Our Review:

PacketiX.NET is free service offered by SoftEther Corp as an academic experiment run by the University of Tsukuba in Japan. Unlike Hotspot Shield and countless other VPN clients, it is not based on OpenVPN but instead uses a proprietary system. Like most other VPN connections, it encrypts all of your Internet activities.

The actual client itself is very customisable and powerful, allowing you to get the most out of your VPN connection. There are a number of features from setting the number of TCP connections and enabling data compression to maximize throughput. The actual speed you get ultimately depends on your geographic location in relation to Japan. This means that a lot of people may experience slow connections (especially Europeans). The GUI is very simple and easy to use. Installation is rather simple, but you need to download the client and an additional configuration file. They have a nice tutorial on their website that guides you through the whole process to make it easier for you.

Although they do keep logs, they are open about it. You have to read and accept an agreement stating that you will not use the service 'to do crime' as they put it. As long as you're not doing anything you shouldn't be doing, it should not concern you greatly.

Here are some of my personal ratings and a few technical points regarding the program:

• Speed Rating: Medium
• Anonymity Rating: High
• Usage Allowance: Unlimited
• Logging Level: High. Logs are kept permanently.
• Server Location(s): Japan
• Operating System(s):
• WOT  Rating: Excellent.
• 19MB of RAM usage when running.