StrongVPN

This in-depth review took weeks to write as we performed extensive testing on workstations and mobile clients, downloading, VPN torrenting, performing security tests, VoIP & Video latency, gaming and more, in an attempt to discover any flaws, issues or limitations the VPN service might have.

Key Topics:

• Overview
• Ease of Use – StrongVPN GUI Interface
• VPN Client Platform Availability
• Router VPN Support
• VPN Privacy, Security and Encryption
• DNS Leak Protection Test
• Kill Switch Protection Test
• WebRTC Protection Test
• Speed Test and Reliability
• StrongVPN Unblocks Netflix, BBC iPlayer, HULU and Region Blocks
• StrongVPN for Torrenting
• VoIP & Video Calls
• Does StrongVPN Keep Logs?
• Support – Response Time and Quality
• Value for Money
• Summary 

Without any further delay, let’s take a look and see what StrongVPN was able to deliver during these very challenging tests!

Positives:

• Ranked No.1 in our Best VPN Service review
• Superfast Download/Upload Speeds supporting Torrents
• Very low Latency
• Strong Encryption
• Zero-Log Policy
• Effective DNS Leak, IP Leak & WebRTC Protection
• Cheap for 12 month signup plans 

Concerns:

• Kill-switch
• 5 day money-back guarantee period

Overview 

StrongVPN is one of the oldest in the industry, beginning as a humble PC company in 1994. A subsidiary of Reliable Hosting, the company was created after a move to San Francisco prompted the sale of VPN services.

The US-based company doesn’t promise a whole lot on its website, but under the hood it’s a fast VPN with a no-log policy and great customer service. It supports 5 concurrent connections for $3.8 per month under a yearly package!

While some of the best VPNs focus on a wide range of servers, StrongVPN prioritises speed and the ability to unblock Netflix. It has servers in 45 cities across 23 countries, most of which can bypass region blocks.

Such functionality has made this StrongVPN very popular in China and other countries with aggressive blocking policies. This review will analyze the benefits for a new, global audience.

Ease of Use – StrongVPNGUI Interface

StrongVPN’s install is as simple as it gets. Users are presented with a regular installer and just have to hit next until it’s complete. StrongVPN intelligently installs TAP drivers, requiring no extra prompts. After completion, the application will launch automatically.

At first glance, StrongVPN’s interface is simple. It presents your location, a list of servers, and VPN protocol used to encrypt traffic. Most users will never have to go outside of this interface, leaving a minimal, simple experience.

The StrongVPN client - Probably not the best looking GUI but surely the best service

Once you drill down into settings, things get more complex. Though well-labelled, there’s a lot of information with no tooltips or tutorial. However, these are presented as advanced options so, naturally, they are targeted at power users.

They also provide some information that’s useful to everyone. By default, StrongVPN launches an Information page, which gives account details, launcher version, subscription length, and more. This makes it easier to provide relevant details to support agents, and isn’t something you see often:

StrongVPN client information window 

It isn’t the best VPN client we’ve seen in terms of ease of use, but the default screen is still simple and the advanced options provide unprecedented customization. Though it was a slightly slow to connect to some servers, that was mitigated by a stable experience afterwards.

VPN Client Platform Availability

The clunkiness of StrongVPN’s client can also be forgiven by its availability. It’s one of the few clients that states supports for all modern versions of Windows, from Windows XP through to Windows 10. Mac support is solid too, with an installer from Yosemite upwards. For Mac users on older systems, there’s a legacy client that works just fine.

Like all of the best VPNs, there’s support for Android and iOS, too. iPhones, iPads and iTouch devices are supported on iOS 9 and up. Android goes back a little further, with support for Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0) and above.

For other platforms, StrongVPN provides some of the most comprehensive guidance we’ve seen. There’s tutorials for Windows Phone, Windows Mobile, Microsoft Surface and more.

StrongVPN Mobile client - Great looking interface with heaps of options

The mobile apps aren’t the prettiest we’ve seen, but it’s hard to deny the simplicity. StrongVPN has gone for a very barebones interface with a simple button to enable and disable the connection. Though the settings menu isn’t quite where you’d expect it to be, it presents information in a much simpler format than the desktop client.

However, things get a little more complex once you move to Linux. StrongVPN doesn’t provide a dedicated installer for any of the distributions. That’s a very common move, as it’s difficult to provide options for all the different versions, and Linux users tend to be more advanced anyway.

Thankfully, StrongVPN does provide some excellent guidance that makes it much easier. Picture guides are provided for Linux in general and Ubuntu. Some of these take the form of forum posts, while others are detailed picture guides.

Reliable Hosting also gives recommendations to users that are stuck between PPTP, L2TP, and OpenVPN. PTTP is recommended for Ubuntu as it’s the simplest setup and deemed adequate for casual browsing, video streaming, gaming, VoIP/Video calls and other.

Despite this, OpenVPN is quite easy to get working with StrongVPN. The guide for Ubuntu requires minimal command line input and, for other distributions, command line and network manager tutorials are available.

Of course, you can set up OpenVPN on Windows and Reliable Hosting has picture guides for that too. The setup is a little more involved than some, requiring a different username and password than the usual client. Those details are hidden away in a sub-menu, but thankfully the tutorial points you to the right place. 

Connecting to StrongVPN using OpenVPN client

With a little effort, we were able to get OpenVPN working with the service just fine. Support was also happy to help with this, and provided valuable advice.

Router VPN Support 

It’s clear that Reliable Hosting has some of the best VPN guidance, and that extends to routers. Though StrongVPN doesn’t have its own OS, it does support a wide range of router firmwares via PPTP and OpenVPN.

In fact, Reliable Hosting has some of the best VPN router guides we’ve seen. The company provides setup tutorials for the popular DD-WRT and TomatoUSB. However, it also goes a step further, with support for the Sabai and Mikrotik Router OS’s.

There are options for less advanced users. StrongVPN sells routers pre-flashed with SabaiOS so that no setup is required. The Tomato-based router OS makes it simple to use VPNs with routers, and requires very little configuration.

Though the routers are shipped by Sabai technology, Reliable Hosting handles the payment. You can also buy a VPN subscription alongside it for less micromanagement.

VPN Privacy, Security and Encyrption

StrongVPN’s multitude of platforms is enhanced by its support for various encryption options. As with most modern clients, StrongVPN uses OpenVPN with either UDP or TCP by default. However, it also supports PPTP, L2TP, and SSTP. 

Though StrongVPN used to offer different encryption levels depending on your package, that’s no longer the case as all packages now have access to all supported encryption methods. This opens up connections on more niche devices, and provides varying degrees of speed and security. You can find out more about the various protocols in our beginner’s guide to VPNs.

Despite the options, OpenVPN will be the choice of most users. StrongVPN provides up to 256-bit AES encryption via this method, its highest amount. It’s the best VPN encryption in the industry used by law enforcement and privacy experts.

StrongVPN comes with kill switch functionality. The option isn’t immediately obvious, labeled as Allow direct traffic while reconnecting. Unchecking the option will make sure your PC doesn’t transmit any data if the VPN connection drops. However, it’s worth noting that its implementation is questionable, as we have covered below.

To further its anonymous browsing features, Reliable Hosting provides its users with its StrongDNS service for free. This mitigates issues like DNS leaks, which you can read more about here. The user is given the IP address of dedicated DNS servers via a separate client or through manual setup.

DNS Leak Protection Test

It would be unusual to provide a standalone DNS service if it didn’t prevent leaks correctly. However, as a precaution, we ran several tests with StrongDNS. Using the guidance from our DNS leak guide, we first tested with DNSleaktest.com, StrongVPN connected, and StrongDNS disabled.

Testing StrongVPN for DNS Leaks

As with many of the best VPNs, StrongVPNseems to have some built-in protection, changing the DNS address in its TAP driver automatically. The only IP that shows is Reliable Hosting’s Netherlands server. We got the same result using a separate test by CryptoIP, which displayed an identical address:

Enabling the StrongDNS tool shows similar results. To test correctly, we set StrongVPN TAP drivers to automatically determine DNS servers. Testing without StrongDNS enabled points to a Dyn DNS from Saudi Arabia. While still a reliable hosting DNS, it isn’t as dedicated or safe:

Testing StrongVPN for DNS leaks without StrongDNS enabled

Enabling the StrongDNS tool has the same effect as correctly configured TAP drivers – it forces the computer to use StrongVPN’s dedicated DNS servers. 

StrongVPN enabled with StrongDNS passed the DNS leak test

Despite having the same effect, there are some advantages to using the StrongDNS tool. It protects users regardless of the protocol, and changes automatically when StrongVPN phases in and out of different servers.

Despite this, users should still ensure their system is properly configured against DNS leaks. There are several factors in play, each of which is explained in our DNS leak guide.

Kill Switch Protection Test 

The next feature to test was StrongVPN’s Kill Switch. We found the implementation very difficult to test. StrongVPN’s implementation didn’t kick in when simply disabling TAP drivers like other VPNs.

In fact, disabling TAP drivers cut the VPN connection, displaying our true IP, without any indication from the client. This happened despite having “Allow direct traffic while reconnecting” unticked. That’s slightly concerning, and points to a faulty implementation.

Instead, we tried ending the OpenVPN process in task manager. This cut the VPN connection once more, but this time to client was able to detect it. However, despite a “reconnecting” dialogue, our true IP still leaked.

Confused, we spoke to support about the matter. An agent confirmed to us that the kill switch functionality is not currently working with StrongVPN:

StrongVPN – Asking Live Chat about the Kill Switch feature

Naturally, we asked if the feature would be fixed anytime soon. The support agent replied, “sorry, we don't have ETA for that task. it may be fixed in one of the next vpn client releases.”

The feature is not advertised by StrongVPN on the site, so the implementation isn’t particularly misleading. However, it’s definitely something to note. You will have to set up a kill switch manually, which is actually far safer than the implementation of even the best VPNs.

Though it can be tricky on some systems, we have extensive guidance in our VPN for torrenting article.

WebRTC Protection Test

Though StrongVPN doesn’t protect against connection loss, its WebRTC prevention is very good. For those unfamiliar, WebRTC is a communications protocol. It allows for real-time file and video sharing in the browser without the need for extra plugins. Unfortunately, it also lets websites use javascript to discover a user’s true IP address, even if they’re using a VPN.

Using the StrongDNS tool and ipleak.net, we found no issues withWebRTC. Though it was enabled in our browser, only a Shared Address Space IP was revealed:

StrongVPN protects against WebRTC leaks

Only the best VPNs can provide such functionality and, in this case, it’s thanks to StrongVPN’s dedicated DNS servers. Even with StrongDNS disabled, the service maintained anonymous browsing.

Speed Test and Reliability

Other than anonymity, speed is an important factor in VPN purchases. Encryption always means a slowdown of some sort, but the amount can vary depending on provider. We run tests on all of the best VPN providers to determine the fall off from different locations.

Using the popular Speedtest.net, we first ran a test from a 100 Mbps UK connection without the VPN enabled on the San Jose server. It came back at a solid 89.84 Mb/s.

Speedtest without a VPN 

This initial test confirmed we had the ability to utilise almost 100% of our link to the internet.

Next, we enabled our StrongVPN and tried the same test again and the results were staggering:

StrongVPN truly impressed us with its superfast download speeds and low latency

We experienced an expectedsmall drop off using the San Jose server, down to 82.48 Mb/s which is really negligible considering our connection had additional overhead due to the heavy encryption and we also introduced an additional hop (VPN server) between our location and the San Jose Speedtest.net server.

The round-trip ping came in only 156ms – that’s only a 16ms increase in latency which is very impressive!

That’s a very fast VPN, with fast downloads/uploads and very low latency while gaming. The download and upload speeds are up there with the best VPNs and certainly fast enough to support any scenario.

StrongVPN Unblocks Netflix, BBC iPlayer, HULU and Region Blocks

The service was able to unblock Netflix successfully. It seems to work with every U.S. server except Miami and Atlanta. Here’s an example from a New York Server:

US Netflix successfully unblocked with StrongVPN 

While most of the best VPN providers can unblock Netflix, StrongVPN is particularly impressive. Not only does it work for almost all US servers, it’s also able to unblock Netflix around the globe. In our short testing we were able to access Netflix from the following countries:

• US
• UK
• Australia
• Canada
• China
• Czech Republic
• Germany
• Israel
• Japan
• Italy
• Korea
• Latvia
• Luxembourg
• Malaysia
• Mexico
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Romania
• Singapore
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Turkey 

The only notable ones missing were Spain and France. This is the best VPN functionality we’ve seen from any VPN provider we’ve tested. Combined with fast VPN speeds, streaming is quick and available from almost anywhere on the planet.

StrongVPN advises users to report services that are blocked by sending a tracert report. If there’s a genuine problem, they’re usually good at fixing it. 

StrongVPN unblocks BBC iPlayer 

The unblock Netflix functionality extends to other services. Using a fast VPN connection from the UK, we were able to access BBC iPlayer without any issues. Though it currently only supports less secure protocols, StrongVPN is clearly the top in its class at bypassing region blocks. Much of this is down to its StrongDNS tool, which helps to convince websites the connection is genuine.

StrongVPN for Torrenting 

VPNs are popular for torrenting and peer-to-peer downloads and StrongVPN certainly did not disappoint. Using a legal download of Ubuntu, we first tested without the VPN enabled from the UK:

Torrent downloading without VPN enabled

Torrent download speeds were not the greatest despite our fast connection but there are many factors at play here, including variation in healthy peers and ISP bandwidth caps.

We then enabled our StrongVPN connection and re-tested the same download noticing a significant increase in download speed:

Torrent downloading speed increased with StrongVPN enabled

This test also confirms the results we saw during the writing of our VPN for Torrenting article where our download speeds increased from 1.2Mb/sec to 3.1Mb/sec after enabling our StrongVPN client.

As a general rule of thumb users downloading via torrent should be using a VPN to help ensure their download speeds are not capped by their ISP. While no ISP will admit they are in fact throttling connections, when using a VPN we can clearly see the difference.

StrongVPN's no-log policy also helps ensure user data is not tracked or logged.

VoIP & Video Calls

VoIP and Video calls are one of the toughest tests when it comes to VPNs mainly because VoIP is very sensitive to latency (delay). Generally any one-way delay greater than 150ms (0.15 seconds) will be evident to everyone that’s participating in the call.

We wanted to test StrongVPN under the most extreme conditions so we decided to perform VoIP and video calls from Australia to Australia via a StrongVPN server located in the United States.

We connected our mobile VPN client with a StrongVPN server in Washington DC and then launched three different VoIP/Video applications: Viber, Skype and Zoiper. We made VoIP and video calls to users located in Australia forcing packets to travel to the USA and then back to Australia as shown in the diagram above.

The results were surprisingly great as there were very few times we had delays which were barely noticeable. Video and audio worked great without any issues and our Viber application continuously reported Excellent Network Quality even during video calls:

VoIP and Video calls work great with StrongVPN

Does StrongVPN Keep Logs?  

Though StrongVPN has some considerable security features, it can still be compromised if the service keeps logs. When browsing, a user hides behind a VPN’s server IPs. However, logs allow a government agency or copyright holder to discover the user’s true identity via a legal request. This is particularly important for StrongVPN, as it’s based in the US. The US has many surveillance programs and is part of the five-eyes intelligence alliance.

Thankfully, StrongVPN does not keep VPN connection logs of any kind. Its privacy policy reads as follows:

“StrongVPN does not collect or log any traffic or use of its Virtual Private Network service.

We will only comply with all valid subpoena request that follow the letter of the law. We cannot provide information that we do not have. StrongVPN will not participate with any request that is unconstitutional.”

This is a relatively recent change. In the past, StrongVPN was known for keeping logs, both for fourteen days and indefinitely. It’s great to see the service adapting to modern requirements and providing its users with more privacy as a result. Bear in mind the service has been around for 20 years, before the extent of mass surveillance was known. This gives a little leeway to its old policies.

However, even the best VPNs tend to keep logs on their website. StrongVPN is no different in this regard. Reliable Hosting collects cookies, Google analytics, and other such services. This is used to improve the service and isn’t sold to third parties.

Account information is stored too. This includes your billing address, name, email address and more. The logging policy differs depending on the payment method you use, however. StrongVPN does support Bitcoin, which provides significantly more anonymity. You can also use a fake name and email address to circumvent some of these worries.

Support – Response Time and Quality 

StrongVPN says its support is second to none and, in our usage, that was the case. The 24/7 live chat has a strict hierarchy and dedicated tech support, something we haven’t seen with any other service. This was refreshing, as support agents had in-depth knowledge about what they were discussing and how to provide help.

Response times were very quick, and we managed to get in contact with a human within a few minutes, even at peak times. We presented a number of issues, including connection errors and OpenVPN setup. Tech support solved both quickly, and provided more details about the service. They were clearly typing information personally, rather than copying and pasting answers.

StrongVPN also has email support for non-urgent cases. The response is much the same, with detailed, personalized answers in a short time frame. It never took more than a couple of hours to get a reply, which is definitely acceptable when there’s 24/7 support via livechat.

All in all, StrongVPN’s support is exceptional. Naturally, it depends on the support agent but we were impressed with their admittance of broken features, where others would try to skirt around the issue. Though the service might be considered expensive by some, it does come with some of the best VPN support around. 

Value for Money 

On the topic of price, StrongVPN’s value really depends on what you’re using it for. The $3.80 subscription fee is very cheap, and not at all extortionate.

Those who want to bypass region blocks or be safe on public WiFi will be much more suited to this service. It’s the best VPN we’ve seen to unblock Netflix, and is a fast VPN aswell. Its offering of 23 countries is more than enough, and platform availability is also a strong point.

Summary 

StrongVPN has changed a lot in recent years, and it’s worth keeping an open mind.  Its fast download speeds, simple but effective VPN client, strong encryption, zero-log policy, awesome ability to unblock Netflix, LuLu and BBC iPlayer makes it a clear winner. And if you aren’t happy with the service, StrongVPN still has a five-day money back guarantee.

Thankfully, there are some established brands that stand above the rest. One of these is Private Internet Access (PIA), launched by London Trust Media in 2010. PIA is very popular for P2P downloads, allowing torrents on every server via secondary VPNs.

In addition, PIA keeps no logs and eliminates DNS leaks, IPv6 leaks, web tracking and malware. It boasts over 3200 servers across 24 countries, as well as a free SOCKS5 proxy.

PIA’s VPN Gateways provide thousands of servers across the globe

It’s a fast VPN and quite wide-reaching. All of this comes at a price of only $3.33 (US) a month, though there are a few caveats.

At only $3.33/month US, PIA represents an amazing value for money

Primarily, there is a slightly limited ability to bypass region blocks. PIA might require logging into a few VPN servers to find one that successfully unblocks Netflix or Hulu, but does work without a problem with BBC and other geo-restricted content. Additionally, its popularity means users are more likely to be incorrectly blacklisted from sites.

While the desktop VPN client seems fairly simple, the iOS and Android clients are have a more pleasing look and interface. Despite the simplified desktop interface PIA still remains one of the Best VPNs around offering great value for money.

Quick overview of VPN features offered by Private Internet Access

PIA VPN Client Installation

Although it may not be the most beautiful VPN client out there, the sign-up and install process for PIA is simple, and the website is nice enough to make the signup and client installation an easy-to-follow process even for novice users. Registration requires only a couple of clicks and an email address. PIA takes care of the password for you, sending your user and login details via those details. You’re also given a link to the client installer for each platform, guides, and a dedicated new user support thread. It’s all fairly fool-proof.

In fact, the install process is so easy that you probably won’t need the support. Users just have to open the file and everything is taken care of. No hitting next, no choosing install locations. A command prompt window opens and installs everything you need.

PIA VPN Client has a simple, yet effective, interface with plenty of useful options

Despite the client’s simplistic design, it does provide all the functionality you need in an easy-to-use interface. Connecting to a VPN server can be managed straight from the system tray, and right-clicking offers more options. Its usability is up there with the Best VPNs Review.

VPN Client Platform Availability

This ease of use extends to most of the major platforms. PIA has a Windows and Mac OSX client, as well as an app for iPhone, iPad, and Android smartphones/tablets. Platforms like Windows Mobile do not have a dedicated client, but can utilize the less secure L2TP protocol via settings. In general, we found the apps easy to use, more so than the desktop client. They have a modern GUI and the ability to start the VPN in one click. Without doubt PIA has one of the best VPN apps out there on the mobile platform.

PIA Mobile VPN Client – Great features and easy to use

There’s also support for Linux, although the complexity depends on distribution. Ubuntu 12.04+ is the most supported, and has a dedicated installer that can be run through terminal:

The PIA Linux VPN Client installation process and login

Most other distributions can install PIA via package manager commands. The exact ones depend on the version of Linux but, generally, it looks something like this:

PIA OpenVPN Client Installation

However, some users are subject to restrictive network policies, causing issues with the dedicated Linux VPN client. In this case, they must use the standalone OpenVPN client. On Linux, this is a bit complex. Though PIA doesn’t have a dedicated support thread, a forum post details the steps for various Debian distributions. It would be good to see a bit more support, but the OpenVPN application isn’t controlled by PIA so it’s forgivable.

PIA OpenVPN (Windows) Client Login

Windows users have an easier time of things. They can use the OpenVPN client by following this guide. All it takes is a simple installer and a configuration file. Naturally, you will not have access to the best VPN features like DNS leak protection, a kill switch, and PIA MACE (Analysed below). However, it does offer a fast VPN service that can bypass network restrictions.

Router VPN Support

Some users find it easier to set up a VPN on their router rather than running VPN clients on every machine. This way, all connections on the network are encrypted by default. Unlike some other VPN providers, PIA does not offer a dedicated application/firmware that users can load on compatible hardware routers but this can be easily overlooked as PIA is fully compatible with open source alternatives such as DD-WRT, Tomato router software and even PfSense.

PIA Tomato VPN setup

Private Internet Access team has extensive guidance on this and all three solutions use OpenVPN. It isn’t the easiest process, but it’s possible with a little effort.

