A friendly VPN that gives you a lot for your money: a wide variety of feature-rich apps, instant Netflix unlocking, highly skilled level changes, and a decent-sized network that’s very fast in many areas.
Private Internet Access (commonly known as PIA) is a capable VPN provider, now owned by Private Internet (formerly KAPE), which owns CyberGhost and ZenMate.
The PIA network provides more than 3300 P2P-enabled servers in 30 countries. This is reasonable, even though we are in our final review, because the company has left its sites in South Africa and Brazil.
The extensive platform includes apps for Windows, Mac, Android, iOS and Linux, browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox and Opera, as well as detailed configuration tutorials for routers and many other types of devices.
You’re able to connect up to 10 devices simultaneously. That’s twice the allowance you’ll get with most VPNs, although Windscribe, Surfshark and a few others have no limit at all.
The additional diversity from undeniable and direct (integrated blocking of known ads, malicious crawlers and websites) to the lowest and technical point (a SOCKS5 proxy for additional speed, moveArray port the ability to choose the encryption, authentication and linking methods you like), and there are 24/7 (but not via live chat) to help solve any issues.
The new features of the app since our last review come with an undeniable personal browser for iOS, where all your query knowledge is erased once the app is closed. A command-line application for Windows, Linux, and Mac automates VPN operations from scripts. Shadowsocks support can be attached to countries that block VPN, a Snooze option allows you to temporarily disconnect the VPN, and there are many smaller settings and fixes (we’ll communicate later).
PIA’s commitment to openness is also greater than ever. Your Android app is the newest one that’s ever been released and developers can see your code (and iOS app, Windows clients, browser extensions and more) on GitHub.
(This review is only about PIA VPN; however, if you are interested in corporate business, check out our interview with the director of private Internet operations, Daniel Sagi).
Editor’s Note: What follows is a review of the most recent settings and additions since the last update of this hotfix.
The personal Internet access plan per month costs an average of $9.95. The six-month plan is a slight improvement to $5.99, but pays one year in advance and the value drops to just $3.33. There are less expensive offers: CyberGhost, VPN Unlimited and Surfshark offer packages under $3, but you may want to log in for two or 3 years to get them.
If all this sounds appealing, you even have more selection of payment strategies than usual, with cards, PayPal, Bitcoin, gift cards and more.
There is no loose proof, however, the refund guarantee has now gone from the last 7 days, too short, to 30 days much more acceptable.
Pia’s situations and facilities have another wonder (and exceptionally for the fine print, that’s a smart thing to do). Perhaps VPNs say that consumers are only entitled to a refund, always. Private Internet access indicates that if you purchase a new account more than 3 months after the last refund, you are entitled to another. It’s unusually generous, but it’s fair to us. If you check a VPN and the service doesn’t work for you, it doesn’t matter if you received a refund 3 years ago; has the same refund rights as everyone else.
This VPN’s privacy features start with its use of the highly secure OpenVPN protocol on desktop and mobile devices. That does a lot to protect you, all on its own, but experts can go further, tweaking protocol settings to suit their needs. In a click or two you’re able to set encryption type (AES-128 or 256, CBC or GCM, maybe turn off encryption entirely if you’re just after speed), data authentication and handshake methods (RSA-2048-RSA-4096), choose the connection type and set local or remote ports.
PIA’s MACE feature blocks domain names used through ads, crawlers, and malware, giving you an extra layer of protection.
Private Internet Access provides its own DNS to reduce the threat of DNS leaks. Applications are flexible, the Windows consumer can be configured to use their default DNS or any traditional DNS of their choice.
There’s also a kill switch to disable your internet access if the VPN drops. Unlike some of the competition, this isn’t only available on the desktop – the iOS and Android clients get it, too.
Connect with the Chrome extension and look for a lot of additional privacy features (location access blocking, third-party cookies, references to online pages, etc.). You can configure them separately and for free, but extensions make it less difficult and load attractive load protection layers.
Best of all, private Internet access has opened up desktop clients, mobile programs, and many other parts and libraries. This allows other developers to freely review the source code, evaluate its quality, report bugs, and verify if you are doing something that could compromise the user’s privacy.
Although the maximum VPNs say that they do not log visitor activity or traffic, there are rarely many reasons to verify this. He is expected to cross hands and accept it as true with his honesty.
The private Internet is much more secure and claims to be “verified” as “the only VPN service without a record displayed”.
The company appears to be referring to court instances where citations were delivered to PIA requesting account information, but the only knowledge provided the general location of the server’s IP addresses. No user knowledge fell.
Private Internet Access also publishes a transparency report detailing all official requests and knowledge of the transmitted user. The full report from January to June 2020 records six subpoenas received, with no records being produced for any of those applications.
