Surfshark VPN Review 2023.
SurfShark VPN is a wise choice for clients that are looking for things like privacy, torrenting ( on selected servers ) with unlimited bandwidth and no restrictions, plus after their recent upgrade from 1GBps ports to 10GBps, you will notice a difference in download speeds on some locations.
The VPN is also perfect for both companies and households with many devices, since you are allowed to install the VPN on an unlimited number of computers, smartphones, tablets and it is very stable.
The VPN recently won the award "Virtual Private Network Solution of the Year” in the prestigious "6th annual CyberSecurity Breakthrough awards" and also updated their Linux app to V1.2 with a much needed Killswitch feature and fixed the IPv6 leaks.
Latest software version:V1.30-1616
What's new:
- V1.30 for Linux. They fixed the connection error while switching to other countrys. Now you can change location, without having to restart your computer.
- New installation method: No-longer a .deb package, but instead a .sh-script. See updated installation instructions below!
What is new for 2023:
Surfshark VPN was audited by "Deloitte" between 21 November and 02 December 2022 confirming their no-logs promise.
Deloitte is one of the Big four auditing firms and they said: “Based on the procedures performed and the evidence obtained, in our opinion, the configuration of IT systems and management of the supporting IT operations is properly prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with Surfshark’s description of its no-logs policy.” Read their complete report here.
What else is new in 2023 is the "Dynamic Multi-hop feature", which differs from the old MultiHop that offers a limited list of pre-set server duos. Now you can choose from more than 100 server country locations. Besides total customizability, Dynamic MultiHop will give you better security and will improve your speed. Read more here.
CNET awarded Surfshark as the Best Value VPN in 2022:
CNET’s Editors’ Choice for Best Value VPN in 2022. Check out this article about Surfsharks CNET award.
Now is the time to save money with our 2-year deal:
Get the 2-year Deal.
More servers added: Ghana, Saudi Arabia and Puerto Rico.
SurfShark is located in the Netherlands which participates in the Nine Eyes and Fourteen Eyes intelligence sharing alliances.It was earlier located in British Virgin Islands, but for business reasons they moved to the Netherlands in 2021.
Get a 2-year deal.
Besides this you get the possibility to unblock Netflix, Disney and others in several regions including, but not limited to.
- Australia
- Germany
- India
- Italy
- Mexico
- Netherlands
- United Kingdom
- United States
Server locations:
The company merged with NordVPN Feb 02, 2022, blog post here.
Surfshark VPN has completed three independent security audits:
- November 2018 an audit tested their Chrome and Firefox extensions. ( PDF )
- In April 2021 Surfshark server, VPN configuration, as well as the related infrastructure was audited. ( PDF )
- November 21 to December 02, 2022. ( PDF )
SurfShark Features:
- The network has 3200+ servers distributed across an impressive 110+ locations in 100 countries.
All servers uses RAM-only ( No SSD or HDD ) - No logs policy ( They do not keep logs, data, timestamps, or any other kind of information )
- 10Gbps server ports are added as of January 2023.
- P2P on selected servers ( Fast downloads ).
- Private DNS on each server.
- Two-factor authentication
- All apps employs a smart algorithm that automatically selects the optimal server and settings.
- AES-256-GCM encryption
- WireGuard
- OpenVPN ( TCP/UDP )
IKEv2( Only available in Android version ) was removed from Windows app.- Multihop - Use two different VPN servers at once for increased security.
- Kill switch to protect you if the VPN connection drops. ( Windows, macOS, Android, iOS and Linux. )
Bypasser- Choose apps, URLs, or IPs to bypass the VPN or to use only with a VPN. ( Windows )- NoBorders mode - A proprietary solution to bypass severe network restrictions.
- Camouflage Mode, commonly known as obfuscation, makes VPN traffic look like any regular traffic.
- CleanWeb for blocking malware & phishing attempts. ( blocks 1,000,000+ known-malicious websites )
So why choose SurfShark?
- Easy to install and use, because their software comes with a GUI
- Strong security and privacy.
- It doesn't support IPv6 protocol.
- Support for most operating systems and devices.
- Unlimited "Devices" and simultaneous connections. ( Stands out )
- WireGuard support for enhanced performance.
- High speed across the network.
- A large network with many advanced features.
- Good streaming and torrenting performance.
- Interesting add-on features.
- Excellent price and 30 day money back guarantee if you aren't satisfied.
- Strong support with 24/7 live chat ( works like a charm )
- To keep their users informed about government action to force Surfshark to disclose personal data about their users, the company maintains a "Warrant Canary" here.
