Private Internet Access Vpn Review

CyberGhost supports P2P traffic on some servers, which is great. However, all PIA’s servers are torrenting-ready, meaning it will be easier to find one that’s not overloaded and closer to you. NordVPN comes with far more servers than Private Internet Access. Private Internet Access offers 104 server locations in 78 countries. Compare this with NordVPN, which offers over 5,000 servers in 60 countries.

ExpressVPN has the Network Lock, which is its version of the kill switch and is automatically activated upon downloading the VPN app. PIA also provides an internet kill switch that ceases internet access whenever the VPN connection cuts out. Most of the servers we connected to gave us consistently high speeds, save for the ones in the U.S. and Japan. Private Internet Access performed admirably in our speed test, especially when it comes to the download speeds, which saw minimal impact when connected through a VPN server. The uploads did suffer a bit, but the speeds were still very usable.

The CEO of Private Internet Access (and its parent company, London Trust Media, Inc.) is Ted Kim. Lee started the company PIA because he wanted a way to prevent Internet Relay Chat from revealing IP addresses. Setup guides, FAQ sections, and troubleshooting articles are abundant on the official pages of ExpressVPN and PIA VPN. Now, the mobile versions of ExpressVPN are in a similar situation.

Cyberghost Vs Pia Compared

Also, note that the paid versions offer your choice of PPTP, L2TP, and OpenVPN protocols. And finally, I should mention that CyberGhost only partly supports P2P and BitTorrent traffic. Some servers do allow P2P and others do not, and this seems to change over time.

The main purpose of my vpn is using it to stream shows from netfix in the us and so, far I didn’t experience any interruptions. Even though CyberGhost and PIA have a lot to offer their users, they are two wildly different VPNs. Another argument against using PIA in China is the lack of servers in the Asian region.

Upload speeds are typically faster than download speeds because ISPs provide many more download channels than upload channels on their networks. Despite being more expensive, I still think it offers a better value. In comparison to PIA, ExpressVPN has much better performance, more features, stronger security, better support, full streaming access, and it has passed third-party audits. ExpressVPN apps also utilize the “Network Lock” kill switch feature to ensure all traffic remains encrypted in the VPN tunnel.

Speed And Performance

There is also a 24/7 live chat feature that offers excellent service to its customers. CyberGhost protects your online anonymity with military-grade 256-bit encryption. It offers great binance vs kraken vs coinbase anti-fingerprinting and a no-logs policy to make you untraceable. Your personal information is safe even when you pay for your subscription since CyberGhost accepts BitCoin.

The VPN’s firewall just examines inbound packets, discarding those that seem suspicious and redirecting those that don’t to the relevant address. These firewalls catch the majority of unsolicited packets but aren’t fool-proof. As a result, they should be paired with a secondary, OS-level firewall for the best results.

• ExpressVPN hides your IP address and encrypts your network data so no one can see what you’re doing.
• But when it comes to privacy, we would give a slight edge to CyberGhost, which operates from Romania.
• For testing purposes, we set a baseline connection from our location in Ohrid, North Macedonia, with download speeds of 146 Mbps and upload speeds of 143 Mbps.
• PIA has also switched to RAM servers since they offer more security than hard-drive servers.
• The good thing is that Private Internet Access has announced plans to upgrade its entire network.

You can mess around with the split tunneling settings by changing the Per App settings. Tapping the green lock beside each app turns off the VPN when you’re using that app. The app does not have multi-hop, and according to a company representative, there is no plan to add that feature to Android in the future. Some VPN services make use of virtual locations, which may appear to be servers in a specified country but may actually be located somewhere else.

Encryption And Data Protection

ExpressVPN is a premium VPN service with a good reputation going back many years. It has a pretty clean track record and has never suffered from public security issues or data controversies, such as we’ve seen IPVanish or PureVPN . One minor exception was in late 2021 when news broke about an ExpressVPN employee working with the UAE on hacking technology, but this all transpired before he worked for ExpressVPN. My iphone app happens to be designed to help individuals who wish to keep discrete internet marketing business and private advertising in one gizmo. One will be able to to hold basic number personal when you use for a brief time numerals with regard to the net things. Most crucial coming from all, look at only continual interviews with the enter skilled doctor one or more times a year for a cancer of the skin screening process.

Both services utilize AES 256-bit military-grade encryption, SHA-256 hash authentication, and a 4096-bit RSA handshake. Setting PIA apart is its use of AES-128 as a backup in case its primary encryption becomes compromised. Private Internet Access is based in the US, putting it under the jurisdiction of the Five Eyes Alliance. Due to that, its operations are hindered by restrictive copyright and privacy laws.

PIA, on the other hand, is based in the US, one of the Five Eyes countries. In theory, this means that other Five Eyes countries could investigate a US citizen and share that information with the US government. As both CyberGhost and Private Internet Access allow users to choose not just their desired country, but also their city, you can even unblock city or state-specific streams. This is particularly useful for accessing local TV streams or bypassing the regional blackouts imposed by broadcasters like the NHL or MLB.