The privacy policy is the most productive position to look for more main points about what a VPN does; However, IAPs are basically afraid of the online page and hardly say anything about the VPN.
Finally, we discovered an article, “Do you record the traffic of your users?”, which stated that personal access to the Internet “surely does not keep records, of any kind, point”. Explains that logs that could be saved in a different way are redirected to device 0 instead of being written to the hard drive, which means they simply disappear.
The article also includes this paragraph, which explicitly states that the company records knowledge of the query or its online activities:
“We can state unequivocally that our company does not have and does not yet have metadata records related to when a subscriber accesses the VPN service, how long it will be used by a subscriber, and the subscriber’s original IP address. In addition, the encryption formula does not allow us to view and record IP addresses that a subscriber visits or has visited.”
While this is all very encouraging, we’d like to see Private Internet Access do more. In particular, like NordVPN and other providers, by allowing a third-party audit of its systems.
In December 2019, PIA announced that it had “started contacting external auditors”, so it is ongoing. We can’t wait to see what happens next.
Each VPN promises an ultra-trusted high-speed network, but the truth can be very different. That’s why we look beyond enthusiastic marketing and send each and every VPN we review to our own comprehensive testing.
Start by connecting to a pattern of 20 personal Internet access locations. We logged the login time, performed ping tests to look for latency issues, and used geolocation to determine that the server gave the impression of being in the advertised location.
Just finding to connect to a VPN can tell you a lot about the service and personal Internet access has worked very well. We ran the login verification twice and had no problems. Connection times were particularly faster than usual, and the higher, as expected, with distance, was never more than expected and was not enough to become a challenge at any time.
Our geolocation checks also yielded positive results, with all checkpoints matching those claimed through private Internet access.
Download speeds for our nearest UK servers were moderated at approximately 64-70 Mbps on our 75 Mbps verification connection, on average 10% slower than our VPN speeds turned off. We noticed a little more (ExpressVPN with an average of 69 Mbps), but you probably wouldn’t notice any difference in real-world usage.
The download functionality from remote servers was also not bad. We connect to New Zealand (the location with the highest latency, according to the PIA client), perform more tests and achieve download speeds of approximately 15-25 Mbps. This is a significant decrease, however, we hope that by connecting with the other aspect of the world, and even in the worst case, it will be fast enough for maximum Internet tasks.
Connecting to a VPN for use with Netflix and other streaming facilities can allow you to access all kinds of geolocked websites, avoiding annoying “not in your area” error messages.
To verify the personal unlocking features of InternetArray, we log in to various locations in the U.S. And the UK, and then we exclusively tried US content from Netflix and YouTube, as well as BBC iPlayer.
Ignoring YouTube coverage is easy, and as long as you have an IP that turns out to be in the right country, everything deserves to be okay. In fact, personal Internet access has allowed us to demonstrate exclusively American content on each of its U.S. servers.
BBC iPlayer is more of a challenge. Private Internet access didn’t put us into service in our last review, and unfortunately it didn’t work this time either.
Accessing Netflix is the real test of website unblocking, though. PIA hasn’t always been a top performer here, but this time it didn’t just get us in to US Netflix with all five of our test servers, we were also able to unblock Netflix in Canada, Australia and Japan.
Private Internet Access supports P2P, and we don’t just mean on a couple of specialist servers hidden away somewhere. You can use torrents from any location, with no bandwidth or other limits to restrict your activities.
There is a rare advantage in assisting private Internet access for port redirection. This redirects incoming connections around a NAT firewall and, in some cases, can help P2P download speeds.
You shouldn’t expect much help with all this, at least from the website. Searching for ‘P2P’ or ‘torrent’ in the knowledge base has basically referred us to not-so-relevant articles, such as ‘My ping/latency is high’.
Even the port redirection document discussed in passing that the generation can simply “potentially optimize torrent functionality” without providing any other clues.
However, the company is getting smart effects on the basics (big network, no newspapers, for Bitcoin) and generally makes a fair choice of torrents.
Register on the personal Internet and the company will do its best to speed up the setup process. We were promptly redirected to the downloads page, where there were direct downloads for Windows, macOS, Linux and links to Android and iOS apps and a variety of browser extensions (Chrome, Firefox, Opera).
They’re not just log links. We clicked on the Windows consumer and, in addition to telling us the installation program, the online page was redirected to a page with a setup guide.
There are some unusually considered touches. Instead of having an unmarried Windows download link, for example, you can have between 32-bit and 64-bit editions. If, for some reason, a recent update is problematic, you can download a previous edition and the site lists the settings for each new release.
Advanced features include a download for the Android APK file, allowing you to install it manually on your devices if needed.
Private Internet performs a very effective task with OpenVPN configuration files, which are required if you configure many third-party applications.
