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Private Internet Access, or PIA for short, is a veteran among VPN providers. It brands itself as the "world's most trusted VPN," and as the proper name implies, it emphasizes privacy above all else.
But all VPNs claim to protect your privacy these days. What makes Private Internet Access stand out? Can it practise annihilation that NordVPN, Surfshark or ExpressVPN, can't?

In my 2021 Individual Internet Access review, I dug into the latest versions of PIA apps on both mobile and desktop to detect out:

• How fast is PIA?
• Can PIA unblock region-locked apps and websites (Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime Video, etc)
• Is PIA as safe and private every bit it claims to be?
• Does PIA work in China?
• Is it improve than the alternatives?

I'll discuss all of that and more than in this review.

Over the last few weeks, I used Individual Internet Access to torrent, stream, secure public wi-fi, and foreclose my isp from seeing what I do online.

I summarized my experience with PIA below, but you lot can read the full review for an in-depth look into what makes this VPN service such a hit with customers.

Private Internet Access Summary

Private Internet Access is a lightweight VPN that users can extensively customize to their needs. Information technology offers excellent security and decent speeds, but falls a bit short when it comes to unblocking region-locked content or bypassing authorities censorship in places like Communist china. I recommend it to torrenters and other users who apply a VPN to maintain privacy rather than those who want to stream video and unblock content.

Private Cyberspace Access Fundamental information

OVERALL RANK:  #8 of 51
Speed	Score: 7/x
Average Speed*:	43 Mbps
Video Streaming Back up:	4K, HD video conferencing
Streaming	Score: 5/10
Netflix:	Aye
Other Streaming Services:	BBC iPlayer
Security	Score: 10/10
Encryption Blazon:	Up to 256-bit AES
Kill Switch:	Yes
Log Policy:	No logs
Protocols:	OpenVPN, Wireguard
Value for Money	Score: 8/10
Lowest Monthly Toll:	$2.85
Coin Dorsum Guarantee:	30 days
Website	https://www.Privateinternetaccess.com

How does Private Internet Access compare to other popular VPNs?

Hither'south how Individual Internet Admission compares to two of the virtually popular and highly rated VPNs out in that location, ExpressVPN and NordVPN. You lot can see a more detailed breakup here of ExpressVPN and NordVPN.

No value	Private Net Admission	ExpressVPN	NordVPN
Average Speed	68 Mbps	135 Mbps	369 Mbps
Encryption type	128-chip AES	256-bit AES	256-bit AES
Impale Switch Windows only		desktop but
Allows Torrenting
Records identifying logs
Unblocks Netflix U.s.
Unblocks Amazon Prime number
Unblocks Hulu
Unblocks BBC iPlayer
Lowest monthly cost	$ii.03	$6.67	$3.29
Money back guarantee	30 days	thirty days	thirty days
Overall rating	7	9.three	ix.7

Private Internet Admission pros and cons

Here'southward a summary of what I liked and didn't like during my time with Private Internet Access.

Pros:

• Strong security
• Nil logs
• Tons of customization
• Connect up to 10 devices at once
• Fast servers

Cons:

• Blocked past some major streaming services
• Doesn't reliably work in China
• Some outdated info in forums and support documentation

I'll go into more detail most each of these points below.

Speed: Is Private Internet Access fast?

PIA lands in the middle of the pack in terms of download speed. I was able to stream 4K video and video conference in Hd when connected to nearby servers. I never had issues with poor quality video or buffering.

Individual Net Access operates three,386 servers in 42 countries. Nigh of its rivals have servers in 60 or more countries, then it'south on the lower stop, but there are enough of locations for virtually users.

Across all locations and times tested, PIA averaged 43 Mbps download speed.

