Private Internet Access (PIA) Review [2022]: Is It a Good VPN?

Private Internet Access is intuitive and fast. It also maintains the best security practices in the industry

Its apps are completely open-source and its no-logs policy was repeatedly tested in court. Advanced users can also customize the app with a lot of high security.

PIA offers additional features that are not available with other VPNs. These include:

• Torrenting on all server.
• Split-tunneling.
• Tor support.
• Ad blocking.
• and more…

PIA is a great VPN for torrenting and gaming. It’s also one of my top streaming choices. PIA works with Netflix as well as Amazon Prime and Disney+. PIA is also available in countries with restricted internet access, such as China.

Overall, PIA is a top-rated VPN. It is secure and easy to use across all platforms and apps. It also allows 10 simultaneous connections per account (unlike many VPNs which allow only 5-7 simultaneous connections).

Private Internet Access offers 1-month, 1-year and 3-year payment options. The 3-year plan often includes additional months free of charge. All plans come with a 30-day money back guarantee.

Private Internet Access Full Review

Private Internet Access (PIA), which I tested and researched for a few weeks, was one of the best VPNs.

PIA is very user-friendly and has great security features. It also maintains high speeds across all servers.

PIA performed well in speed tests. I was able to stream HD content without buffering, download torrent files quickly, browse the internet without interruptions, and even connect to distant servers.

Private Internet Access Features

PIA includes all the standard security features such as:

• Multiple encryption options. The PIA provides 256-bit AES encryption as well as 128-bit AES encryption. Although 256-bit AES encryption is more secure than 128-bit AES, it’s slightly faster (it was 4-5% quicker in my tests).
• No logs policy. PIA does not track, store or log browsing data. This is in contrast to other VPNs which have not been legally tested.
• Kill switch. This feature prevents data leaks and shuts down internet access when you are disconnected from the VPN.

I love that PIA’s iOS app has a built in kill switch. Many VPNs don’t have one. The PIA kill switch for Windows and Mac gives you more flexibility. You can choose to activate it if the VPN disconnects accidentally or if your computer is not connected to a VPN server. This will only allow you to access the internet if your computer is connected to a PIA VPN Server.

It’s also great that PIA’s servers are powered by RAM memory. This means that PIA does not store data on a hard disk and that all data on the server are erased after it is restarted.

PIA provides complete protection against DNS leaks and WebRTC attacks. PIA’s DNS servers protect against DNS leaks, while its browser extensions prevent WebRTC leaked (although some top VPNs such as PrivateVPN and VyprVPN do not have browser extensions, so they are unable prevent WebRTC leaked). Although PIA does not support IPv6, I love how it disables IPv6 traffic automatically by default. This way, you don’t have to remember to disable it manually on your device.

PIA provides 3 protocols: OpenVPN, UDP and WireGuard (only on the iOS app). In my tests, WireGuard performed faster than OpenVPN or IKEv2/IPSec. Competitors like TunnelBear, HMA, and HMA do not support WireGuard.

Tor Support

PIA supports Tor (The Onion Router) over VPN on all of its servers, allowing you to browse .onion sites with an extra layer of security.

Even though Tor is very secure, Tor over VPN protects your real IP address from being discovered by other Tor users. If your IP address is leaked, Tor users will be able to see the VPN IP address and not yours.

Using PIA’s Tor over VPN feature (it is free) is easy. Simply connect to any PIA server to start using the Tor browser.

However, Tor over VPN connections can be very slow (in general— ) because the Tor network encrypts traffic multiple times. Adding a VPN connection will make it even slower. My internet speeds decreased by 75% compared to the speed of websites that I tested. Websites took as long as 20 seconds to load in my tests.

PIA offers good Tor support. However, I prefer AstrillVPN or ProtonVPN’s Tor feature to the VPN feature. Both VPNs allow you access the Tor network using Opera, Chrome, Firefox, and Firefox, rather than the Tor browser.

Overall, PIA’s Tor Over VPN is simple to use. It works on any server and provides extra protection for users who frequent.onion websites.