These are judiciously named with the country or city, as “US Chicago.ovpn” (unlike NordVPN’s “hr16.nordvpn.com.udp1194.ovpn”).
You don’t have to live with the default OpenVPN settings, either. There are separate downloads available for different encryption settings, to switch to TCP connections and more. There’s also an OpenVPN Configuration Generator on the website where you can build different setups for individual groups of servers, potentially saving you a lot of hassle.
We’ve noticed slightly higher setup help: the ExpressVPN activation code formula allows you to set up consumers without manually entering usernames and passwords, and your tutorials are more and more detailed, however, private Internet access provides more help than most, and there’s a smart chance that you’ll have your devices set up and paints with minimal hassle.
The visitor with private Internet access installs smoothly and opens with an undeniable and very undeniable visitor window. Press the large login button to attach it to your nearest server, tap again to log out, and status spaces tell you when you are logged in and show your original and new IP addresses.
The appropriate location selector for the client is just a click away. Lists countries and cities, if any, and ping times imply which is closest. You can sort the list through ping time or location calls, and search for a favorite domain and formula help to locate and temporarily locate the server you need.
The Settings conversation box gives you a higher point about how the VPN works. The Windows consumer only supports OpenVPN, for example (there is no IKEv2, L2TP, PPTP, or other), but you can decide the UDP or TCP connection types, as well as choose a traditional remote port (53, 1194, 8080 , 9021) and configure your own local port.
In some places, port forwarding makes it less difficult to configure and settle for incoming connections to your system.
The default encryption is only AES-128 (GCM), however, the Settings conversation box allows you to replace it with AES-256 (GCM and CBC), and you can also override the authentication approach (SHA1, SHA256) and the linking state. (RSA-2048 by default, RSA-4096 and other RSA and ECC features are available). You can also absolutely disable encryption, which is not wonderful for security, but it will increase your speeds in conditions where encryption doesn’t matter much (see streaming media, for example).
There is a rare technical merit in the Use Small Packages feature, which defines the visitor to use a smaller MTU configuration for the reliability of certain attachments. If you can’t attach or stay attached, it can be effective, and the private Internet visitor makes it simple and quick to verify it. (Other vendors generally hide this concept on their online help page and require you to draw on various Windows conversation boxes to find and replace the appropriate settings).
Elsewhere, a kill switch disables internet access if the VPN disconnects, reducing the chance that your real IP will be leaked. You get the option to use Private Internet Access’ DNS servers, your own, or any other custom servers you prefer. And the MACE system to block domains used for ads, trackers and malware can be enabled or disabled with a click.
VPN interrupt switches don’t work (some are almost completely useless), so we’re looking to run extensive tests. But if we were slowly terminating some TCP connections or completing the entire OPENVPN-based pia connection manager, the visitor didn’t care. Each time, he would post a notification on the desktop to warn us of the problem and then reconnect quickly, without ever exposing our genuine IP.
The consumer of PC Windows VPN PIA would possibly seem a little fundamental at first, but would spend a few minutes betting and finding that it is easy to use, with some attractive complex features.
PIA desktop consumers now come with piactl, an undeniable command-line tool that can use VPN from a script.
If it looks like hard work, you may be right, but there may also be benefits. How about setting up a scheduled task to attach at a certain time of day, for example? Connect to your system startup, but only after you have performed some local network responsibilities first? Create special shortcuts that are attached to other locations and then open the app or online page you need?
Making paintings may be less difficult than you think. The ‘piactl connect’ command connects you to the existing default connection, for example, while ‘piactl disconnect’ closes the connection. You don’t want to be a developer to recognize what ‘piactl set region us-atlanta’ does, and there are commands to get and outline more options, and monitor the prestige of the service.
It comes in great detail, and even the smartest experts will wonder precisely how some of the most complex tricks will work.
There are also other complications, to which is added the desire to make the graphics consumer paintings before they are ordered.
Having the ‘connect’ and ‘disconnect’ commands is enough for the capacity to be useful, and we will be interested to see how piactl develops.
The Android app has a blank interface. Most of the screen is composed of a blank space, with a giant button to walk/stop in the middle of the screen, and the selected region and existing IP are located at the bottom.
Tap the existing region to see a list of other locations. Each has a latency figure, giving you a concept of your distance, and an undeniable favorite formula allows you to move your maximum used servers to the maximum sensitive list. Everything is very undeniable to use.
The app is strangely configurable, with more features and configurations than many desktop VPN clients.
You can establish UDP or TCP connections, for example, with the ability to configure local and remote ports and request port redirection.
The app can be set up to automatically protect you when accessing unknown or untrusted wireless networks, or turn itself off when you’re using cellular networks.