Supported Linux systems:
- Debian 11 or higher
- LMDE5 or higher
- Linux MINT 20 or higher
- ParrotOS 5 or higher
- UBUNTU 20.04 or higher
Payment methods to choose from:
- Credit cards
- PayPal
- Apple Pay
- Google Pay
- Amazon Pay
- Crypto (Coingate and Coinpayments)
- Android Store
- Apple Store
- Sofort (Germany)
- iDeal (Netherlands)
- Other
Get a great deal on this excellent VPN:
Click here to subscribe to your new VPN and get a great deal!
How to install SurfShark 2023:
Download and install the app.
First download the .sh-file from here.
Open a terminal window:
cd Downloads
Press Enter.
Note: First you must make the .sh file executable.
chmod +x debian-install.sh
Press Enter,
Now to install the actual software, type the following in a terminal window:
./debian-install.sh
Press Enter and the installation will begin.
The script will automatically add surfshark GPG-key and run the following commands:
+ sudo tee /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/surfshark.asc + echo deb https://ocean.surfshark.com/debian stretch main + sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/surfshark.list + deb https://ocean.surfshark.com/debian stretch main + sudo apt-get update + sudo apt-get install -y surfshark
Surfshark was successfully installed.
Find the icon under Accessories ( Surfshark ).
To login: Use email and password
This is how it looks when you are connected:
This is how it looks when your IP no longer leaks:
Note: I removed the IP-addresses from the screenshots.
It is recommended to use: speedtest.net.
Note:Restricted means you can't access some sites due to Firewall blocks and No- Virtual locations tested on Surfshark !!!
Tests are being performed using UDP, TCP and WireGuard protocol on a 500MBps network 2023:
Notice the bold text were tested on March 30th, 2023. For most people high download speed is most important ! If text is not bold, that means WireGuard did not work on that location when this test was performed on March 30th, 2023 !!!
| Country | Protocol | Max Download Speed | Max Upload Speed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Albania - Tirana | UDP | 211.02MBps (76.95MBps) | 43,48MBps (85.67MBps) |
| Albania - Tirana | TCP | 9.88MBps | 15.56MBps |
| Albania - Tirana | WireGuard | (80.17MBps) | (87.77MBps) |
| Australia - Sydney | UDP | 153.91MBps (127.78MBps) | 20.30MBps (25.34MBps) |
| Australia - Sydney | TCP | 7.54MBps | 10.90MBps |
| Australia - Sydney | WireGuard | (5.75MBps) | (120.30MBps) |
| Austria - Vienna | UDP | 196.15MBps (78.02MBps) | 78.01MBps (82.14MBps) |
| Austria - Vienna | TCP | 12.27MBps | 17.50MBps |
| Austria - Vienna | WireGuard | (84.95MBps) | (89.14MBps) |
| Belgium - Brussels | UDP | 205.30MBps (85.17MBps) | 67.41MBps (78.86MBps) |
| Belgium - Brussels | TCP | 7.64MBps | 17.14MBps |
| Belgium - Brussels | WireGuard | (83.62MBps) | (87.83MBps) |
| Bosnia & Herzegovina | UDP | 99.45MBps (72.76MBps) | 13.84MBps (19.20MBps) |
| Bosnia & Herzegovina | TCP | 10.36MBps | 3.05MBps |
| Bosnia & Herzegovina | WireGuard | (85.00MBps) | (83.07MBps) |
| Brazil - Sao Paulo | UDP | 249.86MBps (88.67MBps) | 169.34MBps (88.86MBps) |
| Brazil - Sao Paulo | TCP | 174.08MBps | 157.20MBps |
| Brazil - Sao Paulo | WireGuard | (88.78MBps) | (89.14MBps) |
| Bulgaria - Sofia | UDP | 198.41MBps (251.05MBps) | 42.36MBps (33.02MBps) |
