Hide & Seek / VPN / IPVanish Review

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IPVanish Review

IPVanish offers strong torrent performance, which is good for an avid media streamer. While the decent sign-up discount is attractive, you need to be aware of the price hike on renewal. I still consider IPVanish as one of the best VPNs in the market. Read on for our experience and speed test results with IPVanish or click here to visit them online.

IPVanish is another leading Virtual Private Network (VPN) brand that elicits somewhat mixed feelings for me. It offers relatively decent performance and has been around for some time but got itself mired in a logging controversy sometime in 2016.

Following that, however, the company was acquired by Stackpath in 2017. StackPath rapidly washed their hands of the matter and have kept the IPVanish nose clean ever since. While my first experience with them wasn’t ideal performance-wise, revisits have changed my opinion.

If you can get over the slightly clouded past and accept a VPN with its headquarters in the US, then IPVanish is a decent candidate. It’s well-established and has kept up with newer technologies, including the WireGuard protocol.

About IPVanish

Quick Facts

FeaturesDetails
HeadquarterThe United States of America
Number of Servers1,600+
Servers in Countries52
Protocol SupportPPTP, L2TP, IKEv2, OpenVPN, WireGuard
LoggingNo
Kill SwitchYes
Muti-server hoppingNo
P2P / Torrenting Yes, all servers
Websitehttps://www.ipvanish.com/

Feature Highlights

Perhaps the most notable thing about IPVanish is the lack of unique features. It doesn’t create jazzy names for standard features and claim uniqueness. While that is refreshing, it also brings to the fore some areas that seem to be lacking. Nevertheless, there are a couple of things to note here.

Many Platforms, Unlimited Devices

Many Platforms, Unlimited Devices
Once upon a time, IPVanish limited the number of devices that could connect to the service simultaneously per account. Recognizing that we each likely own multiple devices today, it’s now giving blanket coverage for unlimited connections. You can use almost any device type, from Windows to Mac.

Access Netflix US Content With IPVanish

Access Netflix US Content With IPVanish
Despite its somewhat clunky interface, IPVanish offers very smooth streaming performance on various services. Naturally, this includes my beloved Netflix, and I could access and watch US-region content with no issues. 

Multiple Protocols Mix the Old and New

IPVanish has remained pretty traditional and offers a spread of well-recognized protocols, including OpenVPN and IKEv2. They’re also starting to roll out WireGuard, but it’s currently undergoing testing in a public Beta. Anyone can join the Beta program, though.

Our Take on IPVanish

IPVanish Pros

  • Decent performance with usable speeds
  • Smooth streaming experience on Netflix
  • Old-school interface design is mixed with newer elements such as an interactive map
  • WireGuard coming soon
  • Doesn’t install TAP adapter without permission

IPVanish Cons

  • Price hikes on renewal with IPVanish aren’t an industry standard
  • The user interface is a bit exasperating to navigate

Who Should Use IPVanish?

I would go for IPVanish if I were an avid media streamer. While many VPNs support media streaming, IPVanish offers one of the smoothest streaming experiences to date. There was no buffering, lag, or any other annoyance during my tests.

It also offers strong torrent performance, which is another pro I heavily favor. Again, while many VPNs support P2P, they often do so reluctantly, and you tend to see speeds drop significantly. With IPVanish, the pain isn’t so pronounced.

Is IPVanish Worth the Price?

Maybe. I like that IPVanish offers a decent sign-up discount and doesn’t try to tie customers into lengthy contracts just to get that discount. However, it’s essential to understand that prices increase on renewal, nearly doubling.

IPVanish Speed Tests

Speed tests are run to IPVanish servers fifteen times each month. Each test run goes to three separate locations to better understand its scope of performance, taking into account distance to server.

As a whole, IPVanish isn’t the fastest service around. The crown for that goes to NordVPN. Yet, it isn’t exactly a slouch and offers decent speeds across the board. Unless you intend to get every bit of speed from your Internet line, it’s a good experience.

IPVanish Speed Test Summary

  • Singapore : Average Upload: 712.14 Mbps / Average Download: 2.18 Gbps
  • United States : Average Upload: 320.33 Mbps / Average Download: 604.45 Mbps
  • United Kingdom : Average Upload: 42.85 Mbps / Average Download: 247.14 Mbps