An application-consistent configuration box allows you to outline fast programs that might not use VPN (this is the equivalent of the ‘split tunnel’ service that is infrequently seen elsewhere).
As with the Windows client, you can update the default personal Internet DNS servers with your preferred alternative.
There’s support for using the app with a proxy, reducing packet size to improve reliability, and automatically connecting when the device or app starts. You can even have your handset vibrate to indicate when you’re connected, far more convenient than the usual notifications.
As with the Windows client, you can choose from 4 encryption options, ranging from AES-128-GCM to AES-256-CBC, and six link strategies (RSA-4096 to ECC-521r1).
There is a built-in removal transfer to block Internet access if the VPN connection is interrupted and a link to the similar and strongest Android capacity.
Everything is very well designed and is a sensible combination of strength and ease of use. Whether you’re a VPN expert or just have a simple life, here’s something for you.
VPN mobile phone programs would possibly have a very different look and behavior, but this is not the way to the personal Internet. Its iOS app is almost the same as the Android version, at least in terms of core operations.
There’s the same basic streamlined interface, list of locations, and Connect button. If you’ve ever used another VPN app, ever, you’ll immediately know what to do (even total newbies won’t be too far behind).
A favorite formula connects to used servers, while Private Internet Access’s MACE ad and malware blocking formula takes it away from harmful domains.
There is a decent set of features and settings, especially for an iOS app. You can replace openVPN to IKEv2 or IPsec, decide on UDP or TCP connections, establish a traditional port, use your favorite DNS, take exact control over encryption, and trigger an interrupt transfer to protect yourself online.
The great addition since our last review is for INBrowser pia, a personal browser for iOS and Android with tabs and videoArray Inícielo, web paintings, and when you close InBrowser, each and every hint of your business is erased.
InBrowser works as advertised and we are pleased to see you available. But if you are interested, you do not need to register for private Internet access; the app can be freely obtained on your own website.
The core iOS VPN does get a few additional tweaks, though, including Dark mode support and a ‘use small packets’ setting for OpenVPN.
Overall, it’s a quality app, easy to use and much more effective than the ultimate competition. An essential tool for apple’s non-easy maximum users.
Using personal Internet apps is not difficult, but having to switch between the same previous app and the VPN consumer can still be a problem.
Like ExpressVPN and NordVPN, Private Internet Access now offers add-ons for Chrome, Firefox, and Opera, allowing you to connect to the VPN directly from the browser interface. This only protects your browser traffic, but if that’s not a problem, the extension makes the personal Internet much less difficult to use.
The extension is almost the same for other customers, so it is very undeniable to use it. An undeniable open interface has a giant connection button to attach to the nearest server, and there is a complete list of places (and a favorite formula) if necessary. Latency is likely to be displayed next to the server and you can activate the VPN from your browser with just a few clicks.
Additional privacy equipment can prevent Internet sites from accessing your location, camera, or microphone. They are able to prevent WebRTC leaks and block or disable various Flash tactics, third-party cookies, online page references, hyperlink auditing, automatic filling of addresses and credit cards, etc. It is a strangely difficult configuration, although you have to treat it with care, as disabling everything can damage some Internet sites.
If you have problems, a list of paintings lets you specify which Internet sites you don’t need to use the VPN on. If they don’t work as they did with VPN enabled, upload them to the bypass list and their traffic will be redirected over their same previous connection.
All of those features mean there are many settings to explore, but in general, add-ons work great. If you’re looking for simplicity, you can simply decide on a location and click Connect, just like any other VPN extension. But more experienced users can go to the settings, where they will find more features and functions than any other VPN browser add-on we’ve ever seen.
The Private Internet Access Support Center has an Internet knowledge base that contains articles on troubleshooting, account issues, technical complications, and so on. These don’t have the main points you’ll see with ExpressVPN, but they’re not just simple descriptions of the app’s features.
For example, an article on encrypting security practices provides users with useful technical data on encryption, authentication and linking methods, etc.
A Guide segment comprises configuration articles and tutorials for all supported platforms. Some of them are basic, but there is still a lot to explore, with, for example, 14 articles only about Android.
PIA has stopped updating its news page for a while, but now it turns out that it is coming back and alerts users about new servers, application updates, service issues, etc.
If you can’t resolve your online disorders, you can factor a price ticket. Unfortunately, there is no live chat, however, the price ticket reaction times are greater than many, our verification query receives a friendly and useful reaction in 90 minutes. This can’t be compared to the delay of less than two minutes that we discovered with providers like ExpressVPN, however, they are sometimes much more expensive and, for the most part, the functionality of PIA is probably quite good.
Private Internet access is perfect, but you get scores in many key areas: this VPN works on almost everything, is easy to use, has complex features and offers decent functionality for a very moderate price. Take a look.
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