Hotspot Shield 1.21

• Quick specs
• Price: Free
• Operating system: Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000
• Date added: July 26, 2009
• Total Downloads: 1,916,682
• Downloads last week: 34,790
• See full specifications

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A newer version of Hotspot Shield is available.

Download the latest version | Learn more about Hotspot Shield 1.3

(Download doesn't provide access to previous versions of this program.)

CNET editors' review

Reviewed by: Seth Rosenblatt on February 18, 2009

This freeware program promises to encrypt all your Internet connections, but since most public wi-fi access points in the U.S. are open, it's a bit hard to gauge Hotspot Shield's effectiveness. However, the connection itself is a bit wonky.

Once the program is installed, it creates an HTML link on your desktop. Double-clicking on it will open the application in your Web browser, and you'll be taken to a page detailing your Connection Status, IP Address, Server Address, Bytes sent and received, and the duration of the connection. Hotspot Shield is ad supported, so you'll get a big banner ad that lives at the top of every Web page, too. Closing the tab with the app's control panel doesn't disconnect the shield, though: for that, or to reload the control panel, you have to go through the green shield icon that gets loaded into your system tray. Also, there's a 5 GB transfer limit.

Overall, we can't give Hotspot Shield a strong recommendation, but as a last resort it might be worth trying out.

Publisher's description

Hotspot Shield is a freeware which ensures anonymous and censor-free internet usage. With Hotspot Shield you can even access blocked websites. For example: Skype is blocked in certain parts of the world. With Hotspot Shield, anyone can access Skype (and any other site they choose). The free software ensures censor-free internet usage by encrypting all communications to and from your computer to protect you from online spying. While advertising supported, HotSpot Shield is is not an invasive adware or pervasive spyware application.

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