IPVanish is a long-time VPN provider and notable names in the industry. It has a great reputation, yet any company resting on its laurels can often find other VPN providers leapfrog it.
It is a cut-throat industry, and many company’s do all they can to obtain an advantage. IPVanish may be well known for the logging policy fiasco a few years ago.
However, two owners later and they assure users that their internet access isn’t monitored and users in Australia or anywhere else shouldn’t be worried about using a VPN with a checkered past.
With our reviews of every area of this VPN, you can see all the good points and the bad, and by the end, you’ll see if you can use this VPN or decide to look at an alternative that falls more in line with what you are looking for.
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Quick Guide to IPVanish
It offers apps for the major platforms, high-security levels, no logging, and decent speeds. It covers 75 regions with a wide range of servers.
There is DNS and IPv6 leak protection, along with kill switch. It is easy to sign up and pay anonymously. It is also a great VPN to use with Kodi and Android-based media systems.
You can find it unblocks Netflix from certain servers, although it fails for a large part with other streaming services. If you are heading to China or any other heavily censored country, you’ll find you can’t use the apps to circumvent blocks. (Find the Best VPN Australia)
Users who use the virtual private network can use the live chat support in case of issues. You can use it on any number of devices and have unlimited bandwidth to use across server coverage spreading over 75 geolocation areas.
Pros
Cons
IPVanish Pricing
| Plan | Monthly Cost | Billing |
|---|---|---|
| One-Year plan | $3.33 | Billed as $39.99 for 1st year then $79.99 |
| 1 Month plan | $4.99 | Billed as $4.99 for 1st month then $9.99 |
When you look at the pricing, it appears IPVanish is very affordable. However, once you get by the first month, the monthly plan isn’t much different from other VPN service providers.
The 12-month plan offers a bit more in terms of savings, yet the prices are not much cheaper than the others, and in some cases, it is more expensive.
One other thing to note is the 30-day money-back guarantee. You can only use this on the annual plan and will forfeit any payment on the monthly plan.
Payment options are credit cards and PayPal.
On closer inspection, you could see they used to offer secure storage along NordVPN and Hotspot Shield lines. Now, you need to select this as a separate option. It then costs and extra $1 per month or $20 per year depending on the plan. (Read NordVPN Vs Hotspot Shield)
Key Features
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Protocol Support
IPVanish uses the basics when it comes to protocol support. It uses IPSec (Internet Protocol Security) for transport and tunnelling. You can find IKEv2 (Internet Key Exchange Protocol Version 2) for IP packet encryption and automatically re-connects a VPN connection if you’re disconnected.
L2TP (Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol) doesn’t carry out any encryption and merely creates a tunnel for the data.
OpenVPN is open source and the default until the introduction of WireGuard that many alternative VPNs are turning toward. OpenVPN is still a popular and trusted protocol for VPN use.
DNS Service
DNS requests can be routed to ISP DNS servers, even if connected to a VPN. This will reveal your real IP address and thus location. From this, you can be tracked by your ISP. IPVanish owns their servers, so they utilize secure DNS servers to ensure no DNS leak.
There is secure DNS leak protection in all the apps with leak prevention technology used by the company and no third-party intervention.
Platforms Supported
IPVanish provides apps for nearly all operating systems, including Windows, macOS, iOS and Android, Fire TV, Windows Phone, Linux, and Chromebook. For network-wide security, you can also install it on your router. You can even find an app for Amazon Fire TV.
Android & iOS users can use light & dark modes as a bonus. (Read NordVPN Vs Avast VPN)
Device Support
IPVanish used to offer 10 simultaneous connections. However, they have since changed and moved to the VPN providers that offer unlimited simultaneous connections.
Even the previous 10 simultaneous connections were higher than a lot of VPN providers offered.
Ad-Blocking
IPVanish offers no security and privacy in the form of ad-blockers, tracking or malware prevention.
Privacy and Security
Back in 2016, IPVanish was involved in a data logging scandal. IPVanish complied with the Department of Homeland Security’s request for user information.
It was with an individual who was involved with child abuse and pornography. While the cause was worthy of assistance, it is an instance like that that undermines what VPN companies claim in their privacy policies about data logging of internet activity. (Read
Internet Safety for Kids)
Indeed, their compliance at the time proved they were keeping logs of user activity. IPVanish has headquarters in the US, and subject to the 5/9/14 Eyes’ jurisdiction and data retention laws.
With this, they can be summoned to hand over any records they possess on users.
StackPath purchased IPVanish in 2017, and the new management guaranteed they no longer retain any logs. Since then, the company has been sold on again and now owned by J2 Global.
Once you dive into security features, the VPN company is on the thin side, yet covers the basics. IPVanish protects your privacy with its use of rock-solid, industry-standard AES-256-bit encryption. You can add to this and have further control over your OpenVPN setup. It offers you the chance to ‘Scramble OpenVPN traffic.’