Privacy, Security and Encryption

With a name like Private Internet Access, you would expect PIA to have considerable security. Fortunately, it does live up to its name. It supports PPTP, OpenVPN, and L2TP/IPSec encryption methods. These each have advantages and disadvantages, as stated in our beginner’s guide to VPNs.

By default, PIA utilizes OpenVPN, which is standard for all the best VPNs. Users can choose between AES-128 level encryption and the slower, more secure AES-256. They can also choose between SHA-1 and SHA-256 data authentication, and various handshake methods. You can customize PIA to give maximum protection, none, or somewhere in the middle. Combined with the variety of platforms, these features ensure users can stay safe even on public WiFi.

Private Internet Access also tries to mitigate other security issues. A dedicated PIA MACE setting blocks information leaks due to ads, trackers, and malware. MACE uses a custom DNS server so that requests from unwanted domains return an incorrect IP address. This is a step further than many providers.

PIA also promotes a Kill-Switch feature. When the VPN cuts out or drops, the client disables a user’s internet connection. This is so their real identity is never revealed. What’s more, it reconnects automatically after sleep mode – a handy feature not found on many VPN clients. Although PIA previously had issues with the VPN Auto-Connect feature, this has been resolved in the latest release.

DNS leak worries are addressed too, via a dedicated toggle. Often, OS issues cause a user’s IP address to become public through the Domain Name System. PIA has taken the time to resolve this, despite it being more of an OS issue than a VPN one.

IPv6 leaks are another concern, and the PIA client has protection for those. Again, this is optional, and is off by default. If all that’s still not enough, PIA provides a SOCKS5 proxy that can be layered on top of a VPN connection. This provides no extra encryption, but does further obscure the IP address.

DNS Leak Protection Test

Unfortunately, you can’t always trust what VPN providers put on their websites. Where possible, you should do independent tests of key features. The best VPN providers have security teams consistently testing for vulnerabilities. However, gaps in security can still happen without the provider knowing. As a result, we tested PIA’s functionality, starting with DNS Leak Protection.

First, we used DNSleaktest.com to run an advanced test without DNS Leak Protection enabled. We got the following result:

DNS Leak test without PIA’s DNS Leak Protection enabled

The test returned the IP address of the VPN server (Choopla) and our IP address 81.139.58.46 (British Telecom). No surprises there, our OS wasn’t optimized to stop this.

However, PIA’s DNS leak protection setting is supposed to mitigate that issue. With the setting enabled, DNSleak.com came back with this:

DNS Leak test with PIA’s DNS Leak Protection enabled

This time, only the IP address of the VPN shows up. PIA’s feature seems to work perfectly, giving true anonymous browsing. Just to be sure, we tested again using a different site, cyptoip.info.

Initial test was without enabling PIA’s DNS Leak Protection option:

Again, the test confirmed there is a DNS Leak as it returned the IP address of the VPN server (Choopla) and our IP address 81.139.58.46 (British Telecom).

Next, we disconnected from the VPN server, enabled DNS Leak Protection in our VPN client and reconnected to the VPN server. Executing the DNS Leak test provided the following results:

Once more, PIA successfully resolved DNS leak issues. Though we can’t vouch for it on every system, it’s a solid indication. To be certain, users should always modify system settings as per our DNS leak guide.

Kill Switch Protection Test

So, PIA’s DNS leak protection is pretty solid. How about the ‘kill switch’ feature? It’s hard to test consistently, but we didn’t run into any problems. Disconnecting from the VPN immediately turns off the Wi-Fi connection and no web pages will load:

PIA’s Kill Switch blocks internet access when not connected to the VPN

However, this doesn’t mean that no leak is occurring. Even slight delays to block internet traffic might cause our IP address to leak for a couple of seconds. To test further, we monitored for any IP changes during connect and disconnect with ipleak.net. We found the real IP address was not displayed at any point. That’s a definite plus that helps keep your identity hidden.

However, it’s worth noting that PIA’s Kill Switch feature does not work if you use more than one network interface. It can also cause connectivity issues in rare cases. You should only use the feature if you need anonymous browsing, and ought to disable any extra network interfaces.

WebRTC Protection Test

Occasionally, VPNs offer protection against WebRTC. For those unfamiliar, WebRTC is a communications protocol that enables video conferencing and file transfer without extra browser plugins. However, a flaw lets websites discover the true IP address of a user even if they’re using a VPN.

With features like PIA MACE, it can be difficult to tell what is included in “tracking protection.” We contacted support, asking what it covers. In regards to WebRTC, we got this reponse:

“WebRTC is a browser issue, not a VPN problem, and not unique to our service. Mace does not protect from WebRTC.”

Our own tests were shaky. Using the Browserleaks test we did confirm a WebRTC connection in unmodified browsers:

This happens even with PIA’s extra security measures enabled. However, the IP address WebRTC detects seems to point to the VPN server IP, not ours. PIA seems to route STUN requests through its servers to hide the client’s real IP address. So, there does seem to be some protection, but it’s not related to MACE.

However, it’s hard to say how comprehensive this solution is. WebRTC isn’t PIA’s responsibility, as the support agent pointed out. Even the best VPNs can’t substitute for user configuration.

Does Private Internet Access Keep Logs?

PIA provides great security, and it doesn’t lie about its features. Still, this functionality is useless if it keeps logs. A warrant from law enforcement or the NSA and your private data is in the open. This has happened several times, including hidemyass (another VPN provider) in 2011. Private Internet Access claims it does not keep traffic logs and provides true, anonymous browsing.

However, it’s difficult to trust a provider’s word with so much pressure from law enforcement. IN PIA’s case we can be quite certain. Court documents from multiple bomb threats in 2016 show the FBI could get no useful information from PIA (see page 12, section 33).

“All of the responses from 1&1, Facebook, Twitter, and Tracfone have been traced by IP address back to a company named London Trust Media dba privateinternetaccess.com. This company is an anonymizing company whose purpose is to allow users of the internet to mask their original IP address where they are sending messages from. A subpoena was sent to London Trust Media and the only information they could provide is that the cluster of IP addresses being used was from the east coast of the United States.”

That’s a big endorsement, and shows that PIA is trustworthy. It seems unlikely that the FBI wouldn’t pull all the cards for such a serious threat.

While PIA doesn’t keep traffic logs, it does track some aspects of its website usage. Its privacy policy reveals LTM (Private Internet Access) retains email addresses, payment data, and temporary cookies. It also keeps apache web server logs, anonymous Google analytics data, and credit card protection. It seems the “anonymous browsing” claim does not refer to accessing its website.

However, PIA does seem to use this information in a genuine manner. An email address is essential for payment confirmation, and Apache web server logs are “regularly pruned,” with no usernames or passwords involved. Users can also pay by Bitcoin or connect through TOR if they’re concerned.

Despite the London name, PIA is based in the United States. This means considerable scrutiny from law enforcement and other bodies. However, company lawyer John Arsenault says there’s a backup plan if the climate there goes south. From 2012-2013, the company received eleven requests for user data, three of which were from outside the US. Of those, no user data was disclosed.

Speed Test and Reliability

Alongside its privacy features, we found Private Internet Access to be a relatively fast VPN. From the UK, we used speedtest.net’s San Jose, CA server. Without PIA, we got a download speed of 90.26 Mb/s, an upload of 97.40Mb/s, and 140ms ping (latency).

Non-VPN Speed Test with Speedtest.net San Jose

A connection with PIA’s closest UK VPN server netted a slight decrease in both download and upload speed:

VPN-Enabled Speed Test with Speedtest.net San Jose

Our download speed took close to a 10% hit, and upload fell by 6.42 Mb/s. That’s quite a fast VPN for all the encryption that’s going on. Ping also fell within the expected range.

In all, PIA provided more than acceptable upload and download speeds. London Trust Media has over 3200 servers across 24 countries. That means coverage isn’t much of an issue, though we’d like to see a few more on the list.

We did, however, experience a few problems with reliability. At times, the speed of servers seemed to drop – likely due to high traffic. However, you can lodge speed complaints straight from the client and they may be resolved. Despite its popularity, Private Internet Access was a fast VPN and, although it sometimes slowed, it never cut out completely.

Private Internet Access for Netflix and Region Blocks

Unfortunately, the popularity does come with some other issues. While some of the best VPNs manage to unblock Netflix, PIA is a little shaky. Anonymous browsing comes at a cost, and connecting from a US California server resulted in the well-known streaming error code F7111-1331-5059

Netflix appears to regularly identify and remove IP addresses owned by PIA. However, we did manage to unblock Netflix from the US Texas server:

The Magicians, not available on UK Netflix.

So, watching Netflix with PIA is possible, but it may take some searching around to find a VPN server that is not blocked by Netflix. It’s a constant battle between any VPN provider and Netflix, and London Trust Media can’t afford to keep buying new servers. Due to legal issues, support agents are not able to help users unblock Netflix, either. That means you’ll have to test each server manually.

This also applies to the local VPN server (in most cases). We couldn’t find a UK server that unblocks Netflix, despite testing from there. As a result, you may have to forego encryption while you watch. Not ideal, but the fault is Netflix’s rather than PIA’s. In Australia, this wasn’t an issue, as the servers haven’t been blacklisted yet. The Usefulness varies depending on country.

Thankfully, the issue is also mostly limited to Netflix. We could access BBC iPlayer with ease from the UK London VPN server. It depends entirely on the service and how strictly they police. However, to fully unblock Netflix, you’ll want to check out our Best VPN Guide.

Private Internet Access for Torrenting

Though London Trust Media doesn’t support the download of illegal content, nothing is done to stop P2P downloads. We enjoyed a great experience downloading several legal torrents. There was a drop of no more than 1 MB/s, and only slight differences in reliability. Our download speeds without VPN were averaging around 8.7MB/s with a drop to 7.7Mb/s after connecting to our PIA VPN.

A BitTorrent download with no VPN enabled

BitTorrent downloading Using Private Internet Access

 Torrent functionality works on all servers and, on “high-risk” ones, PIA routes traffic through a secondary VPN to further hide IP addresses. In addition, PIA keeps no logs, so it can’t comply with requests from copyright holders.

To verify the safety of P2P downloads with PIA, we ran the ipMagnet test, as per our VPN for torrenting guide. Only the VPN provider was shown, proving that PIA can hide the IP address even during P2P. For further safety, PIA provides a SOCKS5 proxy. Though this doesn’t offer encryption, it does give another layer to hide an IP address. You can see the initial, SOCKS5 IP address, followed by the VPN IP when it was disabled:

All of this makes Private Internet Access an excellent option for torrenting. It should also provide anonymous browsing on torrent sites, and bypass ISP throttling on download. $3.33 for fast VPN torrenting is almost a steal.

Support – Response Time and Quality

No service is infallible, and it’s important to have support services in place. PIA no longer offers a 24/7 live chat service, instead opting for an email system. The average wait time is listed as 4-6 hours.

However, we found this to be significantly less in practice. In three separate support cases, two received replies in exactly half an hour, and the third around 45 minutes. That may not be as fast as a live chat, but it’s acceptable. This may just be to stop users being impatient if replies aren’t instantaneous.

The quality of support was also good. Responses were a mixture of personalized content and copy-pasted guides for extra information. The agents answered questions clearly, were knowledgeable about the product, and even sent follow up emails.

Unfortunately, PIA does not offer phone call support. This may be an issue if you have an urgent problem, but for anything else email should be fine. There’s also a variety of forum posts and FAQs covering a range of topics, so even that may not be necessary. It’s not the best VPN support around but for most users it will be plenty.

Value for Money

Private Internet Access manages to deliver some of the best value for money in the industry. The subscription is cheaper than most VPN providers at its $3.33US/month based on a yearly subscription. Other tiers are a lot more expensive, six months adding up to $5.99 a month and one month $6.95. However, this is still lower than some of our best VPN providers.

Despite the low fee, users still get a complete service. For less than a coffee each month, you get anonymous browsing and torrenting, good support, and more than enough speed. Though the ability to unblock Netflix is limited, there are a few servers that work and PIA can still dodge most geo-blocking. The free SOCKS5 proxy is another plus, allowing users to trade encryption for speed where needed.

Summary

You’re also paying for the brand. Not to show-off to your friends, but in its certifications. London Trust Media has been around for ten years now, and is one of the few with tangible evidence to back up its no log policy.

However, if users aren’t happy, PIA does have a seven-day money back guarantee. That should be more than enough time, and refunds are given with no questions asked. Unless Netflix blocking is your biggest use, the value for money is unmatched. That amazing price point is why we named Private Internet Access one of the best VPNs this year.

But not to worry, there are plenty of technologies and software developed to preserve your Internet privacy. TOR and VPN are the popular ones. So, here we explore and share which of the two comes out to be a better way to achieve a superior level of privacy on the Internet.

Before diving deep into the topic, let’s see what’s covered:

• What is Internet Privacy?
• How TOR Works
  • ToR Onion Routing
• How VPNs Work
• VPN Protocols
  • PPTP – Point to Point Tunnelling Protocol
  • L2TP/IPSec – Layer 2 Tunnel Protocol / IPSecurity
  • SSTP – Secure Sockets Tunnelling Protocol
  • OpenVPN
• When to use TOR
• When to use VPN
• TOR vs VPN – TOR Advantages and Disadvantages
• TOR vs VPN – VPN Advantages and Disadvantages
• TOR vs VPN Summary

What is Internet Privacy?

What if, at all times, someone is keeping an undersea eye on what you browse over Google, always peering into the messages as you chat with other people? Wouldn’t that make you uneasy? This is Internet privacy. That is, whatever information you share, or browsing you do over the Internet, keeps itself only to you, until you want it public.

We continually hear about governments and ISPs spying on users and even other countries, which shows how unsafe the internet is. Thankfully, user awareness on internet privacy is continually improving as more and more users seek out bullet-proof methods to encrypt their communications and protect their online privacy.

How TOR Works

TOR or The Onion Router is a free, open source software that comes under the development and maintenance of The Tor Project, a non-profit organisation funded by the US Government. TOR enables users to preserve their anonymity over Internet communications.

To download, simply go to www.TORproject.org. There’s two bundles available for downloading, one is Vidalia, which requires a web browser pre-installed on your system. However, the other one, the TOR Browser Bundle, is preferred as it puts TOR directly into your system without you having to fulfil any prerequisites or additional installations.

You can download the necessary files for your operating system by visiting: https://www.torproject.org/download/download.html.en

TOR - Onion Routing

TOR employs Onion Routing, a technology developed in the late nineties by a scientist named Syverson. It works at the TCP Layer of the network, using a multiple hop pathway. Whenever a user sends data across the network, TOR creates a relay of nodes (or hops) that decrypts the data, one layer at a time. This is where the TOR vs VPN battle actually takes off.

The relay of nodes is randomly selected proxy servers from the TOR users’ network. When the data travels from a user to the first node, it decrypts the IP address of the second node. Similarly, when it reaches the second node, it decrypts the IP address of the third node and so on till it reaches the last node. At each node only information about the next node is decrypted, thus maintaining the anonymity of the user over the entire network. When the data packet reaches the exit node, the node there finally decrypts the IP address of the destination server/node.

The following diagram provides an accurate representation of the Onion Routing method described. Like the layers of an onion, each message (the core of the onion) is covered with layers of encryption. Each layer is removed as it is received by a TOR Node (Router) and then forwarded to the next TOR Node (Router):

Figure 1. TOR Onion Routing method. Each layer is removed by each node to reveal the message

The diagram below is another example which shows how data is exchanged within the TOR network to guarantee privacy and make it almost impossible to track where data packets originate from or the final destination:

How TOR works – Data exchange between TOR nodes and normal non-TOR servers

Note that TOR nodes/users are also able to access normal (non-TOR) websites and hosts in a similar manner.

An example to further clarify the concept: let’s say you want to send a picture to your friend over the internet, without disclosing your location/IP address.

So when you send the picture, what happens is that your phone, i.e. the Client, creates a data packet that comprises two parts: Data Payload and Header. Data Payload contains your message, in this case the picture, while the header carries all the information about the Client’s (your) and recipient’s IP address.

Figure 3. Data transfer process without TOR exposes the sender’s & receiver’s IP address

Now, if you are not using TOR, this data packet directly reaches out to your friend (receiver). And, if your friend is an IT person, it will be fairly easy for him to figure out your IP address from the header and thus the location, which you wanted kept private.

However, with TOR, a different scene would play altogether.

With TOR, this data packet from the Client (sender), instead of reaching out directly to the Server (receiver), passes through several proxy servers in between. At each layer, the data packet reveals only as much information as is required to reach the next layer. Thus at each step the data packet unfolds information only about the next node, not about the forthcoming layers. The layers unfold one at a time, to reach the destination Server safely without him knowing your location:

Data transfer via the TOR network guarantees encryption and privacy

This way TOR doesn’t necessarily erase the footprints of the client but makes it less likely for the server to trace the client’s details. TOR’s strength lies in the number of proxies in the relay. These proxies are servers operated by volunteers connected to the TOR Project. So, the more volunteers the stronger the security network of TOR.

How VPNs Work (Virtual Private Networks)

Our comprehensive Guide to VPNs covers everything you’ll need to know about VPNs however we’ll provide an overview as well to make it easier to compare VPNs with TOR.

VPNs were created in to provide security to users sending data across a public network such as the internet.

Unlike TOR, VPN employs the Client-Server technology with a single hop relay. The intermediate node in the relay is called a VPN Server. A VPN Server acts as a proxy server to transmit data between the client and the internet as shown in the diagram below:

Securely accessing the internet via a VPN Service Provider

A VPN Client is usually a computer, laptop or mobile phone with VPN software installed and a VPN Server is generally located at the organization’s office, in the case of a company-private VPN, or at a large data center in the case of a VPN Service Provider.

Only a VPN Client with the right settings (credentials and VPN Server address) can connect to the VPN Server. A VPN Server combines the hardware and software technologies necessary to host and deliver VPN services over the network. The moment a VPN Client sends a message to connect to the VPN Server, the server will request the client to authenticate. If the credentials are correct, the client connects to the server creating an encrypted tunnel between the two endpoints. Data flowing between the client and VPN server is encrypted, thus preserving the client’s anonymity during the communication.

VPN Service Providers allow you, the client, to connect to their VPN Servers located around the world via VPN, thus encrypting your internet traffic to make it almost impossible to monitor and track.

When the client (you) tries to access a resource on the internet, e.g. a website, instead of sending the request directly to the website, which would reveal your IP address and allow the ISP to monitor the session, the request is encrypted and sent to the VPN server. The VPN Server then reaches out to the website by forwarding the client’s request, however, the website sees that the request came from the VPN Server, not the client. This hides the end client completely making it impossible to track where the request originated.

The same process applies whether you are torrenting, sending-receiving emails, browsing websites or downloading content from the internet. One key-point to remember here is that when you authenticate in order to access a service, e.g. email, you are in fact disclosing your identity to the end server, however, your location is not revealed.

VPN Protocols

VPNs offer different layers of security depending on the encryption protocol. There is a number of VPN encryption protocols used today by VPN Providers and each has its advantages and disadvantages.

Selecting the best VPN Protocol for your mobile device or computer can be a daunting task especially for new users but it can be simplified when you understand a few basic concepts.

While our upcoming extensive guide to the Best VPN Protocol will cover this in great depth, let’s take a quick look at the most commonly used VPN protocols:

PPTP - Point to Point Tunnelling Protocol

PPTP stands for Point to Point Tunnelling Protocol. Developed by Microsoft decades ago, PPTP is supported by most operating systems including Windows, MAC, Mobile OS and Android. It is fast but at the cost of weak encryption. This means that a PPTP VPN can be easily cracked and shouldn’t be used when sending or transmitting sensitive information. PPTP also seems to works well on Wi-Fi hotspots.

L2TP/IPsec – Layer 2 Tunnel Protocol / IPSecurity

Layer 2 Tunnelling Protocol and IP Security offers good encryption resulting in heavy CPU processing, thereby decreasing its speed. L2TP is a much better replacement for the older PPTP but users need to be aware that the increased security/encryption comes at the cost of speed.

SSTP – Secure Sockets Tunnelling Protocol

The SSTP protocol is considered a very reliable and easy-to-use protocol. Its advantages include that it will pass through most firewalls, is difficult to block and is natively supported by all Windows platforms from Windows Vista SP1 onwards. Its encryption capabilities are considered moderate and the same applies to its speeds.

OpenVPN

OpenVPN is a newer VPN protocol created and supported by the open-source community. OpenVPN offers the highest level of encryption but, at the same time, is the most flexible protocol available thanks to its ability to utilize the TCP or UDP protocol. It requires a VPN Client and is supported by Windows, Mac and Android Operating Systems. OpenVPN is the preferred VPN protocol as it combines flexibility, encryption and speed. OpenVPN is also the preferred VPN Protocol used by all VPN Providers in our extensive Best VPN review.

When to use TOR

This ‘Dark Onion Science’ prevails. Over 25% of Internet users use TOR daily. That makes the comparison of TOR VPN even more interesting in many ways.

Here are a few examples where TOR can be used, in general:

By Social Workers, Activists & Journalists without Borders

To avoid media censorships while working with sensitive information or secret projects

By Parents & Households

To prevent digital stalking, image abuse and cyber spying.

Law Enforcement Agencies and Military on Undercover Missions

To stay away from the media eye and government hacking/monitoring groups

By Bloggers, Job Professionals or Normal People

To increase their privacy over internet or to simply avoid cyber theft.

Hidden Internet Services

This is a very interesting application of TOR. Hidden Services mean that a client hosts its website or service without disclosing its identity. Here, TOR provides anonymity to websites and other servers. These kinds of websites don’t even have a regular URL address, e.g. www.firewall.cx, instead TOR shows a randomly generated 16-digit code as its domain name. So, if there’s a TOR user trying to access a hidden services website, his browser will identify the domain via public keys and introduction points stored in a distributed hash table in the TOR Network. However, if the user doesn’t have TOR installed, there is no way of accessing these hidden internet services.

Apart from the above mentioned applications, the most common applications that use anonymous internet via TOR are Internet Relay Chat (IRC), Instant Messaging (IM) and World Wide Web (www) browsing.

