Private Internet Access 2021 Review – Affordable, but is it trustworthy?

Private Internet Access 2021 Review – Affordable, but is it trustworthy?

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Private Internet Access is a US-based VPN service that is available at $2.69 per month. It has 35,525 VPN servers in 77 countries around the world that are suitable for torrenting. PIA has an overall rating of 3.8/5.0 stars.

** COVID-19 Update **

Given the recent rise in cybersecurity risks of hacks and breaches associated with COVID-19, we at VPNRanks are closely monitoring how VPN providers respond to these new challenges. Any recent feature upgrades and updates are immediately reflected in our VPN reviews.

Private Internet Access (PIA) is a US-based VPN provider that offers its services through 35,525 servers in 77 countries. PIA VPN offers dedicated apps for windowsAnd MacAnd iOS, And Android Beside Browser Extensions.

In terms of features, PIA is equipped with kill switchAnd Ad blockerAnd port forwarding functions, And SOCKS5 Agent, which are valuable tools to have to enhance privacy on the Internet.

However, testing done for this Private Internet Access review showed that the . file The provider lacks the ability to unblock popular streaming channels such as Netflix, BBC iPlayer and Amazon Prime Video.

It is an affordable VPN that offers services 10 simultaneous connections and 30 day money back guarantee NS $2.69 per month.

Based on the above features, I would recommend PIA VPN as it offers huge server network like PureVPN and ExpressVPN, but it has some drawbacks that make it inferior to the VPN brands mentioned above.

In general, the provider obtained Rating 3.8 / 5.0 According to our testing standards. Check out more VPN reviews.

My rating criteria

I tested Private Internet Access with my nine (9) rating criteria. These steps are:

1. Jurisdiction Where is PIA VPN located?
2. protection Is private internet access safe?
3. Leaks Does PIA VPN leak IP, DNS, and WebRTC addresses?
4. servers Does private internet access work in China?
5. Speed – How fast is PIA VPN?
6. flow Does Private Internet Access work with Netflix?
7. Compatibility – How many devices does PIA VPN support?
8. Pricing – What is the cost of private internet access?
9. trustworthiness Is private internet access trustworthy?

Jurisdiction – Where is PIA VPN located?

Unfortunately, PIA VPN hails from the United States. This is a bad thing because the country has been involved in some of the most intrusive privacy monitoring programs in the world.

although The US has no law requiring a VPN to keep activity logs Of its users, laws have not prevented agencies like the National Security Agency from violating the privacy of American citizens. Furthermore, the United States is a key member of the intelligence-gathering group known as Five Eyes.

So, a US based VPN He will always find it difficult to convince his users of guaranteed privacy.

Security – Is private internet access secure?

Private internet access is a Very secure VPN service It includes multiple tunneling protocols and strong encryption standards.

You studied the security features of this VPN and learned that the provider offers three VPN tunneling protocols including one proxy protocol:

• PPTP (Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol)
• L2TP (Layer Two Tunneling Protocol)
• OpenVPN
• SOCKS5 Proxy Tunnel

SOCKS5 Agent It is an interesting addition. This protocol can be used for streaming purposes as it offers good speed but offers less security compared to OpenVPN.

Besides these protocols, PIA . offers Military-grade 256-bit encryption. This level of encryption is very strong and excludes the possibility of brute force type attacks.

Moreover, it is equipped with SHA-1 or SHA-256 encryption. For handshake and authentication, it uses RSA-2048 Public Key Cryptography, which is also very powerful.

Given the encryption standards and VPN protocols used, PIA is completely safe to use They can be trusted to protect you from hackers and cybercriminals on the web. This is also true in comparing TunnelBear and PIA as PIA offers all these security features in all devices, and TunnelBear features are limited to Android only.

Does Private Internet Access keep logs?

Follow PIA VPN A No-logs policy With real text and spirit.

Every VPN promises not to store any logs at all. However, not everyone delivers on this promise. In fact, on the contrary, many VPNs have handed over customer data to third parties.

PIA explicitly states that they do not keep any logs of user activities performed while using their VPN service. User-related logs are only collected by PIA:

This is the minimum information that any provider must collect in order to provide their services to users. So, despite the fact that PIA is located in the United States, it still manages to offer a good level of privacy to users as it does not keep any personally identifiable information for users.

Advanced Security Features of PIA VPN

Apart from the basic encryption and tunneling protocols, PIA also offers some additional features for users that need to tighten their security against accidental slips.

Here are some of the main additional features of PIA:

PIA VPN Kill Switch

PIA VPN Kill Switch will cut off your internet connection if you lose your VPN connection for one reason or another. This prevents your actual IP address from being exposed to your local ISP or the site you are visiting.

I recommend users to keep Kill Switch enabled at all times, especially if you are doing sensitive tasks like downloading torrents in a country with strict laws against online piracy.

A Kill Switch will ensure that your true identity remains hidden even in the event of a sudden disconnection.