Daily Test Results

Test Singapore United States United Kingdom
1 Download: 349.58 Mbps
Upload: 377.50 Mbps
Download: 193.42 Mbps
Upload: 215.14 Mbps
Download: 254.52 Mbps
Upload: 43.24 Mbps
2 Download: 363.72 Mbps
Upload: 357.54 Mbps
Download: 176.04 Mbps
Upload: 227.52 Mbps
Download: 263.96 Mbps
Upload: 41.81 Mbps
3 Download: 375.72 Mbps
Upload: 359.80 Mbps
Download: 178.11 Mbps
Upload: 227.20 Mbps
Download: 256.03 Mbps
Upload: 41.24 Mbps
4 Download: 370.46 Mbps
Upload: 357.46 Mbps
Download: 194.36 Mbps
Upload: 252.82 Mbps
Download: 251.00 Mbps
Upload: 46.24 Mbps
5 Download: 347.96 Mbps
Upload: 353.66 Mbps
Download: 113.64 Mbps
Upload: 139.04 Mbps
Download: 232.81 Mbps
Upload: 40.48 Mbps
6 Download: 357.28 Mbps
Upload: 333.57 Mbps
Download: 193.08 Mbps
Upload: 250.71 Mbps
Download: 233.95 Mbps
Upload: 42.30 Mbps
7 Download: 345.20 Mbps
Upload: 369.59 Mbps
Download: 167.20 Mbps
Upload: 248.32 Mbps
Download: 235.43 Mbps
Upload: 44.71 Mbps
8 Download: 353.67 Mbps
Upload: 317.12 Mbps
Download: 184.96 Mbps
Upload: 243.53 Mbps
Download: 228.01 Mbps
Upload: 40.91 Mbps
9 Download: 358.63 Mbps
Upload: 373.79 Mbps
Download: 214.10 Mbps
Upload: 222.90 Mbps
Download: 240.18 Mbps
Upload: 44.34 Mbps
10 Download: 357.82 Mbps
Upload: 347.94 Mbps
Download: 227.75 Mbps
Upload: 231.96 Mbps
Download: 258.19 Mbps
Upload: 44.74 Mbps
11 Download: 8.56 Gbps
Upload: 1.86 Gbps
Download: 1.94 Gbps
Upload: 589.35 Mbps
Download: 264.87 Mbps
Upload: 40.71 Mbps
12 Download: 7.73 Gbps
Upload: 1.86 Gbps
Download: 1.94 Gbps
Upload: 661.28 Mbps
Download: 235.59 Mbps
Upload: 45.58 Mbps
13 Download: 8.56 Gbps
Upload: 1.86 Gbps
Download: 2.00 Gbps
Upload: 654.56 Mbps
Download: 258.31 Mbps
Upload: 40.69 Mbps
Test Singapore United States United Kingdom

Click here to visit IPVanish online

How To Setup IPVanish On Your Devices

IPVanish supports most device platforms although some niche systems are absent

IPVanish exemplifies the process of mainstream application installation. Unless you’ve never installed an app before, there’s absolutely nothing new to take note of for the process. It’s streamlined and fast.

Overall Setup Process

  1. Grab the app you need from the IPVanish app download page
  2. Run the installation package and follow the on-screen instructions
  3. Sign up for an IPVanish package
  4. Launch the app and sign in with your subscription credentials
  5. Connect to a server and start using the Internet as usual

IPVanish Windows Application

IPVanish on Windows blends an old-school interface with some interactive elements. Note that the default Windows installation doesn’t include the TAP package, so you can only use OpenVPN if that’s installed separately.

IPVanish macOS Application

The IPVanish macOS application looks and behaves a little differently from the Windows package. It’s less intrusive and obnoxious, leading to me wonder if they got a telling-off from Apple leading to a redesign.

Click here to visit IPVanish online

IPVanish User Reviews

In Summary

IPVanish offers smooth online streaming and strong torrent performance – which is favored by many VPN users.

While their signup price is cheap – it’s essential to understand that prices increase on renewal, nearly doubling.

Click here to order IPVanish online

IPVanish is secure and very fast software for changing IP’s

Rated 5 out of 5
August 23, 2021

I have started using Ipvanish for last few months and I really like this tool as this tool allows me to connect to different countries IP”s and access the restricted sites. What I like best about this tool is its interface which is so understanble and easy to use. Also, it is fast when I connect with different locations. I had tried few tools for Ip changing before but I can say the speed of this Ip changer is best.

Himanshu S

Okay overall but could be a lot better

Rated 4 out of 5
July 25, 2021

Overall for the price point of this VPN, IPVanish is quite good.

Love it in the sense that it’s affordable gives you the necessary to connect from different servers at a very reasonable price which for some might make the difference and it’s not too glitchy. Problem is that when connected to another server even if it’s the optimal one it’s not usually too good, which lets certain pages detect the use of a VPN and renders it useless. Could definitely improve the server usage.

Han A

Average

Rated 3 out of 5
March 30, 2021

I like IPVanish best for:

– OpenVPN protocol

– Servers in over 60 countries

– Killswitch and DNS leak protection

– Dedicated applications for all platforms

And I dislike them for:

– No live customer support

– Speed may be unstable during peak hours

Jan D

Jerry Low

Jerry Low is the founder of HideandSeek.online and a long time proponent of web technologies. His curiosity of all things connected have led him from field to field, the latest of which is digital privacy and security. This site is where he shares some of his findings.
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