IPVanish Review + Customer Reviews and Speed Test
IPVanish VPN
Website: www.ipvanish.com/vpn/
Company: IPVanish (United States)
Protocols: OpenVPN, L2TP, PPTP
Servers: 90 VPN Servers in 41 Countries
Special Promo: $6.49 / Monthly
(4.4/5)
(4.5/5)
A very solid VPN. Faster than most, easy to use, and an excellent support team to back it up.
Best VPN Provider’s Review of IPVanish
IPVanish VPN Review – Introduction
IPVanish is a relatively new VPN Provider started in 2012, but they’re already making a name for themselves in the VPN Industry. The team behind IPVanish has roots in over 15 years of network management, IP services, and content delivery services. One of the biggest things that sets them apart from the competition is that their a Tier-1 Provider, which means they own and operate their own infrastructure, making them one of the most reliable and secure VPN Providers in the industry.
We’ve been testing IPVanish VPN for almost a year, and we’ve kept track of their reliability, speed, issues, support experiences, changes and more. Our in-depth review of IPVanish takes all of these elements into account and compares them of other VPN Providers we’ve tested and reviewed.
Servers and Countries
One of the most notable qualities of IPVanish, is their extensive network. They currently have 90 VPN Servers in 41 Countries, and they’re constantly adding new servers and countries to that list. This extensive network is very beneficial and one of the reasons IPVanish is considered one of the top VPN Providers in the industry.
Why is this important?
Speed (Ping) – The closer a VPN Server is to you, the faster your connection speed will be. Since IPVanish has such an extensive network, there is bound to be a server near you (Locate Servers Near You)
Higher Reliability – While having more servers doesn’t necessarily mean every server is going to be super fast and reliable, it does mean you have options. If you find yourself connected to a server that’s slow or unreliable, you can easily switch over to a faster and more reliable server. IPVanish has no limits when switching from server to server.
Access Localized Content – There are tons of websites that have geo-restrictions; Netflix, Hulu Plus, Olympics, and some Facebook Fan Pages just to name a few. Having such an extensive network of VPNs at your disposal means you’ll be able to easily connect to a VPN in a supported country for websites/services, and gain access to them. Whether you travel aboard often, or simply live in a country that doesn’t get too much attention online – it’s always helpful!
Business - There are tons of business uses; from monitor international marketing and SEO campaigns, to gaining access to a country-specific business web application.
Customer Support
IPVanish’s Customer support was one the fastest we tested. While they don’t offer phone support, they responded to our email’s within a few minutes.
IPVanish currently offers Three Types of Support:
Email Support (Recommended) – This is IPVanish’s main method of support, and their response time is usually very fast. We contacted IPVanish on multiple occasions, and we usually received a response within 10 minutes. The longest we had to wait for a response was half an hour, which is still not bad. If you have a question or issue with their service, we recommend contacting them via email so you’ll have a record of their responses and answers for future reference.
Live Chat – This is great if you need a response right away regarding a quickest or non-critical issue. However, their Live Chat is usually only available Monday-Friday during normal business hours (Eastern Standard Time). This means that they may not always be available, especially for our friends in Asia and Australia.
Support Forum – The forum, or message board, is another support median IPVanish provides. Ask questions and get support from the community of expert vpn users. Weather you have a question about set up or need advice from multiple users – the support forum is where to ask.
Protocols and Compatibility
IPVanish supports the most common VPN protocols, including OpenVPN, PPTP, and L2TP/IPSec. Each protocol undergoes a different method of tunneling and encrypting your data, some are faster but less secure, while others are slower but more secure. Here’s the gist of it:
OpenVPN (Faster and More Secure) - OpenVPN is the preferred protocol to use. It provides maximum security (256 Bit Encryption), it’s compatible with all types internet connections, and it usually offers the fastest speeds. The only drawback is that most devices don’t naively support OpenVPN. You can use the IPVanish VPN Software to connect on a computer, but you won’t be able to use OpenVPN on most Smart Phones, Tablets or Routers.
PPTP (Faster but Less Secure) - This protocol is as fast as OpenVPN, but less secure. While the encryption (128 bit) is perfectly fine for typical users, it shouldn’t be used when handling very sensitive data. PPTP is naively supported by most Smart Phones and Tablets (iOS, Androids, Windows Phone, etc.), as well as most VPN routers.
L2TP/IPSec (More Secure but Slower) – This protocol is the most secure of the three, with the highest-grade 256-Bit encryption (Approved by the NSA for top secret information). However, the heighten-level of security means that it’s less efficient than both PPTP and OpenVPN, so speeds are usually slower. Similarly to PPTP, L2TP is naively supported on most mobile devices and routers.
The IPVanish VPN Software
The IPVanish custom VPN Software (available for both Windows and Mac) is straightforward and very easy to use. Connecting to a VPN is done with a
Auto Connect – One of the most convenient features of IPVanish’s software is the auto connect feature. When you turn on your computer (or wake it from sleep), IPVanish will automatically connect to either the last VPN server you were connected to, or the VPN Server with the quickest response time (ping). Voila! You’re connected and you didn’t even have to lift a finger… well, at least not for the VPN.
Sort by Response (Ping) – If you’re not sure which server to pick, no worries! IPVanish’s software will organize VPN Servers based on the quickest response time (ping), so you’re able to see which servers are fastest relative to your location.
Auto-Reconnect – When you’re connected to a VPN, there is always a possibility you can get disconnected, and that’s true for every VPN provider. The Auto-Reconnect feature on the IPVanish software is essentially you’re automatic recovery. It will automatically try to reconnect to the VPN the moment it disconnects, so you don’t have to worry much about it.
