Private Internet Access Offerings from London Trust Media Private Internet Access (commonly known as PIA) is a capable VPN provider, now owned by Private Internet (formerly KAPE), which also owns CyberGhost and ZenMate. The company immediately sets itself apart with its ``NextGen VPN Network,'' which now has over 35,400 servers in 78 countries (double the number of servers we saw in our last review). It's not just a matter of numbers, says PIA. NextGen servers
usan mejores componentes de hardware '', 10Gbps network cards instead of 1Gbps,'' they use RAM disks to make sure ''all sensitive information is lost as soon as the server loses power,'' and they now support WireGuard and OpenVPN. You can access this network through apps for Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and Linux, browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Opera, and there are detailed setup tutorials for routers and many other types of devices.
London Trust Media Private Internet Access Subscription Options:- 24-month plan: € 2.69 per month (total cost € 64.56)
PIA supports the simultaneous connection of up to 10 devices. That's twice the allowance you'll get with most VPNs, though Windscribe, Surfshark, and a few others don't have limits. Extras range from simple and straightforward (built-in blocking of known ads, trackers, and malicious websites) to the lowest and most technical: a SOCKS5 proxy for increased speed, support for port forwarding, the ability to select your encryption, authentication, and preferred handshake. methods and more. Major additions since our last review include dedicated IP addresses, 24/7 live chat support, and an additional identity protection system (free with all plans) that alerts you if your email address appears in a network violation. Changes to the welcome app include encryption improvements (SHA-4096 is still used for authentication handshakes, OpenVPN CBC still uses SHA-256 for data authentication), a system of rules. Very flexible automation allows you to automatically connect or disconnect when accessing certain networks and a number of low-level fixes and improvements (see the PIA changelog for more information). (PIA has dropped the old authentication and handshake options as part of the encryption changes. The loss of functionality is still disappointing, but since they were implemented via messy custom OpenVPN patches, the loss should speed up the development process and reduce the possibilities of problems. Here is more information about the change). Transparency is important in a VPN, so we're pleased to see that almost all of PIA's apps are open source. Developers can view source code for Windows clients, browser extensions, iOS and Android apps, and more on GitHub. There are also some amazing app-related extras. For example, a compatible command line application for Windows, Linux, and Mac can automate VPN operations from scripts. In its simplest form, you can use it to create a shortcut that automatically connects to the VPN and then launches an app, but it can do much more (more on that later).
Private Internet Access supports a wide variety of payment methods, including PayPal and even Bitcoin (Image Credit: Private Internet Access)
Private Internet access: plans and prices
The monthly private internet access plan has an average price of €9.95. You'll pay something similar with most providers: Hotspot Shield, IPVanish, and Ivacy all charge around $10 for monthly billing, but some charge more (CyberGhost, ExpressVPN, and Hide.me cost around $13).
The real value starts to show with the annual plan, priced at a very low €3.33 per month. Most major providers only come close to this with special introductory offers (Hide.me is only €3 per month for the first year, but €3.75 when you renew).
The two-year plan is even cheaper at € 2.65 per month during the first quarter (with two months free), € 2.91 when renewing.
The plan also provides a free one-year license for BoxCryptor, a powerful cloud file encryption service from any provider (OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.). use the version, but here you get a license for the highest performing personal plan. This is compatible with an unlimited number of devices (the free version limits you to two) and cloud providers, and includes email support, and is worth €48 per year if purchased separately.
Even if you don't have the slightest interest in BoxCryptor, we find the two-year plan to be excellent value. It's much cheaper than NordVPN's two-year deal, for example ($3.71 per month), and though you can save quite a bit with Surfshark ($2.49 per month on its own two-year plan). Years), this is just the introductory price - it doubles at renewal. .
PIA can now provide dedicated IP addresses in five countries: Australia, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. This gives you the same IP address every time you log in, and since no one shares it, you're less likely to get blacklisted due to someone else's questionable activity. But using the same IP address also means that websites are more likely to recognize you, so it's not an option for everyone.
The price is only €5 per month with no discounts for longer periods. NordVPN costs a bit more at $5.83 on its yearly plan, but CyberGhost slashes everyone down to just $2.25 per month on its three-year plan.
If you're tempted to sign up for one of these plans, a wide selection of payment methods includes card support, PayPal, Bitcoin, gift cards, and more.
There is no free trial, but PIA offers you a 30-day money-back guarantee.
PIA's Terms and Services holds another surprise (and exceptionally for the fine print, that's a good thing). Many VPNs say that customers are only entitled to a refund, never. Private Internet Access indicates that if you purchase a new account more than three months after the last payment, you are entitled to another. It's unusually generous, but we think it's fair.
PIA Mace protects your privacy by blocking ad trackers and malware (Image Credit: Private Internet Access)
Privacy
All VPNs claim to offer great privacy, but Private Internet Access combines an unusual combination of features that go above and beyond most. PIA applications primarily use only the latest and most secure protocols, for example in OpenVPN and WireGuard. OpenVPN protection is AES-128 by default, but with a click or two, you can change it to AES-256 CBC or GCM, configure local or remote ports, or switch to WireGuard. Private Internet Access provides its own DNS to reduce the risk of DNS leaks. However, the applications are flexible: the Windows client can be configured to use your default DNS or any custom DNS you like.
Private Internet Access managed to protect all of our data from leaks in the DNS leak tests we conducted (Image credit: DNS leak test) There's also a kill switch to turn off your Internet access if the VPN goes down . Unlike some of the competition, it's not just available on desktop, iOS and Android clients get it too. Sign in with the Chrome extension and you'll find a ton of additional privacy features (block access to location, third-party cookies, website referrals, etc.). You can set them up separately and for free, but the extensions make it easier and add a few extra layers of protection. PIA's MACE feature blocks access to domains used by ads, trackers, and malware, further limiting how companies can track you across the web. As we mentioned earlier, and perhaps best of all, Private Internet Access has opened up its desktop clients, mobile apps, and many other components and libraries. This allows other developers to freely examine the source code, assess its quality, report bugs, and perhaps check if it is doing anything that might compromise user privacy.
Private Internet Access does not keep any logs of its users (Image credit: Private Internet Access)
Recording
While most VPNs claim not to log customer activity or traffic, there is rarely much reason to back it up. You are expected to cross your fingers and have confidence in their honesty. Private Internet Access is much more secure and claims to be "verified" as "the only VPN service tested without logs". The company appears to be referring to court cases where subpoenas were served on PIA requesting account information, but the only data provided was the general location of server IP addresses. No user data has been removed. Private Internet Access also publishes a transparency report detailing all official requests for information and user data transmitted. The report covering the first four months of 21 records two warrants, three arrest warrants, and 12 subpoenas received, with no records being produced for any of these requests. The privacy policy is usually the best place to look for more details about what a VPN does, but the PIAs are mostly about the website and say almost nothing about the VPN. Finally, we found a support article, “Does it log your users' traffic?”, which stated that Private Internet Access “does not keep any logs of any kind, period”. It explains that records that might otherwise be saved are redirected to the null device instead of being written to the hard drive, which means they just disappear. The article also includes this paragraph, which explicitly states that the company does not record session data or your online activities: "We can unequivocally state that our company does not and does not maintain metadata records about when a subscriber accesses the VPN service, how much time a subscriber has been using and a subscriber's source IP address. In addition, the encryption system does not allow us to see and thus record the IP addresses a subscriber visits or has visited." While all of this sounds good, we still have to rely on most of it. Even the court cases, PIAs, show that this is a 2018 no-record date of service, so they can't tell us much about what's going on right now. Top VPN Names Including...