IPVanish is a US-based VPN service provider with applications for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS devices. The company offers an advanced VPN service that masks internet IP addresses to protect customers’ data and privacy from third-party entities, cybercriminals, and other online threats. In addition to the major operating platforms, IPVanish also offers VPN apps for Amazon Fire TV, Chrome OS, Linux, and routers. With its user-friendly interface and end-to-end military-grade encryption, IPVanish VPN apps offer one of the best all-around protection for your family and their devices.
Pros&Cons
IPVanish Pros&Cons | Check Positive and Negative Sides
Features Table
IPVanish VPN Features Table Summary
| Headquarter | USA |
| No-log policy |  |
| Kill switch | |
| Included # devices with 1 license | Unlimited |
| Server locations | 75+ countries |
| Number of servers | 2200+ |
| Torrents support | |
| Netflix support | |
| Split tunneling | |
| Multi-hop (VPN chaining) |  |
| Encryption type | AES-256 |
| Customer support | Phone, email, live chat, and FAQs |
| Trial version | |
| Money-back guarantee | 30 days |
| Website | www.ipvanish.com |
What It Is Best for?
IPVanish – What It Is Best for?
IPVanish is a fast and secure VPN service that offers ample security features and strong protocols to protect your privacy. While using IPVanish, I discovered that the app offers consistently fast speed on almost all its servers. I found the IPVanish to be quite useful for general browsing and video streaming from anywhere in the world thanks to its global coverage of servers.
Torrenting and streaming geo-restricted content are probably where IPVanish shines the most, albeit with a few hiccups. All IPVanish servers are compatible with P2P file-sharing which makes torrenting with IPVanish smooth and secure. Additionally, IPVanish offers unlimited bandwidth, robust secure protocols, and high speeds through advanced WireGuard protocols. Not only can you Torrent at your heart’s pleasure without worrying about bandwidth, you can also protect your privacy while at it.
Unblocking geo-restricted sites like Netflix, HBO, and Hulu was a breeze with IPVanish, though the company does not offer dedicated streaming servers. Once you have unblocked a site, video streaming on an IPVanish server is smooth and lag-free. However, I, like several other users and reviewers, was unable to unable to unblock Amazon Prime Video. Compared to other popular VPN apps, IPVanish was more fun to use thanks to its user-friendly UI and multitude of security features.
IPVanish Video Guide
How to set up IPVanish VPN on Amazon Fire Stick, Fire TV, and Fire Cube
Features Overview
IPVanish In-Depth Features Overview
Headquarters
Headquartered in the USA, IPVanish falls under the purview of the 5/9/14 Eyes alliance. While the company has a no-logs policy, the company’s location may be of concern to users who are quite particular about where their VPN service providers set up shop. As few as four years back, IPVanish was embroiled in an unfortunate logging scandal involving the FBI. However, the VP of product and marketing at the company categorically denied the allegations about the company’s no-logs policy and claimed its policy was as strict as ever.
Logging Policy
Though IPVanish claims to have an independently-audited no-logs policy, its location in the USA, a prominent member of an international intelligence-sharing alliance, leaves much to be desired regarding transparency. The IPVanish no-logs policy prevents the company from recording, storing, and sharing any private user information.
Kill Switch
Like most decent VPN service providers, IPVanish also offers a kill switch that promptly and automatically shuts down all internet traffic if the VPN suddenly disconnects or lags. You can even configure IPVanish VPN to automatically connect as soon as your device boots up. The app allows local network traffic by default but you can toggle that off from the app settings.
Connectivity
Thanks to IPVanish’s unmetered connections, you can connect an unlimited number of devices using only one IPVanish account. Not many VPN service providers offer unmetered connections, and those that do are not as secure or fast as IPVanish. With the yearly subscription to IPVanish, I can protect all the devices in my home for just $47.89 for the first year. Though the company scales the pricing up to $89.99 per year after the first year, it is still a small price to pay to protect all your devices with one license.
Encryption
IPVanish offers military-grade AES 256-bit encryption along with the SHA512 algorithm for authentication and the DHE-RSA 2048 key exchange for perfect forward secrecy. IPVanish also employs the SOCKS5 proxy, a more flexible alternative to traditional proxies, to maximize speed while offering greater privacy protection. The company also offers multiple connection protocols, including IKEv2, IPSec, OpenVPN, and WireGuard, to adapt to a user’s speed and security requirements. Personally, I prefer the much advanced WireGuard protocol as it offers the fastest connection possible.
Server Locations
IPVanish boasts over 2200 server across more than 75 locations worldwide. With its arsenal of global servers, IPVanish offers a wide coverage that can be matched or bested by only a handful of competing VPN providers but at a higher price. IPVanish also manages to offer consistent speeds on distant servers, unlike several other VPN apps that I have used so far.
Torrent
IPVanish is a boon to Torrent users as all its servers support P2P file-sharing. The VPN app also has unlimited bandwidth and no data caps to enable torrenting for longer periods. IPVanish’s strong encryption and robust security protocols ensure that private data is not leaked online because of P2P file-sharing.
Netflix
I was able to unlock geo-restricted content on quite a few streaming sites using IPVanish. The VPN app allowed me to unblock and access content on Netflix, HBO, and Disney Plus with a few caveats. The app does not have servers dedicated to streaming to servers making it quite difficult to find a server that could unblock geo-restricted sites. Nonetheless, you can comfortably stream high-quality videos once you get access to any such geo-restricted site or OTT platform. However, I was unable to unblock Amazon Prime Video despite trying several IPVanish servers.
