Website:www.ipvanish.com Company: IPVanish (United States) Protocols: OpenVPN, PPTP, L2TP/IPSec Servers: 552 VPN Servers in 60 Countries Regular Price: $10.00 / Monthly Special Promo:$6.49 / Monthly (Grab This Deal)
Customer Ratings
Editors’ Ratings
Quick Summary
IPVanish in a nutshell
IPVanish was formed in 2012, and is based out of Florida. While the company may be new, the team behind it is not. They have 15 years of experience in Internet technology, and this has lead them to being one of the few Tier-1 VPN providers, owning and operating their own network, in the VPN industry.
We have been using IPVanish’s service since they first launched. Our experience with them has been nothing short of exceptional. Disconnects are nearly non-existent, their support is always quick to respond to problems, and their software works perfectly on both PC and Mac systems.
Their anti-logging policy, 7-day money back guarantee, and everything that comes with being a Tier-1 VPN provider, is what has put them at the top of our list. For your basic VPN needs, there are none which outperform IPVanish.
IPVanish absolutely shocked us with their speed. Here is the government throttled connection used by the tester without IPVanish’s VPN at the time of testing:
Our Speeds Without IPVanish
Here it is connected to a server in the USA:
Our Speeds On an IPVanish Server Located In the USA
Here it is connected to a server in the UK:
Our Speeds On an IPVanish Server Located In the UK
The speeds that you can achieve by unlocking government controlled throttling are unparalleled. Every attempt was made to try and slow this connection down, but it remained strong throughout testing.
IPVanish is our [highlight]best VPN provider for many reasons. One of which is that after a solid month of testing their service, not once did it drop a connection. This is truly remarkable as all VPN providers experience the inevitable drop, but this isn’t the case with IPVanish’s top-notch Tier-1 network.
Server speed did not once noticeably slow down. A number of servers from all across the world were used, and all performed equally well, with some being slower than others due to the countries themselves having slower networks.
Tip: VPN Speeds and Reliability always vary. For the best results, connect to a server close to you (Ping < 100ms) using OpenVPN (the fastest and most secure protocol). If you have issues with a server, disconnect and try a different one. There are no limits on switches.
Pricing & Discounts
Pricing & Discounts
IPVanish has three simple to understand plans available:
IPVanish does not mess around with varying access levels. Each plan above gives you complete access to their Tier-1 network for the duration of the contract. No gimmicks, no tricks, just complete access to one of the best VPN providers around.
IPVanish also frequently offers discounts on their website. This varies from time to time, but on their homepage as of this writing is a discount of 20% off for your first three bills. Check in with them and see what pops up today!
Tip: Try IPVanish for 1 Month to see if it’s right for you. If you like it, upgrade to a longer term and save! If you find it’s not for you, you’re covered by their 7-Day Money-Back Guarantee.
Software & Features
IPVanish VPN Software & Features
IPVanish has one of the best and easiest to use VPN software on the market. It’s lightweight, looks great and is simple to use. It’s packed with all the features you could want and doesn’t crash or have compatibility issues as far as we tested. That’s the gist of it, but keep reading for a more detailed look at IPVanish’s VPN software.
User-Experience
IPVanish gives you perhaps the most easy to use software out of all the VPN providers that we have tested. Simply select the city you would like to connect to, and the software will choose the quickest server for you. The ‘By Map’ tab works great for this:
For many users, this is enough. They want a connection that’s securely encrypted, their IP address hidden, and to be able to help unlock geoblocked content. If that’s all you want, this is all you need to know. The software makes sure you have the fastest connection, and you can go about your business once you see the green checkmark in the upper-right hand corner.
For users who want the best protection and privacy possible, IPVanish has an easy way to experience that as well. Under the Settings tab you will find their IP Address switching, and Kill Switch. IP address switching explains itself, your IP address is changed every 1 – 24 hours. The kill switch tool is explained in this pop down warning:
Simply clicking on these turns them to a checkmark. Having the best protection available through a VPN is that easy with IPVanish. You can’t ask for a simpler experience.