| Bulgaria - Sofia | TCP | 11.61MBps | 15.69MBps |
| Bulgaria - Sofia | WireGuard | (422.41MBps) | (74.38MBps) |
| Canada - Montreal | UDP | 246.10MBps (85.44MBps) | 3.86MBps (5.03MBps) |
| Canada - Montreal | TCP | 17.89MBps | 0.40MBps |
| Canada - Montreal | WireGuard | (74.88MBps) | (49.66MBps) |
| Canada - Toronto ( New York ) U.S! | UDP | 136.70MBps (87.07MBps) | 76.77MBps (86.34MBps) |
| Canada - Toronto | TCP | 18.53MBps | 17.92MBps |
| Canada - Toronto | WireGuard | (82.09MBps) | (88.98MBps) |
| Canada - Vancouver | UDP | 202.60MBps (23.55MBps) | 40.87MBps (8.12MBps) |
| Canada - Vancouver | TCP | 7.03MBps | 18.00MBps |
| Canada - Vancouver | WireGuard | (86.37MBps) | (89.08MBps) |
| Colombia | UDP | 108.70MBps | 26.70MBps |
| Colombia | TCP | 18.75MBps | 18.88MBps |
| Colombia | WireGuard | ||
| Croatia | UDP | 115.56MBps | 14.01MBps |
| Croatia | TCP | 7.29MBps | 0.00MBps |
| Croatia | WireGuard | ||
| Cyprus | UDP | 159.57MBps | 32.52MB |
| Cyprus | TCP | 13.06MBps | 14.94MBps |
| Cyprus | WireGuard | ||
| Czech Republic | UDP | 157.41MBps | 24.45MBps |
| Czech Republic | TCP | 13.60MBps | 16.71MBps |
| Czech Republic | WireGuard | ||
| Denmark | UDP | 165.10MBps | 19.58MBps |
| Denmark | TCP | 15.98MBps | 5.35MBps |
| Denmark | WireGuard | ||
| Estonia | UDP | 129.84MBps | 65.44MBps |
| Estonia ( Finland ) Helsinki !!! | TCP | 16.81MBps | 16.33MBps |
| Estonia | WireGuard | ||
| France Bordeaux | UDP | 264.63MBps | 62.94MBps |
| France Bordeaux | TCP | ||
| France Bordeaux | WireGuard | ||
| France Marseille | UDP | 259.91MBps | 45.64MBps |
| France Marseille | TCP | 9.66MBps | 17.92MBps |
| France Marseille | WireGuard | ||
| France Paris | UDP | 204.51MBps | 50.01MBps |
| France Paris | TCP | 11.05MBps | 18.05MBps |
| France Paris | WireGuard | ||
| Georgia | UDP | 137.44MBps | 19.29MBps |
| Georgia | TCP | 10.83MBps | 13.81MBps |
| Georgia | WireGuard | ||
| Germany Berlin | UDP | Not connecting | |
| Germany Berlin | TCP | Not connecting | |
| Germany Berlin | WireGuard | Not connecting | |
| Germany Frankfurt Am Main | UDP | 243.28MBps | 57.93MBps |
| Germany Frankfurt Am Main | TCP | 13.23MBps | 18.61MBps |
| Germany Frankfurt Am Main | WireGuard | ||
| Hong Kong | UDP | 169.41MBps | 27.51MBps |
| Hong Kong | TCP | 7.60MBps | 6.26MBps |
| Hong Kong | WireGuard | ||
| Hungary | UDP | 193.07MBps | 65.32MBps |
| Hungary | TCP | 11.71MBps | 14.75MBps |
| Hungary | WireGuard | ||
| Iceland | UDP | 179.78MBps | 82.78MBps |
| Iceland | TCP | 10.78MBps | 15.55MBps |
| Iceland | WireGuard | ||
| Indonesia | UDP | 163.25MBps | 12.48MBps |
| Indonesia | TCP | 7.74MBps | 10.77MBps |
| Indonesia | WireGuard | ||
| Ireland | UDP | 174.00MBps | 26.03MBps |
| Ireland | TCP | 16.84MBps | 18.77MBps |
| Ireland | WireGuard | ||
| Israel | UDP | 120.94MBps | 39.88MBps |
| Israel | TCP | 10.68MBps | 12.54MBps |
| Israel | WireGuard | ||
| Italy Milan | UDP | 123.92MBps | 54.96MBps |
| Italy Milan | TCP | 5.61MBps | 18.02MBps |
| Italy Milan | WireGuard | ||
| Italy Rome | UDP | 107.25MBps | 24.61MBps |
| Italy Rome | TCP | 15.69MBps | 17.71MBps |
| Italy Rome | WireGuard | ||
| Japan | UDP | 86.60MBps | 37.17MBps |
| Japan | TCP | 13.77MBps | 14.47MBps |
| Japan | WireGuard | ||
| Kazakhstan | UDP | 91.25MBps | 10.68MBps |
| Kazakhstan | TCP | 5.09MBps | 12.41MBps |
| Kazakhstan | WireGuard | ||
