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| Editor's Rating | |
|---|---|
| Overall | |
| Features | |
| Price | |
| Customer Service | |
Features
Once you’re connected to IPVanish’s VPN service, a secure Internet connection between your ISP and IPVanish is established. Everything you do from then on is encrypted and anonymous. Your sensitive data is protected no matter where you connect from, including public Wi-Fi networks. IPVanish provides its own desktop clients for Windows, Mac and all other supported systems. Getting the software set up and running is a breeze, and changing any settings is quick and easy. Once connected, you can begin to anonymously browse the Internet and unlock any content you wish. You can also configure the VPN with the protocols of your choice using a step-by-step tutorial if you prefer to set the service up this way.
Tier-1 VPN Service
The company prides itself on being a “tier-1 VPN service”, meaning they have full ownership over their entire network and use their infrastructure only for establishing VPN connections. What this means is that IPVanish fully controls every aspect of its VPN service and doesn’t use any third parties to set up VPN connections. The only party involved in establishing your secured connection with any of the servers in this network is IPVanish itself. Many other VPN providers are known to work with various different companies to lease servers around the globe in an effort to offer more server countries at a low cost, but that also means less reliability in terms of speed and uptime, and also more parties handling your private data.
Protocols
Once you’re logged into the IPVanish service, you have a variety of safety features available. These include the ability to change the server you’re connected to, your current IP address, and a variety of other protective measures allowing you to remain connected to a secure VPN service 24/7. IPVanish supports the three main protocols: PPTP, L2TP, and OpenVPN. OpenVPN is the top choice for desktops, while the other two are ideal for mobile devices. L2TP is the slowest option but supports Apple and Android devices, while PPTP is the fastest but is less secure than the alternatives. IPVanish allows you to determine which protocol to use on any of its servers.
We’ve tested IPVanish with multiple streaming services including Netflix, Amazon Prime and Spotify and experienced great speed and perfect connectivity across all services. The service supports all major streaming sites and hundreds of other services used across the world. They’re known to keep a close watch on which streaming services, series and other websites are up and coming to guarantee that their service works well for any of the content you’re trying to access.
VPN Network
A high-speed connection is available nearly anywhere in the world as IPVanish has server locations in more than different countries across the globe including Belgium, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the UK, and the US. IPVanish does not limit or charge for bandwidth, allowing you to take advantage of IPVanish without any traffic restrictions. They’re continuously adding new servers and IPs in order to have enough capacity for their growing user base and have a page where you can suggest new locations for them to open new servers in. With the availability of multiple speedy servers in different cities and countries across the globe that are only used for IPVanish, their VPN network makes this one of the fastest VPN services available.
The speed of connections to the IPVanish service will vary depending on your location relative to their nearest VPN server. A high speed connection is available nearly anywhere in the world, because IPVanish has server locations in more than different countries across the globe including: Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
IPVanish supports three protocols: PPTP, L2TP, and OpenVPN. OpenVPN is the top choice for desktops, while the other two are ideal for mobile devices. L2TP is the slowest option but supports Apple and Android devices, while PPTP is the fastest but less secure than the alternatives. IPVanish allows you to determine which protocol to use.
Privacy Protection
IPVanish also offers a selection of over different IP addresses for users to choose from, which is more than enough. The advanced kill switch feature in IPVanish will instantly put a halt to all of your Internet activities if your connection were to drop to ensure nothing gets exposed, no matter what. You also get the option to use your custom DNS settings with IPVanish if you prefer to do so.
Upon evaluating IPVanish’s latest version of its privacy policy and terms of use, we’ve concluded that the company rightfully claims it has a true zero log policy. IPVanish is one of the few companies that can fully guarantee that no logs are kept since it has full ownership over its VPN network and manages all aspects in-house without relying on third parties.
OS, Device Support
IPVanish supports all of the latest Windows operating systems including Windows 8, 7, Vista and XP. Also supported are Mac OS X 10.6.8 through to the latest versions of Apple’s operating system, as well as Ubuntu and DD-WRT, Tomato routers. Windows and Mac OSX users can run the IPVanish desktop client that installs easily and lets you set up any connection in just a few clicks, or you can opt for a manual setup using their well-elaborated tutorials if you prefer to do things that way.
Mobile Apps
As well as desktop clients for both Mac OSX and Windows operating systems, IPVanish has also developed its own mobile and tablet applications for both Android and iOS devices. Both of these apps are available as free downloads in Apple’s App Store and Google Play store and provide the same smooth user interface and experience as the desktop clients. You’ll also have access to the complete VPN network, all of the available protocols, and features with unlimited bandwidth. The VPN app works well in conjunction with Skype and other VoIP apps that may want to use the service to lower your costs of calling with these services. The apps are being updated frequently and support is easily available from within the app.
Pricing
IPVanish keeps its pricing structure neat and simple and is very competitively priced through the exclusive offer available for our readers. The company has a month-to-month subscription service available for $8 per month, saving you 34% in comparison with the standard price of $11.99 monthly. The 3-month plan can be had at $7.20 per month when paying $21.59 in total for this duration, which is a 40% discount on the normal selling price of $35.97. The best value plan is the yearly option that costs you $5.20 per month through this special offer, a 57% discount on the normal price of this plan. All plans come with a 7-day money back guarantee, which means you can try the service fully risk-free for a week and request a refund should you not be fully satisfied. Available payment methods include most major credit and debit cards as well as PayPal and Bitcoin.
Customer Service
Technical support is available 24/7 throughout the year through various channels. Online support is available through a contact form on their website that returns e-mail responses within a few hours. The FAQ pages, available in different languages, the step-by-step video tutorials, and the extensive tutorials per device and operating system are likely to already answer any questions you may have in setting the service up. There are also the support forums and the company’s Facebook and Twitter pages, through which you can get direct support or community support. IPVanish is very much community-oriented; it also features a page where you can vote in which location it should be adding VPN servers.
Bottom Line
IPVanish is the number one rated VPN service since 2013 by both Best Reviews experts and users for good reasons. The company’s “true tier-1 VPN service” tagline means that it has full ownership over every single aspect of its VPN service, from the development of its VPN clients to managing its worldwide server network. Using the desktop clients and apps is a breeze with support for all major devices and operating systems. The service has proven to work well with various streaming services, VoIP apps and any other applications and services you may want to run using the VPN. IPVanish rightfully claims to have a zero-log policy and provides top-notch customer service. Add to this the competitive pricing, frequent network and software updates and a strong community, and it’s easy to see why IPVanish has been our editor’s choice for over three years.
TheGen says
IPV has been a steady ride for me watching NFL live streams and securing my P2P. In public Wifi networks I haven’t experienced any blockings of the VPN whatsoever, using the best available server has always served me well so far. Stunning to see they have a server in Kyrgyzstan of all places.
Price is ok for me: they provide good value for money. May try getting a cheaper one in the future to see if it’s worth switching.
David says
I signed up for a annual contract that was on special offer and planned on using their service for downloading from usenet. The reviews said that they have very good speeds and were able to saturate my cable connection (120 Mbit/s).
At home I have a dedicated NAS and downloading machine that is able to download at the full 120 MBit/s and, thanks to the AES-IN instructionset, is even able to handle up to 2240 MBit/s with OpenSSL.
Unfortunately, after connecting to their VPN my speeds dropped to about 48 MBit/s. I tried multiple servers located nearby (30 kms from home), but the speed never got above 48 MBit/s.
After some thorough investigation I contacted the customer support with my issue and supplied them with plenty of information and specifics. Their response was really quick but clearly very scripted and didn’t help at all. All of the suggestions I had already tried and this should have been obvious had they taken the time to read my message.
I quickly replied and supplied them with more (of the same) info and they responded quickly again with more or less the same suggestions. Another reply from me, followed by another (quick!) response from them with again more or less the same (scripted) suggestions.
So… probably a good service, but if you are an advanced user you better not need their customer service. They have lost my money. I will find another VPN service that maybe does not respond as quickly, but maybe they actually read my message and help me properly.
Mike says
I started my subscription on the one year plan for $58.39. It was promised this rate for 3 billing cycles. Go online and check, it is there. In my second one year billing cycle I was charged $74.99. I am also unable to connect to the 3 airports I have been to. They have safeguards against use of VPN in those airports, they will not allow it. I assume all airports are like this for national security. It will not be long in that case to buy cheap software that blocked VPN. I can see internet providers doing this or already do. They can also slow your connection to a crawl if you use a VPN. They know when you use it. That could be the slow speeds some talk about but not others. You could use a smart phone on cellular but they could also slow you or not let you connect also. I love IP Vanish but it’s use is getting less and less and the price going up.
Goodtimes says
Enjoying US Netflix from my living room TV through my setup with IPvanish. Speeds from their machines in the US are superb, very little delays and overall great for streaming movies, series. Well worth the $6 a month if you can get tons more extra titles to choose from with Netflix….
ZY says
Proxy IP given are not in the right country for some server. Enquired with no response from them despite getting good rating for customer support. Checked their forum and found out a lot of users are having the same issue and poor service from them too.
Steve says
For your info
I use ipVanish and the software “Malwarebytes” found few ips used by ipVanish as Malicious website:
ip=”93.114.45.136″
ip=”176.103.48.42″
ip=”178.89.191.58″
Fretman1234 says
I have IPvanish and have contacted the customer support team twice with positive results. However, Ive just installed Malwarebytes and get exactly the same warnings
Fretman1234 says
Update: this is my reply from customer care:
Hello,
Thank you for the information you provided. Please be assured that all of our servers does not contain any malicious codes or what not. What you received from Malware Bytes is a false positive.
A false positive is an error in some evaluation process in which a condition tested for is mistakenly found to have been detected. In spam filters, for example, a false positive is a legitimate message mistakenly marked as UBE –unsolicited bulk email, as junk email is more formally known.