When to use VPN (VPN Service Provider)

It is without doubt that VPNs are far more popular than TOR, however, let’s take a quick look at the common reasons people prefer to use VPNs:

To Access Restricted Websites – Bypassing Geo-Location Restrictions

Netflix or Hulu are the most common examples here. Users who want to access their Netflix or similar account cannot do so when travelling overseas. With a VPN service you can connect to one of your provider’s VPN servers and access the online content as if you were located in that country – effectively bypassing any geo-location restriction. Another example is trying to access a domain or website that is blocked from your country, e.g. accessing facebook from China.

Our Best VPN Service Provider comparison also includes VPN Providers that provide access to Netflix and Hulu.

For Downloading via Torrents & Avoiding Bandwidth Throttling

Torrent downloading implies downloading illegal or pirated software, however, this is not 100% true. Many vendors offer legal downloading of their software via Torrents. ISPs unfortunately tend to “unofficially” throttle user bandwidth when they detect Torrent traffic. Using a VPN, all traffic is encrypted therefore there is no bandwidth throttling by the ISP.

Secure Mobile Device Internet Data

Users tend to use their mobile devices today to access all sorts of content while commuting to work, casually surfing the internet or checking their bank accounts. No matter what the activity, with a VPN Service Provider that supports mobile clients users are sure that all their data and activities are encrypted and protected.

Authenticating to Websites or Private Resources (Email, Internet Banking etc)

When you are signing in with your credentials to an online resource, it’s always better to protect yourself from crawler bots and cyber fraud artists. A VPN will ensure your traffic is encrypted so anyone monitoring your traffic (e.g. at a public hotspot) won’t be able to see the data that is being transferred.

On Travel or Business

On the road, or at a hotel, VPNs are just the right thing if you travel. VPNs help bypass any firewall restrictions providing full internet access no matter where you might be.

TOR vs VPN: TOR Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages Include:

High Level of Anonymity

TOR gives you such a high level of anonymity it is almost impossible for a website to track you. The Onion Routing technology leaves no way through which your pathway can be tracked.

Free To Use

TOR is completely free!

Reliable

Unlike VPNs where your privacy depends on how trustworthy your VPN Service Provider is, TOR is absolutely reliable. Owing to the randomly selected network of nodes, no one knows about the other and thus there is no concern about reliability here.     

Disadvantages include:

Non Traceable Exit Nodes

Since the data packets at exit nodes are decrypted, whoever is running the exit node can misuse, leak or manipulate the information sent by you.

Blocked Relays

Some relays are cleverly tracked and blocked by the ISPs. This can cause real difficulties in connection between users.

Slow Processing

Since the data packets route through a number of proxy servers, the connection can be slow. This can cause irritation while watching or downloading large files like videos.

Unsuitable for Data-metered Plans

If your internet plan includes a specific amount of data, e.g. 10GB/month, TOR can become a big problem as your bandwidth will be used by other TOR nodes to transfer their data. This will result in quickly depleting your monthly data allowance.

TOR vs VPN: VPN Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages include:

Variety of Security Encryption Levels Depending on your Online Activities

Whether you need to access your email, download torrents, stream videos, perform internet banking transactions or anything else, you can easily select the encryption level and help speed up the connection, or heavily secure it.

Compatible with Almost Any Device

VPNs are compatible with almost any iPhone and android device, Windows operating system or MAC OS. Tablets including iPad are also capable of running VPN client software. This makes it very easy for novice users to install a VPN client and securely connect to the internet.

Fast Speed

From multiple to just one proxy/node  automatically increases the speed of data transmission in VPNs compared to that of TOR. This makes it highly suitable for torrenting or downloading large files. VPNs also allow you to select the server to which you connect - an option that considerably speeds up the overall download speeds one can acheive via a VPN connection.

Easy Availability, Installation and Support

Unlike TOR, VPNs are easily allowed and operated by commercial companies that ensure fast and good quality services for their clients. If you have any problem there is almost always someone at the support desk that can help you via email or live chat.

Ability to bypass Firewall Restrictions

With the use of a VPN you can pretty much bypass any protocol or URL restriction in place, effectively opening the internet to your device.

Disadvantages:

Despite the many advantages of VPNs, there still remains a fly in the ointment. Since information just passes in and out of the tunnel, companies operating the VPNs have access this information. The best way to protect yourself from your VPN Provider is to ensure they have a no-log policy which means they do not log any data or user activity on their VPN Servers. Our Beginners Guide to VPNs article provides all the necessary information new or existing VPN users need, including security concerns and VPN features that help enhance your protection.

TOR vs VPN: Summary

So, the comparison comes out like this: use TOR, or use VPN, each one of them has its own pros and cons. Both are good as long as you understand your needs, the level of anonymity you want over the Internet and at what price. It can cost your time and money. If you want to secure your Internet privacy, TOR is a great option if you have a fast and unmetered (unlimited bandwidth) connection. If you need fast downloading speeds, to bypass any firewall restrictions or just greater flexibility and better control of how you consume your monthly data plan, then a VPN is your solution.

In the comparison of TOR vs VPN, the user is the winner. And to the hackers and government agencies all we can say is, no snooping around!

While many have heard about SOCKS Proxies not many truly understand their purpose, how they work and the security-privacy levels they can offer. SOCKS proxies are often mistakenly considered an alternative or equivalent to VPNs causing major confusion amongst users and providing false sense of security.

In this article we'll be covering a wealth of topics relating to SOCKS Proxies, SSL, Configuration advise, Torrenting via SOCK, compare them with VPNs and much more so let's take a quick look at what we have in store before diving deeper:

• Introduction to SOCKS Proxies
• Understanding how HTTPS Encryption - SSL & HTTPS Proxies work
• How SOCKS5 Proxy Works
• Why Would I Use a SOCKS5 Proxy?
• When to Use SOCKS5 Proxies, VPN or Both
• Combine a SOCKS5 Proxy and a VPN
• SOCKS5 Proxy vs VPN for Torrenting and P2P
• Configuring SOCKS5 Proxy for Torrenting (qBittorrent, uTorrent)
• Configuring Firefox and Chrome to Use SOCKS5 Proxy
• Free Proxy vs Paid
• Using SOCKS5 Proxy for US Netflix

Introduction To SOCKS Proxies

Like HTTP, SOCKS is an internet protocol, but it offers a further degree of anonymity. Connecting to a SOCKS proxy routes your traffic through a third-party server via TCP, assigning you a new IP address in the process. Because the IP address is different, web hosts can’t determine the physical location.

This has the add-on effect of bypassing regional filtering. However, unlike a VPN, SOCKS doesn’t provide encryption. This means users don’t have true privacy and aren’t safe from attacks on Public WiFi and government surveillance. In addition, SOCKS doesn’t run through every application, meaning regular browsing is not always safe.

However, this lack of encryption does provide some benefits. The main one is speed. A SOCKS proxy doesn’t need resources to encrypt traffic and has far less overhead, so it’s usually faster than a VPN. Though proxies don’t provide protection from monitoring, they are a nice middle ground between HTTP and VPNs.

The security of a SOCKS proxy also depends on the version it utilizes. Most modern proxies use either SOCKS4 or SOCKS5 to protect users, and there are some fundamental differences. As you would expect from a lesser version, SOCKS4 has fewer features.

One example is the lack of support for UDP protocol-based applications. This cuts out programs that need faster, more efficient transfers, like games. SOCKS5 also supports IPv6 and Domain Name Resolution. This means the client can specify a URL rather than an IP address. This feature is also supported by SOCKS4a.

As well as SOCKS, users can utilize the HTTP/HTTPS proxy method. HTTP proxies work similarly to SOCKS5, but utilize the HTTP protocol instead. This is the same method that transfers data to your computer when you type https://www.firewall.cx. These proxies fetch and receive primarily in HTTP and are generally used for web browsers. Some applications support HTTP proxy, others SOCKS proxy, and many both. HTTP is more intelligent than SOCKS5, but also less secure.

Due to lack of UDP support and limited TCP support, HTTP proxies don’t fully support torrenting. Often, they will filter out this type of data or block it. This blocking is especially prevalent in public HTTP proxies. In addition, HTTP tries to re-write the headers of the data in transit. The result is extremely slow or non-existent torrenting.

Understanding How HTTPS Encryption - SSL & HTTPS Proxies Work

HTTPS proxies utilize something called the Secure Socket Layer. In your browser, you’ll notice this as a green padlock next to the URL bar:

In short, SSL creates a secure connection between the web server and the user’s browser. When you request a URL, the server sends your browser a copy of its SSL certificate. The browser verifies that it’s authentic, and the server then sends back a signed acknowledgment. Upon arrival, both start an SSL encrypted session and can share data safely.

This encryption uses a method called public key cryptography. A server using SSL has both a public key and a private key. When a server first negotiates an SSL session with a client, it sends a copy of its public key. The client’s browser verifies the certificate and then uses the public key to create a symmetric key which is then sent to the server. The private key is never sent and always kept secret.

The symmetric key is unique to the SSL session and used to encrypt/decrypt data exchanged between the client and server.

HTTPS proxy works slightly differently. Using the CONNECT method, requests are converted to a transparent tunnel. However, this feature isn’t available in a lot of proxies and, when it is, users can still be vulnerable.

Some versions of SSL are still open to attack through the Heartbleed bug. This serious vulnerability was discovered in 2014 and allows attackers to steal private keys from servers, eavesdropping on communications and gaining access to passwords, emails and instant messages. Vulnerabilities in SSL and its predecessor TLS have been found several times since then, including man-in-the-middle attacks that downgrade the user to a less secure version.

How SOCKS5 Proxy Works

While an HTTP proxy is designed to work in the web browser, a SOCKS5 proxy is more wide-reaching. SOCKS sits on the higher levels of the OSI model, below SSL, which sits on the seventh application layer, and above TCP and UDP on the transport layer (Layer 4). This offers several advantages. TCP works by forming a physical connection between the client and the server, trying to guarantee that every packet arrives at the destination in the same order it was sent. To do this, it puts all the content into a fixed format.

Another use of UDP is in the Domain Name System (DNS), which allows for translation of URLs into IP addresses. The combination of both TCP and UDP creates a more flexible and reliable experience.

The low level of SOCKS5 also means it can handle several different request types: HTTP, HTTPS, POP3, SMTP and FTP. As a result, SOCKS5 can be used for email, web browsing, peer-to-peer and more. More importantly, users can do this in a somewhat anonymous fashion.

When you connect to a website, the traffic usually runs through a firewall on the router or by the ISP. A SOCKS5 proxy routes your data through its proxy server, creating a path through the network’s firewall. In doing so the user is assigned an IP address, which makes it look like they’re browsing from a different location and protects their identity.

As mentioned before proxies don’t encrypt data like a VPN, which means you can access these services with very little slowdown. This is because there is no need to re-write header data. This, in turn, leads to less chance of errors, and fewer errors means more speed.

Although it doesn’t handle encryption, SOCKS5 does provide methods of authentication, as mentioned earlier. In general, a SOCKS5 handshake looks like this:

1. The client sends a connection request, stating the list of authentication methods it supports.
2. The server looks at these methods and chooses one. In the case that none are acceptable, it sends a failure response.
3. Once accepted, information can pass between the client and server. The client can send a connection request and the server can respond.

This authentication removes many of the security concerns that plagued SOCKS4. The proxy isn't open to anybody with the details, resulting in less chance of malicious attacks. Usually, authentication comes in the form of a simple username and password combination. However, SOCKS5 also supports GSSAPI (Generic Security Services Application Program Interface) and IANA methods.

Why Would I Use a SOCKS5 Proxy?

Now that you know the features of SOCKS5 proxies, you may be wondering why you even need one. One of the main uses is to circumvent internet censorship. If your ISP blocks access to movie streaming websites, The Pirate Bay or other questionable content, a proxy will circumvent it. This can be useful on restricted networks. Work and school connections are often monitored and block access to social media, games, and anything else that isn’t relevant. Broad sweeping policies can often cause issues if you need to access one of those sites for research or you just want to slack.

You’ll also be able to access services that are limited to certain countries. BBC iPlayer, for example, is only available from a UK IP address. A proxy located in the UK would allow you to watch British TV without a TV license. This also applies to services like Netflix, which has significantly more content in the US region than others. Utilizing a SOCKS5 proxy from several different locations can significantly expand your viewing catalogue.

On home networks, users must be careful about their privacy, especially when torrenting. Using a SOCKS5 proxy can provide fast download speeds while adding a layer of protection against copyright holders. Many BitTorrent clients support a weak form of encryption when using SOCKS5, which prevents further obstacles.

SOCKS5 torrenting doesn’t offer the same protection as a VPN, but it’s better than nothing at all. In addition, it can give an obscured connection from only one application on your PC. As a result, you can perform fast P2P downloads while still using location services such as Google Maps. You’ll retain your normal download rate for any other browsing or streaming.

When to use SOCKS5 Proxies, VPNs or Both

For the privacy and security conscious, VPNs are a great option. They are superior to a SOCKS5 proxy in almost every way. The Best VPN Service Providers give unparalleled protection from government agencies, copyright holders and hackers. Many of them even provide proxy services as a free add-on. Other than speed, VPNs do everything SOCKS5 does and more. However, VPN subscriptions can be more expensive and require extra setup to run. In some situations, a proxy is the most economical option.

When it comes to accessing content with region restrictions, for example, a SOCKS5 proxy is great. You can easily spoof a different location, and don’t have to worry too much about security – repercussions are rare. You can find a proxy from almost every country on the planet, often free of charge. A VPN will provide the same benefit, but comes from a trusted provider who has put considerable thought into the safety and privacy of its users.

SOCKS5 proxies can hide your identity from web servers. Low stakes tasks like voting on polls multiple times from the same computer are fine. Most don’t make use of cookies or JavaScript to track the same browser across multiple IPs.

However, if you’re accessing blocked content, things are a little different. While a proxy is good for low stakes, it doesn’t remove identifying information other than the IP address. It’s open to snooping from anyone with access to your data stream, such as your ISP and government. Accessing censored file-sharing websites and other questionable content is best done through a VPN.

This lack of protection from those with network access can pose considerable risk in public. No encryption means little protection from prying eyes. On a WiFi hotspot, attackers can still see and interpret your data. Browsing websites without SSL encryption could result in password and information compromises. Furthermore, the previously mentioned security issues in SSL mean that hackers could get hold of it even then. For public WiFi safety, a VPN is the only true option.

Combine a SOCKS5 Proxy and a VPN

It’s clear that there are some merits to using a proxy over a VPN. The extra speed makes them suitable for a wide range of low-risk tasks. It’s advantageous to be able to utilize both a VPN and a SOCKS5 proxy. Thankfully, any of the Best VPN service providers supply this at no extra cost. Strong VPN is a great example of this. Switching the two methods in and out is a no-brainer, but what about using both at once?

Using both in tandem usually results in increased privacy, if it’s supported by your VPN provider. Be that as it may, the benefits are limited. If a VPN is connected already, you probably won’t see speed increases. Instead, the advantage comes as a safety net. If your VPN cuts out and the Kill-Switch fails, you still have some protection from SOCKS5 VPN proxy, and vice versa. This is relevant if a provider hands over your details – the copyright holder will only see the IP address of the other service. Using both creates an extra barrier to entry.

For most users, this extra barrier is far from essential. A properly configured VPN should pose little problem. However, if you’re doing something particularly sensitive the combination is a good option. For the best security, you should email your provider and make sure your SOCKS5 VPN proxy has no logs.

SOCKS5 Proxy vs VPN For Torrenting & P2P

Speaking of torrenting, it’s important to be aware of the benefits and limitations of using a VPN SOCKS5 proxy for it. SOCKS5 torrenting will show only the IP address of the proxy server if a media company is looking through a certain swarm and provides a small amount of encryption. This gives the small degree of protection mentioned earlier.

However, there are still many avenues of attacks for copyright holders. The encryption method torrent clients use is shaky and not reliable. It can be cracked quickly, revealing the information beneath. Although this wouldn’t reveal the user’s IP address, it could give information such as the version of the client, the operating system, settings and download speed. Copyright holders could use this to narrow down to an individual user and their ISP. They can then send a legal request to that ISP for information. The lack of proper encryption means the ISP can clearly see what a user is doing on its network.

SOCKS5 torrenting does provide an increase in speed, but it comes at a price. A determined copyright troll or government entity may still get leverage over the user. In the end, it’s up to the individual to decide if the speed increase is worth the risk. This will probably depend on how significant the difference is.

SOCKS5 VPN proxies come with an additional caveat. A fully-fledged VPN won’t just protect you from copyright holders, it will also bypass ISP throttling. It’s becoming increasingly common for service providers to set speed limits on peer-to-peer downloads, resulting in speeds that are as much as one fifth of normal speed. Service providers can only do this if they can interpret and categorize the data, so VPN encryption provides a natural wall.

Proxies do not generally provide encryption, and you may experience significant throttling. This can easily offset the speed gains of SOCKS5, so proxies are only the best option if your ISP does not throttle. You can test for throttling though web services like Glasnost. Even with the encryption built into torrent clients, most service providers can tell if you’re using P2P. If you’re unsure, you can always test with a free proxy.

Configuring SOCKS5 Proxy for Torrenting

Thankfully, setting up a SOCKS5 proxy for torrenting is very simple. It requires fewer steps than a VPN, and all you’ll need is a torrent client. In our examples, we’ll be showing uTorrent and qBittorrent, using a VPN SOCKS5 proxy from Strong VPN. Both providers give the functionality free of charge and provide a premium service and no logs policy.

Set up a SOCKS5 Proxy with IPVANISH and qBittorrent

To emphasise the divide between the two services, IP Vanish’s SOCKS5 details can’t be found in the regular VPN client. Instead, you’ll have to go to the My Account section of its website and click on the SOCKS5 Proxy tab.

You’ll want to note down these credentials for use later. The username and password are specific to you, and provide the SOCKS5 authentication mentioned earlier. The hostname, ams.socks.ipvanish.com, is thanks to SOCKS5 and its Domain Name Resolution feature. If you’re using a different proxy, just take note of those details instead.

For an extensive review on Strong VPN, including security tests, DNS Leak tests, Torrent Protection, Kill-Switch test, Netflix support and much more, read our Best VPN Review: Strong VPN

Now, in qBittorrent, head to Tools > Options. On the left-hand side, you’ll see the Connection tab. Click it. You should be presented with the following menu:

Under the Listening Port heading, disable Use UPnP/NAT-PMP port forwarding from my router. Then input the following details under Proxy Server:

• Type: Socks5
• Host: ams.socks.ipvanish.com
• Port: 1080
• Use proxy for peer connections: Yes
• Disable connections not supported by proxies: Yes
• Use proxy only for torrents: Yes
• Authentication: Yes
  • Username: IP Vanish SOCKS5 generated username
  • Password: IP Vanish SOCKS5 generated password

For extra privacy, head to BitTorrent and change Encryption mode to Require encryption. This will force the in-application encryption discussed earlier. Also tick Enable anonymous mode. This will remove the peer ID from the client’s fingerprint and force all incoming connections through SOCKS5.

Finally, hit Apply and Okay. Restart qBittorrent just to be safe.

Set Up a SOCKS5 Proxy With Private Internet Access & uTorrent

Finding your SOCKS5 VPN proxy settings for Private Internet Access is equally simple. Go to the client sign in page and login with your username and password. Scroll down until you see a heading with the label PPTP/L2TP/SOCKS Username and Password. Click Generate Username and Password and note down the details:

The hostname isn’t listed here, but a support article reveals that it’s proxy-nl.privateinternetaccess.com.Write that down too, or the details of your free proxy. Launch uTorrent and go to Options > Preferences (Ctrl + P).

Under the Connection subheading, disable Enable UPnP port mapping and Enable NAT-PMP port mapping. Then enter the following settings under Proxy Server:

• Type: SOCKS5
• ·Proxy:
• Port: 1080
• Authentication: Yes
  • Username: PIA SOCKS5 user
  • Password: PIA SOCKS5 password
• Use proxy for hostname lookups: Yes
• Use proxy for peer-to-peer connections: Yes
• Disable all local DNS lookups: Yes
• Disable all features that leak identifying information: Yes
• Disable connects unsupported by the proxy: Yes

To enable encryption, go to the BitTorrent subheading and look under the Protocol Encryption menu. Change Outgoing to Forced. Be aware that this could impair your ability to connect to peers. Click Apply and OK. SOCKS5 torrenting is now enabled.

Configuring Firefox and Chrome to Use SOCKS5 Proxy

Configuring your browser to use SOCKS can be a little more difficult. At this moment in time, neither Chrome nor Firefox support SOCKS5 with authentication by default. Instead, you can use the Maxthon browser. After install go to Settings > Advanced > Proxy Settings.

Now tick Use custom proxy setting and hit Manage Proxy. Click Add. Fill in the fields as follows:

• Name: IPVanish SOCKS5
• Type: SOCKS5
• Address: ams.socks.ipvanish.com
• Port: 1080
• Username: IP Vanish SOCKS5 generated username
• Password: IP Vanish SOCKS5 generated password

Hit OK. Below the config, you’ll see a Bypass proxy server for heading. Here you can set exceptions for websites for which you need to keep your local IP, such as Google Maps. You can also switch this to Use proxy server for and only use the VPN SOCKS5 proxy on certain websites.

Free Proxy vs Paid

Though premium paid SOCKS5 proxies like the one above are often best, it’s possible to get one free of charge. Many websites even compile free proxy lists that are open for anyone to use. Here are just a few examples:

• https://www.socks-proxy.net/
• https://incloak.com/proxy-list/
• https://www.gatherproxy.com/sockslist
• https://fastproxyservers.org/socks5-servers.htm

If you already have a VPN, you may have access to a free SOCKS5 proxy without even knowing it. It’s becoming increasingly common for the Best VPN service providers to offer this service. Some of the major ones include:

• STRONGVPN
• Private Internet Access
• NordVPN

It may be tempting to just grab the first free SOCKS proxy you see, but there are a few things to consider. A free anonymous proxy isn’t going to be fast. It’s more common for download speeds to sit in the kilobytes rather than megabytes. You’ll also notice far less reliability, so you’ll probably have to switch between different servers for long downloads. This unreliability extends to response time.

