Yes, it does support P2P traffic with no bandwidth limits. This makes it a great choice for torrenting purposes. Also, it provides a port forwarding option to improve the overall torrenting experience.
Choosing the right VPN is no longer optional in this digital world, where online privacy is at risk. A good VPN can help you protect your personal information and unblock restricted content.
Private Internet Access VPN is a veteran of this industry, serving its users for over a decade. Experts recommend Private Internet Access (PIA) for using basic services at an affordable rate. But do PIA extensions and software truly deliver on their claims?
In this detailed review, we will explore its features, pricing, performance, user reviews, and more to help you make an informed choice. Let’s see what PIA VPN has to offer.
Private Internet Access (PIA) is a popular VPN provider that enables a user to connect to multiple servers and locations. It is among the most affordable and versatile services right now in the market.
PIA proxy servers offer great security and streaming features, including a kill switch on all apps. It is one of the best VPNs to stream Netflix and other platforms. The company also has a good reputation in the market, thanks to some great customer experiences and feedback.
Additionally, the malware and ad-blocking features make it an extensive solution for your online protection. Moving on, let’s review the service based on individual factors to learn about it in detail.
PIA VPN account provides a user-friendly interface and overall experience with a simple design and fantastic responsiveness. Unlike other popular VPNs, it keeps things straightforward and still offers extensive customization features.
Being simple does not mean that it lacks functionality. PIA excels in this factor and offers customization features like:
Additionally, you can even use WRT in Private Internet Access. These features make PIA a great VPN for torrenting, gaming, and other specific requirements.
Private Internet Access VPN offers a wide range of servers across 91 countries. It also covers regions of Africa and South America, which are often overlooked by competitors. This is second to Express VPN, which has servers in 94 countries.
Private Internet Access proxy servers are available in restricted regions like Turkey, Vietnam, and Ukraine. In the recent turn of events, PIA expanded its server network to all 50 states in the USA to minimize unnecessary routing.
The company has upgraded its servers to 10 Gbps for improved performance. Although nearly half of the PIA servers are virtual. It is not a major problem, but reduced dependence is always preferred.
PIA VPN account is well-known for robust privacy and security. It offers strong encryption (AES-256) and trusted protocols like OpenVPN and WireGuard. It includes essential features like a kill switch and encrypted DNS servers. This ensures that your data remains private without DNS leaks.
The company follows a strict no-logs policy, verified by two Deloitte audits (the latest in April 2024). However, full reports are only available to PIA customers, unlike other providers, which makes such reports public.
A major concern is with the Mace feature, which underperforms in phishing protection. Various tests show that it only blocks 2 out of 100 fresh malicious URLs. PIA’s reliance on outdated block lists limits its effectiveness when compared to other strong VPNs like Surfshark and NordVPN.
We tested upload and download speeds, latency, and jitter to evaluate the performance of PIA extensions and apps. It has improved its highest download speed, but it still ranks lower than many competitors.
However, in OpenVPN tests, PIA servers performed better. With 257 Mbps, PIA secured 2nd place after Surfshark (460 Mbps). Although the speed of the VPN is not the best in the market, but it is sufficient for 4K streaming, gaming, video conferencing, and many more tasks.
Overall, testing revealed consistent speeds, reduced jitter, and average latency, making it a good choice for gamers.
Private Internet Access is an affordable VPN, though it may not offer all the premium features. The monthly plan costs $11.95, which is slightly above average for top-tier VPNs. However, long-term plans provide significant savings.
The annual plan costs $3.33 per month and the 3-year plan is just $2.03 per month, including 3 extra months for free. All core features of PIA proxy servers are included in the base price, and there are no hidden fees.
You also have the option to opt for a dedicated IP, which will cost you $5 per month. This cost drops to $2.50 per month with a 2-year plan, making it one of the cheapest options in the market despite the global IPv4 address shortage.
Furthermore, PIA offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, which allows you to test their service risk-free.
Let’s take a look at how PIA performs in other key factors. If we talk about customer support, it offers excellent service with a responsive 24/7 live chat and a helpful knowledge base. While there is no phone support, connecting to an agent usually takes less than a minute.
In terms of streaming performance, PIA works well for accessing some international libraries. However, it is not fully reliable as its Japanese server effectively unlocks Netflix and Crunchyroll but fails to access Disney+ and Prime Video.
Overall, with its user-friendly app, good streaming support, and strong privacy focus, it is a reliable VPN choice. Although you may experience occasional streaming issues and lingering concerns about its parent company.
User reviews and customer experiences can provide you with a better picture and help you in making an informed decision. Let’s take a look at some of the reviews of PIA VPN available on Trustpilot.
Excellent.
Great pricing, great functionality, and no logging. I’ve been a PIA customer for several years now, and have had zero incentive to go anywhere else.
– Chris
Fast way to connect to any server
Fast way to connect to any server, no-nonsense, besides one time when I had an error that wasn’t letting me connect but that was fixed by just reinstalling the app, and now it is working fine 4.9/5 just because of that one time, other than that stellar performance.
– Bill
Would recommend you don’t buy more than one year at a time. I bought it two years ago, and it stopped working after one for streaming and there is no refund after thirty days. Switched to Express VPN and instant success.
– Susan
PIA gives me extra protection and works well basically
For some sites, I used to need to switch it off, but now it started working after I reported it (although I had the impression they did not take me seriously).
Sometimes in the evening I need to switch from one country to the other to get things going (Telegram does not download videos anymore), but luckily there are plenty of connection points available.
– Coen de Cock
The majority of the reviews online are positive with a few negative ones. This shows that most of its users are satisfied with the services provided by PIA.
After talking about the offerings of PIA in detail, it is important to summarize all points and take a look at the overall pros and cons of using this service. Here are the pros and cons of PIA:
After carefully evaluating Private Internet Access VPN in major factors, we can conclude that it is an excellent value for money. It might not be as fast and extensive as ThunderVPN or Express VPN, but it is a fantastic and affordable option for all basic VPN needs.
Plus, it is one of the few providers in the market that provides a Linux client that is equally good as the macOS or Windows client. It might not be the leader in speed and innovative features, but it does what it claims.
We hope that this review will help you in making an informed decision, Please share it with your friends and family.
Yes, it does support P2P traffic with no bandwidth limits. This makes it a great choice for torrenting purposes. Also, it provides a port forwarding option to improve the overall torrenting experience.
This may happen due to outdated extensions, incorrect installation, browser setting conflict, and PIA server issues.
Some experts consider Mullavad to be more secure than PIA because of its strong commitment to a no-logs policy and regular independent security audits.
PrivateInternetAcesss problems in Mac are not new. It can happen due to local network connectivity issues or some bugs in the operating system.
Yes, it has a business VPN, which can be a great tool for the IT department of any business. It comes in affordable plans to cater to the needs of all.
Yes, it is a safe VPN and provides decent security and privacy. It also provides 2 levels of encryption and strictly follows a no-logs policy.
Internet Writer
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