Private Internet Access is a user-friendly security tool that can help you protect your online privacy and data. The paid app offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, along with a range of features like encryption configuration, browser extension, kill switch, DNS Leak Protection, and torrent support. It also blocks ads and trackers and helps users bypass restrictions placed by countries. Moreover, PIA doesn't record any logs and hides your internet activity, including the sites that you visit and IP addresses.
The best features for this service include a large number of servers, the overall exceptional bandwidth with many of those server locations, and the broad security features. However, internet Kodi users will likely find the low cost to be the biggest draw for this service. Private Internet Access, also known as PIA, is a VPN service provider program for Windows users. Once purchased, you can use the tool on up to 10 devices at once.
While the paid program doesn't offer any free trial, it does come with a 30-day money-back guarantee. We considered the cost of a subscription to other VPNs with similar server capacity and features, and compared the VPN's track record on customer privacy against other services. For internet users, this means the ability to connect more than one streaming device to the service at a time. This allows you to stream content from your computer, an Android streaming device, and another mobile device at the same time. This may not necessarily be the most important feature unless you're sharing your account or you're using multiple computers to run different P2P tasks. There are a decent set of options and settings, especially for an iOS app.
Dig into the settings dialog, and you'll find one of the most highly configurable VPN clients on the market. You can choose OpenVPN over WireGuard or UDP over TCP, for example. The Use Small Packets feature improves reliability on poor internet connections, and the previously-mentioned port forwarding is easy to access and switch on. A subscription to Private Internet Access enables support for up to 10 simultaneous connections, much more than NordVPN offers.
The Android client is simple but well-designed with a large Connect button, your actual IP address, and your chosen server location displayed on the screen. Selecting a region offers a list of other available locations with expected latency indicators to help you choose the best available server. For DNS leak protection, Private Internet Access operates on its own DNS server, but you can switch this to your own too. The provider also offers a reliable kill switch to ensure your actual IP address and location do not become exposed if your VPN fails for any reason.
This feature is also available on PIA's mobile apps, which is unusual. Private Internet Access is a great option for torrenting fans thanks to its eye-watering server network and host of configurable settings. However, it is not the best VPN service for accessing geo-restricted streaming services, and its speeds are somewhat average. It is a great option if you are looking for a streaming VPN service, thanks to its excellent server connection speeds, especially if you use the proprietary NordLynx protocol.
It successfully unblocks a range of streaming services, including Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, and Hulu. There is P2P support on almost all of the provider's servers, too, making it a decent option for torrenting fans. Its mobile apps are not the most user-friendly, but it is still a great choice for most users. This repo contains all the code needed to build and run the Private Internet Access Chrome Web Extension. This extension allows a user to access our network of proxies across the world from their web browser.
Users can choose a proxy server location and connect to it directly from the extension. Protect your privacy with Private Internet Access®, the world's leading VPN service and secure proxy for Firefox users. PIA enables users to encrypt their network traffic and stay protected when online. Add privacy and security to private and public networks when you access the Internet at WiFi hotspots. All you have to do is install the Firefox extension, login with your Private Internet Access subscription credentials, flip the on switch and you'll be protected.
Private Internet Access VPN is a US-based provider with a zero-logs claim it has proven in court. Recently, PIA was acquired by Kape Technologies – a CyberSec firm based in London whose primary aim is to help consumers gain protection online. PIA has more than 20,000 servers in 74 countries, provides strong OpenVPN encryption, and is one of the most popular VPN services among Reddit users. Private Internet Access bills itself as the largest Virtual Private Network service provider for secure network tunneling. Created, owned and operated by Los Angeles-based London Trust Media, Private Internet Access is dedicated to bringing the internet "back to its original state".
For London Trust Media, this means no spying from advertisers, no big data collection and no cryptographic technology following your every move online. Private Internet Access focuses specifically on privacy and creating a private internet browsing experience. As such, it has limited features beyond those centered on security.
Overall, we've found that this service is extremely functional for the price. We've taken a deep look into their service, hopefully providing you with a holistic analysis of their service. Finally, the mobile apps have a built-in kill switch that works just like the desktop app. If the VPN fails for any reason, your internet connection is blocked momentarily until the VPN connection can be reestablished. That's notable because many major VPN providers don't put a kill switch on their mobile apps. The service supports a variety of security and encryption protocol.
The list includes AES-128 and AES-256 data encryption, SHA1 and SHA256 data authentication, and RSA-2048, RSA-3072, RSA-4096, ECC-256k1, ECC-256r1, and ECC-521 handshake. Unlike many competitors, you will be able to choose any of the supported protocols manually in the app settings. The Private Internet Access VPN Chrome Extension is quite a handy tool to secure your browsing on the go. It can be turned on and off via a quick on/off switch in the extension, which can be accessed at the top right corner of the Chrome browser after the installation. While the performance of this extension is quite good, its level of security is just moderate. This has to do with the bad VPN jurisdiction and an outdated PPTP encryption model.
Although, you do have an option to choose the other two encryption models, i.e., L2TP and OpenVPN. In terms of pricing, the service is quite affordable, and the plans are well set. There are a number of advanced features that the PIA VPN offers in itself. These include DNS leak protection, kill switch, a number of encryption protocols to use, detection of the best server, port forwarding, and auto-connect. The browser extension in specific is extremely suitable for connecting on the go and only secures the Chrome browser.
The service recorded one of the fastest local connection speeds we've seen. It also offers well-designed apps, a VPN kill switch on all platforms, and support for torrenting on all 29,643 servers. From switching between the two featured protocols to tailoring proxy settings and utilizing port forwarding, you won't feel any lack of features compared to even the desktop clients. Plus, there's also a built-in kill switch for maximum security if any Wi-Fi connection drops.