We tested international servers in N America, Europe, and Asia. Here are the average speeds for servers in each region:

• N America (nearest): 76 Mbps
• Asia: 42 Mbps
• Europe: 31 Mbps

Nearby servers were suitable for online gaming without adding also much ping time. The nearest servers have a latency of about l ms, which when gaming isn't a detrimental corporeality. This is dependent on where the nearest server is, but I was able to play fast-paced games like Brawlhalla and Rocket League without crippling lag.

Notation that these tests can merely serve equally a general indication of the performance you might meet and cannot be considered definitive. The inherent volatility of the internet adds a pregnant cistron of randomness. Users with faster connections will likely meet larger discrepancies in speed.

Apps: What devices work with Private Internet Admission

A single subscription allows me to connect upward to 10 devices at once. PIA makes apps for the post-obit devices:

• Windows 7, 8, and 10 – 32-flake and 64-bit versions are available
• MacOS ten.12 and newer
• iOS 11 and newer
• Android 4.1 and newer
• Linux: Ubuntu 16.04+, Mint 18+, Arch, and Debian
• Amazon Burn TV

Web browser extensions are likewise available for Chrome, Firefox, and Opera.

The apps are very lightweight, pregnant they work well even on depression-powered devices.

Servers can be ordered alphabetically or past latency (ping fourth dimension). You can "heart" your favorite servers or find them through the search bar.

PIA is one of the only VPN providers to offer a full app for Linux users, complete with a graphical user interface. The few other providers that even carp making Linux apps usually settle for command-line interfaces.

Users can customize the layout of their apps. Elements of the interface can be reordered or removed entirely. There are besides nighttime and light themes to choose from.

PIA boasts a few cool features that you won't notice on many other VPNs. These include:

• A snooze office to temporarily disconnect the VPN for a few minutes
• A "private browser" for iOS and Android. This is a more secure and individual browser than the stock Chrome and Safari browsers that come congenital into smartphones. It must be installed as a separate app.
• A built-in ad blocker
• Plenty of security and network customization options that I'll get into later in this review

Transmission setup without an app is also possible. You tin get OpenVPN configuration files direct from PIA's website. This is handy if you want to set up the VPN on a device that doesn't have an app, such equally a wi-fi router.

Streaming, Netflix, and Kodi

Does PIA unblock Netflix?

Yeah, I used Private Internet Access to unblock Netflix US and Uk. I could also unblock BBC iPlayer in the United kingdom.

It did non work with Hulu or Amazon Prime Video (United states of america), however.

So PIA isn't the most adept at unblocking region-locked content, but information technology isn't terrible.

For Kodi users, PIA works on both Android boxes and OpenELEC devices. It's compatible with all Kodi addons.

Does Private Internet Admission allow torrenting?

Aye.

PIA has long been a favorite among torrenters. The apps include several features that P2P filesharers will find useful.

• Port forwarding allows you to bypass NAT firewalls and connect with more than peers in a torrent swarm
• A impale switch cuts the internet connection to protect your data and IP address from being exposed if the VPN connection unexpectedly drops
• Split tunneling allows me to tunnel my torrenting app'due south net traffic through the VPN while using a normal, direct connexion for other activities

Security, privacy, and logging

After signing up, PIA sent me a username and password in an email. This is separate from the email address and password I used to register my account. This tin can be a bit inconvenient—it's one more than password I have to call back, and I don't get to choose what information technology is—but information technology adds a layer of privacy. If my VPN login details are somehow compromised, it won't touch my account.

In the apps, PIA's security can exist customized to a groovy extent, which is non something you'll observe in many VPNs these days. In add-on to the impale switch, advertizing blocker, and private browser options discussed above, another notable tweaks include:

