IPVanish VPN Review

It is becoming a necessity to use VPN while browsing. A VPN protects your digital identity by masking your IP address and encrypting your internet traffic. As easy as it sounds, not every VPN can provide robust security. 

IPVanish VPN is a popular service with a vast range of servers and high encryption. The VPN promises to keep no logging history and respect users’ privacy. The VPN offers security features and various proxies. Moreover, it can unblock many streaming sites and offers unlimited device connections.  

However, the VPN is based in a five-eye country, which does not indicate security. In addition, the quick connect feature and continuous parent company switches create clouds of confusion. This review aims to provide a better insight into IPVanish VPN and what it offers. 

Who owns IPVanish VPN?

Mudhook Media.Inc, a subsidiary of Highwinds, founded IPVanish in 2012, and the service quickly gained popularity. Until 2016 IPVanish operated under Highwinds Network Group. The same year when IPVanish was operating under the Highwinds Network Group, the VPN made headlines. When an affidavit clearly showed that IPVanish VPN logged and shared a user’s data with Homeland Security, the VPN faced backlash. 

However, in 2017, a CDN company StackPath acquired Highwinds Network, and IPVanish was also included in the acquisition. After that, the VPN went through various audits to ensure users about its security. Later in 2019, a digital media and internet company J2 Global, acquired IPVanish. However, On October 7, 2021, J2 Global changed its name to Ziff Davis. The company also owns other popular websites like PCmag and Mashable. 

Is IPVanish VPN worth the money?

VPNs are in demand these days. With the increasing rate of cybercrimes and online hacking, more people are buying VPN services to protect their privacy and secure their data. However, finding the best VPN for your needs can be difficult. We aim to provide authentic reviews of VPN services; our target for today is IPVanish VPN. 

IPVanish VPN is a popular name in the industry and a feature-packed service. It can unblock geo-restrictions, bypass firewalls, and has been independently audited. However, the service is not very transparent; it was previously involved in logging users’ data despite claiming a no-log policy. Moroever, the app is laggy and often logs users out without them knowing. To deeply look into these matters, we have performed this review and will look into the following aspects of IPVanish VPN. 

• Online privacy: it uses fast encryption of AES, which the military and industries use. 
• Jurisdiction:  the VPN is located in the US. The United States is a member of Five Eyes Intelligence and is not very safe regarding privacy. 
• Audited No-log policy: it has an audited no-log policy meaning your online activity is safe from prying eyes.
• Streaming: it supports streaming services and offers HD streaming with fast speed. Users can unblock streaming sites like Netflix US with it.  
• Torrenting and P2P: IPVanish supports P2P sharing and allows torrenting on its servers. 
• Gaming: it has high speed and decreases the gaming ping time, which is ideal for gamers. 
• Tor Browser: security tools like Kill Switch and Split Tunneling help maintain security while using the Tor Browser. 

This review is a combination of personal experience and in-depth research about VPNs. We used the VPN for months to learn about its speed, security, and connections. Moreover, we explored online forums like Reddit and Quora for customer experience and cross-matched our research with them. Keep reading to know more about IPVanish VPN. 

What type of security does IPVanish VPN offers?

IPVanish is a secure VPN service or as it claims to be. The VPN is strict about users’ security and offers many privacy features. These features help in increasing security and protecting users’ data. According to our research, the service offers the following security features. 

• Split-tunneling: it allows users to select which app data travel through encrypted tunnels and which data travels through a regular network.  
• Kill Switch: This feature ensures your data travels only through VPN servers to prevent IP leaks. 
• Private DNS: it helps resolve web addresses to their respective IP addresses. 

The Kill Switch is only available for Android, macOS, and Windows apps. Moreover, there is no dedicated IP or obfuscating servers. Besides, there is no malware or ad blocker in the VPN. Users must install a separate blocker to prevent malicious attacks and annoying pop-ups. 

Jurisdiction

It is extremely important to know from where the VPN service operates. Many countries have data retention laws, while others are a part of various data-saving intelligence. If a VPN is located in a country with these laws, no one can guarantee the privacy of that VPN user. 

Unfortunately, IPVanish VPN is based in the US, a member of the Five Eyes intelligence. Five Eyes is an international intelligence that was started with the aim of preventing crimes and war. 

It is evident that the US is not the most appropriate place to operate a VPN service. According to the laws of eyes intelligence, each member can be asked to share users’ data anytime, and they must comply with these orders. 

Logging policy.

The service claims to keep a strict no-log policy. It does not store users’ information, such as IP addresses, emails, or other confidential data. Like any other VPN, it does log some non-personal data, such as; 

• Bounce rate.
• Page requests.
• Operating System.
• Browser type.
• Average time spent on our site.

