IPVanish calls itself the world’s best VPN. With so many other brands claiming that same first-place spot, we will figure out if IPVanish is as good as they claim to be.
In this article, you can expect to find an entry-level explanation about VPNs as a whole and what a person should be looking for when they want to buy one. You’ll also see a breakdown of IPVanish’s key VPN points like speed, geo-location unblocking, and security.
Lastly, an ultimate guide would not be completed without a “How To” manual on the IPVanish app.
What Do You Want From A VPN?
VPNs (also known as Virtual Private Networks) are designed to protect you and your online activity from being hacked, tracked, or targeted. Many online criminals will track your usage to figure out how to manipulate you into buying their products.
The best VPNs will have a secure encrypted connection to hide your location and your personal information so other online users cannot figure out who you are or manage to get hold of your data.
However, one of the main reasons people use a VPN has nothing to do with security. They are often picked so that the customer can watch TV shows and movies that are normally blocked due to their location.
This is known as geo-blocking or geo-restricting.
As the VPN hides your IP address to protect your identity, this means that online companies cannot tell if you are from the US, UK, or Ukraine. This means that you can jump from server to server as you search for the shows that are normally blocked off from your country.
When it comes to your needs, you need to figure out what matters the most to you and if the cost is worth it. We can help you by explaining what IPVanish is good at and what its risks are.
What Is IPVanish’s Speed?
One of the reasons that IPVanish claims they are the best in the world is due to their speed. We didn’t want to take their word for granted and so tested their speed using our own devices.
For a bit of context, whenever you use a VPN service, they will constantly try to protect your data. This means they will slow down your performance by at least a little bit, so we do expect our speed to drop even though IPVanish claims to have amazing speeds.
Before we started the test, our speed was 100 Mbps. IPVanish has a large range of servers to choose from (which we will discuss more later on), so we decided to go with the closest server to us on our first attempt.
This brought our download speeds to 94.8 Mbps. That is a shocking close number to our original 100 Mbps. The uploading speed was also remarkably fast, coming in at 9.23 Mbps.
After this successful first try, we bounced from server to server, trying out all the countries available to get an average score of 82 Mbps. This is an amazing number considering some of the servers were in countries with expectedly low speeds.
During the tests, we didn’t experience any lags, and our computer performances continued to stay high.
We can wholeheartedly say that IPVanish has amazingly fast speeds.
Can IPVanish Unblock Netflix?
As we said before, one of the most popular reasons for downloading a VPN is to unblock location-based content. This means watching UK shows while you’re in the US or having access to an article that your country would normally restrict you from seeing.
Netflix and Youtube are the most commonly sought-after online websites that people want unblocked.
Before we start our tests, it’s important to note that big businesses like Netflix and Youtube spend millions every year to stop VPNs from unblocking their content. As a company, they have to abide by laws and contract deals that force them into withholding content.
Unblocking these videos means the users will view content not designed for them or paid by them. Getting past these companies’ defenses is complex, and the process changes daily.
Of course, we tested the unblocking feature on Netflix and unfortunately found that most of the servers could not get past Netflix’s defense system, however, there was a handful that was able to push through the barriers.
We had access to US, UK, Canada, Mexico, and Iceland versions but couldn’t access Japan, Hong Kong, or Denmark.
This variation is to be expected, and we are very happy with the results we came up with. As with most unblocking services, this problem will likely change daily.
How Many Servers Does IPVanish Have, And Why Does That Matter?
The best VPNs have a ton of servers across the world. The more world coverage they have, the more shows can be unblocked.
For example, if the VPN has servers in the US, UK, Denmark, and Germany, but none in Greece, then you can attempt to un-geo-restrict the first 4 countries but cannot get close to unblocking Greece.
The more servers the VPN has in total, regardless of the country, means faster download and upload speeds will be available.
IPVanish has an amazing range of countries, including popular ones like the US, UK and Australia, and Hong Kong, along with more obscure countries like Slovenia, Estonia, and Malaysia.
This wide range means you can access almost any country you want. In fact, there are 75 countries available to you to pick from and over 1,300 servers.
IPVanish claims to be the “world’s only Top Tier VPN Provider,” and with stats like this, you can see why that statement goes unchallenged. They have a connection in most countries!
How Can IPVanish Protect My Data?
The reason why IPVanish can boast so highly about their product’s security is because they use the AES-256 protocol for their encryption. So far, this encryption has never been broken. It is the best encryption of its type.
Most VPNs will allow their customers to choose which encryption to pick from; this means that you can select softer protection in an attempt to get faster speeds or use the AES-256 and be happy to wait for your downloads to take a while.
IPVanish does the same, but they offer an additional selection called OpenVPN ports. This feature allows you to hide your “VPN Tunnel” from anti-VPN technologies, including those run by the Chinese and Iran governments.
This means that you can choose to slow down your speed again and be sure that no one, not even your government, is watching you.
Kill Switch
Kill switches are often a sign of a good VPN. They are a feature that automatically stops all traffic to and from your device if the VPN stops working. This means that if the service is hacked, you will be pushed away from any danger as the VPN uses its last energy to protect you.
Without a kill switch, you could be left unprotected and unaware of your vulnerability.
IPVanish has this all-important kill switch, so you know you will be protected in these unlikely circumstances.
Is IPVanish Leak-Proof?
Leaking is when the VPN accidentally lets your IP address trail through the areas you visit online. Well-trained hackers can find these leaks and source them back to you. Ideally, you would want a VPN that doesn’t leak at all, and if it does break, the kill switch will protect you.
We tested IPVanish for leaks and found that their IPV4 address is able to block all IPV6 addresses, which means that none of the addresses were able to leak through their secure tunnel.
We tested on iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac and are happy to say that we found no leaks.
How Easy Is IPVanish To Use?
IPVanish is supported by these devices:
- Android
- Web Browsers
- Fire TV
- iOS
- Linux
- Mac
- Routers
- Windows
Android
The android app is very simple to use. Once IPVanish has been downloaded and installed, you can click on the button called “Quick Connect,” and you’ll find your current IP address and your actual location.
Once there, you will see a drop-down list of countries and cities that have services available for you to use. Click on the server you wish to connect to, and hey-presto it’s done.
We should note that a US server is connected by default no matter which country you are in. This is because IPVanish assumes all of its users are from the US (despite boasting that it is a worldwide VPN).
This can be a little annoying, as you will have to change this setting every time you turn on or restart your phone. Other than that, you shouldn’t have any issues.
We should point out that there is no kill switch with the android app.
iOS
The iOS app looks exactly the same as the android version; however, it has a separate tab for your favorite servers. The tab is called “Favorites,” and you can use this space as a quick method to find your most-used countries.
As with the Android, the iOS app does not have a kill switch.
Web Browser Extensions
Apps are not only available on your phones, and in fact, most internet surfing will be done through a web browser.
The web browser app does have a kill switch and also has the same features as the iOS.
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