Speed & Performance
Pricing
Features
Customer Support
Inside This Article...
IPVanish boasts an impressive line up of over 1000 servers across 60 countries. They’re by no means the cheapest VPN but they sure do pack a punch where it matters. Users will enjoy unlimited bandwidth across 10 devices and absolutely no logging whatsoever.
Overview
American based VPN service, IPVanish, makes bold claims as “the world’s best VPN service”. IPVanish offer a 7-day money-back guarantee, boasting fast speeds and private connections. It all sounds great, but I wanted to try it for myself.
IPVanish may not be as well known as it’s competitors, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth checking out. In fact, with thousands of services and up to 10 connections at once, it’s a fair rival in the VPN market.
I signed up to IPVanish and tested their speed, performance, security, features, ease of use and customer support.
Does IPVanish Sound Right For You?
Features
- Multiple device support: IPVanish supports lots of different devices, with 10 connections active at once! Devices include Windows, Mac OS X, iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Ubuntu, Chromebook and internet routers. Having such a wide range of access means everyone in your family can enjoy private internet browsing at all times. Remember, IPVanish support unlimited bandwidth, so you won’t have to worry about using your VPN too much.
- VOIP access: VOIP providers like Skype will charge higher rates and fees depending on where you live. This can be frustrating, especially when you’re already paying for an internet connection on your desktop or mobile. IPVanish allows you to choose your country of origin so you don’t incur such high costs.
- Geo-targeting: One of the main reasons for using a VPN is to hide your location. IPVanish successfully blocks your physical location by hiding your real IP address. You’ll be able to experience an ad-free browsing experience without being targeted by frustrating pop-ups and marketing tailored to your location.
Speed & Performance
When I signed up to IPVanish I didn’t really know what to expect. I had heard their speed and performance were good, so I decided to test it out for myself. Here are my results:
The last entry on the list above shows my connection without a VPN. This is the baseline I used to compare my results. Without a VPN I received a ping of 16ms, download speed of 19.54 Mbps and upload speed of 17.22 Mbps.
Immediately after, I tested speed and performance by connecting to IPVanish VPN using the BEST U.K. server available. This yielded a ping of 13ms, download speed of 43.65 Mbps and upload speed of 16.11 Mbps.
Finally I connected to IPVanish using a U.S. server. I always let the desktop app choose the best location for me. The results showed a ping of 121ms, download speed of 8.75 Mbps and upload speed of 4.75 Mbps.
Whilst the U.K. VPN connection worked out really well for me, I can’t help but be disappointed by the U.S. server. It resulted in a 79.95% decrease in speed compared to the U.K.
When you compare this to the likes of NordVPN where there was just under 4 Mbps difference in speeds, it’s quite disheartening.
Does IPVanish Sound Right For You?
Ease of Use
Signing up to IPVanish was an absolute breeze. After choosing your subscription, simply download the desktop app which installs in a matter of minutes.
When you launch the app, it’s quite self explanatory. I found it easy to navigate through the dashboard, presenting fast options like Quick Connect which allowed me to connect to my chosen location.
What I really liked about the desktop app is that you can see how much data your connection is using. There’s clear visibility on the server you’re connected to and how long you’ve been connected for.
Again, their server list is easy to navigate. If you can’t find what you’re looking for straight away, you can use the search box. You can also favourite specific locations and customise your experience which is really useful.
The settings panel is great for beginners and experts. There’s plenty of settings to toggle on/off including connection, security protocol and more.
If you sign into your online account via their website, you can get a quick overview of their server list including their status capacity.
Does IPVanish Sound Right For You?
Customer Support
IPVanish, like many other VPNs, have the option of live chat. I always find live chat a relief to see when using a service as it’s so convenient to be able to talk to someone instantly.
I connected to IPVanish’s live chat within a matter of seconds. I thought it would be a good idea to ask them about the slow U.S. speeds I was experiencing to see if they could help.
The agent suggested a variety of things I could try. One of the options he gave me was to choose the closest (rather than best) location to me.
I followed the advice and used the link that was provided. The map was interactive and showed each location in a lot of details which was really helpful!
Overall, my experience with their live chat was great. I have no complaints here; they were friendly and above all helpful. Unfortunately though the closest location made no difference to my poor U.S. speeds.
Does IPVanish Sound Right For You?
Pros
No traffic logging
As you may have noticed in a couple of my reviews, some VPN services claim not to log any data. However, it’s then apparent in their privacy policy that they do retain some data for a certain amount of time.