Software Conclusion
All in all, we feel that the IPVanish software is very good. It’s easy to use and beginners won’t have any issues setting it up. It also has some nice features that experts will love. Overall, it is was most people need, but there is definitely room for improvement.
Money Back Guarantee
Unlike most VPN providers who either don’t provide a Money-Back Guarantee, IPVanish is the only provider that offers a 7-day Money-Back Guarantee if you’re not completely satisfied.
This gives you a whole week to test out their service. If you’re unhappy with their VPN or it doesn’t live up to their expectations, you can simply cancel and ask for a full refund.
Privacy and Anonymity
IPVanish do not log any user activity (sites visited, DNS lookups, emails etc.), but does track a number of other things such as time stamps, duration of the connection, IP address used for the connection and bytes transferred.
Overall, we would say IPVanish is one of the more anonymous VPN providers in the industry.
While we do not monitor, record or store logs for any single customer’s VPN activity, we do record (1) Timestamp (date and server time) of the connection to us, (2) Duration of the connection, (3) IP address used for the connection, and (4) Bytes transferred.
Packages and Prices
We love how simple IPVanish makes their packages and pricing. They offer 1 Unlimited VPN package (it includes it all) and you can select between three different terms for the package; 1, 3 or 12 months.
Current Pricing
1 Month – $10.00
3 Month – $26.99 ($8.99 Monthly)
1 Year – $77.99 ($6.49 Monthly)
Available Payment Methods
IPVanish allows you to pay using two different options: Credit Card or PayPal.
Features Included:
90 Servers in 41 Countries
Unlimited Bandwidth, Unlimited Speed
OpenVPN, PPTP & L2TP Protocals
7 Day Money Back Guarantee
2 Simultaneous Connections
Easy-to-use VPN Software
3500+ IP Addresses Available
Specials, Discounts and Coupon Codes (Limited-Time Only)
IPVanish is running a limited-time promotion where their VPN is only $6.49 a month. That’s over 46% off their normal price!
Click the button above the claim this deal.
IPVanish is one of the most reliable and fastest VPN service we tested. We really liked the fact that they’re constantly adding new servers and countries almost weekly and they allow two simultaneous connections with just 1 account. Their VPN Software is simple, but very easy to use. Their customer support was very fast and friendly every time, and they include 7-Day Money Back Guarantee.
The Bad:
They do lack Phone Support, but but their Email support is very quick (within a few minute, every time we tested them), so most people shouldn’t have a problem there.
The Bottom Line:If you’re in search for the best VPN, IPVanish might just be it. The quality of their VPN service and customer support is among the best we’ve reviewed, and we think they are a great choice for most people. Their software is simple and straight forward, but lacks some features that advance users may want (Such as a Secure Bind, offered by HideMyAss). Overall, we give IPVanish 4.5 out of 5 Stars and definitely recommend them.
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10 OUT OF 5 STARS!! A+++
This is an EXCELLENT VPN that I thought I'd do them some good by leaving a few positive reviews.
IPVanish is much faster than I anticipated, and they're always up and running. I download torrents, stream videos and browse the net and I actually forget I'm still connected to the VPN because it's just fast and I don't experience any lagging or delays. 10 STAR PROVIDER in my opinion.
IPVanish worked very well when I traveloverseas for both business and leisure. Their support is top of the class too.
Great VPN! A large selection of servers and locations, decent spends and very reliable. I will definitely renew.
Lightening Fast!
This has to be one of the fastest and most reliable VPN I have ever used. Way better than HMA! :)
Very Good
I've been with Ipvanish for the past 3 months, i mainly use it to make Voip Calls using skype from my PC, and from my android phone when i'm outside and connected to 3G. i have also used it on my router with 5 computers connected at home, works very good, and the speed is very fair (out of my 8MB connection i'm getting 6 MB which is very good when i'm connecting from the middle east to a server in the UK) ping is less then 100ms. when making voip calls it doesn't cut and when playing online games while connected to the VPN it works good compaired to my previous 2 VPN companies.
overall you should give this a try if you're really looking for a good VPN sollution.
WOW! I decided to try this vpn after reading the reviews on here and I'm definitely impressed by their service! It's SUPER fast, the software is very easy to use and you can use it on a phone too! I was actually surprised on how easy this was to setup and use (I'm not tech savy at all). I've each the speeds on speedtest.net and it's nearly the same as my normal download/upload without the vpn.
A top notch vpn!
A+ Customer Support!
A great customer/tech support team! I bought this vpn about 2 weeks ago, and recently I started having a problem with the connection. The tech support helped me through the issue and I haven't had any problem since.
Overall, ipvanish vpn is very fast, and other then the recent problem, I haven't had any issues. I'm able to download very quickly through P2P, and do everything I normally do.
Really fast VPN for a great price. I'm on my 6th month and haven't had any issues yet. They've added nearly 10 new server locations since I started, so I'm definitely getting my money's worth.
Abysmal Speed AND Still Waiting on Refund
Speed from Australia to Europe was abysmal. Averaged around 3Mbps (barely able to view SD video, let alone HD video), compared to another VPN Provider at 13Mbps.
Speed Australia to USA was fair.
Cancelled service within their 7 day refund period. Ten (10) days after, I am still waiting on a refund.
Fantastic Service
A very fast vpn. I live in Texas, and my normal download speed is about 20mbps. With the VPN connected with PPTP, my download speeds in the high to mid teens in nearly every country I tried, including Europe and Australia. OpenVPN was a little slower, but nonetheless a very fast and reliable vpn company.