Using a VPN connection is a tempting choice to gain access to censored contents, to surf the web anonymously, and to gain additional protection when you are in a public hotspot. There are dozens of VPN providers that offer you these three benefits, but only a few allow you to use their services for free, and that includes the popular Hotspot Shield.

Hotspot Shield is a name that many VPN users must have heard at least once during their hunt in searching for the best VPN provider. It is true that its free tier subscription doesn’t offer unlimited bandwidth, but it is still a generous offer that attracts a lot of curious users.

Features and Highlights

Hotspot Shield has a nice dark theme that wraps up its user-friendly interface. The large button placed in the middle of the panel along with the text is hard to miss that even a total VPN newbie should be able to take a guess of what to do to start the VPN connection.

Every single day, anyone who subscribe the free plan can surf the web until the bandwidth limit is hit, which is 500 MB per day. It is generous compared to some other VPN providers that similarly offer free subscriptions.

Once the VPN connection is started, the count begins. The data usage report is displayed in the panel as well as other information such as the connection speed, IP address, and the name of the network.

Before you begin the VPN connection, however, you should explore the Settings section. It has some handy tools and options that possibly interest you.

For a start, there is the Kill Switch, a tool that should never be disabled. Its purpose is to make sure that your real IP address is not exposed when the VPN connection suddenly drop. It works by cutting off all internet traffic until the VPN connection back online.

If you enable the Kill Switch, then you should also activate the Auto Protect. When you visit places like a coffee shop and try to connect to its network, Auto Protect will start Hotspot Shield automatically. This is a very helpful tool for anyone who keeps forgetting things.

The Smart VPN is another tool that you probably want to use all the time. It is a split tunneling feature to exclude some applications and websites from the VPN connection so that they will always use the actual network connection.

There are still other options that you might want to consider such as automatically launching Hotspot Shield on Windows start and automatically connect to the last used server.

Hotspot Shield Free Download for Windows

When you are in need of a VPN service but clueless as to which software to use, Hotspot Shield is worth trying. It packs a number of good features, has an aesthetically pleasing user interface, and offers a free subscription so that you can try it for as long as you want to decide whether to upgrade to the premium version or to leave it and try something else. You can click the link below to download Hotspot Shield for Windows: