IPVanish Review (2022) – Excellent and Super Fast VPN
IPVanish is a well-known player in the VPN industry and was started in 2012. IPVanish has been doing relatively well because of its broad server network and decent security functions. The group behind IPVanish has more than 20 years of IT-experience, including IP-services, content delivery and network management.
IPVanish is a Tier One provider with a very large network and is one of the biggest players on the market. IPVanish also distinguishes itself from its competitors by offering a few unique features and applications. But they are mostly known for their fast and stable servers. Combined with their flexible torrenting policy, IPVanish is probably the best VPN to use when you want to download anonymously (and legally!), for example with The Pirate Bay.
- Unlimited
- Torrenting allowed
- Works with Netflix
- OpenVPN
- ,
- IKEv2
- ,
- SSTP
- ,
- L2TP/IPsec
- ,
- PPTP
- Paypal
- ,
- Credit card
- Yes
IPVanish Features
We found the following options and features of IPVanish VPN during our test:
- Fast top class provider
- No artificial restrictions on the connection speed
- Unlimited broadband (no data limits)
- Easy to use software (works with Windows, MacOSx, Ubuntu Linux, iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Chromebooks and routers)
- Switch unlimitedly between different IP-addresses and servers
- 40,000+ shared IP-addresses on 2000+ VPN servers in 75+ countries
- 30-day money-back guarantee for the year subscription
- Limited traffic logs
- Kill Switch for Mac OS and Windows: option that kills all internet traffic in case of a VPN connection drop, so you’re better protected
- LAN Blocking for windows, allowing you to block all LAN network traffic from and to your PC
- IPv6 and DNS leak protection
- OpenVPN Scramble/DPI (deep packet inspection) protection: extra protection against possible censorship
These are just a few of the features of IPVanish, because this provider has even more trump cards.
Speed – How Fast is IPVanish?
The speed of your VPN connection depends on a few factors. One of the most important ones is the distance to the VPN server. Because of this, we have tested multiple servers from IPVanish. A big advantage of IPVanish is that the program automatically allows you to connect to the fastest server in a certain country or city.
Here are a few results of the download- and upload speeds from our tests.
In the Netherlands and Germany, we reached download- and upload speeds up to 90% to 95% of our original speed. This shows that the loss in speed caused by the VPN is minimal.
When we connected to an American server the loss in speed was a bit bigger (as to be expected), but the connection speed was still fast. S
ee the test results here below.
Our own connection speed without VPN was around 47 Mbps download and 53 Mbps upload.
Server: Amsterdam
Protocol: OpenVPN UDP
- Download speed: 44,39 Mbps
- Upload 48,64 Mbps
- Ping: 10 ms
Server: Mount Pleasant, region New York (US)
Protocol: OpenVPN UDP
- Download speed: 36,05 Mbps
- Upload: 18,66 Mbps
- Ping: 190 ms
This means that the connections for downloading, streaming and regular internet use offer great speeds. With these results, IPVanish is definitely one of the fastest VPN services we have tried out so far.
Safety – How Safe is IPVanish?
IPVanish tries to present itself as a “no logs” VPN-provider. When we asked them, they told us they don’t keep any logs. However, in 2016 it came to light that IPVanish handed over information about a user to the American authorities. This means that they must have been keeping some sort of log allowing users to be identified. Because of this breach of trust, IPVanish hasn’t received a very high score in terms of safety. Logging means that this VPN comes with privacy risks.
To create an account with IPVanish, you have to give your name, your email address and payment information. Payment can be done through credit card, PayPal, Giropay or Bitcoin.
Using shared dynamic IP-addresses, meaning users could be using a new IP-address every time they connect to the service, and the fact that every IP-address is shared between the multiple users, adds (in theory) to the protection and anonymity of the users.
