Provate Internet Access
Private Internet Access VPN is the leading VPN Service provider specializing in secure, encrypted VPN tunnels which create several layers of privacy and security providing you safety on the internet. Our service is backed by multiple gateways worldwide with access in 29+ countries, 49+ regions.
First, the big thing is the speed with any VPN. I tested this on my Samsung S10+, Nvidia Shield and Dell Laptop. I used the default OpenVPN protocol with 256-bit AES encryption in all my tests. My wifi speed is around 85 Mbps download and 15 Mbps upload. Testing with servers in London, Manchester, France and Germany I was getting around 35 to 45 Mbps download speed. These aren’t too bad, even for streaming a 4K file, which played fine for me. Testing servers in the US and Canada gave me lower speeds around 20 – 30 Mbps which I would expect.
Security-wise the PIA clients passed the VPN checks I put them through, this was on Android and Windows. There weren’t any leaks from my DNS, IPv6 or WebRTC. IPv6 isn’t supported by PIA so this was blocked.
A much-needed feature was the kill switch. This will kill the internet connection if the VPN drops. I leave this on Auto as it’ll kill the internet if the VPN is on. PIA also offers data encryption and adblocking.
Private Internet Access VPN
The adblocking option is pretty basic, with just an off and on switch. There is no white/blacklisting option. It didn’t work as well as Adguard.
Private Internet Access has been in two big court cases, where they proved to not keep data logs. They were subpoenaed for data logs and weren’t able to provide them. They haven’t had an audit of their “no logs” policy, but the court cases do verify their claim.
The Android and Windows version of the PIA client is littered with features such as dark mode, port forwarding and DNS customization. I changed the DNS to the Cloudflare server and it worked a treat.
PIA offers a multitude of payment options including cryptocurrencies and gift cards. There is no cash option like Mullvad, but this isn’t an efficient payment option. They have a 7-day refund policy.
Finally, the big disadvantage is that PIA is US-based. The US is a member of the five eyes surveillance alliance. This means that they can force a business to log data and not tell them, and mass surveillance. Though no logs are kept, you aren’t going to know whats going on in the background.
Also, I was unable to use PIA with Netflix and was unable to get the US version to work.
Overall PIA is a good choice of VPN. Furthermore, there is no best/ultimate option for VPN, as some offer things, that others don’t. But PIA offers good speed, great support, a good client and a “no log” policy which has been tested and confirmed. Finally, check out our other software reviews, or find us on Facebook and Twitter.
Be the first to comment