Split-Tunneling

PIA’s split-tunneling This feature is superior to most VPNs’ split tunnelling functions.

Split-tunneling is available on Android, macOS and Windows by PIA (iOS does not support split-tunneling).

Unlike top competitors ExpressVPN which allows you to bypass app traffic, PIA’s desktop applications let you choose both website and app IP addresses.

Split-tunneling is one of my favorite features about PIA. It’s also available on macOS. Split-tunneling is not supported by most VPNs on Mac computers. This is a big plus.

During my tests, PIA split-tunneling performed flawlessly. Split-tunneling was tested while I downloaded files. I routed all my P2P activity through the VPN, and exempted my bank’s IP address (most banks won’t allow VPN traffic). This enabled me to download faster files and allowed me access to my bank account.

Overall, PIA’s split-tunneling function is great. It allows you to redirect both app and website IP addresses. I also love that it’s available on Mac.

Traffic Obfuscation

PIA offers obfuscation through the Shadowsocks protocol (an open-source encrypted proxy), which hides your VPN traffic from third parties.

PIA masks your VPN connection, making it appear that you are using the internet without a VPN. This is what allows you bypass geo-blocks or VPN blocks.

Shadowsocks can be used to bypass online firewalls in countries with severe internet censorship. Shadowsocks by PIA is also reliable in hiding your VPN connection to your ISP. It’s great for accessing geo-restricted websites.

Shadowsocks can slow down your internet connection slightly because it adds an additional layer of encryption. My internet speed decreased by 7% when using obfuscation. This is compared to the speed I experienced when connected to a PIA Server. Although this isn’t too severe, it can cause some lag or buffering.

Overall, PIA’s Shadowsocks proxy obfuscation function is great for bypassing internet firewalls. It also masks your VPN connection to your ISP.

PIA MACE (Ad Blocker)

PIA MACE This ad-blocker is good at blocking ads and ad trackers as well as malicious websites.

I tried PIA MACE out by visiting ad-heavy media outlets as well as social media pages. PIA MACE stopped most ads from loading on these sites. These sites had almost no ads, so web pages loaded much faster than normal.

I also tested PIA MACE malware detection. I visited known suspicious HTTP sites and the tool blocked them all. However, PIA MACE did label some sites as unsafe but this was not a common occurrence.

PIA ACE is available in PIA’s desktop applications. You can also get it for Android if the APK version the PIA Android App is installed (PIA MACE won’t be available if the app is downloaded from the Google Play Store). PIA MACE is not compatible with iOS. However, PIA will redirect you from PIA to your iOS Safari settings in order to enable Safari’s ad blocking.

Overall, I believe PIA MACE is a fantastic tool to protect users from malicious websites and trackers.

Identity Guard

Identity Guard is a good data breach monitoring tool that’s easy to use that works really well.

This feature allows you to check if your email or other personal information has been compromised by a data breach. If it does, you will receive an alert.

Identity Guard was tested with an old email address and I found 9 data breaches in my account. The results showed the name of the company, the date of birth, passwords, and personal information. ).

Identity Guard can be used to determine if your email was ever compromised. You can also set up alerts so you receive an email notification when your email is leaked.

Private Internet Access Privacy & Security

PIA adheres to a no-logs policy

it does not track your IP addresses, or your online activity (files downloaded or websites visited). According to its Privacy Policy, PIA does not store any data other than what all VPN services store. This includes your email address (to communicate directly with you), payment data, in order to process refunds, as well as state and ZIP codes data (for fraud detection and payment processes and to ensure compliance with statutory taxes obligations).

PIA s no-logs policies have been proven in court (multiple time) For example, PIA could not comply with a subpoena for a 2015 case regarding a cyber attack against a media house or a case concerning a bomb threat in 2016. PIA releases regular transparency reports detailing exactly which requests it has received and how often it has complied with requests for user data. This transparency is rare among VPN companies.

Open-source is one of the best things about PIA. Anyone can examine PIA’s code to find security and privacy holes.