• Adaptable data encryption. By default, it's set to 128-chip AES-GCM, merely I tin enhance it to 256-bit encryption or even remove encryption entirely (not recommended). Although many VPNs boast 256-bit AES, 128-bit is just fine for the vast majority of users, and it takes less of a toll on performance.
• Adjustable handshake. Similar to data encryption, I tin decide what level of encryption is used to secure and commutation the data encryption key.
• VPN protocol. OpenVPN UDP is used past default. OpenVPN over TCP is some other selection. Wireguard is as well available, which promises to be a more lightweight and faster culling.
• Remote port: If a network admin has blocked traffic on the standard OpenVPN port, I tin choose a different i.
• Name servers: Most users will want to use PIA'southward own private DNS servers to hide website lookup and asking information from their Internet access provider, but I tin likewise opt for my ISP's DNS servers, custom DNS servers, or even a fancy new peer-to-peer DNS organization called Handshake.
• Let LAN traffic. Disabling this will prevent devices on my local network, such as printers and smart habitation devices, from accessing my device's local IP address.
• Proxy. I can add an extra hop to my VPN connection through an additional ShadowSOCKS or SOCKS5 proxy.

Private Internet Access is based in the USA, which might discourage some users wary of spying past national intelligence agencies.

PIA keeps no logs of what you do while continued to the VPN, though, nor whatsoever metadata such as timestamps and IP addresses. Minimal personal information (email accost and payment details) is nerveless when you lot sign up for service and billing purposes.

I found no IP, DNS, or WebRTC leaks when connected to PIA. That ways my real IP accost is never revealed to third parties.

Does Private Net Access work in Mainland china?

PIA does not work reliably in China. Furthermore, it was temporarily blocked in Hong Kong in September 2019. If you're looking for a mode to bypass the Great Firewall while in mainland China, I would wait elsewhere. The same goes for other countries where VPNs are ofttimes blocked, like the UAE and Iran.

ExpressVPN is a good alternative.

Is Private Internet Admission customer service any good?

It took near iii minutes to connect to a alive chat support agent through PIA's website on a weekday evening. The agent didn't respond quickly to my questions, though, and I had to expect a couple of minutes between questions, presumably so they could expect up the answers. I also had issues with some of my letters non being delivered through the chat interface. The answers I eventually received could have been more clear.

Individual Internet Admission has a blog and plenty of support materials to assistance you troubleshoot bug and keep upward to date with the service. It's too one of the only VPN providers to run its own forum where customers can post questions and comments to the developers and other users.

On the downside, much of the material in the blog posts and forums is out of appointment. That made it difficult in some cases to find clear and accurate answers to my questions.

A debug logging mode in the apps can be useful when troubleshooting connection bug. Instead of trying to describe the problem to client support, I can enable this mode and and then paw over the debug log and then technicians can quickly pinpoint the issue. Just remember to turn information technology off when y'all're done to prevent unnecessary logging.

Private Internet Access pricing

PIA has a unmarried service tier with iii different subscription lengths:

• One calendar month for $ix.95 per month
• Vi months for $5.99 per month
• One year for $2.85 per month

The annual plan is a corking value and, at time of writing, comes with an extra ii months complimentary of charge.

Every program comes with a 30-day adventure-costless coin-back guarantee.

PIA accepts several forms of payment including credit cards, PayPal, Amazon Pay, and several bearding cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Zcash, and Ethereum. You can even utilize gift cards from Starbucks, Walmart, All-time Buy, and more than.

Private Net Admission coupons

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Practise I recommend Private Internet Admission?

If you use a VPN more to protect your privacy and less for streaming, PIA is a solid choice. It's great for torrenters, Linux users, and securing unprotected wi-fi hotspots. I wouldn't recommend it for people who want access to a lot of different streaming services or those living in China.

Individual Internet Access alternatives

PIA is well-suited to privacy-witting, tech savvy users who want to exist able to customize their VPN security and network settings. Simply information technology's non for everyone.

NordVPN is another slap-up option with excellent security, albeit with slower overall speeds. It's not bad for unblocking region-locked streaming services and also works in Communist china.

ExpressVPN offers comparable security, faster speeds, and better unblocking capabilities. Information technology supports a wide range of devices and works in China.

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Source: https://www.comparitech.com/vpn/reviews/private-internet-access-vpn-review/

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