Best VPN Test Report

What if I told you that many of the “best VPNs” that claim to protect your privacy are actually leaking your identity all over the internet?

In my search for the best VPN service I tested dozens of popular providers – and the results were shocking. Extensive testing identified massive leaks, failures, and flaws with VPNs that are listed as “editor’s choice” or “best VPN” on large, trusted websites.

For example, I found IPv6 leaks and DNS leaks when reviewing both PureVPN and VPN Unlimited – two very popular VPNs that are often recommended by various websites. This is a serious problem since your IPv6 address is globally unique and directly linked to your device through your internet provider. Similarly, DNS leaks reveal your internet service provider, your browsing history (through DNS requests), and your location.

There are even free VPN services that are essentially acting as spyware to harvest your data for targeted advertisements. Two examples of this are VPN Master and Onavo Protect – the VPN mobile app from Facebook.

The point here is to use caution when selecting the best VPN service for your particular needs. Many highly-recommended VPNs may look perfect on the surface but fail miserably when put to the test.

Which VPN is best?

The VPN that performed the best in all categories of testing is ExpressVPN.

The rankings of the best VPNs below are based on extensive test results to check for IP address leaks, DNS leaks, connection issues, app performance, reliability, speed, and whether the features work correctly. Additionally, I also considered company policies, jurisdiction, logging practices, and the trustworthiness of each VPN provider.

The Best VPNs for 2018

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Now we will take a deep dive into the top five best VPN services for 2018, discussing the pros, cons, features, and testing results for each provider.

ExpressVPN

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In an overcrowded VPN market, ExpressVPN continues to stand out from the rest and remains the top recommendation at Restore Privacy. It is based in the British Virgin Islands and offers a great lineup of applications for all devices. Extensive testing for the ExpressVPN review found the apps to be very secure, with exceptional speeds and reliability throughout the server network.

ExpressVPN is also a service that continues to get better. In the past six months, they have made significant improvements to their apps to protect users against rare leak scenarios that plague most VPNs. These efforts culminated in the public release of their leak testing tools, which can be used to test any VPN for flaws/failures (free, open source, and available on GitHub).

ExpressVPN’s logging policies (no activity or connection logs) were recently put to the test when authorities in Turkey seized one of their servers to obtain user data. But customer data remained safe due to ExpressVPN’s no logging policies and network management (further explained here). This event shows us that ExpressVPN takes customer privacy seriously and their logging policies pass real-world tests.

ExpressVPN is also one of the best VPN services you will find for streaming. Whether you are using a VPN with Kodi or streaming Netflix with a VPN, ExpressVPN offers applications to support all devices as well as a high-bandwidth network with great performance. Their support is also superb, with 24/7 live chat assistance and a 30 day money-back guarantee.

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Perfect Privacy

Perfect Privacy holds the top spot as the best VPN for advanced online anonymity. You may have never heard of Perfect Privacy because they largely ignore marketing and instead focus on providing a high quality, privacy-focused service with advanced features. Nonetheless, this is a well-respected VPN provider that has earned high praise from the tech community for exposing vulnerabilities with other VPN providers.

Their network is composed entirely of dedicated, bare-metal servers that provide you with fast speeds, great reliability, and plenty of bandwidth at all times (you can see real-time server bandwidth here). They have also passed real-world tests when two of their servers were seized by Dutch authorities last year. However, no customer data was affected due to no logs and all servers operating in RAM disk mode with nothing being saved on the server.

For features they offer multi-hop VPN chains, advanced firewall configuration options (DNS and IP leak protection), port forwarding, NeuroRouting, Socks5 and Squid proxies, obfuscation features to defeat VPN blocking (Stealth VPN), and a customizable TrackStop feature to block tracking, malware, advertising and social media domains. They also give you an unlimited number of device connections and offer full IPv6 support across their server network.

While Perfect Privacy offers very advanced features that you won’t find anywhere else, it also comes with a Swiss price tag at €8.95 per month. Additionally, these advanced features may be overkill for some users, especially if you are new to VPNs. But for those seeking the highest levels of online anonymity and security, Perfect Privacy is worth the price.

Visit Perfect Privacy >>

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VPN.ac

VPN.ac is Romania-based VPN service with excellent overall quality for a very reasonable price. It was created by a team of network security professionals with a focus on security, strong encryption, and high-quality applications. Their VPN network is composed entirely of dedicated, bare-metal servers with secure, self-hosted DNS.

VPN.ac is one of the fastest VPNs I have tested, as shown with the speed tests in the review. Performance is also maximized with reliable applications and excellent bandwidth on their network at all times. (You can see their real-time bandwidth stats by selecting VPN Nodes Status at the top of the website.)