PIA’s headquarters is in the US. This country is part of the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliances, a group of countries who share intelligence data. PIA does not keep logs so it would not be able to provide any user information if requested by the US government (see the transparency report).

Overall, PIA is one the most transparent VPNs available. It has a strong no logs policy that has been tested in court multiple times. All of PIA’s software are fully open-source.

VISIT PRIVATE INTERNET ACCESS

Private Internet Access Speed & Performance

I did speed tests connecting to a server from each of the 78 countries that PIA has a server. On average, I saw a 67% decrease in speed. Because I am from Romania, which has the fastest internet speeds anywhere, this speed drop was not so severe. I was still able stream content, download files and browse the internet at extremely fast speeds. My colleague in the US ran speed tests. He reported that his speed loss averaged 25%. This is much better than other VPNs.

I used the WireGuard protocol for speed testing, as OpenVPN is often slower.

To establish a baseline, I ran a speed test first without connecting to a PIA server.

Next, I used PIA’s auto-connect option (and was immediately connected to a server from Romania). Although my download speed was slower by 53% (which is quite a bit), I was still able to surf the internet and view HD content on Netflix in almost no time.

Next, I tried a VPN server in the US. It took about 10-15 seconds to load Netflix TV and movies. The download speed was 75% slower that my normal speed. The shows streamed without interruption once they started. The torrent speeds were much faster than streaming — I downloaded a 20GB torrent in just 24 minutes. That’s really fast.

It was surprising to me that I received a similar download speed from a New Zealand server when I tried it. Websites loaded in 4-5 seconds, while streaming Netflix content took 20 seconds. This was roughly the same time as the US. Even online games were played with minimal lag.

Because Romania has fast internet speeds, it is unfair to compare my results with those of people from other countries. I also asked my American colleague to do speed tests.

He ran his first speed test without connecting to a PIA Server.

He then connected to a PIA Server using the auto-connect function. He was located in New York, but he was connected automatically to San Diego (the best server) — which is on the opposite side of the country. He reported that his speed dropped by 6% and that he had not noticed any changes in his online activities.

Next, he connected with a server in Spain. Although his download speed was slower by 33%, he claimed websites loaded in less than two seconds, streaming content began almost immediately, and files were downloaded without noticeable slowdown. He was also able to play online games without buffering.

My colleague finally connected to an Australian server, which is the farthest location from his home. Although his ping was high, his download speed was better than that in Spain (a drop of only 15% which is quite remarkable). Websites loaded in a matter of seconds, while TV shows and videos started almost immediately.

PIA has blazing fast speeds on local servers, but slow speeds on distant servers.

Private Internet Access Servers & IP Addresses

PIA servers are available in 78 countries.

Although other VPNs may have servers in more countries, like HMA — 190+ Countries, CyberGhost VPN— 90+ Countries, and ExpressVPN – 90+ Countries), PIA still maintains a server in almost every region of the globe, allowing you connect to a nearby server regardless of where you are located.

Although I love that PIA shows you the latency of each server and whether it is high or low, I would like to see PIA display the server load percentage (like ProtonVPN or CyberGhost VPN). This would enable you to pick a server that’s not overcrowded.

PIA uses static shared IP addresses,which are good because you use the same IP address with possibly thousands of users. This makes it difficult for anyone to trace your IP address back.

PIA offers dedicated IP addresses for a small fee. These are IP addresses that you only have to use. Dedicated IPs can be useful as they lower the risk of being blacklisted from banks and streaming websites. PIA has dedicated IPs in five locations: the USA, Canada, Australia, Canada and Canada.

PIA maintains servers around the globe. It uses shared IP addresses and offers dedicated IP addresses. All servers are P2P-friendly.

Private Internet Access Streaming & Torrenting

PIA works in conjunction with Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+ as well as Hulu and BBC iPlayer.

During my tests, PIA blocked Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+. It also blocked lesser-known sites such as VRV, Tubi TV and USA Network. Crunchyroll and Pluto TV.