As you can see from the direct comparison above, there is a noticeable drop in torrenting speed between local and remote connections. The remote connection reaches only half of our regular download speed without a VPN. That said, it still offers solid performance for those users who want to access and download from restricted P2P platforms from remote servers.
Private Internet Access is known as a VPN service that offers excellent value for money. With over 25,000 servers in 77 countries globally, it has one of the industry's largest VPN networks. It's apps and clients come packed with advantageous security settings while at the same time being intuitive and very simple to use. To top all of this off, all of the features are available at only a couple of bucks per month, making this VPN sound too good to be true.
Private Internet Access is one of the more underground services on this list, but we were impressed with how inclusive and all-encompassing its features were. Just like most of the best VPN extensions for Chrome, Private Internet Access prioritizes online protection to keep you fully anonymous online. The Chrome extension has limitations compared to the full client . For example, instead of having the ability to connect to servers in 78 different countries on the full client, you can only connect to 28 countries in the Chrome extension. Chrome VPN extensions come in many shapes and forms, from the best free VPNs to paid subscriptions to ones that include adblocking and other services. Installing a Chrome VPN extension is the more condensed and compressed alternative to downloading the client developed by the company.
Instead of having to open up the program, turning on your VPN, making sure all the settings are correct, then opening your browser, you can have all that at the switch of a button in Chrome. The best VPNs, including the best VPN extensions for Chrome, can give you the protection, speed, and anonymity you need, all while being extremely easy to use. IPVanish offers top-notch VPN security at an affordable price.
Additionally, the service provides secure storage for up to 500 GB of data. Snooze options to disconnect the VPN and automatically reconnect in 5 or 15 minutes, or an hour. And connection status details cover everything from your preferred protocol and encryption method to the amount of data you've uploaded and downloaded. First, the WireGuard protocol is an excellent feature that usually offers big advantages with performance.
However, in our tests for this PIA review, WireGuard speeds were not very good (we'll examine slow speeds further below). Nonetheless, the WireGuard VPN protocol does still offer some advantages, including upgraded security and more reliability on mobile devices. Many users install VPNs to access geo-restricted streaming content on sites such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and BBC iPlayer. For example, if you are based in the United States, you may not be able to access some European or UK streaming content. A VPN serves to mask your real IP address and replace it with that of the VPN. What's really impressive about the mobile clients is their configurability.
Setting a custom port or DNS server is possible, and you can choose between UDP and TCP connections. If a VPN connection fails for any reason, there's a chance that your real location is leaked. So, PIA includes a kill-switch that cuts your internet connection immediately until the VPN is re-enabled. Unusually, this feature is also included on the mobile apps, not just the desktop app, and in our testing it worked 100% of the time. Since our last review, Private Internet Access has started offering dedicated IP addresses to customers.
This means that you have the same public IP address every time you connect to the VPN. An IP address in Australia, Canada, Germany, the UK, and the US. You pay $5 per month for each address, or the equivalent amount up-front for longer subscriptions (so, $60 for one year).
That's in addition to the base Private Internet Access subscription. Existing customers can select a duration for dedicated IP address billing. When you switch it on, a VPN encrypts all your internet traffic and pipes it off to a server controlled by the VPN company.
This ensures no one, not even your ISP, can spy on your traffic and makes it harder for snoops and advertisers to track you across the web. While it's one of the oldest surviving contenders in the field, Private Internet Access is still a contender for the title of best VPN. Its numerous simultaneous connections provide a great value, it boasts strong speed test scores, it sports an excellent interface, and its advanced network settings let tinkerers tinker. However, it lacks privacy protections beyond a standard VPN connection, and it needs to be more transparent about its privacy policies. Another VPN provider with similar features as PIA is VPN Unlimited.
VPN Unlimited has a slightly lower price than PIA, and it also offers a lifetime subscription if that is your thing. Both providers have the option of connecting up to ten devices to the VPN at the same time, and they both offer a 30-day money-back guarantee if you are not satisfied with their service. Protect your privacy with Private Internet Access™, the world's leading VPN service for Opera users. All you have to do is install the Opera extension, login with your Private Internet Access subscription credentials, flip the on switch and you'll be protected.
The service also includes protection against DNS and IPv6 data leaks. The service utilizes several layers of privacy and security protection that should benefit internet users in particular. Private Internet Access assigns an anonymous IP address to each user. IP address initially through the main security layer, you are then able to route through servers in different countries. When it comes to choosing servers, Private Internet Access allows you to connect to different servers either automatically or by country.
Unfortunately, you cannot obtain a list of servers and choose exactly which server your want. You also cannot identify the load level or ping for each individual server. However, the inability to choose a specific VPN is somewhat limiting, particularly when compared to other VPN services.
Additionally, it does not appear that Private Internet Access has different kinds of servers. While all servers come with the same high level of security, Private Internet Access does not provide any servers that offer different benefits. This feature is extremely valuable for internet users trying to bypass geographic content blocking.
U.S. users attempting to access BBC content through services such as UKTV Again may find this particularly useful. However, many of the service's competitors do offer servers in far more countries. A VPN can help secure one's connection by creating a personal, private "tunnel" through the internet. This tunnel will connect your computer to your desired content privately while routing you through various other servers that mask your identity. To anyone snooping in on your activity, it simply looks like your IP address exists in a specific location, but they cannot tie it directly to you or your personal computer or location.
And because many VPN services use different servers located in many different countries, the end result is the ability to get past geographically blocked content. PIA owns one of the largest server networks in the VPN industry. There are more than 3 thousand of them, and they are located in 33 countries and more than 50 regions around the world. This number of services will be able to meet all the possible needs to provide online protection and unblock restricted services.
