I’ve been a Mullvad fan and user for a long time. I use a VPN near 24/7. When my monthly came up on Mullvad I decided to give Mozillva VPN a whirl as it saves me like $1.50 /month (really negligible obviously - I was more curious).
I made it a bit over 36 hours before I had to cancel and get a refund. There were a few major issues for me:
- The app is very limited. You get to choose your state and that’s it. You cannot refine more than that.
- The app, whenever open, made my entire PC (a high end gaming rig) very sluggish. The second the app was closed everything was perfect. It was basically jitters with the mouse on the monitor when open.
- This is the biggest issue: apparently they limit your data use. I got a message saying I had exceeded my allotted data with them just shy of 36 hours of using it. Maybe I missed this, but I didn’t know that was a thing. I’ve had no issues with Mullvad through the years with data usage. That said, I do admit I’m a VERY heavy user - I imagine I’m probably in their top 5% or so of data usage - but still was a bit shocked to receive that message.
My guess is they hit me with this from their T&C’s
Termination. These Terms apply until either you or Mozilla decide to end them. You can choose to end them at any time for any reason by stopping your use of the Service and cancelling your subscription. Mozilla can suspend or end anyone’s access to the Service at any time for any reason, including if Mozilla decides to end the Service. If we decide to suspend or end your access, we will try to notify you at the email address associated with your account or the next time you attempt to access your account.
Was just a bit shocked as they specifically stated “data limit exceeded”, yet I see nothing in their T&C specifically about a data limit.
Needless to say I contacted them, got my refund (as they do offer a 30 day refund and I’d made it less than 2 days)… and I’m back on Mullvad enjoying life again.
Edit: the only other odd thing to note is I asked about the data cap in my email to them as well as the issues with the jittery app. Their response was “we’ve issued the refund” and didn’t respond to the two actual questions.
Edit 2: It’s also worth noting that maybe this was only a temporary thing? As in - some sort of limit over a shorter time frame? I dunno … I do run a media server normally over VPN so the usage is pretty heavy via upload, download, etc… basically 24/7.
Either way - I feel cancelling was worth it since it’s just a “dumbed down” Mullvad anyways - and the extra features I get with Mullvad are worth the extra $1.50 /month for me personally.
Hi MadCybertist.
That’s very interesting and that message is not from Mozilla or the Mozilla VPN. We, nor our trusted server partner Mullvad, restricts the Mozilla VPN to specific data limits or data types. To be able to put in such a limit, Mozilla would need to inspect and measure data usage while the VPN is on. We design our systems so that we can’t.
Given that your network privacy comes first, Mozilla does not store your online activity logs on our servers including the VPN servers provided by Mullvad. If you have a screenshot or details about the extending the data usage, we would love to see it.
Feel free to reach out to us [email protected] or DM me. Thank you for your help and alerting us to the message you received.
-cmore
I have a tough time believing this. Right from their FAQ:
Are there limits to my Mozilla VPN connection?
With a paid subscription Mozilla VPN offers an unlimited connection for up to five devices when you connect to the Internet from any app or browser on your Windows 10, Android, and iOS device. Support for Linux and macOS is coming soon.
Can anyone else say they have been data limited? Can you attach the email you received?
I’ve been using it since two months ago and I use it 24/7 and I have yet to receive such notification. I have downloaded windows updates, steam game downloads, torrents, and much more and I haven’t seen anything yet. I have gone about 500GB in the last month using the VPN and nothing yet and that is only on my desktop, I’m not including other devices.
About the jittery, do you have a GSYNC monitor? My monitor turns off for a second whenever I bring the VPN window to the screen. Guess the software thinks it’s a game or something.
You say top 5% — I could ask what are you doing and how long (sustained) are you doing it for, but rather it sounds like maybe you know it might be bordering excessive? Though I do wish we all had the bandwidth to do what we need without impedance…
that being said app performance issues leading to system issues are certainly serious, and limited feature apps are pretty lazy at this point, 2020 and what not.
I use HMA for work, sounds like Mozilla vpn is lacking but I’m on mac so cant test, though I checked out some videos.
the only other odd thing to note is I asked about the data cap in my email to them as well as the issues with the jittery app. Their response was “we’ve issued the refund” and didn’t respond to the two actual questions
can you post the screenshots (with personal details removed)? I don’t mean to be rude or anything, just to help the credibility of the claim.
The app is MUCH worse than the Mullvad app for sure… which is a shame. I’m a big Mozilla fan… but a re-skined Mullvad seemed like a waste… but I mean it is technically a tad cheaper if you’re in the US due to conversion fees etc. so I wanted to try it.
I never could understand how Mozilla was able to offer their service cheaper than Mullvad themselves and still make money. A data cap would make sense…
I just put in a reply below. There is no data cap on the Mozilla VPN.
I also found it SUPER odd. I had to turn off the VPN to continue to use up data… and I see not a single mention of it in their ToS.
The connection is unlimited so long as you don’t use too much data while you’re connected. /s
They’re American, something in their laws means unlimited for them doesn’t mean unlimited. Although there are some outfits who are serious about no limit and don’t apply a limit.
I do have a GSYNC monitor. So it appears I’m not alone with the app issues, that’s at least good to know.
Regarding use - I run a media server over it. So it gets used quite a bit to say the least. So I get why it would have that issue. Lots of downloading, uploading, streaming, etc.
Edit 2: It’s also worth noting that maybe this was only a temporary thing? As in - some sort of limit over a shorter time frame? I dunno … I do run a media server normally over VPN so the usage is pretty heavy via upload, download, etc… basically 24/7.
Either way - I feel cancelling was worth it since it’s just a “dumbed down” Mullvad anyways - and the extra features I get with Mullvad are worth the extra $1.50 /month for me personally.
Just did an edit on my OP with the above as well.
I put in a reply to the main thread about the Mozilla VPN not having a data cap.
I could ask what are you doing and how long (sustained) are you doing it for, but rather it sounds like maybe you know it might be bordering excessive
The “problem” is that it says unlimited on the account. It’s a problem I have run into before with US telcos, unlimited for their laws doesn’t mean what it means for rest of world.
Look… I’m not really that upset because I know what I use it for and how long, etc… and you’re 100% correct. It’s excessive. I get it. I guess the thread may have come off as a bash on Mozilla but I didn’t really mean it that way. I was just surprised since they’re using Mullvad which I’ve never had issues with.
My bandwidth is great. I have fiber, gigabit. Allows me to do stupid stuff Haha.
Screenshots of the support ticket? Is that what you’re after? And no worries about being rude, you aren’t. This is the internet. Anybody can say anything.
As far as the cap, that isn’t an email. It was from the app. The only emails I have are my support ticket I opened asking about the cap and the apps poor performance and then their response. Is that what you’d like to see?
They are making a new cross-platform app if that makes you feel any better. https://reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/jbgezq/_/g8yyevw/?context=1