Item: Private Internet Access
Rating: 9.4
Author: Tim Mocan

Question 1

Can Private Internet Access be trusted?

Accepted Answer

Yes, Private Internet Access is really trustworthy. While it’s based in the US, which is a member of the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliances (a group of countries that share intelligence data), it’s easy to trust this VPN because its no-logs policy has been independently audited and also proven true in court on many occasions, it releases regular transparency reports, and all of its apps are open-source, so anyone can inspect the code for security issues.

In addition, PIA also comes with industry-standard security features like 256-bit AES encryption and a kill switch, and it also has advanced security features, such as full leak protection, RAM-only servers (meaning all data is wiped each time the server is rebooted), and perfect forward secrecy, which regularly changes encryption keys so that hackers can’t compromise them.

Question 2

Will Private Internet Access work in China?

Accepted Answer

Yes, Private Internet Access works in China. PIA offers obfuscation through Shadowsocks to help bypass government firewalls. And PIA is able to consistently overcome online censorship in China and other restrictive countries.

Question 3

Does Private Internet Access work with Netflix?

Accepted Answer

Yes, Private Internet Access is able to access Netflix. By using dedicated streaming servers, you can access up to 5+ Netflix libraries, including Netflix US, UK, and Japan. In addition, PIA can access 30+ other streaming services, including top platforms like Hulu, Amazon Prime, Disney+, and BBC iPlayer.
But if you’re only interested in streaming Netflix, ExpressVPN might be a better choice — it’s the best Netflix VPN on the market, as it consistently works with 10+ Netflix libraries.

Question 4

Is Private Internet Access good for torrenting?

Accepted Answer

Yes, in fact, Private Internet Access is one of the best VPNs for torrenting in 2023 — it supports torrenting on servers in 80+ countries, works with top P2P clients like uTorrent and qBittorrent, and has support for port forwarding and SOCKS5, which are P2P-related features that increase your download speeds.

In addition, it provides excellent security while torrenting — it has industry-standard security features, including a kill switch on all platforms and a no-logs policy that has been audited and proven true in court. Also, full leak protection is available, and there’s even an ad blocker that protects you from malicious ads on P2P sites and shady torrent trackers.

Question 5

Is Private Internet Access free?

Accepted Answer

No, Private Internet Access doesn’t come with a free plan, but its plans are very affordable and the provider backs each purchase with a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can test the VPN risk-free.

While there are free VPNs out there, I don’t really recommend using one. Most free VPNs lack essential security features, don’t work with streaming sites, have very slow speeds, limit how much data you can use, and have buggy apps. But a premium VPN like PIA provides excellent security, very fast speeds, great streaming support, very beginner-friendly apps, and much more.

Question 6

Does Private Internet Access have fast speeds?

Accepted Answer

Yes, Private Internet Access provides some of the fastest speeds on the market — in my tests, HD videos loaded very fast on both local and distant servers, and I never experienced any buffering. Plus, I was able to download large files really fast and game with no lag. PIA achieves these speeds because it has servers in most parts of the world (so it’s easy to use a nearby server for fast speeds) and because it uses fast VPN protocols like WireGuard.

But even so, PIA still isn’t as fast as ExpressVPN, which is the fastest VPN in 2023 thanks to its proprietary Lightway protocol, which provides lightning-fast speeds (and is also extremely secure and open-source).

Question 7

Does Private Internet Access have a kill switch?

Accepted Answer

Yes, Private Internet Access offers a kill switch for its iOS, macOS, Windows, and Linux apps. PIA doesn’t have a kill switch feature for Android, but this is because the Android operating system has a much better feature — the ability to block an internet connection without a VPN. This provides system-level protection, and PIA has chosen to not even give you the option to connect on the app level.

Question 8

Can I install Private Internet Access on my router?

Accepted Answer

You can set up Private Internet Access on your router, but you’ll need to perform a manual setup. Fortunately, the provider has very helpful tutorials (that even include screenshots), which make the manual setup pretty straightforward — on average, it shouldn’t take you more than 15 minutes to do it.

But if you mostly want to use a VPN on your router, I recommend ExpressVPN instead because it’s one of the only VPNs on the market that has a dedicated router app, which you can quickly install on compatible routers — plus, the router app is very easy to use, as the design is similar to ExpressVPN’s other apps.

Question 9

What devices are compatible with PIA?

Accepted Answer

PIA has dedicated apps for a wide range of devices, including:

Android smartphones and tablets running 5.1 (Lollipop) and higher.
iPhones, iPads, and iPods running iOS 12.1 and newer.
PCs (personal computers) running Windows 8.1 or higher.
PCs running macOS 10.13 and higher.
PCs running Linux distros, including Ubuntu 18.04+ (LTS), Mint, Debian, Fedora, and Arch.
Android TV devices running 5.1 (Lollipop) and higher.
Chrome, Firefox, and Edge browsers.

PIA also works with routers and Amazon Fire Stick devices (2nd Gen and higher), but it doesn’t have dedicated apps for them. If you want to get PIA on your router, you’ll have to perform a manual setup. To use PIA on your Amazon Fire Stick device, you can sideload its Android app.

For devices that don’t support VPNs, you can use PIA’s smart DNS tool. These include:

Gaming consoles like PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox S, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, and Amazon Luna.
Smart TVs like Apple TV, LG Smart TV, Samsung TV, and Nvidia Shield TV.
Chromecast.
Roku.

Question 10

How much does PIA VPN cost?

Accepted Answer

Private Internet Access’s plans start as low as 2,11 $ / hónap, which is very affordable for a top VPN. Its 2-year subscription plan, its longest-term plan, offers the best value and comes with 2 extra months for free. It also has a 1-month plan that costs 11,99 $ / hónap and a 6 month plan that costs 7,50 $ / hónap. All of its plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Question 11

Does PIA have an ad blocker?

Accepted Answer

Yes, PIA includes an ad blocker called MACE, which is one of the best VPN ad blockers on the market. PIA’s MACE blocks ads, trackers, and malicious websites, and in my tests, it did everything it’s supposed to — it blocked all ads on every site I visited, including ad-heavy sites like HuffPost, and it always flagged shady sites.

PIA’s MACE is available on all supported platforms, including the browser extensions, and it only takes 1 click to enable it in any of PIA’s apps.

Private Internet Access vélemények, 2023 – Miért jár 9.4 csillag?

Private Internet Access áttekintő: gyors szakértői összefoglaló

Private Internet Access termékei és árazása

A szerzőről