In addition, a free anonymous proxy often lacks security. In many cases, they have no security at all, leaving users open to hackers. In many cases free providers keep logs, which may cause issues for P2P downloads and other illegal activities.

In all, you’ll be hard pressed to find a good, reliable free proxy. If you want to protect your identity, paying is almost essential. In some cases, you can pick up a full VPN service for the same price or less than premium SOCKS5 services, making it a no-brainer. You’ll have access to strong encryption when you need it, and a proxy when you’re just looking for speed.

Using SOCKS5 Proxy For US Netflix

One of the best uses of a SOCKS5 proxy is for Netflix. The catalogue of the service has been limited of late, and people outside the US seem to be particularly affected. Thankfully, you can trick Netflix into giving you shows from regions across the world. Here’s my Netflix UK homepage before using a proxy:

In this example, we’ll be using Firefox. Go to the flyout menu on the top right, then select Options. Go to Advanced and click the Network tab. Under Connection > Configure how Firefox connects to the Internet, click Settings…

First, change Configure Proxies to Access the Internet to Manual proxy configuration. Under SOCKS Host enter the URL or IP address of your proxy server. Under Port, enter the number your Netflix SOCKS5 proxy has provided. Tick SOCKS v5 and Proxy DNS when using SOCKS v5.

You can now click OK and head to https://netflix.com. You should immediately notice a change in your browsing catalogue.

Unfortunately, those with a free SOCKS proxy may get stuck here. Netflix monitors proxy lists and blocks them to stop users accessing content they aren’t supposed to. You’ll know if you receive the following error when trying to play a show:

Trying to access Netflix US via Free SOCKS Proxy fails

You may be able to find a free proxy that Netflix hasn’t gotten around to yet, but it’s quite unlikely. A paid, private SOCKS5 proxy is less likely to be blocked, as the provider changes things often. You should notice much faster buffering times, so it’s worth paying the small monthly fee.

Most VPN SOCKS5 proxies use authentication, which isn’t supported by Firefox or Google Chrome. Instead, you’ll want to use the previously mentioned Maxthon browser method. This should give you fast, unblocked access to different films.

Summary

While SOCKS5 proxies offer better protection than HTML or nothing at all, they don’t shield the user from spying by ISPs or government. Free anonymous proxies offer even less protection, and can be open to hackers, cut out, or have slow download speeds. However, subscription-based proxies remain a great way to bypass regional blocks and carry out other, low-risk tasks.

Unfortunately, the price of a standalone SOCKS5 proxy is high compared to other services. In many cases, users can get a VPN subscription from STRONGVPN, Private Internet Access or NordVPN and a VPN SOCKS5 proxy for the same monthly fee. This gives users access to the full, hardened security of a VPN, while also providing a fast, less secure proxy if they need it.

The primary driver is the advertising industry. Most websites get paid if an ad is clicked or the product is purchased, not just for exposure. As a result, they want promotions that are relevant to the user. They get paid, and the user gets to see the products they’re interested in. It seems advantageous to both parties.

However, to target these ads, agencies need information about a website’s users. Companies like Facebook embed trackers across the web to build a detailed profile of individuals. This includes things like your gender, age, location, and websites you frequent. Information from multiple ad agencies can then be combined to build a detailed picture of your interests and personality.

Firefox's Lightbeam Plugin provides a visual map of sites visited during our session

Here’s the result of two hours of browsing activity with the Lightbeam plugin. The circle articles are sites we visited, while the triangles are third parties. Together, they can create an interconnected web of information. Visiting just 32 sites fed 371 third parties data!

They can do this across the web through identifying information like your IP address. When you connect to a network, your device is given a unique string of numbers by the ISP or mobile service provider. These can be cross-referenced across the internet to find your browsing habits.

If that’s not enough, there are also government agencies to worry about. IP addresses usually give websites a rough idea of your location by pointing to your service provider. That’s not a barrier for government. They can ask the ISP who the IP was assigned to and find your name and address. You would think that such power would be used sparingly, but unfortunately, it’s not.

Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden revealed that major powers are spying on citizens across the world on an unprecedented level. Authorities request all that tracking data we mentioned earlier and combine it with information from the internet service provider (ISP). From 2011-2012, Australian agencies requested ISP logs over 300,000 times. This can include every website the user has visited over a period of years.

And that’s someone who has the country’s best interests at heart. This kind of information is also accessible to a number of people who work for the ISP. Earlier this year, an ex-technician for Verizon pleaded guilty to selling phone call and location information to a private investigator. Web browsing information could equally be sold off to the highest bidder.

And that’s assuming they even have to buy it in the first place. In 2012, internet activist group anonymous hacked into the servers of telecommunications company AAPT. They stole over 40GB of information relating to business customers to show that the logs are not always safe. A redacted copy of the data was later published online.

What is the Threat?

With so many parties interested in such data, anonymous browsing is becoming difficult. The sad fact is that without protection from the Best VPN providers, you aren’t truly safe.

Firstly, there’s the threat of this information falling into the hands of hackers. Imagine a person with malicious intent having a record of your name, address, interests, habits, and every website you’ve been to. It could easily be used to blackmail someone or make threats to their friends and family.

It can also be used to identify potential weak points in your security. For example, if you regularly visit an insecure site, it could be hacked with an end goal of getting to you. Tools such as a key logger could then be used to collect usernames, passwords, and credit card data.

Furthermore, such access can be used for types of identity theft. Combined with an email account, an attacker has access to basically everything. Password resets for various accounts, name, age, date of birth. Bank details can be used to place illegal purchases on your behalf or commit fraud. Most of our lives are stored online, and the attack could gain access to all of it.

The same methods can be used by authorities in oppressive regimes. Even if the current government protects its citizens from such things, a power shift could change that. Because tracking information and ISP logs are kept for a long time, the data will still be around years into the future.

Then there’s the issue of illegal activities. Previously, nobody would know if you were breaking the law in the privacy of your own home. However, with the increase in logs, activities like torrenting can result in warnings, loss of service, or huge fines.

Without a VPN, torrents can be traced straight back to the user. Copyright holders hire companies to search through swarms of people torrenting their property. With an IP address, they can request a user’s details from the ISP and pursue legal action. The ISP is often compelled to do this or face legal repercussions themselves.

Though torrenting is a morally grey area, this can also affect customers who have done nothing wrong. WiFi networks can be hacked or information can be incorrect. In 2010, 53-year-old Cathi Paradiso ran into this problem when she was accused of downloading 18 films and TV shows illegally. In reality, her IP address was identified incorrectly, and her internet access cut off unjustly. It’s clear that even if you’re a regular internet user, anonymous browsing has its benefits.

What Is Anonymous Browsing & How Does it Help?

Anonymous browsing is usually achieved by routing a normal internet connection through a virtual private network. We won’t go into too much detail here, as it’s been already covered in our Beginner’s Guide to VPNs.

However, it’s important to have a basic idea of how a VPN can provide anonymous browsing. A VPN uses a method called tunnelling to wrap the data packets you send to your ISP in encryption. Various methods such OpenVPN, L2TP, PPTP and STTP are used to achieve this. Through a VPN, your information goes from clear and readable to a string of random letters and numbers.

As a result, those trying to grab the data in transit get a useless pile of text. They don’t have the cypher, so they can’t unlock it. This is particularly useful on public WiFi, where hackers can often see what you are doing and perform attacks.

It also has the knock-on effect of hiding your IP address. The connection goes through the servers of the VPN provider, where’s its assigned an anonymous IP from the server. Unlike ISPs, the best VPNs don’t keep logs. The original IP address can’t be compelled by third-parties, and the user can surf anonymously.

However, this anonymous browsing doesn’t always extend to web trackers. Various methods can allow them to grab identifying information like IP addresses despite a VPN connection. Thankfully, many of the providers have built-in protection for this. Domain Name Server requests are routed through their servers and resolved by a special process that protects the user. As a result, malicious domains can’t find the user’s true identity.

How to Get VPN Services

Fortunately, it’s quite easy to browse anonymously via a VPN. There are thousands of different providers out there, each with different merits and price points. Some can even be used free of charge, but they can be subject to bandwidth caps and have been sold user data. For a premium and safe service, it’s always best to go with a paid provider.

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Luckily, we have a round up all the best VPNs so that you don’t have to search through hundreds yourself. Our experts have rounded up all the major features of each, ranking them based on quality.

Once you have found one that meets your requirements, you’ll have to sign up. You usually need an email address, password, and a payment method. The privacy conscious can often use bitcoins or trade gift cards to protect their identity while paying.

That payment can be anywhere between $3-$8 per month, depending on provider. You usually get a better service the more you pay, but there are some exceptions. Either way, it’s a small price for anonymous browsing, whether you’re using a VPN to torrent, or just conscious about types of identity theft and government surveillance.

On sign up, you usually get an email with a username and password, as well as a link to the login page. Some providers will take care of this for you through a download link that incorporates sign-in details.

You then install the program, enter your details, and click connect. They have clients for all the major platforms, including Mac OSX, Windows, iOS, and Android. The Βest VPN providers have thousands of servers all over the world and can provide fast, anonymous browsing in a few minutes.

Some VPNs provide details for an additional SOCKS5 proxy, which you can read about here. This can provide anonymous browsing against web hosts, but not the ISP or government.

Best Practices For Enhanced Protection

Though VPNs are great for browsing anonymously, they aren’t infallible. There are many methods to get information, and the providers can’t protect against them all. For complete anonymity on the internet, you may want to take some additional steps.

Cookies & Browser History

One thing a VPN cannot control is the data that’s stored locally on your computer. As you browse the web, your computer keeps a record of the history so you can go back to it later. It also retains cookies, which will save your settings on various websites, and images, so that you don’t have to download them every time.

The implications of this are fairly straightforward. If somebody gets access to your computer, physically or remotely, they have tons of information about you. To avoid this, you’ll want to use the “Private Browsing” feature in your browser.

In Firefox, you can get there by hitting the fly out menu on the top right and pressing New Private Window. Alternatively, you can press Ctrl+Shift+P.

Anonymous browsing in Firefox- Enabling a new private window

The things you do in this session will not be recorded. That covers the pages you visit, cookies, searches, and temporary files. There’s also the option for tracking protection, which will block many of those third parties we talked about earlier. However, Firefox does keep downloads and bookmarks for later use.

Mozilla also stresses that Private Browsing doesn’t necessarily mean anonymous browsing. By itself, this is no protection against the information ISPs and government agencies collect. You’ll still need a VPN for that.

Google Chrome users can make use of a similar feature, though it has a different name. Incognito mode provides much of the same functionality but doesn’t have tracking protection like Firefox. Its shortcut is also different, using Ctrl+Shift+N.

Anonymous browsing chrome - Enabling a incognito mode window

Like Mozilla, Google stresses that Incognito mode does not provide anonymous browsing at work, home or any other location. Once more, files and bookmarks are still stored, so you have to be careful to delete those afterwards.

Other browsers have this functionality built in. In Internet Explorer and Edge, it’s called In Private Browsing/Window, with the same Ctrl+Shift+P shortcut as Firefox. Mac OSX users can use Private Browsing in Safari for the same effect.

Though they took a little while to catch up, most mobile browsers support it too. In Firefox, it’s called “New Private Tab” while in Chrome it's “New incognito tab”. Most Android stock browsers also support private browsing, though there are a few exceptions.

Enabling safe private browsing in Firefox, Chrome and Android O/S

The Safari browser on iOS also supports anonymous browsing. It can be found by hitting the icon, tapping Private, and then Done. This applies to iPads, iPods, iPhones, and most other Apple devices.

Safari Web Browser - Private Mode

Web Trackers & Encryption

Unfortunately, Firefox is the only one of these browsers that fights tracking. We highly recommend using Firefox if you are privacy conscious, but sometimes that’s not possible. For enhanced anonymous browsing, you should consider using browser plugins on Chrome, Firefox, or Edge.

Privacy Badger

Privacy Badger is an extension created and managed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). It stops third-party trackers from following you across the web. Based on smart algorithms and policies, it brings protection to windows that aren’t private browsing. It’s also a little more advanced than Firefox’s methods.

Privacy Badger Help Enforce Anonymous Browsing

However, Privacy Badger can prevent some functions like sharing articles to Facebook. Thankfully, EFF has built a simple slider system that lets you turn trackers on and off at will. Green means the tracker is third-party but isn’t following you across the web, so it’s allowed. Red means it has been completely blocked. Yellow means the tracker is necessary for web browsing, but it’s cookies have been blocked.

There is one caveat. Privacy Badger blocks third-party trackers, but it doesn’t stop tracking from the first party websites.

Referring to our diagram, it blocks all the little triangles, but not the large circles. If you frequently visit a website, they may still collect information. You should still be using a VPN if you want to surf anonymously.

uBlock Origin

As well as Privacy Badger, you may want to consider an Ad-Blocker. uBlock Origin has a dual purpose, blocking trackers and malware as well as advertisements. It’s compatible with Privacy Badger, so you can use both at the same time.

What’s more, uBlock protects against WebRTC leaks. WebRTC is a communications protocol that lets you share files and video in real-time without the need for plugins. Unfortunately, it can also reveal a user’s true IP address, even if they’re using a VPN.

You can enable protection in uBlock Origin by hitting the settings tab. Under the Settings tab, you’ll see an option named Prevent WebRTC from leaking local IP addresses. Hit the checkbox and you’re done:

uBlock Origin - Protection Against Malware, Trackers & WebRTC

It’s worth noting that this feature won’t provide anonymous browsing if you aren’t using a VPN. It only hides your local IP address, so the IP of non-VPN users will be visible.

HTTPS Encryption

You should also be forcing a HTTPS connection wherever possible. HTTPS provides SSL encryption, which makes it harder for attackers to intercept your communications. This is particularly important if you’re using public WiFi. Visiting a HTTP website lets attackers packet sniff and spy on what you are doing. This can lead to the capture of passwords, bank details, or personal information.

Though using a VPN will protect you from this, it never hurts to have an extra layer of protection. Before the initial connection of a VPN there’s a small window where you are connected to WiFi, but not to the VPN. It can also be a problem if your VPN cuts out and you don’t a backup.

Though HTTPS is rapidly spreading, the implementation is still limited on many websites. Visiting the site from a link with “http://” in front often takes users to the unencrypted version. This can be a major problem if the site links back to itself this way.

Thankfully, EFF has a solution once more. HTTPS Everywhere forces SSL encryption no matter what link you click. It uses “clever technology” to rewrite requests into a HTTPS format and prevent interception.

Though HTTPS Everywhere can’t help when sites don’t support SSL at all, it does create a more consistent experience on those that do. It will also warn you when portions of a website can’t be encrypted, such as images. When you’re on Public WiFi, you can additionally choose to block all HTTP sites.

By itself, HTTPS Everywhere does not provide anonymous browsing. An interested party will still be able to see what web pages you are accessing. However, on sites that support SSL, it will stop people on the same network seeing specifics.

The Tor Browser

Finally, the extra conscious can use Tor to protect their identity. The Tor Browser bundles several add-ons into its core, including NoScript, an extension that blocks JavaScript, Flash and Java tracking. It also incorporates HTTPS Everywhere for added protection.

However, Tor’s main privacy feature is its underlying protocols. Communication in Tor is layered in encryption. Data sent through the browser goes through another user’s computer, each decrypting a small chunk. Each link in the chain only knows the IP address of the computer before it, so the user can surf anonymously.

Though Tor has some security issues, it can be used on top of a VPN to provide an extra barrier for attackers or law enforcement to get through. It’s not a substitute for a paid VPN, but it does provide considerable protection over regular browsing.

Mobile Devices

On mobile devices, anonymous browsing can be harder to achieve. If you don’t want to be tracked across the web, you may have to change your browser.

Unlike Firefox, Chrome does not support extensions on mobile. This means the aforementioned addons can’t be installed. To surf anonymously, you should be using Firefox or a dedicated privacy browser.

Users of Mozilla’s browser can go to addons.mozilla.org/android and pick up HTTPS Everywhere, uBlock, and Privacy Badger just like on desktop. They require no additional permissions and work just as well.

If you don’t like Firefox, there’s still a few options:

• Ghostery Browser (Android, iOS)– inbuilt tracking protection and other privacy features.
• Brave Browser (Android, iOS) – inbuilt Adblock, tracker protection, HTTPS Everywhere, Script blocking, and tracker blocking.
• Orfox (Android) – Official Tor-based browser with NoScript and HTTPS Everywhere, automatic history and cookie deletion. Removes permission requests for Contacts, Camera, Microsoft, Location and NFC. Removes WebRTC.
• Onion Browser (iOS) – Unofficial, open source Tor browser. NoScript-like mode and user-agent spoofing.

Despite these methods, it’s important to realise that mobile devices are not a substitute for desktop when it comes to anonymous browsing. By default, phones have far more in-built tracking, from location services, cell towers, and more. If you’re doing something questionable, it's best to stick to a PC.

Summary

The bottom line is that though you can add protection free of charge, it wont give fully anonymous browsing like a VPN. Though uBlock and Privacy Badger protect against web tracking, they do nothing to stop spying by ISPs or government agencies.

A VPN can protect users against web tracking, ISP tracking, government spying, and man-in-the-middle attacks. They are low-cost, easy to implement, and allow a fast browsing experience, unlike Tor. Though they aren’t perfect, extra precautions make them as close to it as possible. VPNs are therefore the natural solution for anonymous surfing at work, on public WiFi, or at home.

VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a well-known acronym amongst regular internet users. Initially used within businesses to securely connect to the corporate network, nowadays it’s being used by almost any type of user for anonymous browsing, protecting their privacy and stopping ISPs and government agencies tracking their online activities and transactions who are looking to capture users performing illegal file sharing of movies, music albums, torrenting or even trying to access geo-restricted content such as Netflix, Hulu and other streaming services.

With the exponential rise of internet security threats it doesn’t really matter what type of device you’re using - whether it’s a PC, MAC, tablet, iPhone, Android device or smartphone - the risk is the same. Every single one of these devices can be tracked and their precise location known without any effort.

For example, the screenshot below was taken from a mobile phone. It shows a website visited that is able to track the mobile device’s IP address (49.185.251.16) and retrieve a significant amount of information regarding its location. It’s detected the country (Australia), the state (VIC), City (Melbourne), ISP/Mobile carrier (Optus) plus location and geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude)!

Information captured from a non-VPN internet user

As you can appreciate, the amount of information websites can capture is alarming. In a similar way ISPs, hackers and government agencies can intercept and capture traffic to and from a user’s mobile device or PC at home.

Now that we appreciate how exposed we really are, let’s take a look at how VPNs help protect our identity and personal information.

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Who Needs a VPN?

A VPN can offer a number of substantial advantages and, depending on your internet activities, can prove to be mandatory.

A VPN service will allow you to “hide” your physical location by masking the IP address assigned by your internet service provider (ISP). In addition, a VPN provides a basic level of security and confidentiality as all information to and from your computer or mobile device is encrypted. This prevents hackers or ISPs from monitoring your online activities.

Users typically require a VPN service for any of the following activities:

• Hide your internet activities from your ISP and government. ISPs around the world unofficially monitor user traffic in order to intercept sensitive or top secret information. More than 41 countries are now members of the “Five Eyes” – a global intelligence alliance monitoring electronic information (email, faxes, web traffic etc) and private communication channels (VPNs). The National Security Agency (NSA) was uncovered spying on hundreds and thousands of VPN connections based on Cisco’s PIX Firewalls for over a decade thanks to a VPN exploit they discovered and was never shared with the public.

• Accessing geo-restricted content. A prime explain is accessing US-based Netflix or Hulu when travelling overseas or accessing sites providing local online video/streaming, TV shows etc from anywhere around the world.

• Bypassing web filters and accessing restricted websites or internet services such as online gaming, Skype, Dropbox, OneDrive etc. Recent bans by governments blocking popular Torrent sites such as ThePiratebay.org, TorrentHound, Torrentz, IsoHunt and others have pushed users to VPN services in order to access these sites and services without restriction.

• Peer-to-Peer (P2P) file sharing. Usually blocked by firewalls or ISPs people are moving to VPN and ToR based networks in order to freely share data with each other without having to worry about being tracked or blocked.

• Torrenting. A big topic indeed. While there are many torrents that are legally distributed e.g Linux ISO images, open-source applications and games, Torrent seeders and leechers are monitored by agencies acting on behalf of their clients MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) & RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) to protect their copyright materials. While these agencies monitor and stop illegal video/music downloading they have been found on many occasions to incorrectly accuse citizens of illegally downloading copyright content.

• Avoid Bandwidth Throttling. ISPs are primarily responsible for this one. In order to save bandwidth they unofficially throttle torrent or other similar traffic, slowing download speeds considerably and sometimes to the point where users quit downloading. When it comes to VPN for Torrenting, P2P and File sharing users can avoid bandwidth throttling and in many cases increase their download speeds up to 3 times!

• Accessing the internet from public WiFi hotspots. Using Public WiFi and Guest WiFi hotspots poses serious security threats. These are overcome with the usage of VPN services.

The TOR network is an alternative VPN solution used also by the Dark-Web. Readers interested on how TOR VPN works and compares against VPN can also check our TOR vs VPN article.

Accessing The Internet Without a VPN

Below is a diagram showing a typical user accessing the internet without a VPN. The user’s IP address is assigned by the ISP and is visible to the internet. Any online resource accessed by the user is completely visible to the ISP and anyone monitoring the user’s IP address:

Unencrypted internet traffic is visible and easily monitored

Of course resources such as Internet Banking usually encrypt the data transferred between the client and the server but the traffic source (user IP) and destination (server IP) are still fully visible. Similarly other activities such as Torrent Downloads are fully traceable back to the user.

It should also be noted that ISPs always keep log files of their users’ IP addresses. This means that the ISP is fully aware of the IP address assigned to each of its users. By law, these logs are stored for years and can be used as evidence in the event of a law suit or investigation. This applies to home and mobile users.

Using a VPN Service Provider Changes The Game

To use a VPN service provider you must first register with a VPN Service Provider of your choice. VPN subscriptions start from a low $3US - $8US per month making them affordable for any user. Once you’ve purchased a VPN subscription you are able to download and install the provided VPN Client on to your devices.

