Find out what PureVPN brings to the crowded market of data encryption providers.
PureVPN is a Hong Kong based company that's all about two things: split tunnelling and great reliability. The former is quite a unique feature that essentially means your data will be encrypted and securely passed through a series of tunnels that lead to PureVPN's servers. We'll go into the technicals of that in a second but the essential theory is this: you're completely “anonymized” and protected at all times.
What you're looking at here is a global network of 750+ servers that physically exist in just over 140 countries and they're all self-managed. Compared to PureVPN's competitors, those are some pretty impressive numbers. Many other providers have servers that are third-party managed and there are far fewer countries under their umbrella. Obviously, this gives PureVPN an edge in terms of speed and versatility. Having less middle-men in the process, theoretically, should mean not as many chinks in your
armour when it comes to privacy.
Speaking of, it's clearly stated in the PureVPN policy that the company will occasionally record your connection and bandwidth in order to keep their servers sailing smoothly. Taken in the wider scope of most VPN policies, that's fairly standard procedure and not at all untoward, providing that info gets expunged after a time. That said, there's been at least one report of PureVPN relinquishing a user's IP address for a cyber-stalking FBI investigation. When pressed for comment in the controversy that
followed, PureVPN insisted the service does not track “what websites a user views or what content he or
she downloads”. Food for thought.
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What features does PureVPN offer?
So what is PureVPN bringing to the table? Along with the aforementioned broad geo-diversity that comes with 750+ servers in 140 countries you're getting a kill switch that will instantly disconnect you should your access to PureVPN be interrupted – a very decent security failsafe if you don't want to unwittingly fall back into vanilla, ISP monitored Internet browsing.
Other benefits include an easy to setup and use app interface that offers 256-bit encryption and support for 6 protocols (OpenVPN UDP, OpenVPN TCP, PPTP, SSTP, IKEv2 and L2TP). Personally, we'd recommend you go with the newer and more reliable options like OpenVPN, however it's nice to know that there are options for anybody doggedly sticking to the older and less secure protocols.
Another nifty technology offered by PureVPN is the aforementioned split tunnelling that minimises any hassles you might have when trying to maintain contact with other LAN devices. In layman's terms: you can allow some of your traffic to connect directly to the vanilla Internet as you simultaneously filter other traffic through the VPN. Pretty cool stuff if you have the know-how to set it up correctly.
And if you are having troubles getting everything running right, PureVPN has a very decent 24-hour support team in place. We found their livechat to be snappily responded to and a quick test of the ticketing system showed our request for assistance was replied to in under 20 minutes. If for some reason there is some issue you can't resolve in the initial setup period it's good to know that there's a painless 31-day money-back guarantee. So by all means dip a toe in to see if PureVPN is right for your needs and
setup.
PureVPN delivered excellent speeds and proved to work perfectly in terms of basic browsing, gaming and P2P. That said, at the time of writing it seems that PureVPN is burning rather brightly on the anti-VPN radar of Netflix. No amount of spoofing or sidestepping could get around the streaming block. PureVPN's dedicated “streaming mode” (which exists alongside other presets like “Internet freedom”, “security/privacy”, “file-sharing” and “dedicated IP”) was for naught, too.
How much does PureVPN cost?
PureVPN costs US$10.95 per month but there always seems to be some sort of discount on offer that'll make this cheaper. You can also opt to lock in for a one-year deal where you'll pay US$4.15 per month, or there's a two-year sub that shrinks the monthly costs further to US$2.49. Lastly, you can go all in with a whopping US$657 five-year commitment.
What payment methods does PureVPN accept?
PureVPN supports an absolutely ridiculous amount of payment options. Over 50 in fact. Obviously, this includes the most popular methods like credit card, bank transfer, PayPal and Bitcoin (popular in this case due to the extra anonymity cryptocurrency payment can afford you). Heck, you can even pay with gift vouchers from popular retail chains. It doesn't get much more versatile than that.
What devices does PureVPN support?
PureVPN currently lets you secure your browser with a dedicated Chrome plug-in, and offers app support for the following platforms:
- MacOS
- Linux
- Windows
- Android
- iOS
Note: PureVPN can also provide software for routers and streaming devices (this is a great way to extend security to closed systems like games consoles.
What servers does PureVPN offer?
At current count, PureVPN offers a whopping 141 servers.
To me it seems you are implying that(regarding geo restricted content) even though these are supposed to provide complete anonymity one could be identified, so whats the point?
Hi Ed,
Different VPN providers have different privacy policies in place. While most pride themselves on their “no data log” policies, there are some that keep basic account information or even browsing data for a limited time. We only suggest that you do your research before signing up if privacy is a concern for you. Over at our VPN comparison, we had a few providers comment on their data log policies, so that’s a good place to start.
All the best,
Brodie
What does it matter regarding legality of accessing geo restrict data
if ones anonymity is assured?
Thanks
Hi Ed,
We’re just covering all bases. Sure, your identity is concealed, but that doesn’t stop a VPN provider from cancelling your service (and potentially putting you out of pocket if you have prepaid) if you’re found to be dodging geo-blocking or torrenting through their services. Very few VPN providers have policies that restrict you from torrenting/dodging geo-blocking, but some do (and they don’t tend to make it obvious).
Thanks,
Brodie
Hi,
I want to purchase a 12 month subscription in australia will it include the smart DNS option free? and how do i checkout in australian dollars
Hi Lex,
Thanks for your question.
The 1 year subscription has DNS leak protection included. Since PureVPN is an American business they only accept USD.
You can checkout as per normal but you may be charged an international transaction fee for each transaction. This can be avoided by opting for a debit card with low foreign transaction fees.
Cheers,
Shirley
Can you tell me the price for a 12month subscription in Australian dollars
Hi Lez,
PureVPN costs $49.95 AUD for a 12-month subscription.
Thanks,
Brodie
Hi
More on the vpn issue. I use chromecast and when using the vpn the connection to the chromecast becomes flakey. Is there a vpn service that works with chromecast and the Netflix app? Or a config with purevpn that works. Thanks
Hi Lawrence,
We don’t know of any Issues when using Chromecast with Pure VPN. You might be best off visiting their website for live chat support. Alternatively, you could try Hide My Ass or Vypr VPN (both compatible with Chromecast).
Thanks,
Brodie
Using the vpn service with various iPhone apps such as Netflix has not worked as Netflix app was unable to connect. I was using hide my ass with USA Netflix. The port config stopped it from working.
What issues are there for purevpn that means these apps may not work.
Hi Lawrence,
Something may have gone wrong during the setup of your VPN. Follow these steps below:
1. Select “Settings” on your iPhone > “General” > “VPN”
2. Select “Add VPN configuration…”
3. Tap “L2TP” at the top of the screen
4. Type “PureVPN” in the Description field > Type “Netflix-us.purevpn.net” in the Server field > Insert your PureVPN username into the Account field.
5. Switch RDA SecurID to “Off”
6. Enter your PureVPN password into the Password field
7. Enter “12345678” into the Secret field
8. Switch Send All Traffic to “On”
9. Tap Save in the top-right corner of the screen
10. Select VPN and Turn on VPNAdd
Now try using the Netflix app again and let me know if you have any further issues.
Thanks,
Brodie
When start with PureVPN I added my isp information into the whitelist. Is this the correct method or have I let them see what is transpiring over the link.
Hey Charles,
I take it you’re setting PureVPN up manually on your PC? Adding your IP address to the whitelist is part of the process. Adding your IP address to the whitelist just identifies you as ‘spam free’ so you can freely browse the web.
Hope this helped!
Cheers,
Brodie