According to the IPVanish policy, this is what the VPN does not log.

Leviathan, a cybersecurity consulting firm, also audited the no-logging policy. This further ensures the security of IPVanish VPN.

Previous incidents. 

In 2016, a very unfortunate event happened. On 4th May, an investigator from the Department of Homeland Security chatted with a person selling links to child pornography. He located his IP address back to Highwinds Network Group, a CDN company; at that time, IPVanish was owned by the same company. 

After further investigation, the Highwinds group accepted that the IP belongs to their user, but they can’t share any information as they follow a no-log policy. Nevertheless, a court affidavit came, which clearly showed that IPVanish was keeping logs of its users all this time and shared the information with Homeland Security. 

Although this is a concerning issue and a serious deal breaker, the VPN is no longer under the same company. IPVanish is now owned by a different company named Ziff Davis, Inc, and since then, it has undergone privacy audits that assure users about the authenticity of their policy. 

The encryption used by IPVanish VPN. 

Encryption means changing the data into unreadable codes. It’s like a lock; the stronger the lock, the better the security. Therefore, whenever you look for a VPN, ensure it has robust and advanced encryption. 

IPVanish VPN has AES-256-bit encryption, the strongest and hardest encryption cipher to crack. The same encryption is used by government and military sources to protect their confidential data. Besides AES encryption IPVanish also has secure VPN protocols that help create encrypted data tunnels. 

Tunneling protocols.

VPN protocols ensure that the data travels through secure encrypted tunnels to prevent data breaching and ISP monitoring. IPVanish has fast VPN protocols for quick connections and high speed. Here are the protocols offered by IPVanish VPN. 

• WireGuard: a lightweight protocol that offers fast speed and robust security. 
• OpenVPN UDP & TCP: It is an open-source protocol that provides security and high speed. You can use it with UDP or TCP for more benefits. 
• IPSec: it is a secure protocol but definitely not the best. The speed is optimal, and the security is also average. 
• IKEv2: this protocol automatically re-establishes a VPN connection after getting disconnected. It is most suitable for mobile users. 

The VPN has a vast collection of protocols to choose from, and each protocol can be used for different purposes. 

IPVanish VPN for streaming: can it unblock streaming sites? 

Not many VPNs work with streaming sites. The primary issue with streaming sites is that they block VPN servers and use strong firewalls to prevent users from using a VPN. However, some VPN services have specialized servers and obfuscating tools to bypass firewalls. 

Although IPVanish does not have optimized servers, we tried unblocking some popular streaming sites with it. First, take a look at the streaming features offered by IPVanish VPN. 

• Prevents ISP throttling:  it prevents ISP throttling by hiding your IP address and online activity. 
• Kill Switch: it prevents IP leaks during connection drops. 
• Netflix: US, UK, and India. 
• BBCiPlayer: blocked. 
• Hulu: blocked. 
• Disney+: Ashburn, Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Denver, and Detroit.
• Amazon Prime Video: blocked. 

Unblocking Netflix with IPVanish VPN. 

Netflix is one of the most popular streaming sites with different regional libraries. These libraries are only accessible to people in the area and are otherwise geo-blocked. However, a VPN can bypass these geo-blocks by masking your IP, but it is not as easy as it sounds. We used IPVanish VPN to unblock Netflix’s US library, which is how it went. 

IPVanish worked exceptionally well with Netflix, and we unblocked three Netflix regional libraries, US, UK, and India. The speed was good, and it took the VPN only a few seconds to unblock the streaming site. There are no streaming-optimized servers, so you must connect to the regular servers. Moreover, there was no ISP throttling, and the video quality was also HD. 

How to set up IPVanish VPN for Netflix;

• Install and launch the IPVanish VPN app.
• Create an account and choose your payment plan.
• Enable the Kill Switch from the settings. 
• Choose a US-based server. 
• Open the Netflix app and Start streaming!

Users must have a Netflix subscription to unblock the site. 

Can IPVanish VPN help in accessing Disney+?

Disney+ is a well-known site that offers movies, TV shows, and other streaming content. However, the site also applies geo-block; we need a VPN to access it. We put IPVanish to the test to see if it will work with Disney+. 

Unblocking Disney+ was very complicated. It took us several attempts to find the right server, and when we finally unblocked the site, the picture quality was very bad. The site kept lagging, and we had to wait for the videos to load. Overall it was not worth the time and effort. 