PIA offers excellent P2P support it permits torrenting on all its servers and works well with all major torrenting clients such as Vuze, uTorrent and qBittorrent. Port forwarding is also available by PIA, which allows you to connect to more peers for faster speeds.

Before testing PIA for torrenting I ran leak tests connecting to servers in 10 countries. All my tests returned zero leaks.

Overall, PIA has access to all the most popular streaming sites and excellent torrenting support. I was able watch movies and TV shows on Netflix, Disney+ and Crunchyroll. I was also able to download files with all the most popular torrent clients.

Private Internet Access Bypassing Censorship

PIA uses Shadowsocks protocol in order to bypass online censorship consistently

Access to the internet is made available to users from restricted countries.

Private Internet Access Plans & Pricing

PIA has very affordable payment plans.

There are three options available: a 1-month, 1-year or 3-year plan. The 3-year plan is the most cost-effective and comes with additional months for free. PIA offers one of the most affordable VPNs, starting at D46,370 per month.

PIA accepts four credit cards: PayPal, Amazon Pay and cryptocurrencies (Bitpay and Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and Litecoin).

All PIA plans include the same features and come with a 30-day money back guarantee.

Overall, PIA offers attractive pricing and accepts multiple payment options. They also offer a 30-day money back guarantee.

Private Internet Access Ease of Use: Mobile & Desktop Apps

PIA offers apps for iOS, Android and Windows. The Android and iOS apps were installed in less than a minute. It took me about two minutes to install Windows and macOS apps.

Android

I really like PIA’s Android app

It works exactly as it was promised. It’s feature-rich and easy to use.

I love the ease of connecting to servers via the power button at the top of the main window. To manually connect to a server you can tap on Current region. You will find the complete list of server locations. (You can filter servers by favorite, latency, name, or both to save some time.

One thing I love about PIA’s Android app, is its flexibility and customization. You can change protocols (OpenVPN and WireGuard), encryption level, proxy settings and connection options (such as whether you connect to trusted or untrusted Wi Fi networks). You can also change the appearance and layout of the app and enable/disable port forwarding.

Although all the options can seem overwhelming for a new user, PIA automatically sets the recommended default settings to all features so that you don’t have the hassle of changing them. I also love the fact that most settings are described in a short description. The only problem I have is the fact that they all are listed under one tab. ExpressVPN has a better way of organizing its settings into smaller categories, which makes it easier to navigate.

PIA offers its own private/incognito browser for Android and iOS called InBrowser (you need to download it through the Google Play Store). It wipes all session, cookies and browser history when you close the app.

The Android app by PIA is missing obfuscation. This is the only problem. To use PIA MACE, you must install the APK version. If you download the Android application from Google Play Store, you will not be able use PIA’s ad blocking feature.

Overall, PIA’s Android app is excellent. It’s easy to use, quick, and has many customization options for advanced users.

iOS

PIA’s iOS app is similar to the Android app.

One difference is that the iOS app now supports 3 protocols instead 2: IKEv2/IPSec and OpenVPN. WireGuard is also available.

I love that PIA’s iOS App has a built in kill switch. Many top VPNs, like ExpressVPN or ProtonVPN, don’t have an iOS app with a kill button.

PIA’s iOS App is missing obfuscation, PIA MACE.

Overall, PIA’s iOS application is safe and user-friendly. It also has many of the same features and functions as the Android app.

Windows/Mac (Desktop)

I used PIA’s desktop app on both my MacBook Pro and Windows 10 PC. I love PIA’s desktop app. They have intuitive interfaces that are comparable to the iOS or Android apps.

One button is all that’s required to connect to a server. You can access quick connect options, connection details, such as data usage, VPN protocol and encryption, by pressing a slider.

It is easy to enable/disable features such as PIA MACE or port forwarding with a few clicks. I love PIA as it includes the split-tunneling feature for macOS.

The automation settings in PIA’s desktop app allow you to tell the VPN what action to take when you use a wired or secure WiFi connection. You can set PIA up to connect automatically to a server whenever you access unsecured Wi Fi networks.

