Hotspot now shields you ad-free

Better site-rendering speeds and an option to ditch ads called Elite have landed in the public Wi-Fi protector Hotspot Shield today. Published by the Mountain View-based AnchorFree, Inc., Hotspot Shield (download for Windows or Mac) claims to be the world's largest Virtual Private Network (VPN) with more than 10 million users. The Elite version gives upgraders multiple ad-free payment plans and methods, and offers site-load times that are "up to 100 percent faster" than the standard flavor of Hotspot Shield. Hotspot Shield Elite home page. A version of Hotspot Shield that uses servers based in the United Kingdom, called Expat Shield (download), remains ad-supported only. David Gorodyansky, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of AnchorFree, told CNET earlier this month that the two programs attract 9 to 10 million unique monthly users, who create 40 million user sessions per month, and generate more than 2 billion pageviews per month. "Essentially we're an Akamai, we're a content delivery network," David Gorodyansky, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of AnchorFree, told CNET earlier this full month. "It makes sense to have both a secured computer, with antivirus, and a secured connection, with Hotspot Shield," he added. The browser-independent Hotspot Shield establishes an encrypted connection to the Hotspot Shield servers, and turns all HTTP traffic to the safer HTTPS. By re-routing Web traffic and providing you with a new IP address hosted by AnchorFree, the company is able to ensure that your data isn't plucked out of the open by man-in-the-middle attacks or wireless network spoofing. Gorodyansky said he is keenly aware of the implications of being a globally-available anonymizing service. "People use us to bypass censorship," he said with a smile, and explained that's why the Elite version offer multiple payment systems. Elite will be sold for $0.50 per 24 hour session, with a minimum $10 deposit, or $5 per month, or $45 per year. Payment options include credit card, PayPal, prepaid cash cards or mobile phone payments via premium SMS. The Hotspot Shield Elite banner. The free version is monetized by an ad platform served through the VPN. When the user activates Hotspot Shield or Expat Shield, a start page comes up that serves the ads. There's also a 720 pixel by 98 pixel toolbar ad, but neither runs when the Shield hasn't been activated. So, you can browse the Web with the Shield installed, but not running. Both the ad-supported version and Elite offer unlimited bandwidth with no restrictions.