| Latvia | UDP | 120.36MBps | 40.51MBps |
| Latvia | TCP | 15.11MBps | 16.02MBps |
| Latvia | WireGuard | ||
| Lithuania | UDP | 111.25MBps | 34.96MBps |
| Lithuania | TCP | 15.45MBps | 15.64MBps |
| Lithuania | WireGuard | ||
| Luxembourg | UDP | 127.39MBps | 52.62MBps |
| Luxembourg | TCP | 22.68MBps | 6.92MBps |
| Luxembourg | WireGuard | ||
| Malaysia | UDP | 70.56MBps | 8.00MBps |
| Malaysia | TCP | 5.84MBps | 1.39MBps |
| Malaysia | WireGuard | ||
| Moldova | UDP | 103.11MBps | 23.09MBps |
| Moldova | TCP | 3.18MBps | 0.29MBps |
| Moldova | WireGuard | ||
| Netherlands | UDP | 117.29MBps | 11.88MBps |
| Netherlands | TCP | 13.13MBps | 3.26MBps |
| Netherlands | WireGuard | ||
| New Zealand | UDP | 152.86MBps | 31.51MBps |
| New Zealand | TCP | 7.23MBps | 10.12MBps |
| New Zealand | WireGuard | ||
| North Makedonia | UDP | 113.69MBps | 17.66MBps |
| North Makedonia | TCP | 4.27MBps | 1.06MBps |
| North Makedonia | WireGuard | ||
| Norway | UDP | 167.06MBps | 14.51MBps |
| Norway | TCP | 13.60MBps | 0.00MBps |
| Norway | WireGuard | ||
| Poland Warzaw | UDP | 124.74MBps | 51.14MBps |
| Poland Warzaw | TCP | 14.86MBps | 15.52MBps |
| Poland Warzaw | WireGuard | ||
| Poland Gdansk | UDP | 112.29MBps | 41.13MBps |
| Poland Gdansk | TCP | 13.14MBps | 5.60MBps |
| Poland Gdansk | WireGuard | ||
| Portugal Lisbon | UDP | 118.81MBps | 61.84MBps |
| Portugal Lisbon | TCP | 11.11MBps | 12.53MBps |
| Portugal Lisbon | WireGuard | ||
| Romania | UDP | - Not connecting | |
| Romania | TCP | - Not connecting | |
| Romania | WireGuard | - Not connecting | |
| Serbia | UDP | - Not connecting | |
| Serbia | TCP | - Not connecting | |
| Serbia | WireGuard | - Not connecting | |
| Singapore | UDP | 55.99MBps | 36.73MBps |
| Singapore | TCP | - Not connecting | |
| Singapore | WireGuard | - Not connecting | |
| Slovakia | UDP | 185.61MBps | 18.36MBps |
| Slovakia | TCP | - Not connecting | |
| Slovakia | WireGuard | - Not connecting | |
| Slovenia | UDP | Working | Working |
| South Africa | UDP | 190.43MBps | 49.60MBps |
| South Africa | TCP | 10.01MBps | 13.53MBps |
| South Africa | WireGuard | ||
| South Korea | UDP | 49.02MBps | 4.57MBps |
| South Korea | TCP | 6.12MBps | 0.47MBps |
| South Korea | WireGuard | ||
| Spain Barcelona | UDP | 241.72MBps | 40.47MBps |
| Spain Barcelona | TCP | 20.33MBps | 9.72MBps |
| Spain Barcelona | WireGuard | ||
| Spain Madrid | UDP | 221.09MBps | 44.03MBps |
| Spain Madrid | TCP | 13.37MBps | 19.58MBps |
| Spain Madrid | WireGuard | ||
| Spain Valencia | UDP | 173.81MBps | 44.41MBps |
| Spain Valencia | TCP | 19.25MBps | 27.05MBps |
| Spain Valencia | WireGuard | ||
| Sweden Stockholm | UDP | 140.37MBps | 74.09MBps |
| Sweden Stockholm | TCP | 5.21MBps | 0.00MBps |
| Sweden Stockholm | WireGuard | ||
| Switzerland | UDP | 189.61MBps | 32.17MBps |
| Switzerland | TCP | 11.55MBps | 3.33MBps |
| Switzerland | WireGuard | ||
| Taiwan | UDP | 97.65MBps | 26.37MBps |
| Taiwan | TCP | 2.41MBps | 12.50MBps |
| Taiwan | WireGuard | ||
| Thailand Bangkok | UDP | 88.05MBps | 21.54MBps |
| Thailand Bangkok | TCP | 0.71MBps | 3.94MBps |
| Thailand Bangkok | WireGuard | ||
| Turkey Istanbul | UDP | ||
| Turkey Istanbul | TCP | ||
| Turkey Istanbul | WireGuard | ||
| Ukraine | UDP | 167.73MBps | 68.34MBps |
| Ukraine | TCP | 10.97MBps | 14.97MBps |
| Ukraine | WireGuard | ||