Overall, PIA desktop apps are excellent. They are both feature-rich but also very user-friendly.

Private Internet Access’s Apps: Is Private Internet Access Easy to Use?

PIA offers user-friendly apps that work on Android, iOS and Windows.

All of them have a similar design, are easy to use, and all of PIA’s apps are open-source.

VISIT PRIVATE INTERNET ACCESS

Private Internet Access Customer Support

PIA offers great help and support, including a FAQ section, a troubleshooting guide, and live chat 24/7.

Unfortunately, PIA does not offer phone support.

PIA provides extensive step-by–step guides to help you install, uninstall and troubleshoot the PIA app. The guides are easy to read and include well-edited screenshots. There is also a FAQ section that answers over 100 questions. The guides and FAQs were able to answer most of my questions.

I found that PIA’s live chat was extremely easy to use. I was connected to a support representative in less than 10 seconds. They were friendly, knowledgeable, and responsive. Unfortunately, the live chat is only in English.

I also sent PIA 5 emails, and each time received a reply within 2 to 3 hours. Many VPN companies respond within 6-8 hours to emails. Some even respond the same day.

It was easy to request a refund via live chat. The rep did not try to convince me to change my mind. All I needed to do the refund was my order number.

Overall, PIA provides excellent customer service. They have helpful setup and troubleshooting instructions, in-depth FAQs and 24/7 live chat reps. I received a response within a few hours.

Is Private Internet Access Good Enough?

PIA offers great security and easy-to-use applications. It also allows for up to 10 simultaneous connections.

You can customize and open-source your apps and it offers a variety of pricing options. PIA supports torrenting from all its servers. It works with all the popular torrenting clients.

During speed tests, PIA provided above-average connections speeds. This allowed me to stream content, download torrents and play games without any slowdown.

PIA protects data using 256-bit AES encryption and leak protection. A kill switch is also included. A strict no-logs policy has also been demonstrated in court. PIA’s headquarters is in a country which is part of 5/9/14 Eyes Alliances. However, PIA does not record any user information so it would not have data that could be turned over to the government.

PIA offers many additional security features beyond the standard ones, such as obfuscation and Tor support, split tunnelling, email monitoring, and an ad blocking feature.

The only thing I dislike about PIA are the iOS and Android apps’ lack of obfuscation, native ad blocking and native ad blocking. However, these aren’t significant drawbacks for most users.

PIA VPN is one of the most affordable on the market. All plans come with a 30-day guarantee.

Can Private Internet Access be trusted?

Yes, PIA can be trusted.

It is a member the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliances, a group of countries which share intelligence data. However, PIA has a court-tested no logs policy. PIA has been subpoenaed several times for user data requests, but it has never had to turn over any of its user data. PIA’s “no-logs” policy has not been audited. However, all its apps are open-source which makes them safer and transparent than any one audit. Private Internet Access’ open-source software makes it possible for anyone to inspect the code and verify that there are no security cracks.

PIA comes standard with security features such as 256-bit AES encryption and a kill switch. All servers are powered by RAM memory, which means that all data is wiped clean every time the server reboots.

Will Private Internet Access work in China?

Yes. PIA works in China.

PIA provides Shadowsocks for government firewalls bypassing. PIA can also overcome China’s online censorship and other countries that are restrictive.

Does Private Internet Access work with Netflix?

Yes, PIA can access Netflix. Thanks to PIA’s fast internet connections, I was able stream Netflix content in HD without interruptions.

During my testing, I was also capable of accessing Disney+ and Amazon Prime.

Does Private Internet Access have a kill switch?

Yes. PIA offers a kill button for its iOS, macOS and Windows apps.

PIA does not have a kill switch for Android. This is because Android has a better feature: the ability to block internet connections without a VPN. This offers system-level protection. PIA does not offer the ability to connect at the app level.

Private Internet Access does have a kill switch for all operating systems.

Source : #safetydetectives
Editor by : BEST Antivirus Review Team