Customer Support
The company offers 24/7 customer support service via email, phone, and live chat. Though I was unable to chat with a live agent on the website, I did not have any issues with customer support over the phone. I emailed the company inquiring about certain features and discounts on subscriptions. The company was quick to respond to my email and did so succinctly with satisfactory answers to all my queries. The website also features a detailed support center that offers help with common troubleshooting issues and frequently asked questions.
Speed & Bandwidth
IPVanish VPN Server Speed Tests & Bandwidth
While slow speed is the most common complaint among users using VPN apps, IPVanish breaks the VPN speed cliché by offering consistently fast speeds as is evident from the screenshots below. I tested the speed of my internet connection on speedtest.net with and without the VPN. The download and upload speeds of my connection without IPVanish were 93.79 Mbps and 83.70 Mbps, respectively.
I first connected to an IPVanish server in the USA and checked the speeds. The download and upload speeds on this server were 93.78 Mbps and 76.12 Mbps, respectively. As you can see, the download speed did not even decrease on connecting to a server near my actual location. The latency increased to 30 ms and the upload speed slightly dropped by around 7 Mbps, which is of no major concern.
Next, I connected to an IPVanish server in the UK and again got an admirable download speed, albeit a little less than earlier. The upload speed substantially dropped to 32.50 Mbps and the latency rose sharply to 89 ms. The download speed on the UK server dropped by around 31% but a download speed of 64.29 Mbps on a VPN connection is not low enough to warrant frustration.
Finally, I connected to an IPVanish server in Japan to test the speed on servers far away from my location and I was pleasantly surprised. While the download speed did drop significantly to 44.73 Mbps, the upload speed was 31.25 Mbps and the latency was 89 ms. Such drops in download and upload speeds are expected when connecting to distant servers but IPVanish does a good job of maintaining consistent speed on the server to which I was connected.
VPN Reputation
IPVanis Feedback, User Reviews and Ratings
The reputation of a company and its services or products can be judged by public reviews on social media sites and tech forums. To figure out how well IPVanish and its VPN apps fare in practice, I explored the company’s social media pages and some community forums. I also checked consumer review websites like Trustpilot and SiteJabber for in-depth public reviews of the IPVanish apps.
On Trustpilot, IPVanish had an excellent TrustScore of 4.6 out of 5 stars from more than 7900 reviews. Over 80% of the reviews on Trustpilot rated IPVanish as excellent and claimed that the company was reliable. Most of the reviews on Trustpilot draw attention to the speed, reliability, and usability of the IPVanish apps. However, there were a few users who were not pleased with the app’s performance or the company’s customer service. On the other hand, a fair number of reviewers claimed that the customer support team of IPVanish was knowledgeable and helpful with technical issues.
With over 34K followers on Facebook and close to 15K followers on Twitter, IPVanish has a substantial social media following and the company is quite active on social media as well. I came across several helpful posts on online threats, digital security, and the latest industry trends. Users on social media sites who have used the IPVanish apps praised the company for its dedicated support, fast speed, and reliable security.
Google Trends
Google Search Queries Analysis in Comparison With Competitors
Google Trends is an analytical tool that offers a relative comparison of popular search terms by plotting a graph showing interest in a search term over a specific period. I used Google Trends to chart the interest in such search terms as ‘IPVanish’, ‘IPVanish VPN’, ‘TunnelBear’, and ‘CyberGhost VPN’ over the past 12 months within the USA.
When I used Google Trends to search with ‘IPVanish’, the resulting graph showed consistent interest in the topic. Through the past 12 months, the interest in ‘IPVanish’ did not drop below the average mark and was consistently high throughout this period. Interest in the search term is also projected to rise sharply in the coming weeks.
When I compared the interest over time in ‘IPVanish’ and ‘TunnelBear’, the results were quite surprising. Despite its many redeeming qualities, I did not expect the average interest in ‘IPVanish’ to be more than that in ‘TunnelBear’ considering the popularity and market share of the latter. Notwithstanding my scepticism, the average interest over time in ‘IPVanish’ was much higher, and consistently so, than in ‘TunnelBear’.
On comparing ‘IPVanish’ and ‘CyberGhost VPN’, the results were again surprising but familiar. The average interest in ‘IPVanish’ was higher than that in ‘CyberGhost VPN’ but the contest was tighter this time. The two graphs had a similar pattern with the rise and fall of interest in one term almost mirroring the rise and fall of interest in the other.
DNS Leak Test
IPVanish DNS Leak Test
IPVanish offers DNS and IP leak protection on all its VPN apps to ensure that both your actual IP address and DNS requests remain hidden from prying eyes. The DNS and IP leak protection are enabled by default on the IPVanish apps so that customers do not have to enable them manually.
DNS leak tests offer a crucial insight into a VPN’s security features and whether those features accomplish what they claim. I tested IPVanish on DNSleaktest.com and ipleak.net for any DNS or IP leaks. I tested a few different servers and did not detect any DNS or IP leak while IPVanish was active. Without IPVanish active, my IP address and DNS requests were visible during leak tests. With the IPVanish VPN app active on my device, I did not detect any DNS/IP leak on the test sites linked above.
Conclusion
Should You Buy IPVanish VPN?
IPVanish offers a fast and secure VPN service that rivals some of the best VPN service providers in the market. With its fast speeds and global server coverage, IPVanish is a reliable VPN service available at an affordable price. While most top VPN providers limit the number of simultaneous connections, IPVanish outshines its competitors by allowing customers to connect unlimited devices with one license. The company also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee in case you are not satisfied with the product. Overall, the IPVanish VPN app is a consistent performer that offers just enough features for your daily shenanigans.
