PIA – Private Internet Access Review: Great Features
Private Internet Access VPN ™ (PIA) has been around since 2010. Developers of the Bitcoin system took part in the provider’s create, promising quality in privacy and open standards. The focus should be on speed and ease of use.
The purpose of Private Internet Access ™ is to protect users’ anonymity and privacy in the best possible way. The provider is based in the USA, where no user log files need to be stored, but user data on IP addresses is often the subject of discussion in many forums. The fact is that the US allows Patriot Acts (laws) and ACTA (copyright protection) and can oblige providers to publish data.
Of course, Private Internet Access ™ also provides access to restricted content in other countries, as well as using modern and secure encryption protocols. But is that enough to get a top spot in our VPN comparison? We have therefore put Private Internet Access ™ to the test.
Product description | PIA - Private Internet Access |
Recommended applications | avoiding dissuasionsavoiding geo-blockingdata safetyfilesharing torrentprotection of hackers virusessafe communicationStreaming (Urheberr.) |
Company
PIA Private Internet Access ™ provides access to 25.155+ VPN servers in 77 different countries. The company is headquartered in the United States and is operated by London Media Trust, Inc. (a British company). In November 2019, PIA announced that it would be merged into Kape Technologies. It operates two competing VPN services, Cyberghost and Zenmate.
Operating location | USA |
Billing location | Great Britain |
Local laws influence on clients protection | ✔ |
Operation and billing are separated | ✔ |
Servers location | 29 |
no log files | ✘ |
Own DNS server | ✔ |
Virtual server | ✔ |
Dedicated server | ✔ |
RAM-disk Server | ✘ |
Hardware's owner | ✘ |
Owner of IP-address | ✘ |
Private Internet Access VPN pricing
All tariffs offer unlimited bandwidth and access to all available VPN servers for a really low price. There is also a 30 day money back guarantee. Up to 5 devices can be used per user account simultaneously. Private Internet Access ™ accepts all major payment methods: Paypal, VISA, Mastercard, AMEX, Discover, Amazon, Google, Bitcoin, CashU, Liberty Reserve, OKPay. Private Internet Access ™ was the first VPN provider to accept bitcoins.
Prices / Tarifs | |
---|---|
Free using | ✘ |
Tariff (1 Month ) | 9.29 EUR |
Tariff (12 Months ) | 37.19 EUR (per month 3.1 EUR) |
Tariff (24 Months ) | 65 EUR (per month 2.71 EUR) |
Number of connections per account | 10 |
Test options | Money back guarantee |
Streaming – TV and video content
PIA ist optimized for streaming purposes, especially for US- und UK-content and also includes a FireTV App. US Netflix and BBC iPlayer are available. However, access is not unhindered. PIA users need to switch servers quite often to find the unblocked server. This is probably due to the mother-country of the service (USA).
Streaming TV and video content | |
---|---|
Use on the home router | ✘ |
Use with KODI | ✘ |
SmartDNS | ✘ |
FireTV App | ✘ |
Avoid warnings | ✔ |
Supported streaming platforms | DAZNzattooARDZDFBRMDRrbbWDRArteServus TV |
Private Internet Access Review: Privacy
Data security is, of course, an important aspect in the selection of the VPN service, the multi-hop method (a connection can be routed through up to 4 VPN sites) Private Internet Access ™ brings here a very significant and important advantage into play. Although this somewhat suffers the transmission speed, since the path of the connection is extended accordingly, but it is practically impossible to locate the actual user of an IP address.
This is a clear advantage in anonymity that until now only the VPN service Perfect Privacy VPN had offered. However, this cascading connection variant can only be used with the provided access software for Microsoft Windows!
Of course, you should not use a VPN for illegal activities on the Internet. Also, Private Internet Access is important and the user conditions leave no doubt about that. At this point applies to the provider: zero tolerance. PrivateInternetAccess.com declares that it will cooperate with the authorities in case of illegal use. Therefore one can not always expect a 100% protection of one’s own identity.
Logfiles
Private Internet Access ™ claims to record no user data, including traffic or usage time. This should provide good support for both privacy and anonymity, however, the US authorities are likely to gain access to user information.
Anonymity in internet | |
---|---|
Altered virtual location | ✔ |
Protection from requests for information | ✔ |
General monitoring protection | ✔ |
Targeted monitoring protection | ✘ |
no log files | ✘ |
Obfuscation (masking) | ✘ |
Torrent, downloading with PIA
The service is quite well to use for Torrent, but it has no port forwarding option. The own torrent server is quite fast enough. No traffic or user data is collected or recorded. There are no restrictions on the volume and speed of data transfer. So, P2P (peer-to-peer), file sharing and downloading large amounts of data is not a problem for Private Internet Access VPN.
Download and Torrent | |
---|---|
Torrent usage allowed | ✔ |
Own Torrent Server | ✘ |
Avoid warnings | ✔ |
Port forwarding | ✘ |
Private Internet Access Review: Features
Private Internet Access is a modern and convenient service. It offers almost everything that a regular user would like to receive from a VPN. Read more in this review!