Like other VPNs, you have a built-in Kill Switch, and the iOS app can create a list of wireless networks where the VPN will always offer protection.
As of yet, IPVanish hasn’t followed suit with the best VPN services to have their systems audited by an external company. Doing this would help put the logging policy claims firmly out of any person’s mind in Australia, seeing as they are part of the 5-eyes alliance.
Ease of Use
Sign-Up
- Signing up is straightforward, head to the web page and you can easily spot the orange ‘Subscribe Now’ buttons.
- From here, you are taken to the plans and payment page.
- Select your product, VPN or VPN + Storage
- Add an email address and password
- Select Payment option (Cards or PayPal)
- Fill in details
- You have the option to toggle in or out of automatic renewal terms
It is possible to download the apps from the IPVanish apps page or links in your confirmation email.
Setup and User Interface
IPVanish is suitable for beginners as it is easy to download and install. You can even find detailed set-up guides for all platforms.
Once installed, there is nothing to configure, although you can fine-tune apps to meet your needs. When logging in the first time, you’re presented with a tutorial you can follow or skip.
In the client apps, you can see the list of locations, connect & disconnect, settings pages. All these are accessible from the left-hand menu bar with tabs for Quick connect, server list, account details, settings and information.
Once you click connect, you can see a status panel showing protocol, time connected, server name, and data uploaded and downloaded. In the server list, you can sort VPN servers by response time or keyword. There is also an option to select servers from a map, yet is implements this feature better than others.
You see four location markers in the US, yet zoom in and you get more details on servers available. Double click these locations, and you connect.
You may need to dive into the settings as the kill switch isn’t enabled by default. You can also discover that you have to choose almost all the security features from aside from changing your VPN protocols for various internet usage scenarios.
Advanced Features
One of the most extensive advanced features is split tunnelling, and you can find that on many other Australia VPNs, so it isn’t a unique selling point. The SOCKS5 web proxy is easy to use and can help connect to streaming services. However, it doesn’t offer encrypted internet access and will leave you vulnerable.
Browser Extensions
IPVanish doesn’t offer any browser extensions, yet you can use the support pages and use the manual setup guides for Chrome and Firefox.
Performance and Servers
IPVanish has over 40,000 shared IP addresses in 75 server locations and on 1,600+ servers. The shared IP addresses add another security layer as no one IP address will be linked to one user.
Speed Test
Using a VPN will slow down internet connections a little because of the additional encryption required to change IP addresses, mask location, and real IP address. Using the most popular internet speed tests, we conducted the speed tests to find the best download speeds from a European VPN server first.
OpenVPN speeds weren’t very consistent and dipped below the average. Switching to IKEv2 performance improved as you’d expect. Moving to US-based servers, download speeds improved even more as they should having US headquarters.
Long-distance connections saw problems with the VPN software, and the connection speed fell to speeds that were almost unusable from Europe to Australia for certain tasks.
You will need to carry out a speed test when using a VPN to find which servers are slow and deliver speeds you need to or from Australia.
Customer Service
IPVanish offers customer support via its help section, email, and 24/7 live chat service. The live chat option is on the top right of the web site pages alongside phone numbers.
You are taken through bot conversations in customer support before reaching a member of the customer support team.
You can find a System Status link warning of company-wide issues. Besides this, there are plenty of support articles organized into key categories such as Setup, troubleshooting, and billing, among others.
You can search the knowledge-base for specific keywords. Answers are quick to get and help resolve issues.
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FAQ
How to Install IPVanish On Kodi?
You have 2 ways you can install the best VPN for Kodi. First is through Windows:
IPVanish in Windows
- Buy a paid subscription of IPVanish or sign up and use the 30-day money-back guarantee
- Download and install IPVanish VPN client on your device
- Open IPVanish and enter your account details
- Connect to any server (US followed by the UK are preferable)
- Switch over and launch Kodi
- Your entire computer is secured, so you can stream using Kodi with no restrictions.
IPVanish via OpenVPN Manager
- Download the Zomboided repo on your device
- Launch Kodi
- Select Add-ons
- Click the package installer (open box icon in the top-left corner)
- Choose Install from zip file
- Head to the destination folder you downloaded the Zomboided Repository zip and open it
- Select Install from the repository
- Select Install from the repository and select Zomboided Add-on Repository – Services – VPN Manager for OpenVPN -Install
- Start your VPN manager from Program Add-ons and enter Settings
This runs the best VPN service for Kodi to access streaming services, yet the remainder of your devices isn’t locked down.
Where Is IPVanish Based?
IPVanish has headquarters in Orlando, Florida, US.
How to Cancel IPVanish?
