Pia Vpn App – What is Private Internet Access? Advantages and Disadvantages of Test Report Operation and Features Server Network Performance Security and Privacy Customer Support Pricing Conclusion Customer Review Options
When visiting a public WLAN, secure P2P downloads or simply because you want complete privacy: VPN services are no longer a special solution but standard tools to protect personal data on the network. The range of VPN services is correspondingly large and new providers are added every year.
Pia Vpn App
In this highly competitive market, Private Internet Access (PIA), launched in 2010, is a veteran. Our test shows if the VPN is still up to date.
Private Internet Access (pia) Vpn Review: This Us Based Vpn Is Fast And Highly Configurable
Private Internet Access is a US-based VPN service provider owned by Kape Technologies (formerly Crossrider) since 2019, which also operates the Zenmate and CyberGhost VPN services. There are apps for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and iOS, as well as browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox and Opera. We tested on Windows and Android.
All available PIA clients are compiled on the provider’s website in the download area. There you will also find configuration files that you can use to configure the VPN tunnel on your router. Devices such as SmartTVs are also supported.
The PIA UI is initially reminiscent of other VPNs: the highlight is a large on/off button that you use directly to establish a VPN connection, below that is a small world map for location selection. The desktop client is initially pinned to the taskbar and cannot be dragged and dropped, although you can change this in the settings.
PIA automatically selects the current best server for connection, but manual selection is also possible. Clicking on the world map opens the server menu, where all available server locations are listed and can be sorted alphabetically or by latency. There is also a search function and you can also specify favorites.
What Does This Button Do??
Clicking on the arrow icon at the bottom of the client opens a detailed view. Here, PIA is more sophisticated than many other VPN services: the UI is module-based, and you can freely move all the modules you find in this detailed view and add them to the default view.
This includes, for example, Quick Connect, where you can find your favorite and recently used connections. When a VPN tunnel is established, there is performance information and also your IP addresses.
Information about the current VPN connection, such as protocol and data encryption, can be found in a separate module; There is also a kind of snooze function called “suspend”, which you can use to turn off the VPN connection for a limited time.
You can find several configuration options in the “Quick Settings” module. Here you can, for example, enable port forwarding, which allows you to direct data traffic to a specific port. MACE also has a built-in tool to block ads and trackers.
Private Internet Access (pia) Review 2018: Fast Cheap Vpn Service
Other settings can be found in a separate menu. There you can edit the DNS settings in the network area and set a custom DNS server. Split tunneling is also available, allowing you to add selected apps and IP addresses to use or bypass the VPN.
In the connection settings you can specify your VPN protocol and all related details – more about this in the “Security” chapter.
You can further customize the VPN connection in the automation settings: depending on the network, you can set the VPN connection to be established or terminated automatically. For example, if you use public WiFi, the VPN tunnel is more important than your home network.
You can also add a dedicated IP from the country of your choice, which is only yours, per token.
Private Internet Access (pia) Vpn Review: Just The Basics
PIA’s smartphone app is based on the desktop client and offers similar modules including quick settings and quick connection. You will also find functions like split tunnel and snooze function in the mobile version, with which you temporarily close the VPN connection. As with the desktop, you can also freely arrange modules and determine what should be displayed.
In our opinion, PIA’s original approach works: we found the modular user interface practical and took advantage of the option to instantly pin selected content to a default screen.
However, the configuration options are not just superficial: customization is the focus of PIA, with many options for the behavior and character of your VPN connection. The variety of functions does not deter less demanding users who want simple operation.
When you look at the number of servers, you may at first think that you have lost a decimal place. In fact, at the time of writing, PIA provides more than 34,000 servers in 98 locations in 75 countries. As far as the number of servers is concerned, PIA has the largest server network of the providers in our test.
Review: Pia Vpn (private Internet Access)
Country coverage is also more than solid and satisfactorily covers regions outside of Europe and North America. Some providers, notably HideMyAss and PureVPN, have server networks spread across multiple countries, but PIA’s spread leaves a little to be desired.
We verified the providers’ VPN performance in a test with a server in Frankfurt with a 1Gbit/s connection. Several times a day, we select a random PIA server in Germany and the US to get an average picture of speed and compare with other providers. You can find more information about the method in our VPN speed test.
In the following table you will find the results of the last 12 months during the test, sorted in descending order by download + upload speed:
We expected great speed from the huge server network – but were disappointed. With a download of 109.7 Mbit/s and an upload of 17.0 Mbit/s, PIA only managed to rank 17th out of 20, which is not a great feat given the strength of the server.
Private Internet Access Review 2022: Pia Vpn Review
In the speed test, PIA is only “satisfactory”. However, you cannot measure the performance of a VPN on paper. We used PIA as a VPN daily and were very happy with the results: connections were stable and speeds were consistently solid. There were no annoying captchas that a VPN connection usually evokes.
When it comes to video streaming, only Mickey Mouse has given a key: Disney + denied us access to foreign content, but it worked with Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and BBC iPlayer.
From our point of view, PIA is perfect for traveling to China: during testing, we were able to establish a connection from China to bypass the Great Firewall and access content subject to strict restrictions in a truly authoritarian country. . For this we have to select WireGuard protocol only.
Thanks to a solid performance in the hands-on test, the PIA still manages to score an overall “good” performance, but the speed of the speed test disappoints us.
Private Internet Access (pia) Vpn Review 2022
PIA undertakes not to store any traffic logs that reveal information about its activities. The no-logs policy has been put to the test in the past when VPNs were introduced by authorities not releasing any information. That was in 2018, however, and PIA has since changed hands.
Today’s parent company Private Internet raises questions: If you go back and change the name from Kape to CrossRider, you end up with a company that has drawn attention in the past for spreading malware and adware. Anyone who uses a VPN service can rest assured that their data will not be monetized. If these past incidents are not what the PIA is doing, they raise doubts.
The company can improve the situation with an external, independent audit, which is regularly commissioned by many other VPN services. Unfortunately, PIA has not done so yet, but assured us in support that they are working on it. An independent audit is still planned for 2021, but a partner has not yet been decided.
Things look good on the security front: along with OpenVPN and WireGuard, PIA supports the most important VPN protocols, the latter being considered the new gold standard especially in terms of performance and security. By default, OpenVPN encrypts your connection with the AES-128 standard, but you can also select AES-256 in the settings, each with a CBC or GCM block cipher mode.
Private Internet Access Review 2022: Is It Trustworthy And Safe?
PIA does nothing wrong on paper, but the name change is not enough to regain the trust lost. Private Internet should be more transparent because of its history and subject its VPN services to independent audits.
Unfortunately, the PIA Help Center is only available in English. There are guides and a knowledge base, as well as a forum and official announcements. Detailed help texts are conveniently sorted by operating system and to great effect. In addition to FAQs, the knowledge base also includes security best practices and many other help topics. Overall, the help center is solid, although the German version is fine.
Direct contact is only possible through the contact form. We waited about five hours for a response, and the response itself was detailed and answered each of our questions to our satisfaction.
PIA may offer some additional contact options and may also offer its support center in German. However, we were pleased with the speed and quality of support.
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On a monthly subscription, PIA is relatively expensive, but if you book the service for a year or two, you can save significantly compared to many other VPN services. 10 simultaneous connections are possible in each tariff.
Only PIA smartphone apps offer a 7-day free trial. However, there is a 30-day money back guarantee on all subscriptions that you can take advantage of if you are not satisfied with what is offered.
Private Internet Access positively surprises with the best VPN application that combines a variety of functions and configuration options with a high level of usability and can also be customized with modules. The server network also celebrates with an unparalleled number of servers
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