PrivateVPN review – Based on analytics and real user experience

Online privacy consciousness is increasing in Europe. On one hand, the governments are enforcing laws to collect data, on the other hand, people tend to keep their activities untraceable.

Believing the true internet freedom, we always ask our visitors to use VPN and stay secure. While doing so, we also recommend quality services, reliable servers, and user-friendly apps. Bearing these important functionalities is PrivateVPN one of the VPN service provider we can recommend?

Let’s take a close look at the full Private VPN review and decide whether it is or not.

Country, server coverage and speed performance

AS of 2019, PrivateVPN has more than 100 servers in 59 different countries. America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa as well as the Middle East are fully covered.

No matter where you are located, you will find a close VPN server for greater speed experience. This is a big bonus for those located outside of the western countries.

According to PrivateVPN statement, they deploy their VPN servers directly to IP transit provider rather than renting a random dedicated server from a hosting company.

By doing so, the company believes that they would provide the best speed connection possible. Is that true? Please take a close look at our stress test below.

PrivateVPN download/upload performance test

Here is the speed champion. PrivateVPN is the one and only VPN service provider giving the utmost speed experience so far.

I have tested the servers starting from USA, Europe, and Asia. The stress test results were amazing. Their latency and high-quality speed claim are true. Below you can see the speed test chart covering all over the world.

When I was running the test, I realized that PrivateVPN was working with the top internet service provider such as Softlayer. This is one of the main reasons why I was able to get great download and upload speed from USA, Europe, South America, and as well as Asia.

Surprisingly, PrivateVPN gave me the best speed result in South Africa. If you are an expat or a traveler looking for a reliable speed in Africa, you should definitely go after PrivateVPN.

Speaking of speed performance, I have two complaints.

1. PrivateVPN allows us to download torrent files in the UK servers, however, the UK London server was not promising.
2. Los Angeles server should be well optimized and backed-up with greater capacity as the speed was way less than average.

Besides these two problems, you can enjoy the amazing browsing, streaming and social media experience with the PrivateVPN.

Torrenting performance

Torrenting is a sensitive topic where privacy matters a lot. While downloading a torrent file, we strongly suggest you use a VPN service.

Considering your connection speed and the VPN server performance, sometimes it becomes unbearable to have a slow speed experience and wait hours to download an average size file. In this sense, picking up a secure and fast VPN should be our priority.

To create a fair torrent download experience environment, I chose Amsterdam server and randomly picked 250 MB file.

It took less than 40 seconds to download the torrent file and I was able to get the %100 out of my 50 Mbit fiber connection. PrivateVPN is the first VPN provider helping me get the best out of my connection speed.

Popcorn time Experience – Is it fast enough?

Yes, it is. Even though Sweden and UK servers are recommended for P2P purposes, I chose Netherland to create a fair environment. (All Popcorn time tests are being handled through Netherland servers)

Once I connected to the VPN, I chose a random TV show to stream. It took only 10 seconds to collect the seeds. And only after another 10 seconds, I was able to watch the show without having any kind of lag issues or connection drop.

Please check the live PrivateVPN Popcorn time experience below.

The show quality was 720p and according to smooth streaming, I just needed around 300KB/seconds. With PrivateVPN, the download speed was 350KB+/seconds and I did not have any problem at all.

To have a greater streaming experience, you can always let the Popcorn time download the show for a few minutes and then you can start watching.

Online gaming experience

Coming soon…

NetFlix and BBC iPlayer experience

There are only a few VPNs left working along with the Netflix and BBC iPlayer. The very reason is that Netflix and other show networks block the VPN IP addresses and make their website unreachable outside of the USA.

In order to unblock Netflix USA from Europe, I connected to the USA New York server. My first try was a success and I was able to unblock Netflix with a great streaming speed.

When the show starts streaming, you will get low quality. However, if you wait a minute, you can watch the show in HD mode. The quality also depends on your connection speed as well as the crowdedness of the server itself.

Netflix test: Success!

Another platform to watch amazing documentaries and tv shows is BBC iPlayer. In order to visit BBC.co.uk or watch BBC iPlayer, you must have a United Kindom IP address.

I switched my IP address from Turkey to London, and I was able to watch the BBC iPlayer with full HD quality.

Below you can see my streaming experience.

BBC iPlayer test: Success!

Pricing and refund policy

Like most of the VPN provider, PrivateVPN also has three different plans: Monthly, 3 Months, and 12 Months plan . The longer plan you choose, more discount you can get.

Currently, the 1-year plan has a special offer giving us an additional 1 month for free!

The PrivateVPN pricing is relatively less expensive than its competitors when compared with what you pay/what you get the state of mind.

The registration progress is super simple. In only three steps, you can finish all process.

1. Choose your desired plan.
2. Enter an email address with a secure password.
3. Finish your registration by simply completing payment with Credit Cards, Paypal or Bitcoin.