VPN Protocols
Private Internet Access offers different protocols for use: PPTP, L2TP / IPSec, and OpenVPN, with the OpenVPN protocol, recommended. With PPTP and L2TP / IPSec but also devices such as routers, Apple iOS, Android and Boxee can be used.
PIA Applications
Private Internet Access Client software is quick and easy to install, and you can also use the OpenVPN GUI. The software also offers the use of PPTP and has an appropriate tax instrument. The software is compatible with all major operating systems, such as Windows or Mac OSX. The Android App works fast and stable.
Available protocols | L2TP/IPSecOpenVPN (TCP)OpenVPN (UDP)PPTP |
Own apps | AndroidApple iOSASUSWRTDD-WRTLinuxMac OS XOpenVPN UDPOpenWrtother OS/integrationTomatoWindows |
KillSwitch function | ✔ |
Interface language | English |
Private Internet Access VPN Network
Private Internet Access users use “shared IP addresses” to optimize anonymity and privacy on the Internet. This brings a decisive advantage over other VPN providers, as this makes it even harder to assign IP addresses to individual users. Private Internet Access ™ operates its VPN servers in the US, Canada, the UK, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Romania, Germany, Sweden, France and Hong Kong and some other countries
There are 7 locations in the US which also have the advantage of being able to guarantee users the lowest latency. Although it generally depends on your location, a quicker location can certainly be found as well.
In total, VPN servers are available in 25 countries, which covers the most important states, but other VPN services offer much more choice, for example, CyberGhost or Surfshark.
Special functions | |
---|---|
Always On Server | ✘ |
Dedicated Server | ✔ |
Firewall | ✔ |
IP changing | ✘ |
IPv4 | ✔ |
IPv6 (new) | ✘ |
KillSwitch | ✔ |
Load Balancing | ✘ |
Malware filter | ✔ |
Multi Hop VPN | ✔ |
NeuroRouting | ✘ |
No logfiles | ✘ |
Obfuscation (Mask) | ✘ |
Own DNS | ✔ |
Own Hardware | ✘ |
Own IP adresses | ✘ |
Own Torrent Server | ✘ |
Port forwarding | ✘ |
RAM-Disc (k.HDD) | ✘ |
Shared IP | ✔ |
Smart DNS | ✘ |
Static IP | ✘ |
Tracking Blocker | ✔ |
Virtual servers | ✔ |
VPN with TOR | ✘ |
Private Internet Access review: VPN on the router
On routers, PIA offers all the support for OpenVPN client routers, but you cannot use the service permanently without LoadBalancing and because the servers are sometimes not very stable.
Using with VPN-Client Router | |
---|---|
Using with Routers | ✘ |
Load Balancing | ✘ |
Fail-safe operation | ✘ |
Own router application | ✔ |
Compatible with | ASUSGl-iNetDD-WRTTomatoVilfo Router |
Traveling
Unfortunately, PIA VPN does not have any obfuscation, i.e. a technical option to bypass VPN blocks, which is common in China or other countries. In addition, the streaming of German content is not the provider’s strength.
VPN for travelling and in foreign countries | |
---|---|
Using in restrictive networks (China, hotels) | ✘ |
Obfuscation (masking) | ✘ |
Protection in unsafe WiFi-networks | ✔ |
Shadowsocks or SOCKS5 | ✘ |
Online-Gaming
The rather long latency times do not make online gaming much fun. The service otherwise offers a good speed, but the latency times proved to be too high even after weeks of tests.
Online gaming | |
---|---|
Low latency | ✘ |
Use on game consoles | ✘ |
DDoS protection | ✔ |
Speeds with downloading
The weak point of PIA is certainly the often slow VPN servers. A few years ago, users would have had reason to applaud if they reached 50MBit/s, but today this is unfortunately no longer a good result. We therefore also asked PIA how they plan to provide users with current expected performance today. The answer was that the network is designed to handle as many users as possible, and most of them do not expect more performance. They are probably right, but if you are looking for the fastest VPN, you should not choose PIA.
Private Internet Access VPN: Customer support
Private Internet Access ™ promises service to its customers around the clock. This makes it one of the best and most customer-friendly VPN providers in the field. The employees of the company also convince with the support with the highest professionalism. Inquiries were processed quickly and competently and answered.
Also, the website provides additional helpful information in the support area. Many questions can already be answered. If you still can not solve your problem, you can use the contact form, which you can use to contact support via e-mail.
Customer service | |
---|---|
Interface language | English |
Customer service | EmailQ&A Website |
Customer service language | English |
Frequently asked questions
Conclusion
Private Internet Access has a modern and proprietary VPN infrastructure, the available bandwidth is sufficient and sufficient to guarantee full speed for every user. However, we find the website very overloaded. We recommend VyprVPN as an adequate alternative provider. VPNBULLETIN recommends using this provider as well.
Therefore, one should weigh well whether it is extraordinary protection against US intelligence agencies and authorities, or whether normal protection is sufficient. A 100% protection of one’s own identity against authorities should therefore not be expected. Copyright offenses will not allow exploration.
Erstellt am: 12/07/2019