Not IPVanish! They actually don’t log any of your personal information or data. They operate a strict no logging policy and state:
We have a strict policy against the collection of both connection and activity logs. We will never store the metadata about your VPN session or information about how you used the service.
For many users, if a VPN logs any of their data, they’re no longer interested. And to be honest, I don’t blame them. The whole idea of a VPN is to mask your IP address, details, etc. so why would you want to allow your VPN provider to access them!
Torrenting is allowed
IPVanish don’t block torrenting at all. In fact, some may even say they encourage it! Torrenting with IPVanish is 100% safe and secure; your location and IP address will never be revealed.
So, if your reasoning for a VPN is to be able to torrent freely, IPVanish could be the solution for you.
As well as torrenting being allowed, it’s also worthwhile with IPVanish. Torrenting and speed pretty much go hand in hand.
After all, you wouldn’t want to wait hours for your favourite games or movies to download. IPVanish provide a good record of performance, along with their multitude of servers across the world.
Strong encryption
Boasting strong encryption methods, IPVanish use AES-256. Many high security companies and organisations use this kind of encryption as it’s very good.
Using an AES-256 encrypted VPN, you’ll be safe and secure when browsing the internet.
Does IPVanish Sound Right For You?
Cons
Disconnects
It’s been reported by quite a few users that IPVanish often disconnects. Reports are claiming up to 6 times a day, which isn’t great. Granted, it’s a quick process to reconnect to your IPVanish VPN, but it’s very inconvenient.
I haven’t personally had any issues in this area, and in fact get great speeds from IPVanish on their U.K. servers. However, it’s something that other users do have issues with and therefore an area that needs to be rectified.
Affordability
Compared to other VPN services like NordVPN, IPVanish is a tad on the expensive side, when they’re not promoting any offers. It’s cheaper to pay yearly, but even then their pricing isn’t very competitive.
At the moment, their pricing is great, if you can get it whilst it’s over 50% off. I think the features that they offer are definitely worth the cost, but other VPN’s are are offering similar at a lower price.
Pricing
| 1-MONTH | 3-MONTHS | 1-YEAR | |
| SERVERS | 1300+ | 1300+ | 1300+ |
| LOCATIONS | 75+ | 75+ | 75+ |
| BANDWIDTH | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| TRAFFIC LOGS | Zero logging | Zero logging | Zero logging |
| CONNECTIONS | 10 simultaneous | 10 simultaneous | 10 simultaneous |
| PRICE | $5.00/mo (£3.88) | $4.50/mo (£3.49) | $3.25/mo (£2.52) |
At the moment, IPVanish is offering a FANTASTIC deal on their subscriptions. Currently you can nab yourself a 1-year plan for just £2.52 per month which is amazing.
The longer you subscribe, the cheaper the price becomes. If you’re only happy to commit to a shorter plan on a monthly basis, this will cost you £3.88 per month. However, this is usually $11.99 per month which works out at £9.31.
However, it’s not all about the cost. It’s what’s included as well!
All of IPVanish’s plans include the following features:
40,000+ IP addresses
1100+ servers
60+ countries
Unlimited bandwidth
256-bit AES encryption
No logging
10 connections across multiple devices
For more experienced users, you may also be interested in anonymous torrenting, unlimited P2P traffic, OpenVPN and L2TP/IPsec VPN protocols, and unlimited server switching.
All this comes with 24/7 customer support too! I certainly wouldn’t mind paying £3.88 per month for all of that.
Do I recommend IPVanish?
Yes I do, but for certain users.
IPVanish offer a good service with a range of features. Although their features aren’t necessarily above and beyond what other VPN’s offer, they do promote a strict no logging policy which is a real priority for me.
By no means is IPVanish a bad VPN, aside from a few reports of disconnects, it seems fairly reliable. It’s speeds are something to be reckoned with if you’re connecting to the same country you’re already in. Unfortunately my experience with servers further away affected by speeds by around 75%.
However, I don’t think they’re a suitable VPN for advanced users. Why? Well, simply because other VPN’s like ExpressVPN are cheaper and offer more. For beginners though, IPVanish could be a good starting place. They offer 10 simultaneous connections so you can experiment across a range of devices.
Does IPVanish Sound Right For You?
User Reviews
IPVanish Pros:
- Strong encryption
- Torrenting is allowed
- No traffic logging
IPVanish Cons:
- Affordability
- Disconnects
