The Verdict
Before VPNs even became common, IPVanish was already making a name of its own and this service has just been improving ever since.
That’s the reason why we’ve been listing it as one of the top service providers for many years now along with NordVPN and ExpressVPN.
They’ve got over 1,200 servers located in strategic locations around the world offering one of the most secure internet connections with top-of-the-line encryption since 2005.
All of their servers are company-owned and they are one of the few VPN providers out there who observe such in-house infrastructure management.
In order to further boost security, they only use their own self-developed software to keep their service running.
Pros:
- Over 1,200 company-owned servers
- Uses in-house infrastructure management
- A wide range of tools for security
- Zero-log policy that you can trust
- Equipped with custom encryption levels
- Provides good internet connection speeds
Cons:
- No free trial available
The Features
If you want to ensure that your data and online activity logs are secure no matter where you connect from, IPVanish is the VPN service that you would need.
With it, connecting even to public Wi-Fi networks wouldn’t be a problem.
Because of the wide range of security features along with every function that this VPN client has, getting great server speeds while having peace of mind is easily achievable.
Every element is also editable and configurable which ensures that every kind of user can easily adapt to using it according to their needs.
While many of the VPN service providers out there choose to work with other companies in order to lease servers across the globe to preserve a budget-friendly cost, IPVanish sets itself higher than its competitors by ensuring that they have full ownership over the entirety of their network.
Yes! The company prides itself of its tier-1 status ensuring that the whole network infrastructure is under their control.
With this, they’re able to have full control on the overall VPN service and they effectively eliminate the need of using third-party companies to keep the system running smoothly.
The lesser companies involved, the more secure the service would be and the better service (in terms of speeds and performance) it can provide.
How It Keeps Your Data Secure
Another strength that IPVanish has is its security.
In fact, we think that other VPN service providers out there need to learn more from how IPVanish handles security and how they configure every aspect to ensure that their customers stay safe every time.
I personally love the customizable and changeable settings that it has which works alongside its well-designed interface that isn’t restrictive in terms of access to the different features and functions of the software.
You’ll have full user control over security settings, VPN service connections, and even the speeds of every connection.
It even offers a way for users to control how the software generally behaves by giving an option to change the protocol of choice to get better speeds or make connections more secure.
It also allows you to choose the auto-reconnect option which is best when paired with the kill switch feature. Enabling leak protection for DNS & IPv6 and as well as LAN traffic blocking are also available plus a lot more!
Large Network of VPN Servers
With servers located across more than 60 countries across the world which includes places that are rarely seen in other VPN services like Dubai, Hong Kong, South Korea, and others, IPVanish is able to provide high-speed connections no matter where you are in the world.
Just keep in mind, the actual speed that you will get will be dependent on the quality of the Internet that the country where you are currently in has.
Other factors that affect speed include server distance, the security protocol that is being used, the maximum speed offered by the Internet Service Provider (ISP), and some other factors which IPVanish doesn’t have control over.
What it is capable of controlling is how many available servers would be there.
IPVanish has multiple servers across different countries and these servers are used only for their VPN services.
What this means is that they’re able to provide fast and reliable service, every time with the use of the QuickConnect feature along with support for torrent and P2P traffic.
They support Deluge, Vuze, and even uTorrent and connection to such torrent services can be established via VPN connection or you can also keep it restricted in the SOCKS5 proxy which can be configured by to boost security.
The tests that we’ve performed from their servers in Europe while using different security protocols yielded positive results with good overall user experience.
The UK and Austrian servers produced the best results when using OpenVPN and the result didn’t come as a surprise because of our proximity to the servers and the quality of Internet connection that these countries have.
For the locations that are overseas such as South Africa and Brazil, we’ve tested both protocols and found that PPTP worked best for Brazil along with speeds that were able to overcome Austria on OpenVPN configuration.
IPSec/L2TP set for the Server in South Africa came out as the slowest but looking at its greater distance geographically and the higher defense protocol that we used during the test, the result was understandable.
Going to IP and DNS leaks, IPVanish is able to dominate because of the absence of any issues related to them.
This means that the connection we had was secure and something that can be trusted to give 100% safety and accuracy to every user.
Protecting Your Privacy
Offering support to four main privacy and security protocols which are IKEv2, L2TP, OpenVPN, and PPTP, IPVanish is able to provide the speed and encryption that every type of user needs from a VPN connection.
These are all customizable on-demand to give users the best VPN experience every time.
The OpenVPN configuration is best for desktop and Mac computers while the others are best-fitted for mobile devices.
