IPVanish is one of the more fully-featured VPN products on the market – and it isn’t shy about letting would-be customers know. But does the product really justify the hype? Let’s find out.
Key Features
The program offers an impressive gamut of features, including a kill-switch that chokes your connection whenever the VPN is interrupted, ensuring that not a single unencrypted packet gets through. Encryption is handled by the OpenVPN protocol, using AES 256-bit – which provides as close to bulletproof protection against leaks as you’re likely to find.
Pros
10 Simultaneous Connections
One key advantage of IPVanish is the number of simultaneous connections it permits – up to 10 are possible, placing it well ahead of alternatives like ExpressVPN (which limits you to just three). For those running many devices, this is a considerable plus.
Range of Apps
You’ll find a user-friendly version of the IPVanish app available on a range of platforms, including Android, Windows and iOS. You can also install the VPN on your router.
Great Support
24-7 support comes via live chat and email support, and you can call during business hours, too.
High Speed
IP Vanish is one of the speediest services of its type, providing a stable connection at more than 90% of baseline speed when connecting to nearby servers, and competitive performance over long-distance. You’re unlikely to find better performance from a VPN service. This is thanks to the quality and quantity of the company’s servers – there are more than 1,000 spread across the world.
No Virtual Servers
IPVanish does its work without resorting to virtual servers. This means that you’re always in control of where you’re connecting to, which is advantageous from both a security and performance perspective.
Cons
Five-Eyes Jurisdiction
IPVanish is at a disadvantage among VPN providers in that it’s based in the US – so, its headquarters are never more than a few phone calls away from being ransacked by the FBI. The USA is a founding member of a pre-internet intelligence-sharing operation that dates from the start of the Cold War and now includes Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK. This alliance is often referred to as the internet’s “5 Eyes”.
Some users might recall that IPVanish provided data to the FBI in 2016 – although the company has since been acquired by Texas-based StackPath, which maintains a no-log policy.
Conclusion
Like most of its competitors, IPVanish does not keep logs of its users‘ activities – and so this jurisdictional problem might not be a concern for many users. The location of the headquarters is also offset by the fact that, unlike many of its rivals, IP Vanish actually owns all of the servers it uses. This affords it greater control over how these servers are maintained and secured, leading to superior performance and more reliable security.
This VPN will therefore tempt those looking for a high-performance, affordable alternative to NordVPN or ExpressVPN.