How to set up IPVanish VPN for Disney+;

• Install and launch the IPVanish VPN app.
• Create an account and choose your payment plan.
• Enable the Kill Switch from the settings. 
• Choose a US-based server. 
• Open the Disney+ site and Start streaming!

Users must have a Disney+ subscription to unblock the site. 

Can you Torrent with IPVanish VPN? 

IPVanish VPN is good for torrenting and supports P2P downloading. It offers average speeds and works with various torrent clients. Here is what the VPN offers for torrenting. 

• Split tunneling: it allows users to select which app data travel through encrypted tunnels and which data travels through a regular network.  
• SOCKS5 proxy: it is good for added security and fast speed. 

Setting up IPVanish for torrenting is quite simple. We logged in to our account and enabled split tunneling, then we chose the SOCKS5 proxy and connected to a nearby server. The speed was good, and it took 4 minutes to download a file. The VPN is not the absolute best choice for torrenting, but it’s definitely not the worst either. 

Gaming with IPVanish VPN.

Gaming with IPVanish can be a bit difficult. The VPN is not designed for gaming and has no gaming-optimized servers. However, we still tried the VPN for gaming, and here is how. 

• VPN protocols: fast protocols ensure high speed, which helps in gaming. 
• Split tunneling:  it allows users to select which app data travel through encrypted tunnels and which data travels through a regular network.  
• Prevents ISP throttling:  it prevents ISP throttling by hiding your IP address and online activity. 

Moroever, it is a secure choice for gaming as it prevents DNS leaks while gaming. It can unblock blocked games and provide optimal speed for gaming. There were no lags throughout the game, and it also prevented IP leaks. In short, IPVanish is suitable for gaming, but better providers are available.

Using the Tor Browser with IPVanish VPN. 

Tor Browser is not completely secure; it strengthens your privacy but is unsafe. Online threats can still target anyone using Tor. Therefore, a VPN will add layers of privacy while using the Tor Browser, and users can securely browse online. IPVanish has the following security features, which help in providing security. 

• Split tunneling: t allows users to select which app data travel through encrypted tunnels and which data travels through a regular network.  
• Kill Switch: during unwanted connection drops, this feature prevents IP leaks. 
• Robust encryption: high encryption ensures maximum security. 

To start using IPVanish VPN with the Tor browser, we simply log into the account and connect to a server. After Enabling the Kill Switch from the settings, we opened the Tor Browser. The speed was good, and the VPN also protected our data and prevented IP leaks. Overall, IPVanish is an excellent choice for safe browsing. 

Pricing plans of IPVanish VPN. 

The VPN has three pricing plans and a 30-day money-back guarantee. 

Plans.	Pricing.
1-month plan	$11.99/month
1-year plan	$4.50/month
2-year plan	$3.33/month

The refund only applies to the yearly plans, you won’t get a refund on the monthly plan. Besides, it accepts the following payment methods. 

• credit cards.
• PayPal.

Anonymous payment or cryptocurrency is not an option which is a bummer for many users. 

Customer Service- fast and reliable. 

To further test the VPN, we reached out to the customer support of IPVanish. They offer various customer support methods, including email, FAQs, and live chat. We contacted the live chat to ask a basic question, and within seconds a bot was assisting us. Here is how it went. 

The bot gave us links to FAQs which answered our query pretty well. The service was quick, and we got our answer. You can also email the service, but the email support is slower than live chat. 

Pros and cons.

IPVanish has various benefits and also lacks a few basic features. We have listed all the prominent pros and cons of the VPN in the table.

Pros.	Cons.
It offers high AES-256-bit encryption along with WireGuard protocol for fast speed and security.	It lacks a smart DNS and has no dedicated IP.
It can unblock Netflix US.	The prices increase yearly.
The Kill Switch helps in preventing IP leaks.	Streaming sites like Amazon Prime and BBC iPlayer are blocked.
It has an audited no-log policy.	It is located in the five eyes country, the United States.
It supports P2P file sharing.	It does not work in China.
The VPN also provides a free SOCKS5 proxy.	The speed is slow on Windows devices.
Users get 24/7 customer support.	Kill Switch is only available for Android, macOS, and Windows apps.

Final Words.

IPVanish is a reliable VPN service, and despite previous incidents, the service has arisen again. It has an audited no-log policy and offers various privacy features. Moreover, it works with streaming sites and supports torrenting as well. Although it is unable to unblock all streaming platforms, it can surely unblock Netflix US. 

However, one big downside is the jurisdiction of the VPN. It is located in the US and is a member of Eyes intelligence. Besides, the app design is complex, and the server speed is slow with Windows clients. It is an excellent choice if you want to stream Netflix or torrent, but it lacks various features in other aspects. 

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