![]() ![]() This also happened when I enabled the OpenVPN Scramble feature.įollowing this review's publication, IPVanish VP of Strategy and Products Subbu Sthanu argued consumers can't hide VPN use because IP address ownership by a VPN is often publicly verifiable. It can also make it harder to overcome geoblocking on streaming sites. This is concerning because even if your actual online activity may not be exposed, it can reveal your VPN usage to websites, schools or business network administrators, and any government authorities. I did not detect any IP leaks in any of my recent tests but, like reviewers at CNET's sister site ZDNet found, I also noticed that DNS leak-testing sites identified an IPVanish host when testing through servers in New York, Toronto and Singapore. On its website, IPVanish mentions that its software provides built-in DNS leak protection by using private DNS servers to resolve web addresses. IPVanish only offers the option to enable DNS leak protection on its Windows client. IPVanish's obfuscation feature, called Scramble, is also limited to OpenVPN connections. ![]() But if you're using a Mac, you'll only be able to enable the killswitch if you're connecting via OpenVPN. IPVanish's military-grade AES 256-bit encryption is consistent with the industry standard.ĭuring my testing, the killswitch worked as expected on Windows. In terms of security and privacy, IPVanish is a mixed bag: It'll do just fine to keep you safe from hackers and people after your browsing data, but don't count on it to keep you safe from entities that will bust you for using a VPN. Obfuscation, killswitch limited on MacOS.2022 independent audit found no logging.Encryption: AES-256, Perfect Forward Secrecy.Instead, it can mislead you into thinking you're getting the best performance out of your VPN when you're not. The Quick Connect feature should enhance your experience with the product. But it failed on too many occasions to be considered reliable - a shame. To be fair, I achieved excellent speeds to other locations using the Best Available connection option, which suggests the algorithm may work as intended at times. Translation: The feature often does the exact opposite of what it's supposed to be doing. The representative said the popularity of the function creates a high load on a single server, "So it is better to select the nearest server with ping for better performance and speed." ![]() That sounds good in theory, but it's not what IPVanish's customer service representative told me when I took my concerns to the live chat support while testing. "There are also randomization selection algorithms of those best possible servers to avoid saturation." "We use algorithms to determine the location closest to the user, we also have other algorithms to filter out servers with heavy load or even unusual large pings to make sure the best possible server is chosen," IPVanish said in an email. When asked how the Quick Connect feature works, IPVanish said that the Best Available option relies on algorithms to connect you to a server. Similarly, the Best Available feature connected me to the 45th best UK server in terms of traffic load. My speeds increased fivefold: While connected to the designated Best Available server in France, I got speeds around 55Mbps when I connected manually to a French server with a lighter traffic load, I got around 270 Mbps. So I manually connected to a different server in France showing light user traffic and lower ping rates. Speeds to the UK and France were inconsistent and the speed drop was drastic, even though I was supposedly connecting to the best available servers in those countries. However, I found the results to be disappointing. The feature is there so you can easily and automatically connect to the most optimally performing server available to you at the time you connect. You can also change each menu independently. ![]() Three successive drop-down menus default to the option labeled Best Available for country, city and server. IPVanish puts its Quick Connect option front and center as you launch its desktop app. But I probably would have gotten better speeds had I connected manually. During testing, I used IPVanish's Quick Connect feature, which claims to connect you to the best servers in IPVanish's network, based on current performance. ![]()
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