VPN clients are a generally a very good way to maintain your anonymity online, and Hideman is no exception: just launch the program, click the Connect button and in a second or two you’ll be allocated an IP address in another country.
Which country? Hideman provides servers in Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Netherlands, Panama, Russia, Singapore, Ukraine, United Kingdom and United States.
By default the client will select one of these for you automatically. However, you may also be able to choose a country yourself, although we found this to be a little inconsistent. The first time we used Hideman, there was no choice at all; the second time, we could choose between Russia, the Ukraine and Panama only; the third time, all countries were available. (If you’re not happy with your selection, wait a moment, click Refresh, and see if the country you need appears.)
Still, the program is at least easy to set up. The client installs in just a moment, and you don’t have to create an account, provide your email address or part with any personal information at all.
Click Connect and you’re able to sample Hideman’s anonymity for a full hour. Which you can extend further by clicking the Payment tab and choosing the “Free hour” option, up to four hours a week.
Performance was very good, at least when we tried it, with no noticeable lag in our online activities at all. Hideman say that free connections may be speed-limited at peak times, though, so your own experience may vary considerably depending on precisely when you go online.
If that’s still not enough, though, you can always opt for one of the paid plans. There’s a lot of choice: $3 for 1 week, $9 for a month, $15 for two months, $39 for 6 months, $69 for a year: it’s your call. Simply click the Payment tab, choose the plan you require and you can pay from within the Hideman client.
The program’s performance and free time allowance is so good that you may not need to spend any cash, though, at least if you can browse off-peak. Hideman is a likeable and straightforward VPN tool, and will be a great boost to anyone who’s looking to maintain their anonymity online.