There are just too many issues with speed and security, at least for now.

The most important of the manydifferences between regular VPNs and decentralized VPNsis their structure.

Related:How Does a Decentralized VPN (dVPN) Work?

Mytserium VPN’s main interface

dVPNs turn this way of doing things on its head.

For one, you’re not using servers, but nodes.

What’s It Like Using Mysterium VPN?

Mysterium VPN’s download nodes

The nice thing about Mysterium VPN is that all of its processes are happening in the background.

When using it day-to-day, it really isn’t that much different from a regular VPN.

There’s a list of nodes, you select one, hit connect, and that’s it.

Mysterium VPN’s streaming nodes

The client is an intuitive and easy-to-use affair, on par with top providers likeIVPN.

Currently, you’re able to download it forAndroid,Windows,Mac, andLinux.

Related:IVPN Review: Fast as Lightning

Mysterium VPN offers two types of nodes: regular and residential.

Mysterium displays a failed connection

At least, that’s what I gather from theuTorrent logothere.

These are where Mysterium VPN really shines becauseresidential IPs are a fantastic way to unblock Netflix.

They’re a bit more expensive to use than regular nodes, but worth every penny.

Buying MYST in Mysterium

I just logged in, bought some MYST, and off I went.

Connection Issues

However, using the Mysterium VPN client isn’t all puppies and rainbows, either.

While overall it works really well, there are some issues with connecting to nodes from time to time.

Related:Why Does a VPN Slow Down Your Internet Connection?

Another issue is that you’re never sure where you’re connecting to.

The list of available nodes just gives hashed addresses.

All you know when you’re connecting is the country the node is in.

Overall, though, I liked the experience of using Mysterium VPN.

How Does Mysterium Pricing Work?

It does, however, make it pretty easy even if you’re not big into crypto.

The exchange rate of MYST to the U.S. dollar seems fairly stable, so you always get the same.

I paid $2 and got just under 4 MYST, which has been more than enough.

Alternatively, you could sign up not just as a user, but as anode within the data pipe.

How Fast is Mysterium VPN?

When it comes to speeds, Mysterium VPN is all over the place.

Some nodes perform decently, others simply do not.

This is likely due to the fact that every node is unique, so you might’t get repeatable results.

Even then, though, I lost more than half of my original 100Mbps speed.

The connection to the U.K. was surprisingly good, losing my speed by"only" 60%.

My connection to the U.S. was pretty awful, though, and we won’t even mention Japan.

The result is that you don’t pick Mysterium VPN if you want a fast VPN.

Even the best-performing nodes score a lot worse than those of other services.

Is Mysterium VPN Safe to Use?

Before we wrap up, let’s also go over how Mysterium VPN protects you and your data.

This is because there are a lot of blanks in our knowledge of how dVPNs operate.

It should be said that Mysterium VPN is more open than most, but there are still some issues.

The first is the eternal question ofVPNs and logs.

This rings true, but it does raise the question of how much a node operator can see.

Everything you should probably Know About VPNs

Which Is the Best VPN?

When we asked Mysterium VPN about it, all we heard were crickets.

However, it’s unclear if this hides your activity from node suppliers or not.

Having this many question marks around how a service works gives me a bad taste in my mouth.

Should You Use Mysterium VPN?

There’s a lot to like aboutMysterium VPN.