With the VPN Client you are able to connect to one of your VPN Provider’s servers, which are located in various countries. Once connected, a “tunnel” is created between your device and the VPN server and all traffic is redirected to the VPN server and from there to the internet.

Any traffic traversing the tunnel is protected via special encryption mechanisms. Traffic entering the tunnel is encrypted while traffic exiting the tunnel is decrypted.

This means that anyone monitoring your internet connection e.g ISP, Hacker or Government agency, is unable to see your internet activities. All they can see is your encrypted traffic to the VPN server you’re connected to.

A VPN helps protect and encrypt all traffic to and from the internet avoiding any monitoring

When casually accessing websites or other online services it is unlikely they’ll be able to track your identity unless they require you to authenticate. For example if you need to access your Gmail account then you’ll need to provide your username and password. As that point your identity is known to Google even though you’re connecting via VPN, however, Google won’t be able to track your real location thanks to the VPN.

On the other hand if you are downloading a torrent file you don’t need to provide any credentials and therefore your identity remains hidden as long as you’re connected to the VPN.

To understand how well a VPN Service can disguise your activities, let’s go back to the initial example with the mobile phone and see how well a VPN Provider manages to hide a real IP address after connecting to a VPN server located in Canada:

Changing locations. From Melbourne Australia to Canada thanks our VPN service

Notice how I’m now located in Canada and assigned a Canadian-based IP address. This is because our mobile’s internet traffic is tunnelled through the VPN all the way to the Canadian-based VPN server and exits from that point to the internet.

VPN Service Provider Shared IP vs Dedicated IP

When connecting to a VPN Service Provider you’ll usually be assigned a Shared IP address, that is, an IP address that is used by many users simultaneously. While using a Shared IP address might not sound ideal, it does in fact provide increased anonymity as opposed to using a Dedicated IP address that is solely assigned to your VPN account.

VPN Service Provider with Shared IP address

Dedicated IP addresses are usually required when accessing IP restricted servers or websites. Running a website or FTP server off your VPN Service Provider would also be a reason to make use of a Dedicated IP address.

For the majority of VPN users who perform casual web browsing, downloading, file sharing and require anonymous browsing capabilities the Shared IP address is considered a secure option.

Smart-DNS Proxy Server

Smart-DNS is a newer service provided by VPN Service Providers. Some offer it as an add-on service while others include it with the VPN subscription.

We’ve already explained that with a VPN service all internet traffic is channelled through an encrypted connection to a VPN server and exits to the internet from there.

With Smart-DNS a connection is established between the Smart-DNS server and client, however, communications are not encrypted and only selected traffic is channelled and sent to the Smart-DNS server, which works like a Proxy Server to help unlock access to geo-restricted services such as TV shows, NetFlix and other.

A Smart-DNS Proxy channels specific requests and data to unlock geo-restrictions

This is achieved by overriding selected DNS entries, e.g www.netflix.com, so that DNS queries resolve to the address of the Smart-DNS server rather than the real server. The Smart-DNS server accepts clients requests and acts as a proxy so that selected services are channelled through it, allowing access to any region-restricted or blocked content from anywhere in the world.

It’s important to keep in mind that Smart-DNS service is not a VPN Service replacement. All traffic sent and received via the Smart-DNS service is unencrypted and speeds are usually faster compared to a VPN thanks to the absence of encryption, making it an ideal solution for accessing region-restricted streaming services or services where data encryption is not important.

Impact Of a VPN On Your Mobile Device’s Speed, Battery Or Computer

Running a VPN connection will have an impact on your mobile device or computer. The level of impact will vary between different devices and their CPU processing capacity.

Following are key factors that will determine the impact on your device/system:

• CPU or processing power of your device (Single Core, Quad Core etc).
• Quality of the VPN Client software (poorly or well written software).
• VPN Encryption algorithm used to encrypt/decrypt data.

Let’s take a look at each point.

CPU – Processing Power Of Your Device

The faster the CPU the smaller the impact will be. Computers with iCore3, iCore5 or iCore7 processors offer more than enough power to perform all the necessary processing and a VPN will not significantly affect the user experience.

Mobile phones with dual or quad CPU should also be able to handle a lightweight VPN Client without any difficulty, however, you must keep in mind that heavy internet usage also means more work for the CPU – this translates to a battery that is drained at a much faster rate. Mobile users should generally use the internet in the same way as before installing the VPN client to see the real impact it will have on their device. Newer mobile devices shouldn’t experience any noticeable difference.

Quality Of The VPN Client Software

Just like any piece of software a well-designed VPN application will function without problems and will limit its usage of system resources. There are VPN Providers that offer very cheap subscriptions, however, their VPN Client software might be buggy causing either frequent crashes or taking a long time to respond to user actions.

It’s recommended to make use of high-quality VPN providers such as StrongVPN and ExpressVPN who develop and thoroughly test their software. Our Best VPN review offers a comparison between 5 Top VPN Services for you to choose from.

VPN Encryption Algorithm

There are quite a few VPN encryption options available through your VPN Client and each one of these will provide you with a different level of security. Stronger encryption, e.g. L2/IPSec, means better security, however, this will have a slightly larger toll on your device’s CPU as it will be required to work harder to encrypt and decrypt your traffic due to the high complexity of the strong encryption protocols.

On the other hand, selecting a weaker encryption protocol such as PPTP means that demands on the CPU will be lower but so will the security offered.

Newer protocols, such as OpenVPN, combine the best of both worlds and deliver a fast & secure VPN service at minimal cost to your CPU. OpenVPN is generally the recommended VPN protocol.

VPN Protocols

As mentioned earlier a VPN makes use of different encryption protocols to secure the connection between the end-user and the VPN server. Selecting the best VPN protocol is important so let’s discover the most commonly supported encryption protocols used by VPN providers:

• PPTP - Point to Point Tunnel Protocol. Old lightweight VPN protocol which is still very popular but doesn’t offer much security. Ideal for streaming and basic VPN needs but not for torrenting.
• L2TP / IPSec - Layer 2 Tunnel Protocol & IP Security. The evolution of PPTP offering much better security and encryption at the slight expense of speed.
• SSTP - Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol. A flexible SSL-based encryption by Microsoft. Good alternative to L2TP/IPSec but not as good as OpenVPN.
• OpenVPN – a newer open-source VPN protocol that offers great security, flexibility and compatibility. Supported by router firmware such as DD-WRT, Tomato and others.
• More servers means better VPN user distribution. This translates to faster servers and fewer users per VPN server.
• Higher service availability. If one or many servers go down you’ll have plenty of others to connect to therefore limiting the impact on your VPN service.
• Ability to access geo-restricted content for every country that has a VPN server available for you to connect to.
• Ability to connect to a VPN server that is located closer to the source you are trying to access, therefore providing better download/upload speeds.

Users should be aware that not all encryption protocols offer the same security and performance level. For example, PPTP is an older VPN protocol that doesn’t really encrypt the information but simply encapsulates user’s data. Think of it as placing a letter (data) inside a standard envelope. The envelope is light so you can carry more of them within a specific period (high performance / throughput). Despite the lower security offered by PPTP, it is still widely used today because not many understand the level of security it provides but also because it’s managed to penetrate the market the past 15 years and is still supported by newer VPN devices and servers.

On the other hand L2TP/ IPSec is the evolution of PPTP and was introduced as an alternative more-secure VPN protocol. It offers significantly higher security but is a slower protocol meaning it has more overhead.

SSTP is a Microsoft proprietary protocol found on all Windows operating systems after Windows Vista Service Pack 1. SSTP is preferred over PPTP and L2TP as it is able to pass through most firewalls without a problem (requires TCP Port 443) whereas PPTP and L2TP/IPSec might not be able to pass through a firewall as they use uncommon TCP/UDP ports which are usually blocked by corporate or guest networks.

Finally, OpenVPN is by far the preferred VPN protocol. It’s an open-source (freely distributed) newer technology supported almost every device and VPN service provider. It’s flexible, offers great security, has moderate CPU demands and will run in almost any environment capable of passing through firewalls without a problem. In addition, router software such as DD-WRT, Tomato and Mikrotik support OpenVPN allowing users to connect to their VPN provider at the router level, removing the need for any VPN client software on devices connecting to the home or business network.

Using the right VPN encryption protocol is important as it will significantly affect the security provided as well as your upload/download speeds.

VPN Servers – The More – The Merrier

VPN Service Providers generally deploy VPN servers around the globe to accommodate their customers. Using a VPN Provider that has hundreds or thousands of servers deployed is always a great option and there are plenty of reasons for this:

• More servers means better VPN user distribution. This translates to faster servers and fewer users per VPN server.
• Higher service availability. If one or many servers go down you’ll have plenty of others to connect to therefore limiting the impact on your VPN service.
• Ability to access geo-restricted content for every country that has a VPN server available for you to connect to.
• Ability to connect to a VPN server that is located closer to the source you are trying to access, therefore providing better download/upload speeds.

If the VPN Provider does not reveal the number of VPN servers it maintains, then check the list of countries and cities where VPN servers are available – this information is usually provided and is a good indication that there are plenty of servers to select from.

VPN Kill-Switch Feature – Avoid Accidently Exposing Your Identity

The VPN Kill-Switch is a feature built into the VPN Client so that when enabled it will continuously monitor your VPN ensuring all traffic is passing through the VPN.

When the Kill-Switch detects that your VPN has disconnected it will automatically stop all internet traffic from and to your PC or mobile device to avoid it from exposing its real identity - IP address.

A VPN with the Kill-Switch enabled is the best practice for torrenting as it helps users from accidently exposing themselves to the public, especially when torrenting over night or the PC is left switched on to complete its download(s).

DNS Leak Protection

When connecting to a VPN the PC or mobile device is forced to use secure DNS servers for all DNS queries. These DNS servers are usually the VPN provider’s DNS servers. This ensures the ISP and government is unable to track any DNS queries which might reveal the user’s online activities.

A DNS Leak occurs when the operating system begins sending DNS queries to the ISP’s DNS or other insecure DNS servers. The reason for a DNS leak might be intentionally modified device settings (e.g DNS server settings) or even the way the operating system behaves – which is the case with the Windows operating system.

One of Windows 10 new features allows it to direct DNS requests to the local network router or ISP, bypassing the VPN tunnel. This setting was designed to enhance and speed-up the DNS query process however it has created a major security issue as users can easily be exposed without knowning.

Our DNS Leak Testing & Protection article explains the problem in-depth and provides ways to protect against it. A high-quality VPN service will include DNS leak protection embedded within the VPN client to help protect its users from being unknowingly exposed to this serious security threat.

‘No-Log’ VPN Service Provider Policy

Not all VPN Service Providers are completely anonymous. Some VPN Service Providers keep extensive logs of their users’ IP addresses and VPN login sessions.

A ‘no-log’ VPN Service does not keep any logs of its users or their online activities therefore making it extremely difficult to trace any of their online activities.

VPN Providers that keep some type of logs seriously risk exposing their users. In the event of a security breach, or government demand to access these logs, users are left vulnerable as it will make it easier to trace previous online activities.

VPN Service Providers who offer a “no log” policy usually state something along the following lines in their privacy policy:

“We never keep traffic logs, and we also don’t keep any logs that might enable someone to match an IP and timestamp back to a user.”

It’s important to keep in mind that depending on the country where the VPN Provider resides, they might be required by law to store their logs no matter what impression they give on their site. For example, countries such as Romania, Netherlands, Sweden and Luxembourg are not currently required to keep logs while other countries in the European Union are required to do so.

Make sure the VPN provider’s “no log” policy is absolutely clear to you before signing up.

Paying your VPN Service Provider without Exposing Your Identity

VPN Service providers accept a number of different methods including credit cards, VISA, MasterCard, PayPal, BitCoin and more.

While users can use any of the above methods for payment those concerned sharing personal information and seeking complete privacy can use BitCoin.

BitCoin is a virtual form of digital currency that allows users and companies to transact online without going through a bank. Payments are anonymous so there is no trace of your identity and since banks are not involved in the transaction there are fewer fees both for the sending and receiving party.

Money-Back Guarantee – Making the Most Out of Your Trial

The money-back guarantee option is usually offered by the popular and reputable VPN Service Providers. Some offer a 3, 5, 7 or 30 day refund policy while others provide a free usage period after which you are required to purchase a subscription if you wish continue using the service.

Whichever the case, a “try before you buy” policy is always preferred since it provides you with the opportunity to try the service and ensure it works well for you. It is always recommended when trying a new VPN service to connect to multiple VPN servers throughout the trial period to help get a good idea on how well the VPN provider is performing. Try downloading via Torrent, accessing Netflix or similar services, visit frequently used websites and see how the service performs before commit to a long-term plan.

Finally ensure you are fully aware of the money-back guarantee conditions. Some VPN providers will happily provide a refund within the trial-period however they might refuse to issue the refund in case of excessive downloads.

Number of Simultaneous VPN Connections

All VPN Service Providers support simultaneous connections using a single VPN account allowing users with multiple devices e.g laptop, mobile phone, tablet etc, connect through any of their devices.

Users who wish to take advantage of a VPN Service will surely appreciate this capability and it’s quickly becoming very popular. Many users take advantage of this feature and share the VPN account with friend to split the VPN cost.

A minimum of at least 2 simultaneous VPN connections should be supported by your provider, one for the laptop/workstation and one for your mobile phone or tablet. Support for more than 2 devices is always nice to have as you can easily share it with a friend.

Customer Support

VPNs have evolved enough today so that a user at any technical level should be able to download and install the VPN Client without difficulties. Nevertheless, if you’re new to VPNs the amount of information can often be overwhelming and confusing.

For this reason 24/7 Customer Support is important and it should be easily accessible via the provider’s website, email or even phone.

The most common method today is 24/7 online chat support followed by email support while some providers might even offer phone support.

With chat and email support you should be able to precisely describe any problem you are having so that the person on the other side can understand. This will help resolve your problem much faster and save time and unnecessary frustration.

Choosing the Right VPN Provider

With over 200 VPN Service Providers, making the right choice can be a very complicated and time-consuming task. While the price tag always plays a significant role it should not be the major decision-making factor.

Protecting your online privacy correctly is very important even if that means spending a few additional dollars.

Firewall.cx is the only network security site with industry security experts who have performed in-depth reviews of VPN providers to produce the Best VPN Service guide based on the following criteria:

• VPN Speeds and Latency Test
• VPN Server locations (countries) amount of servers world-wide
• Netflix VPN, Torrenting and Blocked sites, Geo-blocking Bypass
• Security features (DNS Leak Protection, Kill Switch etc)
• Multiple device login (Laptop, Phone, Tablet etc)
• Encryption protocols (PPTP/L2TP IPSec/OpenVPN etc) & Support for Dedicated VPN Routers
• No-Log Policy & Bitcoin payment support
• User-Friendly VPN client interface
• Pricing – based on a 12 month subscription

Summary

Understanding what a VPN service is and how it can help you protect your online privacy is very important today. Enabling anonymous browsing and protecting your online identity against attack is as equally important as running an antivirus on your computer. VPN Services help provide a significant level of identity protection while at the same time unlocking geo-restricted content with the click of a button. Protect your online transactions and activities with a highly recommended VPN Service today.

It’s hard to go to a pub, café, or hotel these days without running into public or guest WiFi. In many cases, an internet connection can feel like a necessity – keeping up with work or personal emails, arranging plans with friends, checking social media. Connecting is usually as easy as entering an email address, filling out a survey, or entering a code on a receipt.

It's an easy trap to fall into. Cellular data is expensive. In the US, 500 MB of pre-paid data costs an average of $85 US. If your contract doesn’t have a large data allowance, free WiFi is a godsend. However, that convenience comes with considerable risk to your privacy and security. If you’re not using a VPN at a public hotspot, you’re opening yourself up to all kind of malicious attacks and data interceptions such as sslstrip man-in-the-middle attack (analysed below), online activity monitoring, computer hijacking, restricted online browsing and many more serious security threats.

Download a Free 7 day fully functional StrongVPN service. Unlimited download, strong encryption, supports all your devices!

Public - Guest WiFi Security Risks

The biggest misconception about open WiFi is that it offers the same protection as your home network. That couldn’t be further from the truth. The annoying password on your home network does much more than keep people from connecting. It encrypts your data so that those on the outside have trouble looking in.

By nature, guest WiFi has no password. In most cases, that means no encryption. With a simple tool, anyone on the network can see which websites you’re visiting. In some cases, they can even intercept the emails you send, the files on your computer, and passwords. It doesn’t matter if you’re at a high-security airport or the coffee shop down the road.

Even when an attacker isn’t around, you’re putting trust in the security of everyone else on the network. You may have the latest version of Windows 10, but the person next to you could have no security knowledge. Some forms of malware attempt to spread themselves to other people on the network, and the user probably doesn’t even know about it.

Common WiFi Attacks used at Internet Hotspots

Thankfully, wifi snooping is on the decrease thanks to SSL encryption. This web standard is spreading across all the most popular sites, and you’ll notice it by the HTTPS icon in your browser (as seen in the image on the left). It means that while someone can see the url you’re on, they can’t see your emails or the password you just typed in. Unfortunately, this won’t stop someone resourceful. In fact, SSL can be bypassed with a single method.

In 2009, security expert Moxie Marlinspike introduced sslstrip. By routing a victim’s connection through their own machine, an attacker can redirect them to the HTTP version of the page. The browser won’t even detect this and the victim has no idea what’s going on.

Representation of how an sslstrip wifi attack works

The vulnerability comes from the fact that most users don’t type in “https://” at the beginning of every url. This means that when they first connect to the site, it’s HTTP. Most websites will then redirect users to an HTTPS version, but ssltrip steps in and sends back HTTP instead. The hacker can then view all the user’s requests in plaintext, collecting whatever information he likes.

Though attackers often need specialist software and some technical knowledge, packages such as WiFi Pineapple can make so-called “man-in-the-middle” attacks relatively simple. In a few clicks, users can pretend to be a public network, routing traffic through them rather than to the router. From there, the attacker can force the user to visit websites with malware, install key loggers, and plenty of other shady things. It’s not too difficult, and with the aid of YouTube, a seven-year-old did it in eleven minutes.

In some cases, attackers don’t even need any experience to view your information. Oftentimes, users connecting to hotel WiFi forget to change Windows sharing settings. This makes it easy for anybody to view your shared files with no hacking required. Sometimes this isn’t even password protected, making it child’s play.

However, there are also tools to make more complex processes simple. In 2010, a simple browser extension called FireSheep was released. The tool lets users catch browsing cookies from any website that doesn’t use HTTPS. Though many major websites such as Facebook and Gmail are protected, smaller sites often use HTTP, and many users have the same password for multiple sites.

Firesheep Firefox extension in action

Other tools let you do the same from an Android phone or other devices. And that’s assuming you’re connecting to the right network at all. A common method of attack is to set up a fake network, or honeypot. To the untrained eye, it won’t look out of place. Often, they will make sense in the context, named Starbucks WiFi, for example. In fact, an attacker owns it, and is logging everything you do. Our article configuring Windows 8 / 8.1 as an access point is a good example that shows just how easy it is to configure your workstation into a honeypot.

Hotel Hotspots - 277 Hotels Wordwide with Major Security Flaw

Hotels are one of the most vulnerable places for such attacks. They often have hundreds of people connected to the network at a time and hackers can stay in their rooms, undetected by anyone. Most hotels don’t have good security, and standardization means that many have the same, vulnerable hardware.

In 2015, for example, 277 hotels worldwide were found to be using ANTlab’s InnGate device. It’s used by much of the hotel industry to set up guest WiFi, including most of the top 10 chains. Unfortunately, it has a major security flaw, enabling hackers to gain access to users’ data, and sometimes even credit card data held by the hotel.

ANTlab’s InnGate WiFi client login page

Thankfully, ANTlab has since produced a software update to solve the issue, but it must be installed manually, and there's no way to tell if the hotel has applied the fix. This leaves a situation where you can never truly trust hotel networks.

Business executives should be particularly cautious. Russian security firm Kaspersky Lab discovered in 2014 that hackers were running a malware campaign code-named DarkHotel which was  targeting business leaders at hotels in Asia. DarkHotel is a targeted spear-phishing spyware and malware-spreading campaign that appears to be selectively attacking business hotel visitors through the hotel's in-house WiFi network. When logging into the WiFi, a page asked them to download the latest version of Flash Player, Messenger or other software. The software was legitimate but malware piggybacked on the install, stealing valuable data.

Business Guest WiFi Security

Businesses’ own networks can also be a significant target. Though many private corporate networks invest in security, guest internet is often open and unsecure. This puts clients or visitors at risk, and can also endanger employees using the wrong network. Unfortunately, a number of solutions fail to offer proper network encryption.

This opens users up to the dangers mentioned before, such as man-in-the-middle attacks. Browsing is open to snooping and could result in lost passwords, malware and more. Many routers try to circumvent the risk slightly by implementing a portal page, but this can lead to further problems.

In the case of some Linksys and Belkin routers, the page uses HTTP rather than HTTPS. That means that anyone sniffing WiFi traffic nearby can discover a password in plaintext when its typed in. Naturally, that gives them access to the network anyway, and possibly other logins if the password is re-used.

In addition, some guest networks still use Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) for protection. WEP is outdated and easily circumvented, now succeeded by WPA and WPA2. WEP can now be easily circumvented, and in 2011 three Seattle-based hackers stole over $750,000 from local businesses using this method.

The three drove around with networking tools, looking for unsecure or accessible wireless networks and stealing data. Employee social security numbers, email addresses, company credit card numbers and other information was then sold on to third parties.

Staying Safe on Public Wi-Fi Networks & Internet Hotspots

Fortunately, there are several ways you can stay safe on public WiFi and protect both your information and clients. Firstly, check that you’re connecting to the right network. It’s stupidly easy for someone to create their own hotspot called “Hotel WiFi” and log all your connections. It always pays to ask an employee which WiFi you should connect to.

Before you connect, check your sharing settings. This will stop the average joe from seeing all your shared documents with a click. You can view them easily in Windows via Network and Internet> Change advanced sharing settings.