Incorporating their Support tab into the software experience was another great idea from IPVanish. Why waste your time going to their website and looking for support when it has a dedicated tab waiting for you:
User-Interface
IPVanish have designed their software to put the most important information right in front of your face. The Dashboard is the tab you see when you open their software:
It gives you what you need to know immediately, and the tabs along the side let you easily scroll through your different choices. The narrow window can sit on your desktop without getting in the way if you choose to not minimize it.
Previous versions of the software were a bit uninteresting to look at. The current version has a world map which gives you that little touch that makes it as fun to use, while making the interface more engaging.
Features
IPVanish VPN’s software is feature rich. They have two types of features. The first type are designed to make connecting easier and faster. You can choose:
To start on login, or start when IPVanish launches. This controls when it automatically connects for your convenience.
Which city you want to automatically connect to.
To automatically check and download updates. This makes it easier to stay securely connected when patches come out.
Each of these makes connecting easier. You can set it so that the VPN software does everything for you, and you never have to think about it again. You’ll find these under the Settings > General tab:
Their extra security features are also ‘set it and forget it’ ready. Look under the ‘Settings,’ ‘Connection’ tab for:
Connection protocol selection: Choose from OpenVPN, L2TP, and PPTP encryption settings. Once you set it to the one you want it will automatically stay that way.
Kill switch: This automatically ‘kills’ your entire Internet connection if the software senses a connection drop. For those who torrent, or do secure file transfers, this will save you from your real IP address, and data, being leaked during the very rare occasions when their service disconnects.
IP Address Changing: Make it harder for hackers, Ad networks, and corporations to track your activity across the Internet by automatically changing your IP address at one, two, six, twelve, or twenty four hour intervals.
An included feature that’s automatically on is their NAT Firewall. It offers a further layer of protection from intrusion attempts while you use the service. It automatically turns on when you connect so that you don’t have to do anything.
Note: For those who are not currently using Mac OS X 10.10 or higher. The IP address and VPN kill switch features are not available on software for those using older versions of Mac OS X. Windows users will have no worries on this.
Reliability
IPVanish has the most reliable VPN client we have tested. After months of testing, and a little bit of effort put into getting it to crash, there was never one instance of it crashing. IPVanish have simply created the most reliable tool possible for their incredibly reliable connections.
No problems were had with loads speed of the software. Some days it takes longer than others for the software to ping all of the servers. This is a difference of 10 – 20 seconds at most.
Platforms and Compatibility
IPVanish currently have dedicated software built for:
Windows
Mac
iOS
Android
Windows Phone
Ubuntu
Chromebook
Routers
If there’s a system worth installing it on, IPVanish has your VPN needs covered.
CPU Load / Resources
IPVanish’s software is very lightweight to run. Using a miniscule 58.1MB of active memory, your computer will keep on running as if it isn’t even there.
This test was run on a 2009 MacBook Pro with 4GB RAM and a 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, an older model for sure. Even it shrugged off IPVanish’s CPU load needs. A new iMac, MacBook, or even a Windows PC will barely register its presence.
Final Thoughts on the Software
Overall, the IPVanish VPN software is top notch and hands down one of the best in the industry. It looks great, works even better and has all the features you could want in a VPN. Another reason IPVanish is at the top of our list.
Servers & Countries
Servers & Countries
IPVanish currently has 552 servers in 60 different countries, and they’re always growing. Their ability to allow you to unlock geo-blocked content is exceptional thanks to how many countries they are in. Their wide server placement is also able to allow those who are not in the popular western countries to choose a VPN provider that is close to them, giving them the lowest possible ping rate.
These 552 servers have a total of over 40,000 IP addresses on offer. This gives the more privacy obsessed Internet user the chance to switch up their IP address quite often before a duplicate occurs.
Customer Support
Customer Support
Those of us at Best VPN Providers have been using IPVanish since they first began. We’ve come to know them over the years. Because of this, we created a fake email account and a fake problem to test out how good their customer support really is. This is because when we contact them, we hear back from around 3 people all at once, almost immediately.
To our surprise, the same thing happened when we were anonymous! This was truly exceptional as some of the VPN providers ranked lower are there just because they didn’t respond quickly.
