VPN Testing Methodology

This methodology explains how Vizoguard evaluates VPN and security products when publishing guides or comparison pages. It is designed to make our criteria clear, repeatable, and easier to challenge when a claim becomes stale.

1. Pricing and Plan Verification

We verify current annual pricing, renewal terms, device limits, bandwidth limits, refund windows, and whether a plan requires a multi-year commitment. For Vizoguard, public pricing must match the checkout-backed values shown on the pricing page.

2. Platform and Setup Checks

We review supported platforms, app availability, setup flow, license activation, VPN import flow, and whether features differ between desktop, mobile, and browser environments.

3. VPN Security Criteria

• Encryption: modern ciphers such as AES-256 or ChaCha20.
• Protocols: WireGuard, OpenVPN, IKEv2/IPSec, Shadowsocks, or other documented secure transports.
• Leak protection: DNS, IPv6, WebRTC, and tunnel-drop behavior.
• Kill switch: whether traffic is blocked when the VPN disconnects unexpectedly.
• Obfuscation: resistance to deep-packet inspection and restrictive network blocking.

4. Privacy and Logging Review

We distinguish between marketing language and verifiable privacy posture. Stronger evidence includes independent audits, transparency reports, published data-retention limits, court-tested no-log claims, or concrete technical explanations of what is and is not stored.

5. Speed and Reliability

Speed claims are treated as context-dependent. Where hard benchmarks are not available, we avoid absolute rankings and describe the expected tradeoff. For example, WireGuard-based services usually lead raw throughput, while Shadowsocks is often chosen for censorship resistance and obfuscation.

6. Threat Protection Criteria

For security features beyond VPN tunneling, we look for domain blocking, phishing detection, malware command-and-control blocking, suspicious connection monitoring, update cadence, and whether the product protects against risks a standard VPN does not address.

7. Competitor Comparisons

Comparison pages must identify where competitors are stronger. Server count, streaming support, audited history, open-source apps, jurisdiction, and unlimited-device policies should be represented fairly when relevant.

8. Update Triggers

Pages are revisited when pricing changes, supported platforms change, security claims change, a product receives a new audit, a competitor changes major plan terms, or a reader reports a factual issue.