SecureLine VPN

This Article Applies to:

Avast Small Business Solutions (Premium and Ultimate Business Security only)
Avast Business CloudCare Antivirus

Avast SecureLine VPN is a standalone application that allows you to connect to the internet via secure Avast VPN servers using an encrypted tunnel to protect your online activity from eavesdropping. Avast SecureLine VPN can be used any time you want to connect to the internet with extra security and privacy. This is especially recommended when you are connected to a public or unsecured Wi-Fi network.

Avast SecureLine VPN mainly offers:

Protection: When many people connect to the same public network, attackers can capture sensitive data, such as logins and passwords. The encrypted VPN connection provides efficient protection against these types of attacks.
Anonymization: With broadband connections, many people have fixed IP addresses that can be tracked when browsing sensitive sites. With a VPN connection, the browsing session is effectively anonymized - the IP address the remote server sees is the address of the VPN server, not the user.
Unrestricted access to the internet: When connected to a VPN server in another location, you gain access to content that may be restricted in your location. This allows you to browse freely, even from countries with web censorship.

Installing VPN

SecureLine VPN can be installed in managed or unmanaged environments. The VPN article provides detail on deployment from the Business Hub.

For unmanaged clients, SecureLine VPN is automatically installed when you activate the subscription for VPN. For more information on activating subscriptions, see Managing Subscriptions.

Enabling VPN

The VPN UI provides a simple on/off toggle to connect quickly to the selected server.

Other data includes the current public IP address of the device and, once connected, the virtual IP address and connection duration.

Changing Disguised Location

Clicking the Change button next to the currently used location will allow you to select another specific location, including several subsections for regions and connection types. You can select from almost 60 different locations around the world for your disguised location. Avast will automatically select the best one based on your real location, but you can alter this selection.

The following regional options are available:

Africa
Asia Pacific
Europe
Middle East
North America
South America
Streaming (servers optimized for video streaming)
Torrenting (servers optimized for torrenting)

VPN Tips & Tricks

In the bottom right corner of the app's main screen, you will notice the VPN Tips & Tricks button.

Clicking this button will bring you to several in-app guides on using the service. These are divided into four sections:

Getting started: Provides links to the other three sections.
VPN basics: Provides information on how and when to use a VPN and how to check if SecureLine VPN is active.
Personalization: Provides information on what Smart VPN Mode is and how to use it, how to avoid issues with geo-restrictions, and how to activate the Kill Switch.
FAQ: Provides a list of frequently asked questions.

There are short gifs to help visualize the setting changes.

Configuring VPN Settings

From the app's menu (top right corner of the main screen), you can access and configure available VPN settings:

VPN mode
General
VPN protocols
Pair devices - This option is not supported by Avast Business products

VPN Mode

SecureLine VPN offers two modes:

Manual VPN mode (selected by default) allows you to connect and disconnect the VPN manually. When this mode is enabled, you can select your preferred server location via the main application screen.
Smart VPN mode automatically connects or disconnects the VPN based on your current activity. By default, Smart VPN always connects you to the fastest server location available.

In the VPN Mode settings, you can freely switch between these modes and configure their settings according to your current needs

Manual Mode

In Avast SecureLine VPN running on Windows 7 and 8, these options are under Settings > Network Security.

For this mode, you can select when to start VPN:

Automatically when connected to the internet: Automatically enables the VPN when internet connection is established.
Ask me to turn on the VPN when connected to the internet: Shows a notification to ask whether to connect to the VPN when internet connection is established.
Exclude private networks: When this is enabled, you can select to only auto-connect to the VPN while connected to public networks.
- From the Edit Networks dialog, you can change the current network profile between public/private

You can also enable/disable:

Kill switch: Automatically blocks all internet access if the VPN suddenly disconnects.
Local device access: Enables connection to local devices and shared drives when connected to private networks.

Smart Mode

The Smart VPN feature is only available in Avast SecureLine VPN running on Windows 10 or higher.

The following settings can be used to customize Smart VPN behavior:

Smart rules: Tick the box next to an action if you want Smart VPN to automatically connect each time you perform that action. Smart VPN always connects to the fastest server location available for the actions you select.
- You can also use the Add sites button to specify any websites that will always trigger Smart VPN connection. You can optionally select a specific server location that Smart VPN will always connect to for the specified domain.
Trusted sites: Click Add sites to exclude specific websites from Smart VPN connection.
- Smart VPN never connects when you visit a trusted website, regardless of your Smart rules settings

General

The general VPN settings include the following options:

Show status notifications: Choose whether to show the alerts/notifications from VPN about events related to VPN (e.g. enabled/disabled, public network)
Start Avast VPN when my computer starts: Choose whether VPN will run on system startup
Language: Select the UI language
Receive beta updates: Choose whether to receive beta updates to have early access to upcoming versions

VPN Protocols

Choose which VPN protocol to use:

Automatic (recommended): Protocol will be automatically set for the network. In cases where OpenVPN or Avast Mimic are not available, the VPN will automatically switch between the 2.
WireGuard: The newer open-source VPN protocol for improved speed and advanced security. More info on WireGuard can be found in https://www.avast.com/c-wireguard-vpn.
Mimic: The connection will only be established through Avast Mimic protocol. The option is useful in cases where the OpenVPN protocol is blocked in countries/regions with restrictions for use of VPN.
- Mimic is only available in Windows 10 and higher OS.
OpenVPN: The connection will only be established through OpenVPN protocol.

Installing Browser Extensions

From the Browser Extensions section of the app's main menu, you can quickly add the SecureLine VPN extension to Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox, and also install Avast Secure Browser (which has built-in VPN features).

Clicking the Add Extension button will open the relevant store to add the extension.

From the extension, you can enable/disable the VPN directly, including changing the location.

In the settings, you can choose to disguise the IP address when using browser-based voice and video chats, send data to Avast, and open the VPN client directly.

With an active extension, you can re-add from the Extensions section if required.

VPN Tray Icon

The SecureLine VPN tray icon will show a red circle when disconnected and green when connected. The context menu provides options to open the VPN client, connect/disconnect the VPN, open the Getting Started introduction dialogs, open the About section in the VPN client, and close the tray icon.