Disabling Network Discovery and File Printer Sharing when connected to Public wifi

You’ll want to disable both Network Discovery and File and printer sharing. This will make it harder for people to access all your documents. In OSX you’ll want to go to System Preferences> Sharing and untick all the boxes there.

While you’re at it, you may as well make sure your Firewall is enabled. Often, users can disable the setting due to annoying software asking for permissions. However, having the Firewall enabled is essential on guest internet. Though it’s not infallible, it will make it harder for attackers to poke around in your PC.

In Windows, you can simply type in firewall, and then click turn Windows Firewall on or off on the left side of the control panel. OSX is equally simple, and both let you set exceptions for public and private networks.

Users should also be keeping both their operating system and applications up to date. This is especially important for browsers and plugins like Flash and Java. Not only will this reduce the vulnerabilities on your computer, you won’t be fooled by the bogus update messages mentioned earlier.

Speaking of browsers, try to make sure you’re using HTTPS where possible. A simple way is to visit popular websites in HTTPS on a secure network and then bookmark them. When you’re in public, only use that bookmark to access your logon. Alternatively, extensions such as HTTPS Everywhere will force Chrome, Opera, or Firefox to use SSL encryption on all webpages that support it. This will protect you against sslstrip and is much more user-friendly.

If someone still manages to sniff your password, two-factor authentication can be a lifesaver. Most major email providers such as Gmail and Hotmail provide this service, as does Facebook. Essentially, it makes you enter a time-sensitive passphrase when connecting from a new device. This can be delivered via text, a mobile app, or email. The extra step can be enough to turn away most hackers.  

However, the only way you can be 100% sure is to not visit sensitive websites at all. Generally, it’s a bad idea to go on PayPal, online banking, or other such websites on guest WiFi. You can never be confident you’re truly safe, and that applies to mobile banking too. When you’re done browsing, you should consider disconnecting from WiFi or turning off your computer. The longer your PC is open and on the network, the longer an attacker has to find vulnerabilities.

All of these steps will help a lot with creating a secure public WiFi experience. However, the unfortunate truth is that a determined attacker can still bypass these measures. To significantly increase your safety, you’ll want to invest in a VPN Service Provider. While selecting a VPN Provider can be a time-consuming process our Best VPN services comparison will help considerably in the process of selection.

Secure WiFi Access and Identity Protection with VPN Service Providers

A Virtual Private Network is exactly what it sounds like. Simply, a VPN allows you to make a secure connection to a server over the internet. All your traffic goes through that server, with very strong encryption that makes it almost impossible to snoop. When you connect to an unprotected WiFi network, attackers will just see a load of random characters. Trying to circumvent that is simply not worth their time.

With a VPN Provider your PC creates a tunnel to send your data over the internet. Every piece of data sent over the internet is in chunks called packets. Each packet has part of the data, as well as other information like the protocol (HTTP/HTTPS) and the user’s IP address. When you connect to a VPN, that packet is sent inside another packet. As you would expect, the outer packet provides security and keeps the information from prying eyes.

With a VPN Provider all internet traffic is encrypted and secure

However, as mentioned before, data is also encrypted. How exactly this is achieved depends on the security protocol of the VPN client. Using the Best VPN Protocol is important to ensure your VPN connection has the most suitable encryption depending on your online usage. Following is a quick rundown of the various encryption methods VPN providers use:

• Point-to-Point Tunnel Protocol. Supported by most VPN providers, this is an obsolete and insecure protocol. While it doesn’t support encryption, it creates a Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) Tunnel between the two endpoints (client – server) and encapsulates all traffic inside the tunnel. Because of the encapsulation process PPTP can suffer from slow performance issues if there is not enough bandwidth available.
• L2TP / IPSec: Layer 2 Tunnel Protocol is considered the evolution of PPTP coupled with IPSec for encryption. It’s a highly secure protocol used by all VPN Service providers and manages to offer a high-level of confidentiality.
• SSTP – Secure Socket Tunnel Protocol: A fairly newer encryption protocol that relies on SSLv3/TLS for encryption which means SSTP is able to pass through most Firewalls and Proxy Servers using TCP port 443 (HTTPS). SSTP is supported by Microsoft Windows Vista SP1 and later plus RouterOS. As with most IP-tunnelled protocols, SSTP performance can be affected if there is not enough bandwidth available.
• OpenVPN: One of the latest VPN clients offering great security and flexibility. OpenVPN is maintained by the open-source community and relies on OpenSSL to provide encryption. OpenVPN can utilize both UDP and TCP protocols making it a highly desirable alternative to IPSec when it’s blocked.   OpenVPN can support up to 256bit encryption and many vendors have implemented into their products e.g VPN Service Providers.

Additional Benefits of Using a VPN at Hotspots & Public Wifi Networks

As well as data protection, VPNs provide other benefits on public WiFi - Hotspots. Due to the nature of tunnelling, VPNs can be used to bypass content restrictions. This can be particularly useful on guest internet, which often has filtering policies in place.

They also give you some anonymity when connecting to the web. The website you’re connecting to sees your connection is coming from wherever the VPN Server is located, not your physical (real) location. Moreover, as all of your information is encrypted, the broadband service provider can’t spy on you either. This has the bonus of protection from surveillance by the government or other parties. For a journalist or lawyer, that can be essential.

However, not all VPNs are created equal. The protection your VPN hotspot provides depends largely on which of the above protocols they use and how the data is stored. Some VPN services keep a log of every site you visit and from which IP address. Naturally, that removes some degree of anonymity.

This is particularly relevant if they’re located in one of the so-called ‘five-eyes.’ The US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand all share the data from their intelligence agencies. In many cases, VPN providers must legally hand over user data to the government on request. The only way VPN hotspots can circumvent this is by not keeping logs at all. For someone just wanting to stay safe on public WiFi, that’s not much of a concern. If you’re looking for the full package, though, it’s worth looking up their policies.

Of course, some providers offer VPN functionality free of charge. Unfortunately, these are often subject to data caps, advertisements, or other money making methods. In some cases, free providers have sold user bandwidth or connection data. Though they’ll do in a pinch, free VPNs are no substitute for a paid service. If you go free, it’s best to do some research beforehand.

There’s also availability to consider. Most paid VPN Services support all the major devices and operating systems, such as Windows, OSX, Linux, iOS, Android and routers. That means you can be protected on all your devices, but not necessarily all at once. The limit of devices you can connect varies depending on provider, anywhere between 2 and 6. The majority support 4 or 5 devices, but this can change depending on your plan.

Despite this, it’s easy to get a VPN set up on any device. Though some don’t support less popular platforms like Windows 10 Mobile, it’s usually possible to set them up manually via a built-in settings menu.

For more obscure devices like a DS or PS Vita, or just to avoid setup, you can share your VPN connection from a PC. This essentially acts as a separate, VPN Hotspot, meaning you’ll have your own password-protected WiFi network that’s secure and encrypted. You can set one up on a Windows PC with the following steps or read our Windows WiFi Hotspot article:

1. Connect your PC over Ethernet or WiFi
2. Hit Start and type cmd and select Open command prompt as an administrator
3. Type netsh wlan show driver
4. Look for the network you’re connected to and check for the field Hosted network supported: Yes
5. Type netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=VPN hotspot key=MyP@$$!
6. Type netsh wlan start hostednetwork
7. Go to Control Panel>Network and Sharing Center and click Change adapter settings
8. Find the relevant VPN adapter and click on Properties
9. Go to the Sharing tab and tick Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s internet connection
10. Start up your VPN and connect to the new VPN hotspot from any device

This is a good solution if you have multiple people in a hotel suite or café, and saves downloading an app on every device. For easier setup, you can download a tool like Virtual Router Manager. You’ll still need a compatible WiFi card, but you can set up the VPN hotspot in just a few seconds.

Another great solution for home or office environments is to configure your router to connect with your VPN Provider. A solution like this will allow you to cleverly share your VPN connection with all devices in your network without requiring to separately configure each one with a VPN client.

Summary

You can never be truly safe on Public or Guest WiFi. Whether you’re in a hotel, café or on a business guest network, a determined attacker may be able to find a way. Regardless of how safe you think you are, it’s always worth avoiding sensitive logins while on an unsecure connection.

If you have to, a VPN will significantly reduce the risk. For most attackers, it will be more hassle than it’s worth. Setting up a VPN hotspot can extend this protection to any device, so friends and family have little reason to be unsafe.

Naturally, VPNs aren’t infallible. Users still need to watch out for fake WiFi portals, which may launch in the time between connecting to a network and launching the VPN. This short window may also give the attacker information about your system or other clues to help them.

However, in combination with other measures, a VPN is possibly the best protection you’ll find. Without a VPN, hotspots just aren’t secure and, considering what’s on the line, $3 to $8 US a month for a fast & secure VPN service is a complete bargain.

How Torrenting & Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Works

Instead of using dedicated servers, P2P utilizes the connections of other users to distribute files. As they download a torrent, the individual also uploads a small portion for others to download. This creates an interconnected network where files are provided by many different people.

One huge example of legal P2P usage is gaming. Online games such as World of Warcraft, League of Legends, and downloads from UPlay all have a P2P option. This saves on server costs for the developers and can increase torrent speed. This can foster development for smaller, indie companies, who might not have the infrastructure for lots of servers.

Download Torrents Safely & Bypass any geo-location restrictions using StrongVPN Client

In fact, Windows 10 even takes advantage of this method to save on bandwidth issues. The OS delivers updates in multiple parts, pulling bits from both PCs on the same network, over the internet, and Microsoft’s own data centers. This feature is turned on by default since the Windows 10 Anniversary Update in the summer of 2016.

However, more important is the role of torrenting in distributing public data. The Internet Archive caches huge amounts of websites and offers a huge variety of public domain books, TV shows, and audio recordings. The non-profit recommends the use of torrents to download its content, as it saves on bandwidth and allows it to continue its vital work.

This role extends even to government. NASA has used torrents several times in the past to distribute its findings, including this high-resolution picture of earth. The UK government has done similarly, releasing large datasets on public spending via BitTorrent.

As well as supporting government, BitTorrent is also used to oppose it. Transparency sites such as Julian Assange’s Wikileaks often release so-called ‘insurance files’ through torrents. Shortly before the leak of Hilary Clinton’s emails, the site published an 88GB, 256-AES encrypted file. This keeps the organization from being shut down – if WikiLeaks goes dark, an automated message sends out an unlock password for all the data. In previous cases, files have reached upwards of 400GB.

Despite the genuine uses of P2P, users still get attacked by copyright claimants, sometimes inaccurately. In 2015, the creators of B-movie Elf Man filed a lawsuit against hundreds of users who claimed to have never even heard of the movie. Ryan Lamberson was one of these defendants and was eventually reimbursed for $100,000 in legal fees. Closer examination of evidence revealed that the tools used by the copyright holder did not account for several shortcomings, and only tracked uploads rather than downloads.

The defense also pointed out that the primary evidence was little more than an IP address. This information came from a third-party software that connected to the BitTorrent swarm in which the files were shared. However, some torrent software allows for the spoofing of IP addresses, and the investigator failed to account for several other false positives. Because of the win, several other Elf Man cases were dropped or settled for a lower value.

Other thrown cases include the Adam Sandler movie The Cobbler, and a 53-year-old artist painter was wrongly accused of illegally downloading and sharing 18 films and TV shows. Thankfully, there is a simple way to avoid such risks.

Anonymous Torrenting with a VPN Service

Using a VPN for torrenting will ensure your identity remains private, not just from ISPs, but copyright claimants and government. When you connect to a VPN, all your traffic goes through a “tunnel”. The individual packets that make up your data contain information such as IP Address, protocol, and other identifying information.

Tunneling wraps those packets in others that provide extra security against prying eyes. In addition, the data is encrypted in transit, meaning ISPs, service providers and other middlemen see nothing but gibberish. Different providers use different encryption methods, the most common being IPSec, L2TP, and OpenVPN. 

The benefit of this tunneling is clear. An ISP or copyright holder can only see the IP address of the VPN servers, not your own. This makes for anonymous torrenting, and they can’t see what website’s you’ve visited either. Though this might not protect you against entirely baseless accusations, it should stop you from coming under genuine suspicion.

A VPN for torrenting will also provide you with protection in other ways. To stay safe on public WiFi, they are almost essential. Without one, attackers can snoop on your online traffic, possibly recovering passwords and credit card details. You could also be vulnerable to malware on your machine and tracking from third parties.

However, not all VPNs are created equal. Though some provide anonymous torrenting and public WiFi protection, others are questionable at best. Researching hundreds of different providers can be a pain, so instead we’ve done that for you. Our network security team has produced a VPN service review of all the Best VPN Service Providers, alongside detailed feature lists.

Finally, our Begineers Guide to VPNs article aims to educate users with all the necessary information so they can fully understand how a VPN works, security features offered by the best VPN service providers, what to look for in a VPN and what to stay away from.

Avoid ISP Bandwidth Throttling

Encrypted communication has the add-on effect of avoiding bandwidth throttling from ISPs. As mentioned earlier, service providers inspect packets to classify different data. This lets them put a speed cap on specific mediums. This is usually done unofficially and some service providers will deny the practice despite significant data to the contrary.

Despite this, it’s becoming more and more routine for ISPs to throttle or block torrent downloads. Everything you receive goes through their servers, allowing them to analyse it with Deep Packet Inspection. This method lets the service provider look at different data packets and classify it into different categories, such as video, music, and torrents.

Bandwidth throttling can be achieved in several ways. One method is blocking router ports often used for BitTorrent. Typically, P2P downloads go through TCP ports from 6881-6889. By limiting the speed on these, an ISP can cut out a big chunk of bandwidth.

However, this method is becoming less and less popular. Increasingly, torrent clients randomize TCP ports or tell users if there are any issues. As a result, internet service providers use methods that are harder to dodge.

One such technique is called traffic shaping. The flow of certain packets is delayed in favour of others, affecting download and upload speed. This can be done as a blanket, or through intelligent burst shaping. Burst shaping increases torrent speeds for a short period, before gradually returning to a lesser speed. Thus, extended downloads such as movies, games, and streaming are slower, while web pages still load quickly.

The need for shaping comes from the limited bandwidth resources of an ISP. It lets the service provider guarantee performance to other users by reducing the effect of heavy users. Often, P2P is main target for this, and it’s easy to see why. Torrent downloads use large amounts of bandwidth and therefore cost a lot of money to sustain. In addition, companies are under a lot of legal pressure from copyright holders. By throttling, they can assure the parties that they’re doing their bit to limit the impact of pirates.

Unfortunately, it’s difficult to differentiate between legal P2P downloads and illegal ones. This means that regular users can be throttled due to blanket policies. You can check if your torrents are being throttled by running the Glasnost test (no longer developed). The eight-minute download will detect bandwidth throttling in the upload and download streams separately.

We tried the Glasnost test which failed to confirm our suspicions of BitTorrent bandwidth throttling:

Glasnost failed to detect any BitTorrent Bandwidth Throttling for our connection

There are many cases where the Glasnost test will not accurately detect BitTorrent bandwidth throttling which is where personal experience confirms these suspicions.

BitTorrent without a VPN provided a Max Download Speed of 1.2Mbps

If you find an issue with your broadband provider, there are still steps you can take avoid throttling. Using a VPN for torrenting will ensure your ISP can’t categorize that data. If they don’t know it’s happening, they probably won’t throttle it, which will result in faster speeds.

How a VPN Can Increase Torrent Speeds – Real Example Avoiding BitTorrent Bandwidth Throttling

VPN speed increases are often quite significant. The exact difference depends on your ISP, but it can increase torrent speeds by double or triple. This is despite latency caused by encryption methods and cross-continent connections.

In our tests, we found an increase in BitTorrent download speed from a pitty 1.3 Mbps max to a whopping 3.1 Mbps max using our StrongVPN connection. This test was carried out on a completely legal download of CentOS, showing that ISPs don’t make exceptions. This reduced the ETA of the download significantly, bringing it to an acceptable time.

BitTorrent traffic over VPN with StrongVPN increased out download speeds by almost 3 times

It’s worth noting that using a VPN for torrenting doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get the full speed of your internet connection. The speed upon which you can download is dependent on many factors including the plan you have with your ISP, how busy your local ISPs exchange is, VPN provider & VPN server you’ve connected to, their (VPN servers) max upload bandwidth, type of encryption selected for the VPN and many more.

For example, torrenting on stronger, 256-AES encryption, results in a slower connection than 128-AES encryption. The latter also provides less protection (weaker encryption), so the best fit depends on your usage scenario. The type of data authentication also makes a difference. Data protection prevents so-called active attacks, where the attacker gets between you and the VPN server and inject or modify data. SHA1 is the fastest method, but SHA256 is also common. It’s worth checking what options there are before you buy a VPN for torrenting.

Ensuring Your VPN for Torrenting is Protecting You

Despite these protection methods, you still may not be safe torrenting on certain VPNs. Some providers have strict policies on P2P downloads, often due to their legal situation of location. Many do not officially support illegal activity and if your provider keeps logs, they may be forced to hand them over to authorities or copyright holders.

A free VPN for torrenting is especially risky. Fighting copyright holders takes a lot of time and resources, and most companies will only protect paying customers. They can also come with data caps or sell your details, so it’s usually worth paying a small monthly fee for true anonymous torrenting.

Paid services have a vested interest in keeping consumers safe from copyright holders. As a business, their reputation depends on delivering what is advertised and keeping users safe. It’s always worth checking the provider’s policies before signing up.

However, there are also issues that can stem from the individual user, rather than the VPN provider. Your IP address may be revealed through a DNS Leak or other means. This is easy to check and can be done straight from your browser.

One of the most popular online tools ipMagnet. First, you will want to visit the site with your VPN. Loading the web page should display the IP address assigned by your VPN provider, not the IP address assigned by your ISP. Once this has been verified, you’ll want to hit the blue Magnet link text shown below:

ipMagnet allows BitTorrent users verify they are not exposing their real IP address

You will then be prompted to add the file to the BitTorrent application of your choice. The link points to a fake file, and the embedded tracker is controlled by qMagnet who archives the information and returns it to you. The download is completely legal and the files shouldn’t take up any space on your hard drive. Moreover, the source code of ipMagnet is freely available online. It’s best to let this run for a while until multiple lines show in the table:

ipMagnet in Action reveals our VPN Service Provider is not exposing our real IP address

You can also use see the IP address under the trackers section of your BitTorrent client. The message field should only display the IP address shows in your VPN client and will be updated if anything changes. If any of them display your real IP address (assigned by your ISP) you have a problem. This means that your real IP address is leaking and is viewable to your peers and snoopers.

The best way to avoid such leaks is through a Kill Switch. This feature is often found within reliable VPN service providers or BitTorrent clients and shuts off your connection if the VPN for torrenting drops out. With reliable providers, this doesn’t happen often, but a few seconds is all it takes to expose your identity.

Set Up a VPN Kill Switch in qBittorrent

Some torrent clients have Kill Switch functionality built-in. This is true for popular providers such as qBitorrent, Vuze, and uTorrent and can help enforce anonymous torrenting. You can follow this guide to enable it for qBittorrent in Windows 10:

1. Hit the Windows key and type Network and Sharing Center. Press Enter.
2. Click Change adapter settings in the left side panel.
3. In the Network Connections window, identify the adapter your VPN uses. For us, it was an Ethernet TAP-Windows Adapter you can see as Firewall VPN:
   
   
4. Open qBittorrent on your system.
5. Select Tools > Options. Click the Advanced tab.
6. In the Setting column, look for Network Interface.
7. Set the drop down menu tothe previously identified adapter (Firewall VPN).
8. Click OK.
9. Restart qBittorrent.

Note that you need to fully quit qBittorent for this to work. That means right-clicking on the icon in the system tray and clicking exit. On start, you should notice that your download speed won’t budge from zero unless you enable your VPN. As soon as you start it up again, you’ll see an increased torrent speed.

Set Up a VPN Killswitch With Comodo Firewall

If neither your VPN or torrent client works with a Kill Switch, you’ll have to look elsewhere. Comodo Firewall is a good, tried and tested alternative. The setup is more complex, but ensures stable privacy and less fiddling later. First, you need to find the VPNs physical address. To start, type cmd in the start menu and run it as an administrator.

Then type ipconfig /all and look for the adapter that says TAP -Windows Adapter next to the description field. Note down the Physical Address, and start Comodo Firewall:

You’ll then want to set up a new network zone. Go to Settings > Firewall > Network Zones and select Add > New Network Zone. Name it VPN for Torrenting and press okay.

Your new zone should now show up in Comodo. Select it and click Add > New Address. Change the type to Mac Address and input the physical address from earlier:

Now you’ll want to create some rulesets. Go to Firewall > Rulesets and hit Add. Name it Kill Switch Ruleset. You can then add three separate rulesets with the following settings:

• Action: Block
• Protocol: IP
• Direction: In or Out
• Source Address: Any Address
• Destination Address: Any Address

• Action: Allow
• Protocol: IP
• Direction: Out
• Source Address: Network Zone/VPN for Torrenting
• Destination Address: Any Address

• Action: Allow
• Protocol: IP
• Direction: In
• Source Address: Any Address
• Destination Address: Network Zone/VPN for Torrenting

Hit OK and you’re almost done. In the Application Rules section of Advanced Settings, you can add any application you want the Kill Switch Ruleset to apply to. In this case, we want to add our torrent client. Browse to the location of the program and add it to the rule. Finally, check Use Ruleset and select Kill Switch Ruleset.

By using one or all the methods, you will ensure your VPN doesn’t leak your identity when it goes down. To be certain, run another test on ipMagnet with your VPN enabled and disabled. No IPs should appear when you aren’t connected.

VPN Port Forwarding & NAT Firewalls

Unfortunately, some users will still have problems downloading torrents with a VPN enabled. This is usually due to the use of VPN NAT firewalls. VPN usage degrades the protection of the NAT firewall built into your router. The functionality blocks incoming traffic unless it’s in response to a request you made. However, the encrypted nature of VPN tunneling means you lose that protection.