Once you are done with the registration, you can now download and install your VPN software on your pc. Besides PC, PrivateVPN is also available for iOS, Android, routers, Linux.

Lastly, in case you did not like this service, you can ask for a refund within 30 days and you will be fully refunded. Yet, there are two terms for this:

1. When you are canceling your service, you have to give the company a reason.
2. If you exceed 100GB/Month bandwidth, you cannot ask for a refund.

Desktop software and mobile apps

As a Windows user, I have downloaded and installed compatible .exe file and started using the service.

Just like other VPN services, the software will welcome you to the login page. Then you will be prompted to the server selection page.

Server selection part is not user-friendly. Moreover, there is no categorization of the countries and we have to follow the letters. Another lacking feature is the “My favorite servers” to compile the most used servers in a unique category.

The software can be used in two different ways:

1. Simple way: where you can just choose the server, connect.
2. Advanced way: where you can change the protocols, ports (not recommended)

In the image above, you can make some adjustment to the client activity.

Connection guard is another menu to tweak the advanced security options like:

• “IPv6, DNS leak” protection not to be tracked by the ISP.
• “Kill Switch” comes handy when you don’t want to keep an app running in case VPN connection drops.
• “Application Guard” is a sister feature to “Kill Switch”. This feature will terminate the apps you select when you are disconnected from VPN.

PrivateVPN for mobile devices

There is nothing fancy about the mobile app. It just works fine.

Once you download and install the app, you are supposed to log in to have it activated. Once you have done that, you will be able to select any server you want and secure your mobile connection.

In order to bypass the restriction in Turkey, I usually go for Germany servers. The speed is great and video streaming quality goes up to full HD.

In the settings menu, there is not much you can change. In the “Account” tab, you can check your subscription status, and in the “Settings” tab, you can change the OpenVPN ports.

My overall mobile experience is fine. The app just does the job. Still, it should have some additional features as well as modern looking graphics.

Security protocols

There are several protocols you can choose in the advanced mode of the software. For general low-security profiles, you can always choose PPTP. This will secure your online activities with the least encryption yet give you the best speed performance. On the other hand, for those in need of higher privacy and encryption demand, they can prefer 256bit OpenVPN or L2TP. This will slow down your connection speed. However, higher encryption will result in better protection.

In order to make protocol changes, you have to use the software in the “Advanced” mode. Otherwise, custom software settings will be automatically applied in the software.

Is PrivateVPN working properly?

Yes, it is.

PrivateVPN has a great selection of features and it works on almost all VPN required platforms. The download and upload speeds are extremely high. There is no blockage issue either from Netflix or BBC iPlayer. The torrent download speed was amazingly satisfying that you can download any torrent file you want as if there is no VPN connection between you and peers!

Speaking of the speed and reliability, PrivateVPN should definitely optimize their Los Angeles and London 1 servers. For now, this is a minus one point from the performance grade.

Last but not least, the desktop software does not have a modern looking design. Looking forward to seeing some visual improvement on the software end.

Customer support

When I was testing the PrivateVPN, I did not need any kind of help as everything was working fine. However, you may need a hand if something goes wrong with your account or installation. In this case, you may also need some help.

I tested the ticket system of the company and got the answer within 3 hours. Even though they have live chat, I have not seen any support represents online so far. It would be nice to see one.

Besides the support system, PrivateVPN has a “Getting Started” page where you can find and follow all kinds of installation guide. Along with this, you may also check the “FAQ” page in case you need some quick answer to your questions.  However, not many questions were answered and some answers are outdated.

PrivateVPN logging policy! Does PrivateVPN keep logs?

Like many other VPN service providers, PrivateVPN collects certain information such as your IP address, your e-mail and, makes use of cookies for better user experience. However, any website you visit is not being tracked and they don’t collect any related logs.

Knowing that your online activities are not being tracked does not grant us any permission to use the service for any illegal activities. It is prohibited.

Finally, yet importantly, Private VPN operates in Sweden under Swedish law. You may find Sweden online privacy law here.

Summing up!

PrivateVPN is a top-notch VPN solution you can surely invest in. The service has a great worldwide server coverage along with an outstanding speed performance. For those looking for unblocking streaming websites, Private VPN works for all. Netflix, BBC iPlayer can easily be accessed by using the proper server.

Torrent fans! You are not alone! PrivateVPN will give you unparalleled download speed for faster torrenting. Now, you can download files as if you are not connected a VPN server. You can enjoy top ISP speed as well as greater privacy.

Finally, the company accepts Bitcoin. Therefore, you can make your purchase even in a more secure way.

Burak Kara

I am a privacy advocate excelling in cybersecurity and VPN services. Along with my 8 years of experience, I will teach you how to enhance your online privacy and enjoy the ultimate freedom anywhere in the world. On VPNxD, I am responsible for privacy guides, and how-to-do articles.