PrivateInternetAccess
Website: www.privateinternetaccess.com
Price: From $3.33 / Month. (If purchased via 12-month plan) Accepts Bitcoins and Ripple.
Our Rating: – 85%
Protection: 5/5
Software / GUI: 3/5
Features: 3.5/5
Speed: 4.5/5
Ease of Use: 4.5/5
Service Overview and Reviews
Protocols: Open VPN, PPTP plus L2TP/IPsec.
Service: PrivateInternetAccess offers a paid VPN service with 3160+ servers in 33+ countries.
The software is installed using the normal OpenVPN GUI and there is a TCP option for each server. Set-up for PPTP is via control panel. Also compatible with Mac, Linux and Android.
PrivateInternetAccess utilize shared IP addresses rather than dynamic or static IPs, so it should not be possible to match a user to an external IP.
They allow up to two simultaneous connections, so users using OpenVPN can also multi-hop which enables the highest levels of anonymity.
Use up to 5 devices simultaneously.
Privacy: No traffic or request logs are kept and they maintain they cannot match a user to any activity on their system as they utilize shared IPs. See their Policy/Terms/FAQ
Our Thoughts: This is a rapidly expanding VPN service with very good speeds across their network and they are hard to beat on price for the longer term plans. Privacy is placed at a premium and you can pay using decentralized currencies such as Bitcoins or Ripple.
PrivateInternetAccess User Reviews
Summary
Reviews
I also use btguard and vpn4all and although the others are good for the money you cannot beat this service. Always quick speeds, helpful IM service for chat. Never disconnects either
I’ve had no issues regarding geolocation protection during my 7 days of trial with PIA. However, the mains issues I had were:
-very restrictive NAT on most servers. XBOX rarely gets to connect, their DNS severely limits what you can do online.
– it’s ok for most computer/tablet use but for other devices (game consoles, dedicated media players) it’s not enough
– their support is very slow to understand and slow to reply.
The worst part: there’s no refund like promised! It’s been over two months since I renounced my subscription after the trial (6th day) and even though they acknowledged I am eligible for a refund, there’s been no reaction during all the time (only replies like ‘we’re looking into it’).
i OWN MAC….. they told me that there is not DNS leak protection for the MAC OS….. so the tier 1 support tol me to use Google’s DNS servers via 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 and said hundreds of thousands of people use it so they could never track me…. .FUCK THAT! BTW DNS leaks are just as bad as not having a VPN….. they were good on replying back quick and they did have good price.. just missing the mai factor…
I´ve been using for 2 months in two diferent countries, one in South America and the other one in the North. Never had a problem and have never been desconnected. Because of this, I´ve just signed for the one year plan.
Their automatic fraud policy leaves much to be desired. I subscribed to the service just before I left the states to go to Asia for a temp posting. I had no issues with it. While in Asia after I start using it next day I was unable to do so. When emailed they claim it was fraud policy that disabled my account. So I can’t use it in another country? Support was polite and wanted to re enable my account but I decided to cancel and request refund.
Please rate this VPN from your own experience via the form below:-
PrivateInternetAccess Speed Test Results
PrivateInternetAccess Speed Test
Below you can see our testing results for PrivateInternetAccess. For more details of how we conduct our speed tests go to VPN Speed Tests
Test PC #1 – United States – OS (Ubuntu 11.10) – ISP (Cox)
SpeedTest.net (Firefox) | Location | Ping | Download | Upload |
Not Using VPN | United States | 32 | 18.83 | 7.22 |
OpenVPN | Netherlands | 196 | 6.94 | 6.02 |
OpenVPN | United States | 40 | 12.64 | 6.94 |
OpenVPN | United Kingdom | 179 | 7.9 | 4.84 |
OpenVPN | Canada | 123 | 4.32 | 4.00 |
Download Test (Curl) | Location | File Size | Av. Speed/sec | Time/mins |
Not Using VPN | United States | 783M | 1640k | 08:08 |
OpenVPN | Netherlands | 783M | 1256k | 10:37 |
OpenVPN | United States | 783M | 1204k | 11:05 |
OpenVPN | United Kingdom | 783M | 1222k | 10:55 |
OpenVPN | Canada | 783M | 1377k | 09:41 |
P2P Test (Deluge) | Location | File Size | Av. Speed/sec | Time/mins |
Not Using VPN | United States | 703.1Mb | 1.6Mb | 06:57 |
OpenVPN | Netherlands | 703.1Mb | 1.59Mb | 07:23 |
OpenVPN | United States | 703.1Mb | 1.62Mb | 07:14 |
OpenVPN | United Kingdom | 703.1Mb | 1.61Mb | 07:16 |
OpenVPN | Canada | 703.1Mb | 1.52Mb | 07:44 |
Test PC #2 – United Kingdom – OS (Win 7) – ISP (Sky)
SpeedTest.net (Firefox) | Location | Ping | Download | Upload |
Not Using VPN | United Kingdom | 32 | 10.56 | 0.94 |
OpenVPN | Switzerland | 59 | 8.37 | 0.89 |
OpenVPN | United States | 107 | 9.12 | 0.87 |
OpenVPN | United Kingdom | 41 | 9.92 | 0.89 |
Download Test (Curl) | Location | File Size | Av. Speed/sec | Time/mins |
Not Using VPN | United Kingdom | 620M | 1241k | 08:31 |
OpenVPN | Switzerland | 620M | 1119k | 09:27 |
OpenVPN | United States | 620M | 899k | 11:45 |
OpenVPN | United Kingdom | 620M | 1141k | 09:16 |
P2P Test (uTorrent) | Location | File Size | Av. Speed/sec | Time/mins |
Not Using VPN | United Kingdom | 695Mb | 1.1Mb | 10:22 |
OpenVPN | Switzerland | 695Mb | 0.81Mb | 14:47 |
OpenVPN | United States | 695Mb | 0.97Mb | 12:16 |
OpenVPN | United Kingdom | 695Mb | 1.0Mb | 11:07 |
Tips: There are four US servers to pick from but selection is random so you may have to reconnect a couple of times if you insist on a particular US server.
Note: The handshake protocol (MSCHAP_V2) used by many PPTP connections has been cracked and therefore PPTP could now be considered unencrypted. For maximum security use OpenVPN or L2TP.