Another factor that is important when talking about privacy, is that IPVanish is an American company. This means that the company is subjected to the Patriot Act, National Security rules and the whole arsenal of NSA surveillance measures (Google “Snowden” for example). Some say that American companies enjoys a little bit of protection under the law from the NSA (while the NSA may hack any non-American system), but in reality, this argument doesn’t hold up.
The idea that the NSA (and other secret services) spy on VPN providers, isn’t unlikely, and this goes as much for IPVanish as it does for any other VPN provider. IPVanish claims to have a sealed off network in which secret services don’t have any insight. Even so, it remains a fact that they shared user data with official authorities.
IPVanish Protocols
On a technical level, IPVanish proves to be very reliable. The OpenVPN encoding (256-bit AES-CBC, with SHA256 data authentication and 2048-bit RSA handshake) is remarkable. There are three distinct protocols available via this VPN. You can use L2TP/IPsec, OpenVPN or the default protocol (PPTP). Every protocol has its own advantages. You can read more about them in this article.
The great advantage of having so many protocols to choose from, is that you can decide for yourself which protocol suits you best. For example, people in China must use the L2TP or OPenVPN protocol. Because the censorship software of the Great Wall of China (China’s firewall) blocks PPTP-traffic.
Prices IPVanish
IPVanish offers different VPN subscriptions. Every subscription comes with the same options and functionalities. The prices purely differ on the basis of the length of the VPN subscription you sign up for. The longer your subscription, the less you will have to pay on a monthly basis.
Sometimes they’ll offer special discounts. Make sure you head to their website, where you might find a pop-up showing a discount offer. Still, it’s possible to find very good VPN services for more competitive prices, such as NordVPN and Surfshark.
IPVanish software is updated regularly and in our experience, it works well with:
- Windows XP
- Windows Vista
- Windows 7
- Windows 10
- Numerous routers, including DD-WRT
- Android
- iPad (iOS)
- iPhone (iOS)
- Mac OSx
- Ubuntu
- Windows Phone
If you are using an operating system that isn’t listed, you can contact the IPVanish customer support. They will tell you what to do to get IPVanish software working on your device.
Customer Service
There are a couple of ways to contact customer service. You can contact them by email and through a public forum. Their email service is available 24/7. Aside from that, their website also works with a live chat. By clicking “Help” in the top right corner of their website, you’ll be able to search for information. If you can’t find your answer in their database, you also get the option to open a live chat window. IPVanish’s customer service doesn’t always respond quickly, but it does answer any questions accurately.
IPVanish Server Locations
IPVanish has servers located in over 75 different countries all around the world. With access to more than 1500 servers and the possibility to hide your identity behind one of over 40.000 different IP-addresses, you’ll have plenty to choose from.
You can find IPVanish servers in the United states, numerous European countries and in a lot of Asian countries. You will also find servers in more remote parts of the world, such as Panama.
The advantage of using shared IP-addresses is that it makes you even harder to trace, because there will often be tens to hundreds of people using the same IP-address at any given moment.
IPVanish and Netflix
As with the most VPN providers, it seems that Netflix is blocking the usage of VPN connections. By trial and error we were unable to gain access to Netflix using an IPVanish server in America.
We have contacted IPVanish to ask them about the usage of Netflix and their VPN connections. They told us that they have their technicians looking into this problem and they will let us know as soon as they find a solution. However, at this moment in time you can assume that IPVanish won’t work with Netflix.
IPVanish Conclusion
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| Fast servers | Netflix doesn’t always work |
| User-friendly app | Has been caught logging user data |
| Clear privacy and security options | |
| Big server network | |
| Regular updates and new additions |
IPVanish offers nearly everything you need, including excellent encryption, an extensive choice of server locations and thousands of IP addresses. The option to switch between IP addresses whenever you want is a great function and works very well. The price is decent, especially during discount periods. We would recommend this VPN provider for everybody who wants to circumvent restrictions from a country. For those of you who’d rather improve their online privacy or anonymize their online behavior, we’d recommend choosing a different provider.
Personal opinions experts VPNOverview.com