For a lower-priced VPN service, VPN.ac offers an impressive lineup of features: maximum encryption strength, obfuscation features, double-hop VPN servers, and a secure proxy browser extension for Firefox, Chrome, and Opera browsers. The secure proxy browser extension works independently from the VPN app and allows you to “split tunnel” your traffic across different locations with each browser.

The only drawback I found is that VPN.ac maintains connection logs – but all data is erased daily, which they clearly explain on their website. All support inquiries are handled internally by the network security professionals who run the service (no third-party support).

Visit VPN.ac >>

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NordVPN

NordVPN is a popular no logs VPN service based in Panama. It performed well in testing for the latest update to the NordVPN review and offers very competitive prices.

NordVPN is a great choice for privacy-focused users. Aside from the Panama jurisdiction and no-logs policies, NordVPN also provides advanced online anonymity features. These include double-hop VPN servers, Tor-over-VPN servers, and also a lineup of obfuscated servers to conceal VPN traffic. NordVPN has also rolled out a CyberSec feature that blocks advertisements, tracking, and malicious domains.

NordVPN’s customer service is also top-notch. They provide 24/7 live chat support directly through their website, and all plans come with a 30 day money-back guarantee. It is a great VPN for the price with many advanced features.

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VyprVPN

VyprVPN is a Switzerland-based VPN service that was created in response to the infamous Room 641a scandal, where the NSA (US government spy agency) was utilizing AT&T’s network for large-scale data collection.

When testing out VyprVPN for the review, I found the performance to be quite good throughout the server network. Their applications are sleek, user-friendly, and configured to give you maximum security through strong encryption and excellent leak protection. The one drawback with VyprVPN is that they maintain basic connection logs (no activity), but all data is deleted after 30 days.

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Considerations for finding the best VPN

Choosing the best VPN all boils down to determining which factors you consider the most important and then selecting the best fit for your situation. In other words, it’s a very subjective process, which is why it’s difficult to say there is one “best VPN” for everyone.

Here are seven important factors to consider:

• Test results – How well does the VPN perform in testing? This includes both performance testing (speed and reliability) and leak testing (IP leaks and DNS leaks).
• Privacy jurisdiction – Where the VPN is legally based affects customer privacy. Many people avoid VPNs based in the US and other surveillance countries for this reason. For more of a discussion on this topic, see the guide on Five Eyes / 14 Eyes and VPNs.
• Server network – Three considerations when examining VPN servers are quality, locations, and bandwidth. Some VPNs prioritize server quality, while others prioritize locations. A few services offer both.
• Privacy features – One good privacy feature for more online anonymity is a multi-hop VPN configuration. This will encrypt your traffic across two or more servers, offering more protection against surveillance and targeted monitoring (similar to the Tor network, but with much better performance).
• Operating system – Be sure to check out if the VPN you are considering supports the operating system and devices you want to use with the service.
• Obfuscation – Obfuscation is a key feature if you are using a VPN in China or anywhere that VPNs may be blocked. Obfuscation is also important for school and work networks that may restrict VPN use.

There are many other factors you may want to consider when selecting the best VPN – but this list will get you started.

Best VPN speed and performance

Many people are wondering how to achieve the best VPN speed. If you are using a good VPN service, you really shouldn’t notice a huge reduction in speed with casual browsing. Of course, the extra work that goes into encrypting/decrypting your traffic across VPN servers will affect speed, but usually it’s not noticeable.

To optimize your VPN speed and achieve better performance, here are some factors to consider:

• Internet service provider interference – Some ISPs interfere with or throttle VPN connections. This seems to be a growing problem in certain parts of the world. Solution: use a VPN with obfuscation features, which will conceal the VPN traffic as HTTPS.
• High latency – You can generally expect slower speeds when you connect to servers further from your location. Using multi-hop VPN configurations will also increase latency and slow things down. Solution: Use servers closer to your location. If you utilize a multi-hop VPN chain, select nearby servers to minimize latency.
• Server congestion – Many of the larger VPN services oversell their servers, resulting in congestion, minimal bandwidth, dropped connections, and slow speeds. All of the recommendations on this page performed well in testing and offer adequate bandwidth for good speed.
• Antivirus or firewall software – Antivirus and third-party firewall software often interfere with and slows down VPNs. Some software will implement their firewall on top of the default (operating system) firewall, which slows everything down. Solution: Disable the third-party firewall, or add an exception/rule for the VPN software.
• WiFi interference – WiFi interference problems are unrelated to the VPN, but it can make a difference in overall speed. Solution: It may not be convenient, but using a wired connection will improve speed and security.
• Processing power – Many devices don’t do well with the extra processing power that is needed for VPN encryption/decryption. This is especially the case with older computers, most routers, and some mobile devices. Solution: Switch devices or upgrade to a faster processor (higher CPU).
• Network setup – Some networks do not work well with certain VPN protocols. Solution: The best solution is to experiment with different VPN protocols and/or ports (OpenVPN UDP / TCP / ECC / XOR, IPSec, etc.). Some VPN providers also allow you to modify MTU size, which may improve speed.