IPVanish has three support methods:
Email: This is the one which we use and recommend. There is very little lag time when you message them inside business hours, realizing they operate on EST, with prompt replies the next day if they miss you.
Live chat: Their live chat support is available during the normal business hours of Monday to Friday, from 9am – 5pm EST. It can be down from time to time. As with all live chat support it’s good for basic questions as the person will not know everything, and will have to refer you elsewhere for complex issues.
FAQ and support forum: The IPVanish FAQ is about as long as the novel War & Peace. They worked hard to answer all of the questions possible in this FAQ to save you time. Their support forum has also been created with the goal of solving those slightly trickier questions than the FAQ can handle. Both resources are available at all times, and can save you the trouble of asking them via email often.
As is the case with most VPN providers, they do not have a phone number to contact. But who wants to use a phone anyway?
Policy Highlights
Policy Highlights
IPVanish has a very strict no logging policy. They claim to monitor absolutely nothing about your account use, and only know you by the account which you set up with them when you purchase their service. So far, no users have found anything to contradict this claim as no one has come forward claiming that their account was turned over to law enforcement.
They place absolutely no limits on any type of traffic. Everything is allowed. P2P file sharing is allowed. With their completely anonymous service, and strict no-logging policy on all types of traffic, you are protected.
They do not offer their services to those in countries where it is prohibited to use a VPN. This includes Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Cuba, and Syria.
A second drawback is their lack of a VPN/Internet kill switch or IP bind feature for all Mac OSX users. Those who are not on Mavericks can not use the newest version of their software which features this technology.
Conclusion
Our Conclusion
IPVanish excells at three very important things for a VPN provider:
The reliability of their connection
The speed of their connection
Their dedication to privacy and anonymity
Putting those three together with their competitive pricing, and their exceptional Tier-1 network, and you have a VPN provider that ranks at the top of our list, and that should rank at the top of yours.
To summarize IPVanish in one sentence: They do everything a VPN provider should, and they do it better than anyone else.
IPVanish is one of the best VPN Providers, the fastest we tested and they had one of the best customers support teams in the industry. Highly Recommended!
have only had account 5 weeks. bought it specifically to connect to uk servers. very limited success in doing this as ip vanish tells me im connected to london server (for exampe) but the number ipvanish displays is a USA IP address. quick check on various "whats my ip" sites confirms im actually connected to USA. ALSO when connected to a USA server yesterday my google account name appeared on the usa website screen! i was NOT even logged into a google service at the time. so what data is being sent? time for me to try another VPN
IPVanish is my favorite VPN. Super fast and tons of features. It sometimes has issues connecting but nothing major. Well worth it. I opted for 12 months for the discount and it was well worth it. Also like that you can login on multiple devices. Extra for the same $.
Highly recommended! works well with torrents and streaming. No lag in download speed or connecting to peers. You can even take advantage of it by connecting to a server in areas with more peers than your own for even faster P2P speeds. The always on feature is also a MUST. good investment.
This is my personal IPVanish review I want to share with others. First of all, IPVanish offers one of the best and simplest to use VPNs on the market. It looks nice, works exactly as it should (most of the time) and has tons of locations to choose from. The features aren't too bad either, with the new VPN kill switch and auto start.
Now, my only issue with it is that it stopped working for me at one point without notice. One day I turned on my computer and it should would not start. It was crashing and I had no idea why. Anyway, I has to uninstall it and clean up some system cache and reinstall it to get it to work. It was odd and I haven't heard of this case happening before but I thought I'd share.
I didn't contact support (i'm more of a DIY person) so I don't know if they would have helped. I did get it working again, so I'm happy with that. 4 out of 5 stars for me.
I absolutely love IPVanish. Great VPN, tons of features and always reliable. I have it on always on, so I'm always connected and sometimes I don't even notice it's there. I occasionally check my IP Address online just to make sure and I've never ran into a problem. An easy 5 stars.
Probably the best vpn I've used in a long time. I've been using IPVanish for the past few months now and it's really good on my Mac. I love the fact that I can use it on both my iPad and Computer at the same time. I recently went to Australia and it was definitely the highlight of the trip considering all the limitations down there, like netflix and thepiratebay. 100% would recommend!