If you want to have more protection then you can use L2TP but this extra layer of defense also means that the connection is going to be slower.
PPTP is the exact opposite of L2TP and this is a great option if you need to get better speeds.
The IKEv2 protocol, on the other hand, is the best option for Wi-Fi networks that are somewhat unstable on both mobile and desktop platforms.
On top of all these features is the option to change OpenVPN connection ports as well as customize the option for obfuscation of user traffic.
But that doesn’t end there because there are other measures in ensuring privacy that is present such as the AES 256-bit encryption which is a premier standard in this aspect and as well as the “Kill Switch” feature which is responsible for keeping online data from being exposed.
Enabling or disabling DNS and IPv6 Leak Protection is also possible while the option to use third-party DNS is available while preserving a connection to IPVanish.
This is not recommended though but all in all, this suite is truly full of features that you can use in maintaining your personal privacy.
After reading through their Terms of Use and Privacy Policy statements, the company makes it clear that they have a strict “Zero-Log Policy”.
They are one of the few VPN service providers that guarantee not to record customer logs and other personal information along with their full ownership of the VPN network as a whole without getting help from third parties.
Device and OS Support
Ensuring that your VPN service truly works is important but you also need to see to it that it is compatible with different operating systems on both mobile and desktop platforms.
IPVanish is one of those who reign supreme in this aspect because it has different client software for Windows starting from the XP edition and Mac OS X version 10.6.8 and the more recent ones.
Windows Phone, iOS, and Android for both tablets and smartphones are not exempted either as they are also supported.
There are also some free applications which offer an interface that is user-friendly ensuring the best user experience from clients in every platform. The VPN apps also work smoothly with VoIP apps such as Skype which opens the possibility for making lower-cost calls in these services.
But in order to complete the type of devices supported by IPVanish, it is also compatible with Amazon Fire TV, Chromebook, Linux Ubuntu, and even router firmware platforms such as Tomato, DD-WRT and others which opens the possibility of being able to use VPN in gaming smart TVs, gaming consoles, and many other Wi-Fi-capable devices which don’t have support for VPN.
Getting access via the router client also eliminates the need for connecting many devices simultaneously using a single account especially because of the fact that one account is only limited to a maximum of 5 users connected at the same time.
Plans and Pricing
IPVanish offers simple and competitive plans and pricing for its VPN service.
The three-month subscription plan is at $7.20 which totals to $21.59 dollars and clear savings from the regular $35.97 if you choose just to get a monthly subscription at $8 every month.
Moving to a yearly subscription plan gives even bigger savings as it is only priced at $5.20 every month or just $62.39 for the first year which translates to 57% off from the regular price.
All of these plans come with a 7-day money-back guarantee.
This means that you can try the service risk-free but there are no free trials for any of the program versions.
The payment methods that they accept include credit and debit cards, Bitcoin, Paypal, and many others.
Customer Support
Coming along with FAQ pages that are translated in different languages are step-by-step guides and tutorials for setting up the software in different operating systems.
So whatever questions on setup, settings, and many other basic tasks that can be done with every client, you will surely find answers from them. Online support which is available 24/7 throughout the year through different channels ensure answer from knowledgeable agents within a few hours.
But if you need quick help and answers, you can contact them via their Live Chat support channel. From our experience, they respond quickly.
Support from user forums and their social media pages are also available which come in the form of community assistance or direct support from the page moderators.
The company is community-oriented which is obvious from the many interesting articles that can be found in their blog which are mostly related to protection in the cyber world, privacy check, speed test, and other tools that are meant for generating secure passwords.
Final Say
IPVanish is able to perform in every aspect that a VPN service is expected to deliver some results.
That’s the reason why it is one of our top VPN service provider of choice for many years now. And it’s not just us who are saying so, search for this VPN provider on the Internet and you’ll surely find a host of users saying the same thing that we do.
The company’s measure to really take full control over their servers that are located across different locations around the world says much about their dedication and zeal to provide high-quality service to their users both small and great.
They’ve got a large network of servers as well which work well in terms of speed and overall protection.
IPVanish also performed great in our tests using different devices that work on different Operating System platforms.
Another one of its strengths is the highly customizable settings that it has in different features and aspects.
Our tests on their customer support response and as well as knowledge-base content have shown a lot of positive points that users have been praising over the years.
Privacy is also their priority as they indicate in their zero-log policy. However, the lack of a free trial version makes this VPN service lag behind the other top competitors but they compensate for such missing offer by