As a result, most VPN providers set up their own NAT firewalls that sit between their servers and the internet. This feature is usually presented as an optional toggle and offers much of the same protection. It can also result in issues when you’re using a VPN for torrenting.

NAT firewalls can make your connection slower, offsetting much of the anti-throttling advantages. To avoid this, you’ll have to set up a port in the firewall that lets P2P traffic through. This is generally called VPN port forwarding.

Some VPN port forwarding can be reached from the settings menu. A simple toggle is usually enough to solve any issues, but naturally, this can reduce security slightly.

VPN Port Forwarding in Private Internet Access

To get maximum efficiency, you will want port forward via the torrent client too. qBittorrent and other clients enable NAT-PNP and UPnP by default, which automates the process. In other scenarios, you may have to manually input the port in your torrent client. The five-digit port number usually displays on connection or inside the VPN window.

If your provider doesn’t provide you with a VPN port forwarding number or settings toggle, it’s worth contacting directly via email. Sometimes the ports will be provided on request rather than to everyone. In other cases the provider port forwards by default, but doesn’t inform the user.

Summary

All the aforementioned methods will help keep your identity and wallet protected. In the case of Torrent throttling, you will be one step closer to getting the connection speeds you pay for. Moreover, careful application will make it impossible for anyone to verify your identity and hand out hefty fines.

Despite this, using a VPN for torrenting doesn’t mean you’re completely immune. Some ISPs will throttle all encrypted traffic, or target individual users who use a lot of bandwidth. The failure of Kill Switches can also give you away, though they happen very rarely. Port forwarding can cause issues on occasion, making you more vulnerable to other kinds of attacks.

Finally, the precautions are next to useless if you don’t choose a trusted and logless VPN provider in the first place. As the market grows it's becoming increasingly important to find the Best VPN Service Provider for you through reliable VPN service reviews. If you use P2P file sharing, that’s a company who supports those methods and won’t hand over your IP to third parties.

The deadlines for the ISPs to implement the blocking was the 31^st of December so from the 1^st of January 2017, access to the above mentioned sites would be denied.

Download Torrents and access restricted content safely from anywhere in the world!

Accessing ThePirateBay and other Blocked Sites from Australia

Currently, when an Australian online user tries to access any of the 5 sites they are presented with the following website:

The Piratebay blocked by a large Australian ISP

Australia’s mobile network providers are also blocking access to the above sites presenting their users with a similar website.

No matter which ISP or mobile network users are coming from, they now all receive a message stating access to the selected sites is disabled.

How ISPs are Blocking ThePirateBay, Torrentz, TorrentHound, IsoHunt & SolarMovie

There is a number of different ways an ISP can choose to block access to the above sites in order to comply with the Federal Court ruling. This includes blocking IP addresses, DNS blocking, URL blocking or any other method agreed mutually by the ISPs and rights holders.

At the moment Telstra, Optus and DoDo, which are amongst Australia’s largest ISPs for home, businesses and mobile users, are implementing DNS blocking. When users on their networks send a DNS request to their DNS servers they are redirected to one of the sites specifically setup for the block.

Optus DNS Blocking redirects users to a different website when trying to access ThePiratebay.org

This is also clearly evident when performing a simple nslookup query. In the example below, we queried Optus’s DNS server for www.thepiratebay.org and saw it pointed us to IP addresses 13.54.13.201 & 54.79.39.115 which do not belong to ThePirateBay:

Nslookup shows how easy it is to bypass DNS blocking and access any DNS-blocked site

After switching to Google’s public DNS servers located in the US, you’ll notice that we received different IP addresses for www.thepiratebay.org and were able to successfully access the website along with all other blocked websites.

Bypass DNS Blocking in Australia with a VPN Service

Using a VPN Service Provider is the best, safest and fastest way to access any restricted site not only from Australia but also across the globe. When connecting to a VPN service your internet traffic is routed through the VPN server, bypassing any local geographical restrictions, blocking or checkpoints from your ISP or government.

The advantages inherent in a VPN service are many but here are some of the most important:

• Protection against DNS Leaking
• Accessing blocked sites without exposing your internet activity
• Torrenting without any restrictions
• Stopping Bandwidth throttling from your ISP – take full advantage of your internet connection
• Accessing region-restricted websites
• Protecting your online privacy and identity
• The ability to run the VPN client on your workstation/laptop or any mobile device
• Unlimited access to US Netflix and other streaming services
• Military-grade encryption to ensure your traffic is secure from hackers and monitoring services
• The ability to share the VPN with multiple devices, including SmartTV, Netflix, family members and more

Perhaps the most challenging part when it comes to a VPN service is finding the Best VPN Service that is capable of delivering fast download or upload speeds, security, portability, Unblock Netflix and strong encryption. Our Best VPN Service review is a comprehensive review that provides a unique, truthful, in-depth look at 6 Top VPN service providers to help you make the best choice.

 

Mobile users can greatly benefit from a VPN service as they can safely access torrent or streaming sites while travelling, commuting on the train/tram/bus without worrying about being blocked or tracked by their ISP.

Providers such as StrongVPN have a single-button function to activate the VPN service and unlock everything while keeping you safe. For example, when we tried accessing thepiratebay.org from our mobile phone we received the following:

Accessing thepiratebay.org from a mobile within Australia without a VPN service

We then turned to our ExpressVPN client (covered in our review) and with the click of a single button (power button in the middle) we were able to automatically connect to a nearby VPN server in Melbourne, which means great speeds, stability, and access to thepiratebay.org without a problem through our heavily encrypted VPN session:

Accessing thepiratebay.org from a mobile within Australia after connecting to ExpressVPN Service (click to enlarge)

Another great feature with VPN service providers is that all have servers present in Australia which translates to superfast access without any delays. VPN servers do not use any local Australian ISP DNS servers which means they are immune to DNS blocking implemented by ISPs.

It’s never been easier or faster to safely access and surf the internet! Our Best VPN Service review provides all necessary information to help you select the right VPN provider and never worry again about ISP blocking.

Readers can also refer to our VPN Guide for Beginners which explains how VPNs work and analyzes the security services a VPN provider must support.

Bypass DNS Blocking in Australia by Changing Your Computer’s DNS Server

DNS Blocking is perhaps the easiest to circumvent and, luckily, this seems to also be the preferred method used by all major ISPs in Australia to enforce the recent Federal Court decision.

Note: While changing the DNS server is relatively easy to get access to blocked sites, you should be aware that your ISP is still capable of monitoring your activities when visiting these sites and downloading or streaming content. Only a VPN service is capable of protecting your identity and hiding your online activity from your ISP and government agencies.

To bypass your ISP’s DNS Blocking simply change your DNS servers so that you are using DNS servers located outside of Australia or DNS servers not owned by any of the Australian ISPs.

Changing your DNS server setting might be easy for desktop PCs and laptops however it can prove to be more challenging for mobile users who are accessing the internet via their mobile network provider. For mobile users, we highly recommend a VPN service instead as it provides peace of mind - and you can activate or deactivate the VPN at the click of a button!

Bypass DNS Blocking on Windows Systems

To bypass DNS blocking on Windows systems all that’s required is to change the DNS servers used by the operating system.

Note: Windows 10 users should read our DNS Leak Testing and Prevention article to ensure they properly configure their system to avoid leaking DNS requests. VPN users won’t need to worry about this as most VPN clients have DNS Leak Protection built-into their client. All VPN providers reviewed provide DNS Leak Protection.

To change your DNS server settings, simply navigate to Control Panel>Network and Sharing Centre and left-click on your network adapter connection (usually wireless). In our example this is a WiFi connection with SSID Firewall:

Accessing your wireless or wired network adapter network settings

In the window that opens click on Properties (Step 1). This will open the adapter’s network properties. Now double-click on Internet Protocol Version 4 (Step 2) to open the IPv4 Properties window:

Configuring custom DNS servers to bypass DNS blocking (click to enlarge)

Select Use the following DNS server addresses (Step 3) and insert two DNS servers of your choice e.g 8.8.8.8 for the Preferred DNS server and 8.8.4.4 for the Alternative DNS server. Finally click on OK/Close (Steps 4-6) to close all windows and save the new settings.

You might also need to flush your DNS cache in case you’ve already attempted to access any of the blocked sites. This can easily be done by opening a command prompt and typing ipconfig /flushdns. Alternatively simply restart your computer.

Bypass DNS Blocking On MAC OS & Ubuntu Linux

MacOS and Linux users can also make changes to their systems to avoid the DNS Blocking. Below is a quick guide for each operating system. Steps might be slightly different depending on the O/S version:

MacOS

• Go to System Preferences
• Click Network
• Select your WiFi or ethernet connection
• Hit Advanced…
• Click
• Enter your DNS details and press Okay

Ubuntu

• Navigate to System Settings, then to Network
• Select your connection
• Hit Options…
• Go to the IPv4 Settings tab
• Enter your DNS Servers
• Click Save

Bypass DNS Blocking In Australia via Router DHCP Change

Home users usually obtain their network settings automatically when connecting to their home network. By default, the router is configured with a DHCP server that is responsible for handing out IP addresses to all network clients so they can access the internet.

One of the parameters handed out by the DHCP server is the DNS server settings which are usually set to the IP address of the router or the ISP’s DNS servers. All that’s required here is to configure these values to match either Google’s DNS servers (8.8.8.8 & 8.8.4.4) or any other public DNS servers.

Below is an example of a Linksys router showing the DNS parameters under the DHCP server settings:

Bypass the Australian DNS Block by changing your router’s DHCP server DNS parameters (click to enlarge)

Changing the DNS parameters should be fairly easy assuming you can access them.

Some routers such as the Netgear CG3000, used mainly by Optus Australia, offers DHCP services to automatically configure clients connecting to the local network, however, it does not allow users to change the DNS parameters of the DHCP server. Users with this router or other routers with similar restrictions will have to manually change the DNS server settings on their computers.

Summary

Australia might have been hit by its first DNS Block from ThePirateBay, Torrentz, TorrentHound, IsoHunt and streaming service SolarMovie site, however, circumventing the block has proven a very easy case thanks to VPN Service Providers and other technical tricks. One thing is certain – this is just the beginning of a very long battle against privacy and censorship and it’s certainly going to get more difficult and messy as time passes and copyright holders continue to demand stricter measures and possibly penalties for Australian internet users.

Recent events show that this is the right time to start thinking about your online privacy and ensure no one is able to monitor your online activities. Do yourself a favour and visit our Best VPN Service Providers list to see how a VPN can unlock the internet, bypassing every restriction, while at the same time protect your privacy no matter where you are in the world and what device you’re connecting from.

Windows 10 is no safe haven, either. By default, Microsoft collects information from users on an unprecedented level. Data that can be turned over to authorities or a third party. Increasingly, users must take extra steps to ensure privacy and be more knowledgeable about the services they’re using.

This applies even to users with anonymizing software. Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are sometimes seen as blanket tools that guarantee identity protection. In truth, they have their own vulnerabilities and chief among them is the DNS Leak which only the best VPN service providers are able to resolve.

StrongVPN is our recommended VPN solution offering superior protection using a fast network of servers across the globe!

Understanding VPN DNS Leaks & How They Work

When you type a website URL into your browser, you’re essentially using a nickname. Typing in “firewall.cx” is more like asking a question. You send a request to a Domain Name System server, which then points you to the IP address of the site (208.86.155.203). This saves us typing long strings of numbers each time, and is better for pretty much everyone.

However, it also comes with its own problem. DNS servers are given by your internet service provider (ISP), which offers them a list of every website you visit. Naturally, this compromises anonymity, but VPNs are supposed to fix that. Instead of requesting from your ISP, your traffic is routed through the VPN, protecting you.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work. In some cases, the operating system uses its default DNS servers instead of switching things up. This is most common in Windows, but can also happen on OSX, Linux, and mobile devices. It’s aptly named a DNS leak.

In some cases, a VPN is worse than not using one at all. Why? When using anonymising software, users have a sense of security. They may perform activities they wouldn’t otherwise, such as torrenting software or visiting controversial websites. It’s not immediately clear that a leak has occurred, and the user goes on thinking they’re safe for months at a time. In reality, their IP address is open and visible.

DNS leaks aren’t just utilized by service providers either. Websites can discover your true IP address using WebRTC, a collection of communications protocols present in most browsers. WebRTC allows for a request to a service provider’s Session Traversal Utilities for NAT (STUN) servers, listing both the local (internal) and public IP address (router WAN IP) of the user via JavaScript.

This can give a general location of the user and be used to track them across the site or other sites by the same owner. In addition, law enforcement or hackers may be able to gain access to this data, leading to serious repercussions.

DNS Leaks Used By Govenrments and ISPs

For example, DNS leaks were utilized by the Canadian Government in 2015, helping to track users on popular file sharing websites. Revealed by Edward Snowden, the technique combines several tactics to find out the identity of downloaders. In this case, targeted files were primarily terrorism related, but this could easily be extended to other media.

Snowden Digital Surveillance Archive: Screenshot from Canada's Levitation Program

In fact, the UK government recently passed a law that does just that. The Investigatory Powers Bill forces ISPs to store and hand over DNS records in bulk for almost every user. This is used to create a list of websites each person has visited, regardless of any wrongdoing. As a result, UK users should be especially cautious about VPN DNS leaks, and can be certain any slip ups will be recorded.

Another danger is your ISP sending a copyright warning from downloaded files. This is particularly relevant on student connections, where internet activity is more closely monitored. In some cases, it can result in a ban from the service. Your details can also be passed on to the copyright holder, who can then choose to pursue legal action.

In the student case, the user can have all of the correct settings enabled but still get a notice. It’s likely that the VPN cut out momentarily and began sending DNS requests to the wrong place. This allows the DNS to leak even if the anti-DNS leak setting is enabled.

VPN DNS leaks also occur regardless of location. Whether you’re using a VPN to protect yourself on WiFi hotspots, at work, or in your own home, the risk is still there. In fact, public networks may prove a bigger risk. It always pays to be extra cautious outside your home.

VPN DNS Leak Test – Best Sites for Testing Your DNS

Thankfully, there are very simple ways to tell if you have a VPN DNS leak. The most popular tool is an online service: DNS leak test.

First, you run your VPN client and connect from a different country. Clicking Extended Test will then return a list of IP addresses, their service provider, and country of origin. If any of these match your true location, you have a problem.

The DNS leak test sends your client several different domain names, simulating a connection to each one. It then tracks the requests sent to its own DNS servers and other servers that the request bounces around before being resolved. The results are returned in your browser.

The standard test is good enough for most people, completing one round of six queries. However, to be completely sure, you should use the extended test. A total of 36 queries should be enough to discover all DNS servers. However, an extended test can take up to thirty seconds longer, so standard is good enough if you aren’t doing anything too sensitive.

VPN DNS leak testing is essential when you move to any new VPN client, but it’s good to test on occasion regardless. Changes in your operating system, browser settings, or an update to the VPN can all revert to incorrect servers.

VPN DNS Leak Protection is one of the many essential security features a VPN must have. We should note that all VPN clients tested in our Best VPN Service article provide DNS Leak Protection and passed all DNS Leak tests.

VPN DNS Leak Protection

Thankfully, if you do find a leak it's not the end of the world. There are plenty of ways to protect yourself from DNS leaks, and most of them are simple. One of the best methods is force your operating system to use VPN DNS servers instead of your ISP’s. Most services will be happy to provide these, but otherwise you can use a public DNS like Google, OpenDNS or Comodo Secure.

However, those looking for privacy will want to avoid companies looking to profit. Google has been known to use the data to target advertising. DNS providers like OpenNIC give a non-profit, open and uncensored service free of charge. Once you’ve found your preferred host, it’s not difficult to configure on any OS.

Windows 10 DNS Leak Protection & Prevention

In Windows 10, simply navigate to Control Panel>Network and Sharing Centre and left-click on your network adapter connection (usually wireless). In our example this is a WiFi connection with SSID Firewall:

Accessing your Windows 10 wireless or wired network adapter settings

On the next window click on Properties (1). This will open the adapter’s network properties. Now double-click on Internet Protocol Version 4 (2) to open the IPv4 Properties window:

Configuring Windows 10 custom open DNS servers to protect against DNS Leaks (click to enlarge)

Select Use the following DNS server addresses and insert two DNS servers of your choice from OpenNic (3). Finally click on OK/Close (4-6) to close all windows and save the new settings.

If that’s too many steps, you can use a tool like DNS Jumper. You can quickly jump between different DNS servers or set your own custom ones. Furthermore, it requires no install and will test a long list of providers to find the fastest connection. This is particularly useful if you play online games, as it will avoid high ping.

MAC OS & Ubuntu Linux DNS Leak Protection

Though Mac and Linux tend to suffer from fewer issues, you may still want to set things up to be on the safe side. It’s almost the same, so we won’t go into too much detail. Here’s a quick guide:

MAC OS

• Go to System Preferences
• ClickNetwork
• Select your WiFi or ethernet connection
• Hit Advanced…
• Click
• Enter your DNS details and press Okay

Ubuntu Linux

• Navigate to System Settings, then to Network
• Select your connection
• Hit Options…
• Go to the IPv4 Settings tab
• Enter your DNS Servers
• Click Save

You can also configure settings on iOS, Android and even the router itself. This makes it easier to avoid the dangers of WiFi hotspots and can make all your devices safe. However, there are plenty of other ways to prevent VPN DNS leaks. These can often be used in combination with each other for maximum security.

Windows Teredo Can Lead to DNS Leaks

In Windows, a technology called Teredo that allows tunnelling IPv6 traffic through IPv4 packets using the UDP Protocol, can often lead to DNS leaks. Essentially it allows communication between the two major IP protocols, IPv4 and IPv6. Teredo is on by default in Windows 10, but you can turn it off with a single cmd command.

First you’ll need to open a Command Prompt window with administrator privileges. In the Search Windows box (next to the start button) type cmd, right click on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator:

Opening a Windows Command Prompt with Administrator Privileges

At the command prompt, type the following command: netsh interface teredo set state disabled:

The system will return Ok indicating that teredo has been successfully disabled

In some cases you may need Teredo, but thankfully it’s just as easy to enable it again. This time, type: netsh interface teredo set state type=default.

How to Disable WebRTC in FireFox and Chrome

Unfortunately, the disabling Teredo doesn’t address issue of WebRTC in the browser. The procedure to disable it is different for each browser, and usually involves heading to the config page.

In Mozilla’s Firefox, you can type about:config in the URL bar. The line media.peerconnection.enabled will be shown lower down, and you can then double-click to toggle it off:

Disabling WebRTC in Mozilla FireFox

Bear in mind that disabling WebRTC may result in a small loss of functionality. The communications protocols allow for video conferencing, file transfer and more without the need for other plugins. However, there is a fall-back method for most tasks, meaning it's far from essential.

Unfortunately, there’s no way to disable WebRTC in Chrome by default. This is to be expected, as Google pioneered the method and wants people to use it. Thankfully, Google addressed concerns early this year by releasing a plugin (make sure you open the link with Chrome).

With WebRTC Network Limiter, you can display your Public IP address or you can route it through your proxy server (last option). The latter is recommended for maximum safety, but can cause issues with performance.

Use a VPN with DNS Leak Protection

Fortunately, it's not just users who are aware of the DNS leak issue. Most clients have VPN DNS leak prevention built in and don’t require any input from the customer. Our Best VPN Service Provider article includes the TOP 5 VPN Service Providers with VPN Clients that automatically provide VPN DNS Leak Protection.

In most cases, VPN providers will have their own private DNS servers. StrongVPN has a “Network Lock” option, where all traffic is forced through the VPN tunnel, including domain name requests. When you disconnect from a VPN temporarily, internet is cut out entirely, making sure no traffic leaves the tunnel. This is also known as a Kill Switch.

With PIA, DNS leak prevention is on by default. The client redirects requests to its own name servers (198.18.0.1) much like changing it manually through Windows. This makes it very unlikely that a leak will occur, and combines with a Kill Switch option similar to StrongVPN. PIA also lets you bring up a third-party DNS, so you can OpenNIC and other servers if you prefer. Both methods take a lot of work away from the user, and make it simple to prevent DNS leaks.

Summary

In all, built-in protection provides the most intuitive solution to DNS leaks. Finding a VPN that has a solution to this issue is becoming increasingly important, and without any measures there are serious risks to the privacy. It’s well worth shopping around to find a VPN Service that supports VPN DNS Leak Protection in an intelligent way.

Furthermore, VPNs that take DNS leaks seriously are more likely to take other privacy matters into consideration. A host that won’t take care of the most prevalent issue is less likely to address the smaller ones, or forgo logs.

That said, you shouldn’t blindly trust the provider’s word, either. Operating systems are complex, and it's not always possible for them to patch every hole. Sometimes problems can happen even with the protections in place. As such, DNS leak testing is essential. Taking your own measures will only increase privacy, and combining both will make this vulnerability almost non-existent.

VPN Services

With the help of a VPN Service, users are able to hide their real IP address and online activities by connecting to a VPN server and passing all traffic through that server. This way, the internet only sees the IP address of the VPN server.

Today, extended VPN Services provide us with many different and useful capabilities. For example they can provide users with the ability to bypass geo-restrictions for streaming services such as Hulu and Netflix. They also offer increased security and identity protection for mobile devices such as iPhones, iPads, Laptops, Android smartphones, tablet devices etc. This makes finding and selecting the best VPN Service a difficult task as there are many parameters to take into consideration. Our dedicated network security team here at Firewall.cx has done just that for every VPN Provider and then put them to the test to produce the best VPN Service review ever.

Benefits of a VPN Service

Understanding the importance and benefits of a VPN is crucial to help you decide if you need a VPN and what features you should look for. Despite the different offerings from VPN providers there are some standard benefits that you’ll always get:

• Increased Privacy. A VPN will hide your activities from your ISP and government. Traffic entering and exiting your VPN-enabled device is encrypted, making it almost impossible to intercept and decrypt.
• Hiding your IP address. A VPN will hide your IP address as all traffic is tunnelled through the VPN provider. Addition security features such as DNS Leak Protection will ensure your IP addresses and online activity is not exposed.
• Unblocking Geo-blocking services such as Netflix, Hulu and others. By connecting to a VPN server located in the country you wish to access content from, you’re able to by-pass any geo-blocking.
• Increased Torrent Download Speed. Bandwidth throttling is big problem for home users as ISPs unofficially lower the priority of torrent data streams, resulting in slow download speeds. A VPN encrypts all traffic so the ISP is unable to determine what you’re downloading.
• Bypass Firewall Restrictions. When connecting to a VPN server all application traffic, regardless of the ports used, is channelled through the VPN. This bypasses all restrictions enforced by a firewall or proxy server allowing you to use any application (torrent, chat, streaming, gaming, SMTP etc).