Regards,
Ken
IPVanish Support
Lance says
Hands down best VPN I tried to get BBC iPlayer and some other websites I’m subscribed to working when I’m abroad. Good user experience on all apps and their website itself, stable connections and all the main settings within reach to quickly customise things as you switch between apps/sites/emailing/…
Donald says
This review is specific to users in China. I’ve been using IPVanish for the past 18 months in China and it’s been spotty at best. With China’s recent January 2015 attempt to block VPNs, IPVanish has been unable to get past China’s firewall. I recently purchased a smaller VPN service that’s been much faster and more reliable than IPVanish ever was. If you’re headed to China for any reason, please stay far away from IPVanish.
S.T. says
We’re paying the seven bucks or so that this service costs on a monthly basis with a smile. Personally I keep IPVanish on all the time while I’m browsing – whether it’s to use Facebook or get emailing done. I never thought I’d care so much about what others could find out about what I do on the web, but the things we read in the news everyday got me convinced to us something like this. 🙂
C3PO says
After one year of being on this VPN network provider, I can certainly say I’m happy with IPvanish. They are as they say a “tier one provider”, which I believe makes a big difference with other companies in this space. I’ve been on other networks before and this one is just much faster.
They’ve added quite a few new country servers in the last few months and there were a number of other new options I’m happy with (iOS app updates were much welcomed).
Fretman1234 says
Spot on and exactly the reasons why I got a VPN
mike teberio says
VPN services is very reliable and someone you can trust. I have been going through them for awhile now and I had nothing but great service the entire time I had them. I have told all my friends and family about this and they are getting ready too get connected themselves keep up the good work and I hope too see everyone using this !!!
d rodger says
Plenty of fast IPs to choose from along with a big diversity of countries, IPvanish is definitely doing the trick for me and gives me ease of mind when browsing the web. I’m always putting it on whenever I’m checking my Facebook, doing some emailing,… It’s really easy to set up and is installed in a breeze…
Darrion says
I tried a host of other VPN/proxy solutions and made the call to go with Ipvanish. Their Windows client does the trick just fine and they continue adding new IPs to use, which I think is a big one since I want my traffic to be spread over as many IPs as possible….. That I think is the best way to stay safe online kids 🙂
Zjack says
Quality service with decent prices, works well on both my Mac and PC with good coverage around the world. Managed to play games at proper speeds, recommend it for serious gaming!
Stacie says
Hi, are you gaming on PC or MAC then? I game on xbox one and am concerned if I’ll have the fast connection I need….
tommythetar says
I love how and easy and fast connecting to IPVanish is! I just stay connected whenever on the internet, maybe switching servers once or twice a day (some vpn providers dont even let you switch between servers!). Anyways, I can access Hulu now even though it is blocked by the country I just moved to. Learning just how many things I took for granted in America…
Well theyre a great vpn and deserving of my good review (and money).
Paul says
good connection speed.
Gudberg says
The whole story of the NSA spying on us got me thinking about using new tools and software to protect what is still dear to me; privacy. I’m not willing to compromise on my freedom and want to be able to go into a coffee shop and surf the web carefree, without having to worry about someone looking over my shoulder. If the government can’t guarantee my freedom and privacy, I’ll be happy to look after it myself.
I discovered IPVanish through this site a week ago and decided to immediately go for their $6.49 per month plan. I’ve been testing it since and am now realizing I should have been using a VPN a long time ago.
androidfan says
I was already using IPvanish on my PC using the Windows client, but so far wasn’t using my account on mobile yet. I now have their Android app on my Samsung Galaxy s3 and am happy to use it on my phone as well. My impression is that connections aren’t always very fast using a VPN on mobile, but the security benefits are definitely worth it.
jp687 says
Fast servers, the EU ones that I use are great. Be sure to use their ‘A’ servers. You can choose them right in the software client
Tommy P says
Overall, the service has been reliable. My throughput speeds have been fast and steady with no buffering.
stryder28 says
Ipvanish seemed like the perfect Vpn for me because of their big focus on privacy protection. I mainly use mine just to browse the web without being plagued by ads or having to worry about any security whatsoever (don’t forget a virus scanner).
Their connections are fast overall, OpenVPN works well with it and their new Mac client is solid and runs smooth. Ipvanish gets a nice 4/5 from my part!!
Peter says
I have been using this service personally and for business purposes for the past 12 months or so. During this time, they’ve added new servers/countries every month (often adding multiple new servers added per month) and rolled out software improvements while never increasing my subscription price. The service is reliable, the software works great and they have helpful support. If you’re looking for a new provider, this is a great option.
Gallie says
Overall this has been a reliable service for me. I use it daily and push all of my internet traffic through my ipvanish connection. The client is easy and lets you pick an ip address from a lot of different cities in a lot of countries which is cool. Service has been fast, so i’m not seeing any buffering when i’m watching vids. I’ll probably check out some others, but this one has been good.