Speed And Performance: Expressvpn Vs Pia

This allows users to easily change their IP address without having to go into the router settings. ExpressVPN and PIA offer a different number of simultaneous connections but operate on similar platforms. Both VPNs have dedicated apps for Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and Linux. Both providers also have browser extensions for Opera, Chrome, and Firefox.

With its refined interface and powerful network settings, Private Internet Access VPN is a formidable product. It can be a simple set-and-forget app, or you can dive into its myriad settings and configure the VPN to suit your needs exactly. Its large collection of server locations and excellent speed test scores make it a strong competitor, and 10 simultaneous connections mean your entire household is easily covered. Private Internet Access offers features beyond basic VPN protection and has improved how it communicates its privacy policy to customers. When all is said and done, Private Internet Access is a solid budget VPN provider. It offers a rich feature set with things like port forwarding and advanced kill switch, as well as dedicated IP addresses, split tunneling and multihop servers.

In turn, PIA comes with HNS, Shadowsocks, Split tunneling, and SOCKS5 proxy. I hope this PIA vs CyberGhost comparison has helped you learn about the pros and cons of these two vpns. If you are looking for a vpn that supports Bitcoin payments then I recommend either PIA or CyberGhost. If you want a vpn that will work in China then I don’t recommend either CyberGhost or PIA because these vpns are blocked in China. They do this to ensure that they can fully enforce their content censorship because they know that a vpn will enable you to access websites that have been blocked by the government.

I’ve checked both services using multiple online tests and didn’t find myself exposed. We’ll share our latest software reviews, technology tips, and deals. NordVPN and Private Internet Access also both offer a kill switch like many other VPN software solutions do. This can be automatically set up in their respective preferences. Overall, NordVPN and Private Internet Access have a similar breadth of features. Private Internet Access, however, comes with more flexible security features.

Honest, Objective Reviews

Another plus is that ExpressVPN and PIA both offer IPv6 leak protection to stop your IPv6 traffic from leaking. ExpressVPN has had its privacy policy audited by an independent third party which verifies its zero-logging claims. When an ExpressVPN server was seized in 2017 in Turkey, no data was found, which is a reassuring sign. Luckily, none of the above information is enough to link any activity to you on the network.

CyberGhost was able to deliver amazing speeds that were 83% on average of my initial speeds. If you are looking for a vpn that has a larger server collection hide me vpn then I recommend CyberGhost. CyberGhost is a VPN company based in Romania that will enable you to access the internet anonymously and securely.

With an encryption level of 256-bit and a kill switch feature that is designed to make sure that your online traffic is not interrupted. However, in recent years, some users of CyberGhost have complained about several security leaks. In addition, the service uses a root certificate for it’s Android platform which is not really encouraging.

A representative for Private Internet Access told us an audit is planned for 2022. Additional VPN features elevate your internet experience and can be a deciding factor when it comes to choosing a VPN. Each country has its own data retention laws, which affect how much information Internet Service Providers and websites collect on you.

Comparison Breakdown

Furthermore, you can drag any of these elements up to the main screen, so they’ll be displayed without having to expand the interface. The antivirus comes at a price of $1.49 per month on a stellar market cap monthly plan and is cheaper still on the one-year and three-year plans. However, if you’re already paying for an antivirus, there are better choices on our list of best antivirus software.

In addition, it has split tunneling that lets you give certain websites and services access to your real info without having to turn the VPN off. Private Internet Access were far quicker to reply than CyberGhost. However, this could be because CyberGhost provides a higher volume of support via its live chat service, a feature which PIA does not have. CyberGhost and PIA always offer at least eight servers in each of their locations, but less in-demand countries like Vietnam or Serbia usually only have servers in one city. CyberGhost’s desktop app is user-friendly, simplistic, and gets straight to the point.

Since the provider doesn’t store any logs on user browsing activity in the first place, it has nothing to show when forced to produce data from its servers. You get a knowledgebase that is full of detailed information on any aspect of the Private Internet Access client, and you also get a ticket-based support system and 24/7 live chat. You have the choice between UDP and TCP, with UDP being the default option. As far as VPN protocols go, OpenVPN is usually the best choice, as you can see in our VPN protocol breakdown. During our initial review, we established that Private Internet Access has servers spread out across 64 locations in 44 countries, with almost 3,400 servers to connect to. Since then, the provider has removed detailed information about the servers from its website, and the only thing that’s available now is the fact that PIA has servers in 78 countries.

This raises some eyebrows and doesn’t make PIA look as trustworthy as the other best anonymous (no-log) VPNs. That’s because it’s based in the Virgin British Islands, a privacy-friendly territory. On the other hand, Private Internet Access VPN is based in the USA, one of the founders of the Five Eyes alliance. This country is also known for its intrusive government that may spy on digital businesses.