Best VPN Service Review: Quick Summary

How Our Best VPN Service Tests Were Performed

Evaluating the best VPN service can be a tricky task, especially when you take into consideration that not everyone is looking for the same features in a VPN. To give each provider a fair chance to live up to its reputation we decided to evaluate them based on the following criteria listed in order of importance:

• SpeedTest.net Download/Upload including Latency test
• Netflix VPN, Torrents and Blocked sites, Geo-blocking Bypass.
• Security features (DNS Leak Protection, Kill Switch etc)
• Encryption protocols (PPTP/L2TP IPSec/OpenVPN etc) & Support for Dedicated VPN Routers
• No-Log Policy & Bitcoin payment support
• User-Friendly VPN client interface
• Price – based on a 12 month subscription

Testing US Netflix Best VPN Providers

Accessing & streaming US Netflix content is a hot topic for most of our readers which is why we’ve included it in our tests. While other reviews might indicate whether or not US Netflix is supported, we took that extra step to test and verify the service.

All Netflix stream testing was performed from a 20Mbps home broadband connection using a US Netflix account configured to stream at the highest possible setting (High) which generates 3GB/hour for HD or 7GB/hour for Ultra HD. These settings would test each VPN Provider’s ability to perform continuous, uninterrupted streaming to a home or mobile VPN user.

Best VPN Provider Download/Upload Speed Tests

Speedtest.net was selected as a testing platform to evaluate download and upload speeds. Our tests were performed from Melbourne Australia using a premium 200Mbps link to the internet while OpenVPN UDP or OpenVPN TCP (when UDP failed) was the VPN protocol used to connect to each provider. The Speedtest.net server located at San Jose, CA Server (No.4) shown below was used for download/upload test. This server was strategically selected as it’s hosted by Speedtest.net and showed stable transfer rates capable of exceeding 185Mbps.

Our selected Speedtest.net server and non-VPN speed tests results (click to enlarge)

Our Speedtest.net test to San Jose, CA Server (No.4) without a VPN yielded an impressive 185Mbps download speed and 123Mbps upload speed confirming the path between us and the Speedtest.net server was not congested.

While test values still fluctuated, the tests we’ve selected to publish are the average results from each VPN Provider.

Best VPN Service Providers

Without further delay, let’s take an in-depth look at our Best VPN Service Providers:

No.1: StrongVPN

StrongVPN takes the 1^st position thanks to its performance and solid VPN client that provides a plethora of fine-tuning options. With more than 650 servers located in 22 countries, the number might seem small compared to other providers, but it’s rare you’ll need to frequently jump between servers to get a stable and fast connection.

StrongVPN No-Log Policy

StrongVPN provides a true No-Log Policy service which means no logs are stored about your connection or account. This makes StrongVPN ideal for users who take their privacy seriously and don’t want any type of logging from their VPN Provider.

StrongVPN Performance

While our test results fluctuated we were not concerned at all simply because the average results were significantly faster than all other VPN providers. It should also be noted that testing was performed using OpenVPN TCP as OpenVPN UDP didn’t seem to work with the US-based servers we connected to. Taking into consideration that OpenVPN TCP is slightly slower than OpenVPN UDP we are very surprised with the speeds we managed to get.

Download speeds averaged 67Mbps but managed to peak at a whopping 136Mbps, which was a fantastic result:

StrongVPN provides super-fast download speeds and exceptional upload speeds

Upload speeds were strong, averaging 96Mbps and peaking at an impressive 150Mbps. A similar surprise was the latency test, which averaged a very low 170ms making it amongst the fastest and lowest in latency connections. Running delay-sensitive applications or services such as VoIP or video won’t be a problem.

Finally StrongVPN offers unlimited downloading, uploading and streaming.

StrongVPN Client & Security Features

The desktop VPN client interface certainly brings back memories of an older GUI interface but we’ve been advised that it will soon be upgraded to a newer sleeker GUI on par with other providers.

The StrongVPN GUI interface

What the desktop GUI lacks in appearance it certainly makes up for in features but, most importantly, speed. The options available allow the end user to tweak the VPN connection to even adjust the MSS - MTU size, compression, encryption level and a whole bunch of other useful features Torrent users and Gamers will appreciate.

Kill Switch, DNS Leak Protection are built into the client and users can select the encryption protocol of their choice which includes OpenVPN (TCP or UDP), L2TP-IPSec, PPTP or SSTP. Changing between countries or cities is an easy process, simply select the desired country/city from the middle drop-down list and click on connect. This will change your account preferences and force the client to connect to the new location.

In contrast to the desktop VPN client, the mobile StrongVPN client will leave you wondering if we are talking about the same provider. It’s an impressive stylish application that resonates with the message “We mean serious business here”:

StrongVPN mobile client – a stunning application

The StrongVPN client is available for Windows, MAC, mobile iOS and Android devices. Users can change country/city as required and simply hit the power button in the middle of the screen – once connected the button will turn green as shown above.

StrongVPN does not offer its own Linux-based VPN client, however, Linux users can download and use the open-source OpenVPN client which is fully compatible.

StrongVPN Supports Netflix VPN Streaming

We were very pleased to see US Netflix work with StrongVPN. StrongVPN had the most US-based VPN servers from which Netfix would work without a problem. This is definitely a major advantage over its competition.

US Netflix HD streaming with StrongVPN (click to enlarge)

Streaming High Definition video didn’t seem like a real challenge for StrongVPN as it was able to stream continuously without any glitches even when downloading torrents and performing casual web browsing. Again, speed and bandwidth availability is the key ingredient here.

StrongVPN Router Software & Support

StrongVPN does not develop its own router firmware, however, it does provide detailed instructions on how to setup DD-WRT, Tomato by Shibby (no longer developed), Sabai Router OS, Mikrotik RouterOS and other o/s to connect to its VPN network. StrongVPN support contains perhaps the largest database of router devices and operating systems amongst all VPN Providers reviewed.

Encryption protocols supported for Router VPNs are OpenVPN (TCP or UDP) and PPTP, however, in order to take full advantage of the speeds the VPN Provider is capable of delivering, you’ll need to ensure your router has enough CPU horsepower under the hood!

StrongVPN Pricing & Plans

The $3.97US/month price tag (based on a yearly subscription) is a fantastic deal considering the features the services provided. The limit of 2 simultaneous VPN logins is slightly restrictive but everything else was simply great. The 5 day money-back guarantee was also acceptable as it allows users enough time to properly evaluate the service.

Closing, StrongVPN accepts Bitcoin payments along with Paypal, and Visa, providing users with more than enough payment options.

Click here to read our recent in-depth review of StrongVPN

No.2: ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN is another great choice. A reputable VPN Service provider, ExpressVPN offers superior VPN connectivity and very fast download speeds across its +1000 servers spread among 87 countries.

ExpressVPN No-Log Policy

ExpressVPN’s No-Log Policy states that it doesn’t track its users’ activities but it does maintain information such as the dates (not times) connected to the VPN service, VPN Server connected to and amount of data transferred. While Torrent users might not like the idea that some information is logged, ExpressVPN clearly states on its website that the information collected cannot be used to identify its users.

ExpressVPN Performance

ExpressVPN performed extremely well and was able to provide sustained transfers for both speed tests and torrent downloads. Download speeds averaged a bit more than 30Mbps which is adequate for torrenting, gaming, video streaming and casual web browsing.

ExpressVPN offers great download and upload speeds

Upload speeds were also a pleasant surprise averaging 65Mbps and peaking at 81.69Mbps! Our tests were performed using the OpenVPN UDP protocol.

Latency was a low and stable 193ms marking the provider suitable for all types of traffic including delay-sensitive VoIP. ExpressVPN offers unlimited downloading, uploading and streaming.

ExpressVPN Client & Security Features

Don’t be fooled by the ExpressVPN client’s simple interface as behind the three buttons and menu (top left) users will find a lot of features and settings that can be enabled as required. Security conscious users will enjoy the Kill Switch, DNS Leak Protection and ability to easily select the encryption protocol of their choice which includes OpenVPN (TCP or UDP), L2TP – IPSec, PPTP, SSTP or simply leave it to the VPN client to select the most suitable.

The ExpressVPN VPN client: A combination of simplicity and great functionality

The Smart Location feature is extremely handy for users frequently travelling. It automatically selects the nearest VPN Server based on your current location, in an effort to provide you with the fastest possible VPN experience.

The ExpressVPN client is available for Windows, MAC, mobile iOS and Android devices but also Linux 32/64bit Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, and CentOS. It should be noted that ExpressVPN is the only provider to have developed its own VPN client for such a wide range of Linux distributions. Nice!

ExpressVPN Supports Netflix VPN Streaming

After connecting to a number of US-based servers we were able to find a few that happily supported Netflix. Streaming High Definition video was smooth without delays, which was very pleasing. While Netflix buffers the video using short high-bandwidth bursts that reached up to 9Mbps, ExpressVPN was able to deliver without a problem.

US Netflix HD streaming with ExpressVPN (click to enlarge)

ExpressVPN Router Software & Support

ExpressVPN has developed its own firmware that supports specific retail routers enabling customers to tunnel all their internet traffic through ExpressVPN’s servers. Customers have the choice to purchase a router preloaded with firmware or download and install it on an existing compatible router. ExpressVPN also provides support for its firmware, ensuring customers are not left in the dark should problems arise.

ExpressVPN Pricing & Plans

At $8.32US/month (based on a yearly subscription) ExpressVPN’s pricing is higher than its competitors, however, it does support up to 3 simultaneous VPN logins and users will certainly get their money’s worth thanks to great speeds, support for Netflix (via specific US-based servers) and a 30 day money-back guarantee. Users who prefer can also make payments via Bitcoin, ensuring complete anonymity.

No.3: IPVANISH

IPVANISH is one of the most popular VPN Service Providers available. Its robust VPN services are spread across more than 700 servers located in 60 countries. IPVANISH offers a number of great features including a Socks5 Proxy for its customers who want to quickly bypass regional restrictions and are not concern about encryption.

IPVANISH No-Log Policy

IPVANISH advertises a No-Log Policy which means users can connect to the global IPVANISH VPN network knowing their activities are not tracked or monitored by the provider. IPVANISH does not indicate that it keeps any type of logs that might be able to be used against its customers.

Logging might be enabled in case of a technical support case with the purpose of helping troubleshoot a customer problem.

IPVANISH Performance

Bandwidth and VPN performance won’t be a problem thanks to fast servers which didn’t appear to be congested and were able to provide a sustainable download speed for our Torrent download test and video streaming. Our tests were performed using the OpenVPN UDP protocol and showed average download speeds of around 39Mbps while upload speeds were averaging an impressive 90Mbps peaking at 121.69Mbps!

IPVANISH speed tests provided excellent results and acceptable latency

Latency was a low at 215ms considering our packets were travelling from Melbourne Australia to San Jose US via the VPN Provider. The round-trip delay for voice packets (VoIP) shouldn’t exceed 300ms, or 150ms latency in each direction, so the 215ms we got was suitable for pretty much any application or service a user would want to run over the VPN. IPVANISH offers unlimited downloading, uploading and streaming.

IPVANISH VPN Client & Security Features

IPVANISH offers a great VPN client that supports Windows, MAC, iOS and Android (phones + mobiles) plus Ubuntu Linux, making it one of only two providers offering native application support for the great Linux operating system.

The VPN client is packed with some great security features, including Kill Switch, DNS Leak Protection, IPv6 Leak Protection and the ability to obfuscate OpenVPN traffic to avoid it being detected by intelligent Firewalls. It even has an awesome Simple Mode feature that replaces the fairly large GUI interface with a small neat window as shown below:

The IPVANISH VPN client switching between Advanced and Simple mode

Support for all the popular VPN protocols, such as PPTP, L2TP and OpenVPN (TCP/UDP) is there to accommodate different encryption requirements even though users would rarely want to use anything other than OpenVPN.

Finally, a neat feature we really liked was the ability to automatically locate the best VPN Server based on the country we wanted to connect to – this made it really easy to ensure we were automatically directed to a non-congested VPN server.

IPVANISH Supports Netflix VPN Streaming

Netflix users will be happy to learn that we were successfully able to watch our favourite movies using the highest possible video streaming setting (HD – High Definition) for our test bed (HD Laptop). The VPN provider was able to provide a sustainable 5Mbps download speed delivering an enjoyable experience without any glitches:

US Netflix HD streaming with IP Vanish VPN (click to enlarge)

While Netflix users might need to try different US-based VPN Servers to find a server that is not blocked, we were able to stream from the first VPN server we connected to! Further testing did reveal some of the provider’s servers are blocked from Netflix, however that to be expected with most VPN providers.

IPVANISH VPN Router Software & Support

While IPVANISH doesn’t create its own Router App it does support the well-known DD-WRT and Tomato by Shibby software platform. IPVANISH provides detailed step-by-step instructions on its site on how to setup OpenVPN (UDP and TCP) on these platforms to connect with its network.

IP VANISH Pricing & Plans

With up to 5 simultaneous VPN logins allowed (one for every family member!), a monthly price of just $6.49US (based on a yearly subscription) and a 7 day money-back guarantee, you definitely can’t go wrong. It should also be noted that IPVANISH fully supports Bitcoin payments.

No.4: NordVPN

NordVPN is amongst the Top VPN Providers. NordVPN certainly has significant features that will appeal to many of our readers. With more than 720 servers world-wide across 56 countries it’s hard to neglect this provider.

NordVPN No-Log Policy

NordVPN advertises a No-Log Policy which will certainly attract attention. According to NordVPN, the company doesn’t track any information and this is thanks to its headquarters being based in Panama, which doesn’t require data to be stored or any reporting.

NordVPN Performance

While NordVPN didn’t break any records for its download speeds, its upload speeds were exceptional and consistent.

At an average 26Mbps download speed home users can easily download torrents or stream videos without concern.

NordVPN download, upload and latency tests were great

Upload speeds shone at average of almost 88.5Mbps and, as previously mentioned, they were steady across all tests performed which is a sign of a stable VPN provider. Upload peaks of 89.52Mbps were nice to see but we would have preferred seeing them in the download test instead.

Latency was a bit of a concern at 221ms which means that online games that don’t tolerate lag very well might give users a hard time, however, connecting to VPN servers within the country of residency would surely make a difference.

OpenVPN UDP was the encryption protocol under which the tests were performed. NordVPN offers unlimited downloading, uploading and streaming.

NordVPN Client & Security Features

The NordVPN client is a really nice one, packed with a number of great features that helped it earn its No.4 position in our Best VPN Service comparison. When launched it provides a map of the world allowing you to quickly connect to a server of your choice. Intermediate users can visit the servers tab to obtain a full list of servers or quick shortcuts to categorized servers depending on the application of interest e.g P2P servers, Ultra-fast TV servers, Double VPN servers etc. Security features include Kill Switch, Auto Connect, DNS Leak Protection, Selection of TCP/UDP for VPN connectivity, custom DNS servers and more.

The Kill Switch provides the additional functionality of killing a specific application when the VPN fails – a very handy feature.

NordVPN Client – a VPN client packed with features (click to enlarge)

NordVPN offers support for the Windows platform, MAC, Mobile iOS and of course Android. This means it is capable of covering the majority of devices in the market today. Similar to other VPN Providers, Linux users will have to use the open-source OpenVPN client which is fully compatible with the provider.

NordVPN Supports Netflix VPN Streaming

During our tests we were able to confirm that NordVPN provides support for US-based Netflix. The NordVPN client provides a feature named Smart Play which allows its users to stream Netflix and similar services from anywhere in the world no matter which VPN server they connect to.

We tried this fantastic feature but were disappointed as it didn’t seem to work as advertised. We initially connected to an Australian VPN server and logged in to our US Netflix account, however, when we attempted to stream a movie we were greeted with a familiar error in our browser:

NordVPN Smart Play feature for Netflix didn’t work for us (click to enlarge)

We then decided to connect to a US-based VPN Server and try to stream Netflix from there – that seemed to work fine, however, we did notice it was taking slightly longer for the video stream to start:

US Netflix HD streaming with NordVPN connected to US VPN Server (click to enlarge)

NordVPN Pricing & Plans

As with all VPN Providers, purchasing a 12 month subscription provides considerable savings. NordVPN pricing at $5.75US/month (based on a yearly subscription) is a great deal and ideal for users with multiple devices since it allows up to an impressive 6 simultaneous VPN logins. The equally impressive 30 day money-back guarantee gives users plenty of time to properly evaluate NordVPN’s service.

Sceptical users can even try NordVPN Free of charge for 3 days without entering any financial details (Visa, Paypal etc) which is a great feature and one you should try if you have the time.

Users who decide to continue using the service can also opt to pay via Bitcoin to further secure their details.

No.5: Private Internet Access (PIA)

Private Internet Access is a well-known VPN service provider that’s rightly earned its position amongst our best VPN Service Providers. Its huge VPN network, consisting of more than 3270 servers located in 24 countries, means it will be difficult to find a congested server at any time of the day or night. Private Internet Access is the second provider who offer a free SOCKS5 proxy server to their users.

For an extensive review on PIA, including security tests, DNS Leak tests, Torrent Protection, Kill-Switch test, Netflix support and much more, read our Best VPN Review: Private Internet Access (PIA)

Private Internet Access No-Log Policy

Private Internet Access is another VPN Provider that offers a No-Log Policy which means anonymous browsing and user privacy is a top priority here. Users requiring complete anonymity can even use Bitcoin to pay for their subscription in which case the provider won’t store any financial information on your account.

Private Internet Access Performance

Similar to our other tests, we connected to a US-based VPN server via our premium internet connection.

Private Internet Access Download / Upload Speed & Latency Tests

Speed tests showed an average, but acceptable, 23.94Mbps download and an impressive 108.41Mbps upload. Testing different servers yielded similar results, however, these speeds are more than capable of delivering an enjoyable browsing and downloading experience without any interruptions.

The latency test was a big surprise, 168ms – only 2ms faster than StrongVPN. Given most VPN Providers averaged around 200msec, it was nice to see Private Internet Access provide such a fast connection to the other side of the world. Finally Private Internet Access offers unlimited downloading, uploading and streaming.

Private Internet Access Client & Security Features

Unlike other VPN clients, the Private Internet Access client stays continuously minimized in the task tray. To open the client’s control settings users must right click on the Private Internet Access icon in the task tray and select settings as shown below:

Accessing Private Internet Access VPN client settings

The VPN client offers a Simple and Advanced mode. Switching between the two is as simple as clicking on the Simple/Advanced toggle button on the bottom left side:

Private Internet Access VPN client Advanced Mode settings (click to enlarge)

The Private Internet Access client provides a healthy amount of security options and settings. Kill Switch, DNS Leak Protection, IPv6 Leak Protection are all included within the client plus PIA’s MACE service which blocks ads, trackers and malware while connected to the VPN service. The Region settings on the left allows the user to connect to different VPN Servers, an option also available when right-clicking on the PIA icon in the task tray.

The VPN client also integrates a firewall to help stop incoming connections reaching your PC or mobile device and adding an additional layer of security.

The Private Internet Access VPN client is built on OpenVPN and provides strong data encryption and authentication but it does not support PPTP or L2TP/IPSec encryption protocols. To connect via PPTP or L2TP/IPSec to a Private Internet Access VPN Server, users must use their device’s (workstation, mobile phone etc) built-in native VPN client which can prove a bit of a tedious task – especially if you’ve never done it before.

Thankfully Private Internet Access provides a well-documented support section to help get users connected with these alternatively supported encryption protocols.

The Private Internet Access VPN client is offered for the Windows, MAC OS, Apple iOS, Android and Linux (Ubuntu) platforms. Users with other Linux-based distributions will have to install and use the native open-source OpenVPN client from openvpn.net.

Private Internet Access also provides support documentation for configuring DD-WRT, Tomato by Shibby and other platforms.

Private Internet Access Supports Netflix VPN Streaming

Surprisingly enough we were able to access our US Netflix account using most of Private Internet Access’s US-based VPN Servers - a pleasant surprise considering they won’t admit US Netflix works from their VPN network!

US Netflix streaming with Private Internet Access (click to enlarge)

Streaming in High Definition (HD) was excellent without any problems. Videos loaded without noticeable delay providing a great experience that would easily satisfy demanding users. We also tried placing some load on our broadband connection by downloading files, however, Private Internet Access’s VPN Server was able to keep pumping traffic to us without an issue.

We should remind our readers that the US Netflix streaming for all VPN Providers was performed from a 20Mbps home broadband connection to help simulate the majority of user environments.

Private Internet Access VPN Router Software & Support

Private Internet Access doesn’t provide any custom Router app, however, it does support and provide detailed step-by-step instructions on how to setup DD-WRT, Tomato routers and PfSense with its network using OpenVPN.

Private Internet Access Pricing & Plans

Private Internet Access provides a generous up to 5 simultaneous VPN logins which is enough to support a laptop computer, desktop workstation and 2-3 mobile devices making it a very attractive and flexible solution.

With a pricing of just $3.33US/month, it is the cheapest VPN Provider solution in our review and shouldn’t be overlooked. There is a 7 day money-back guarantee which is enough to test the service and it accepts Bitcoin payment for complete anonymity.

Private Internet Access could easily be in the Top 3 Best VPN Service Providers if download speeds were faster.

 Summary: Best VPN Service Providers

We hope this extensive comparison of six of the Best VPN Service Providers has provided enough information to help you decide which VPN provider is best for you. As VPN providers upgrade and introduce new features we’ll ensure this VPN Service comparison guide is kept up to date.

The ultimate choice lies with the end customer – you.