If you wish to cancel, you can do so via the IPVanish user control panel.
Log into the website at https://account.ipvanish.com.
On the bottom of the IPVanish VPN subscription page, click on the link “I wish to cancel my subscription” (You can find this in the how-to cancel your account guide as well) Once completing the cancellation process, you receive a confirmation email.
If you prefer to have, the IPVanish service provider cancels the VPN services for you. You need to contact the support team.
They will ask to provide proof of ownership before making changes to your account or personal information.
How to Change Password IPVanish?
Reset your password
If you forgot your password and can’t log in, here are the steps to reset password:
- Click the “Forgot Password ” link at the bottom of the account page to take you to the following page: https://account.ipvanish.com/password-forgot
- On the following screen, enter your email address associated with your account then click ‘Submit’ on the bottom.
- Once you do this, you’ll receive an email containing a password link that enables you to change your password.
It can take up to 10 minutes to pass around all the sever locations.
Change your password
If you know your password and wish to change it, you can do so with these steps:
- Log in to the account page; the first page allows you to change your password once you select ‘Reset My Password’
- Enter your current IPVanish password in the Current Password field
- Enter your new password in the New Password and Confirm Password fields
- Click the Submit button to save any changes
How Do I Cancel IPVanish?
- Navigate to the IPVanish website.
- Click the My Account tab to the top right of the screen
- Enter the IPVanish username and password to log into the account
- Click the Subscription tab and reveal your subscription options
- Select the ‘I wish to cancel my subscription’ link in the bottom corner
- Choose the cancellation option from the options
- Stay Protected – Click this button in case you change your mind and do not want to cancel your IPVanish access
- Do Not Renew – Select this button to stop auto-renewal on your account. The account will cancel at the end of the latest billing cycle
- Cancel Now – Click this button and cancel your account right away if you cancel in the first 30 days. You would instigate the 30-day money-back guarantee if it were the annual plan you signed up for.
How to Use IPVanish For Netflix?
IPVanish isn’t the best VPN to use for Netflix. If you re in Australia, you can only access Netflix in the US using the Ashburn, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, and New York servers.
However, it also fails with the likes of Amazon Prime Video and many other streaming sites besides minimal support for Netflix.
How Much Does IPVanish Cost?
IPVanish costs $9.99 per month regular with one month reduced to $4.99. The annual subscription in the US or Australia is $79.99 reduced to $39.99 for the first year.
How to Use IPVanish with uTorrent?
Because the VPN services don’t work reliably with Netflix or access other streaming services like Amazon Prime Video, very well, people may need to opt for another solution. Luckily, if you use torrent sites, IPVanish redeems itself in a good way.
Here you can see how to add IPVanish into uTorrent so you can visit sites like The Pirate Bay and torrent anonymously. Performance may take a hit slightly, yet you can leave uTorrent to get on with what it does, and with no worry, your torrent web traffic will give away your location.
You will discover all the servers spread around the globe can be used for torrenting. However, you will need to pick your country to make sure the country is torrent-friendly.
It is handy to know that all servers allow torrenting as unlike many other VPN service provider, it doesn’t highlight specialist servers of any sort. (Find the Best Torrenting Sites Australia)
Here are the steps you need to follow to add IPVanish to uTorrent to ensure your internet traffic isn’t caught up with torrent traffic and your ISP can’t keep logs of the torrenting sites you use.
- Open the uTorrent app
- Navigate to ‘Options’ and ‘Preferences’
- On the left-hand side, Click ‘Connection’
- In the ‘Connection preference’ make sure to configure the security settings as follows:
- All four ‘Listening Port’ check-boxes have to be unchecked
- Make sure your uTorrent ‘Authentication’ checkbox is checked
- Toggle the Proxy Server type to SOCKS5
- Enter into the Proxy box: ams.socks.ipvanish.com
- Enter in the Port box: 1080
- Enter in your ‘Username’ box your IPVanish username (Proxy)
- Enter into the Password box your IPVanish password (Proxy)
- Click on ‘OK’ in the lower menu bar
Restart your uTorrent client to save changes and run with the new settings so it can hide your personal information that relates to your torrenting activities.
Is This VPN Service for You?
People in Australia may be put off with the history of the logging policy. However, things have been rectified, yet it would be good for them to prove it as such.
There are plenty of reviews saying how good the VPN works for them, although it lacks in key areas that may be more suitable for people in Australia. It has a good range of server locations, yet this doesn’t mean much if the servers can’t access most major streaming businesses.
Torrenting and online security are the two main areas, yet you can find a VPN in Australia that does all this and accesses Netflix with more flexible plans and prices that are more accessible.
IPVanish offers any number of device connections and security features, and it does this without too much of a slowdown.
However, using a VPN for a family and not accessing Netflix could cause an uproar in any home in Australia.
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