Encrypted Wi-Fi

What makes PIA VPN stand out from its competitors is its encrypted Wi-Fi feature. When you use Private Internet Access on your Wi-Fi network, it protects the device through the WPA protocol first. Therefore, you must provide an authentication key before using a VPN on Wi-Fi devices, which makes your connection sessions more secure.

PIA SOCKS5 Agent

PIA SOCKS5 Agent provides a file An extra layer of authentication Because it only allows authorized users when it comes to accessing servers. In addition, it offers a remarkable connection speed compared to other protocols.

This makes SOCKS5 good for purposes like downloading and streaming. A common use of the protocol includes torrenting because it usually leads to faster speeds.

However, we must remember that if you are in a country with strict laws against torrenting activities, a wiser decision would be to stick with more secure protocols like OpenVPN even if it results in slightly slower speeds. This is because SOCKS5 has weaker security compared to other VPN protocols.

WireGuard (beta)

WireGuard is the next big thing in VPN technology as a state-of-the-art protocol that has been in development for the past couple of years. PIA is one of the few VPNs to now offer WireGuard to their test clients.

WireGuard is expected to significantly improve the performance and security of the VPN upon its completion and launch. It’s great to see PIA already testing WireGuard in beta so we can hope to see its full release once protocol development reaches its final stage.

Private Internet Access Block Ads and Malware

Private Internet Access contains a private ad and malware blocking technology called mace. The service blocks annoying ad trackers that follow you online, putting your privacy at risk. This is an excellent additional feature to have along with the basic VPN protection functions.

PIA VPN Port Forwarding

PIA VPN also offers Port forwarding capability Without additional costs. Port forwarding basically allows specific apps on your device/computer to communicate through dedicated ports. This essentially limits access to certain parts of the network for a specific application, such as games.

Many game servers can only be accessed through certain ports. So, if you are a gamer and need port forwarding functionality on a VPN, PIA is a very good option.

Handshake Naming System (HNS)

The US-based VPN service has added another feather in its cap by adding “handshake naming system” Technology in its repository. Thus, you can change the specified name server from PIA DNS (Domain Name System) servers to any Handshake Name System (HNS) servers if you are using Mac, Linux or Windows machines.

Once you change the settings, you can browse the web securely and anonymously from anywhere. Here’s how to enable HNS in PIA settings:

• From the Private Internet Access settings window, you should right-click on the PIA system tray icon
• You have to left click on Settings, Settings window will appear on the screen
• Go to the Network tab, change the PIA”DNS” to me “shake handFrom the dropdown menu
• Contact the PIA server to force the name server change effectively

Visit PIA VPN Check out the best alternative

Leaks – Does PIA VPN Leak IP, DNS and WebRTC Addresses?

PIA VPN does not leak your IP, DNS and WebRTC information. In order to test for leaks, I used ipleak.net and found that the VPN is completely free of any leaks.

Servers – How many servers does PIA offer?

PIA VPN consists of 35,525 servers in 77 countries. All servers are physical, which ensures good stability and prevents server overcrowding.

There are few providers that have a large network like PIA Networks and this is one of the USP features of this VPN. VPN servers along with the geolocation of their presence allow users to access a wide range of geo-restricted content.

PIA is expanding its network of servers using virtual locations (referred to as the globe in PIA applications). It now offers 35,525 VPN servers to cover a larger range of countries as well as the US, Canada, UK, Switzerland, Netherlands, Sweden, France, Germany, Romania, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Singapore, Hong Kong and more.

Although PIA covers a large number of major sites in its network, this range is still smaller than the likes of NordVPN and PureVPN.

However, since most servers are located in locations where online censorship and regulation are not major problems, users are unlikely to feel the need to access a larger set of sites in the PIA network.

If you’re having trouble with PIA, you can find some useful tips in PIA that don’t link evidence.

Does PIA work in China?

PIA VPN works in China, but only in some regions if you manually configure it correctly. But there is no guarantee that the service will work reliably in China because of GFW.

As such, most VPN services today are not able to function properly within China and PIA is no different. Here is the working list of Chinese VPNs.

Is PIA VPN good for torrenting?

Yes, PIA is a good VPN for torrenting activities. All PIA servers support torrenting and peer-to-peer activities. However, the provider actually forwards your data packets to those servers where torrenting can be done safely, like Switzerland And Holland.

Therefore, you will get better performance if you connect directly to these servers instead of navigating through multiple locations back to Switzerland or the Netherlands. To read more about it in detail, check out our article on using PIA for torrenting.

Speed ​​- How fast is PIA VPN?

PIA VPN Offers Incredibly high connection speeds. We have a convenient speed test guide detailing how fast private internet really is.

Anyway, to gauge how well PIA is performing, I ran speed tests on 9 different servers. This is how my PIA VPN speed test results were:

It must be remembered that VPN speeds are very subjective and depend on a myriad of factors including basic internet speed, ISP, proximity to the chosen server, total load on the server, and more. Therefore, these speed tests do not represent the performance of PIA for …

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