPN on Windows 7 PC and an Android phone running Android 6.0.1 and on an iOS device. I am testing on an ADSL internet provided by the local telecom company and cellular internet provided by our local mobile operator.
Windows Test
The first test starts with Windows. Wannaflix does not have a native app, but there are detailed guides for third party apps, which are very easy to use. I have used ShadowsocksR (SSR) via software called SSTAP for a long time. Besides easily passing the VPN blocking firewalls, ShadowsocksR is very easy to use and fast.
The only downside is that I could not use SSTAP for torrenting, even on the torrent specific servers. And the reason for that, is that ShadowsocksR and v2ray are proxies at the core. That means it only covers the data that goes through browsers. As an example, when I SSH via putty using standard VPN, I can access the server, even if the IP address is blocked, since the VPN covers everything. However, when I try to SSH same blocked server using SSTAP or v2ray, I get connection error.
In my tests, both ShadowsocksR and v2ray easily connected and evaded the VPN block. And, as seen on the screenshot, Netflix works with WannaFlix, and you can enjoy various Netflix libraries.
Android and iOS Test
Next, I performed similar tests on an Android and iOS device. For Android you can use SSRR app, which is not available on the Google Play Store and ShadowsocksR app, not much difference between the two. For v2ray, you can use apps like v2rayNG, Kitsunebi and v2ray.
When it comes to iOS, you can use Potatso Lite for ShadowsocksR and Shadowrocket for v2ray, the latter being a paid app.
During the tests, both ShadowsocksR and v2ray connected without a problem, and I could bypass the VPN block. More than half of the servers are not blocked.
Test Result
To sum up, in the tests, WannaFlix defeated the VPN blocking firewall in my country on Windows (ShadowsocksR, v2ray) and Android/iOS platforms (ShadowsocksR, v2ray). And I am prettysure it works on Mac.
If you are not sure whether WannaFlix VPN is working in your country, WannaFlix offers a 3-day free trial.
Is WannaFlix affordable?
WannaFlix offers a standard plan available for monthly, bi-annual and annual subscriptions. When subscribed for a year you pay $6.99 per month, which means $1.4 per device/month.
WannaFlix accepts PayPal, AliPay, UnionPay and Bitcoin.
WannaFlix offers a 30-day money-back-guarantee.
What features WannaFlix offers?
– Supported Platforms
WannaFlix is available on Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, and selected routers. There is also Shadowsocks app for Android TV. Features such as kill-switch is mostly not available on the 3rd party apps.
– Supported Protocols
The VPN offers Shadowsocks, ShadowsocksR, Eclipse (OpenVPN with obfuscation) and v2ray protocols.
– Number of Servers
With WannaFlix you can choose among 30 servers from 19 countries.
Wanna check other VPNs? Head over to the VPN Comparison Table, and find the best VPN that fits you.
Conclusion
What I liked:
- Traffic and IP address logs not kept
-
SS, SSR, v2ray, Eclipse (anti-DPI
) - Cryptocurrency accepted
- Torrent/P2P allowed
- Netflix supported
What I didn’t like:
- Connection logs stored
- No native apps
- Pricing above $1 per month