Excellent
Based on 185 reviews
Winston Privacy4.6Honesty, pricing, process and quality scores appear once 5 customers have rated them.
Winston is a hardware device for people who want better privacy online but don't want to deal with complicated hardware and networking. Simply plug Winston in between your modem and router for comprehensive privacy and security on every IoT device in your home. The result is a faster, cleaner, more secure browsing experience. This is real privacy for the real world.
Winston Privacy (winstonprivacy.com) has 185 customer reviews on Folks Told, with an average rating of 4.6 out of 5.
185 approved reviews, newest moderated first
Chas H.
Having been a bit skeptical that Winston could do all they advertised it would do when we got it, this device is hands-down the best device we have added to our home! Seeing all the crap that it blocks and filters is crazy! With multiple computers, TVs, and smart devices in our home, not to mention the online gaming that is my daily stress relief, we feel much safer with Winston watching out for us!
Bruce T.
I love my Winston. I did a lot of research on internet privacy devices and I was a little skeptical of Winston at first because I had seen some concerns about customer support during my investigations. However, none of the competition could match the functionality of Winston so I went with it. Set up was ridiculously simple and I was up and running in less than 15 minutes. During the first week I had a couple of issues come up that required me to reach out to Winston tech support. In both cases my issues were addressed and resolved within 24 hours. Needless to say, I no longer have any concern about customer support and am elated about the device and the Winston team! Look no further, I already did the leg work for you...you can't go wrong with Winston!
Kyle
Have had winston for a few months. As a cybersecurity professional an ex hacker this device is super awesome. Sure one could make their own firewall and rules ect and adblockers and buy a vpn but this is so easy to use. Have had only a few issues which were simply fixed by just hard resetting my router and or winston device. Customer support was there when i needed it the one time and i fixed the issue myself anyways. The mesh network (VPN) is great as the nodes are close to your location and speed i dont see any decrease. Where as using "tor" nodes these are slow and blocked/blacklisted by many websites already. The amount of filters, modules that are auto-updated and added new are great to use. Sure some may have trouble tweaking their settings to get it to perfection but this is a great hardware firewall and so much more! Looking forward to the mobile app to connect remotely!
Ryan S.
Really bummed out to be honest. They are very tricky with their advertising and make it appear as though you pay $129 for the router and service. But once you get the router it's useless until you pay an additional $120 for a full year of service. This thing is not worth $240 at all. I could get multiple vpn routers and a Tor router wired all together for that price. At least allow people to pay monthly or you're going to hurt your business. I will unfortunately be returning mine. It's not worth the upfront cost.
Reply from Winston PrivacyOct 18, 2020
Hi Ryan, We are really sorry that you are unhappy with your Winston purchase and that you didn't realize there was a membership fee. Our membership fees are on the product page you visited when you placed your order, including the option for a 30 day trial membership before paying any subscription costs, which you elected. We also include the membership on landing pages and on FAQ pages as well. There is no deceptive advertising here. Since you are within your 30 day trial, you have not been charged any additional fees beyond the cost of the device at this time. We hope you'll see the benefits of how much data Winston blocks and how it protects you from tracking and unwanted surveillance, but if you do choose to return your device within 30 days of delivery, you will be receive a full refund on the device and no other fees will be charged. In response to using a Tor router and multiple VPN routers in lieu of Winston, a Tor router provides different capabilities than a Winston. We don't route Tor traffic. Winston also does much more than a VPN. While VPNs are useful for file sharing services and unlocking content, they don't do privacy very well. With just one Winston privacy filter all the devices on your network, including the ones you can't install software on (cameras, smart devices, etc) are protected. In addition to blocking a surreal amount of tracking and advertising, including hidden first and third-party tracking cookies and sophisticated browser fingerprinting techniques that can track you even in incognito mode, Winston also protects against DNS rebinding attacks. The best part is that Winston is a zero-knowledge platform. We don't track, package, or sell users' data, unlike many VPNs who harvest the same data those tools collect, opening up yet another window into your private data, We would love the opportunity to discuss your order and how we can help in more detail. Please email us at [email protected].
Tony B.
So far so good... I think!! I don't know a ton about network security so I am learning and trusting its doing its job... I am hoping to learn more about how to fine-tune the Winston to my needs!
Gloria M.
Zero customer support. Tried many times to get questions answered with zero responses except for received ticket number.
Reply from Winston PrivacyOct 12, 2020
Hi Mitch - As always, we appreciate the feedback as it helps us know where we need to improve. This is definitely not the experience we want any of our users to have and we're sorry if we failed you. We strive to provide all of our members with prompt customer service and support. After doing some research since your account is in a different name than what is displayed here, our records show that you submitted a support ticket on 9/11 and received a response on 9/12. You submitted another ticket late afternoon on 9/20, to which our team responded the morning of 9/21 asking for additional information to help resolve your IP concerns. No response was received on our end to that request for more information. Prior to closing the ticket, another follow up response is sent. If we don't receive a reply (as in this case) we assume the issue had been resolved and the ticket is then closed. We do see that you used a Hotmail email address. We have had members who use some free email clients (such as Hotmail, Yahoo, etc) report that our support emails were filtered as spam. In any case, we welcome the opportunity make this right. You can send an email to [email protected] to let us know how we can help. We look forward to hearing from you soon. Update: We see that you submitted an additional request today and our team has responded promptly to that request.
Scott P.
I got in on the ground floor with Indiegogo and got my unit a while back. When I first set it up I was really impressed. I'd been using a competitor (also from Indiegogo) and the features and controls are so much better. The modules make it easy to allow things like Amazon, Netflix, Ring, etc. through the firewall. They are adding new modules on a regular basis so as things change and new services come up your firewall won't get outdated and block something you'd really rather they didn't. I did have an issue with my unit, and after contacting tech support they were able to resolve my problem and get me back protected. There are other companies out there, but my experience with Winston overall has been such and the device itself works well so why would I need to switch? Do yourself a favor and get one of these to protect yourself and your data, you'll be glad you did.
Luke M.
Minimal interuption to normal wifi.