To achieve the best VPN speed possible, it’s a good idea to experiment with the different variables.

Assuming the servers are not overloaded with users, the two main ways to optimize performance are choosing a nearby server with low latency and selecting the right protocol. As mentioned above, the best protocol may vary depending on your unique situation.

Which VPN is best for online anonymity?

The best VPN for achieving the highest levels of online anonymity and security would be Perfect Privacy with the NeuroRouting feature activated.

Perfect Privacy is the best VPN available if you are serious about online privacy and security, for the following reasons:

• No logs with no restrictions – Perfect Privacy refuses to carry out any kind of logging whatsoever, which means they are incapable of enforcing any kind of restrictions – such as with connection limits or bandwidth. This is a true “no logs” policy you can trust.
• Multi-hop cascades + NeuroRouting – Perfect Privacy’s apps give you the ability to create multi-hop VPN cascades across up to four different servers in the network. This protects you against the possibility of a rogue data center logging traffic, targeted monitoring, and other threat scenarios. Additionally, their NeuroRouting feature takes this concept even further by dynamically routing all traffic through multiple hops in the server network, corresponding to the location of the site you’re visiting. (No other VPN offers these features.)
• TrackStop – Ads are basically advanced tracking to record your browsing, so you can be hit with targeted ads based on your online activity. To protect users against this growing threat, Perfect Privacy developed TrackStop, which is a powerful filter that will block thousands of advertising domains at the VPN server level. This is different from other ad-blocking solutions that block ads locally on your device or browser (whereby you still may be getting tracked, even if you don’t see the ad).
• Advanced leak protection – Perfect Privacy offers very secure apps to ensure you are protected against any and all leaks. In the Perfect Privacy review I discuss the three different levels of the kill switch and DNS leak protection. Users are also protected from IPv6 leaks because Perfect Privacy offers full IPv6 support across their server network (giving you both an IPv4 and IPv6 address for all your devices).

If you want the highest levels of online anonymity and security, then Perfect Privacy is probably the best choice.

What is the best VPN for streaming?

Many people who enjoy streaming are turning to VPNs to access content that is blocked or restricted. VPNs are also crucial for protecting yourself against ISP snooping and potential copyright issues.

The best all-around VPN for streaming is ExpressVPN because it always works with Netflix and most other streaming services. As we covered above, it also offers a huge lineup of apps for whatever streaming device you may be using.

Using a VPN with Netflix will allow you to access all the content you want wherever you are located in the world. Below I am accessing US Netflix from my location in Europe, using an ExpressVPN server in Washington, D.C.

Helpful guides: To get more information on streaming with a VPN service, check out one of the guides below:

• Best VPNs for Netflix
• Best VPNs for Kodi

And for those of you who enjoy torrenting, be sure to always be using a VPN as copyright violation laws are only getting worse in much of the world. This includes prison time and large fines for accessing an unofficial third-party stream or downloading (torrenting) copyrighted content.

See the guide on best VPNs for torrenting.

What is the best VPN for speed and performance?

Determining the best VPN for speed can be a little bit tricky because there are so many different variables at play, which can vary considerably with every user.

That being said, the best VPN I have tested for overall performance is VPN.ac, which allows me to consistently max out my internet provider connection with nearby servers. Additionally, ExpressVPN is a very close second, followed by Perfect Privacy.

You can get detailed speed test reports in each of the respective VPN reviews.

If you’re serious about privacy and online freedom…

Start using a VPN whenever you go online.

In just the last few years we’ve seen a number of unprecedented developments in corporate and government mass surveillance:

• Internet service providers in the United States can now legally record online browsing history and sell this data to third parties and advertisers. Mass surveillance also continues unabated…
• Residents of the United Kingdom are having their online browsing history, calls, and text messages recorded for up to two years (Investigatory Powers Act). This private information is freely available to various government agencies and their global surveillance partners.
• Australia has also recently implemented mandatory data retention laws, which require the collection of text messages, calls, and internet connection data.

Free speech and free thought are increasingly under attack all around the world. While this has traditionally been a problem in China and other Middle Eastern countries, it is increasingly common throughout the Western world. Here are a few examples of what we see unfolding:

• YouTube videos that are blocked or censored (how to unblock YouTube).
• Social media accounts, tweets, posts, and/or entire platforms that are blocked.
• Websites of all different varieties (torrenting, Wikipedia, news, etc.) blocked.

What you are seeing is the continual erosion of privacy and online freedom. And it’s happening throughout the world.

The point here is not to sound alarmist, but instead to illustrate these trends and how they affect you.

The good news is that there are very effective solutions for these problems. You can protect yourself right now with a good VPN and other privacy tools.

Stay safe!

The best VPN services for 2018

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