| UAE | UDP | 188.76MBps | 60.83MBps |
| UAE | TCP | 8.60MBps | 5.36MBps |
| UAE | WireGuard | ||
| United Kingdom Edinburgh | UDP | 241.88MBps | 38.17MBps |
| United Kingdom Edinburgh | TCP | 13.33MBps | 17.93MBps |
| United Kingdom Edinburgh | WireGuard | ||
| United Kingdom Glasgow | UDP | 161.03MBps | 23.50MBps |
| United Kingdom Glasgow | TCP | 17.28MBps | 6.40MBps |
| United Kingdom Glasgow | WireGuard | ||
| United Kingdom London | UDP | 161.28MBps | 36.39MBps |
| United Kingdom London | TCP | 11.57MBps | 5.87MBps |
| United Kingdom London | WireGuard | ||
| United Kingdom Manchester | UDP | 206.30MBps | 3.91MBps |
| United Kingdom Manchester | TCP | 12.51MBps | 17.88MBps |
| United Kingdom Manchester | WireGuard | ||
| United States Ashburn, VA | UDP | 272.80MBps | 70.78MBps |
| United States Ashburn, VA | TCP | 17.60MBps | 23.47MBps |
| United States Ashburn, VA | WireGuard | ||
| United States Atlanta | UDP | 241.04MBps | 15.97MBps |
| United States Atlanta | TCP | 19.80MBps | 27.97MBps |
| United States Atlanta | WireGuard | ||
| United States Bend | UDP | 238.29MBps | 63.08MBps |
| United States Bend | TCP | 13.71MBps | 3.05MBps |
| United States Bend | WireGuard | ||
| United States Boston | UDP | 233.97MBps | 65.98MBps |
| United States Boston | TCP | 18.05MBps | 22.98MBps |
| United States Boston | WireGuard | ||
| United States Buffalo | UDP | 254.06MBps | 52.27MBps |
| United States Buffalo | TCP | 21.44MBps | 25.98MBps |
| United States Buffalo | WireGuard | ||
| United States Charlotte | UDP | 248.39MBps | 44.48MBps |
| United States Charlotte | TCP | 18.39MBps | 7.73MBps |
| United States Charlotte | WireGuard | ||
| United States Chicago | UDP | 235.57MBps | 99.74MBps |
| United States Chicago | TCP | 16.84MBps | 24.84MBps |
| United States Chicago | WireGuard | ||
| United States Dallas | UDP | 213.29MBps | 40.13MBps |
| United States Dallas | TCP | 15.56MBps | 21.64MBps |
| United States Dallas | WireGuard | ||
| United States Denver | UDP | 170.41MBps | 34.76MBps |
| United States Denver | TCP | 17.29MBps | 19.54MBps |
| United States Denver | WireGuard | ||
| United States Detroit | UDP | 133.93MBps | 48.43MBps |
| United States Detroit | TCP | 19.45MBps | 3.89MBps |
| United States Detroit | WireGuard |
So what are the cons?
- Slower download speeds than NordVPN.
- They retain your device ID, like LGK11 or your Gigabyte motherboard and send an e-mail every time you login on a different device.
- Their servers do store information about your connection to a particular VPN server (user ID and/or IP address and connection time stamps), BUT this information is automatically deleted within 15 minutes after termination of your session. You should read the Surfshark Privacy Policy.
Pros:
- Cheaper than NordVPN
- No-logs.
- Faster than Atlas VPN
- Stable VPN, did not disconnect once during a 4-day trial.
- Warrant Canary
- Excellent 24h support team.
How to uninstall SurfShark:
sudo apt-get remove surfshark
Press Enter, done.
To see a list of all repositories as "root":
To view all lists in a terminal window:
cd /etc/apt/sources.list.d/
Press Enter.
You will see ( surfshark.list )
To open all lists in xed window tabs:
xed /etc/apt/sources.list.d/*.list
Press Enter.
To make sure you have completely removed the repo that was added, use Synaptic to search for and remove any remaining files.
