PRIVATE Internet Access: Is this VPN so interesting?

In 2025, the massive use of Virtual Private Networks (VPN) certainly did not escape you.There are many reasons to use a VPNAnd virtual private networks are unanimous with a very large part of the population. It must be said that they allow you to navigate anonymously, in safety and to change virtually location.

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Faced with such a craze, many suppliers are present on the market and the choice of a VPN is not easy. It is for this reason that we carry out several complete tests of the most famous VPNs. Recently, we have put a private internet access test and today we give you our opinion on Private Internet Access.

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Presentation of Private Internet Access (PIA)

The VPN Private Internet Access was created in 2010. The company is based in the United States and it financially supports many associations in favor of digital freedoms and the rights of Internet users.

The objective of Private Internet Access is to provide a solution to sail privately and securely on the net. To do this, the company offers an open source private network service capable of encrypting user data and camouflaging their IP address. Currently, the supplier is present in 46 countries and its network has nearly 3,300 servers.

To be accessible to as many people as possible, its application is available on multiple operating systems, such as MacOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android and Google Chrome and its prices are relatively competitive. Now let's see the first part of our guide and private internet access access: its installation.

How to install this VPN?

The Private Internet Access application is compatible on various supports. You can install it on Mac, PC, iPhone, iPad, Android tablet and mobile. The supplier also offers extensions on Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.

First of all, you will have tocreate an account by subscribing to one of its offers. Besides, we will see later why the annual package is the most interesting. For a computer installation, go to its website in the “Download” section. Once you have selected your platform - for us it was a Mac - the download should start automatically.

When the file is downloaded, open it from your folder. You will have to enter your administrator identifiers. The application icon will then appear in the menu bar and you will only have to enter your private internet access account identifiers to connect.

Note that to install this VPN on smartphone or tablet, you will have to go directly to the App Store for Apple or Play Store devices for Android devices.

For the moment, we have been won over by the simple and fast configuration of this VPN. It only remains to see if this is also the case when using.

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How to use the Private Internet Access application?

If you are familiar with VPNs, you will not be disoriented with the interface of Private Internet Access. You have access to a connection button and a list of countries and location in the servers drop -down menu. After clicking on the desired location, the connection is made in a few seconds.

In addition, the application is in French. You can even customize your display by moving the elements or masking them, something you don't see in competitors.

It is in terms of parameters that our opinion on Private Internet Access is more mixed. Some terms are a bit complicated to understand and there is little associated information to help you understand what they mean. In the application settings, there are also a lot of features, or even too much. You can choose the algorithm and the encryption key you want to use, the type of connection, the protocol, etc.

Finally, wanting to leave the choice to its users, Private Internet Access loses us a little. Unless you are a computer pro, all these elements seem a little technical and it is then complicated for a lot to understand what they correspond to.

In summary, the application is simple to use if we do not go too much into details and if we trust the default settings.

Are you safe with Private Internet Access?

Before choosing this VPN, it is essential to know more about its level of security. To give you your opinion on this important aspect of Private Internet Access, we have studied its service in detail and here is what we have retained.

Data confidentiality with private internet access

The supplier claims to be a NO-LOG VPN, that is to say that he does not back up any connection journal and does not keep any trace of the user activity registers. In other words, there is no registration of IP addresses, sites consulted or applications you have used.

In its privacy policy, Private Internet Access says that the only information collected is that concerning your account. This is your e-mail address and your payment data. Rest assured, these are incomplete and have the sole purpose of invoicing and reimbursing you in the event of order cancellation.

Private Internet Access publishes transparency reports including the number of complaints received from governments each year. Of course, on all requests, the VPN supplier has not disclosed anything thanks to its no-logs policy. This part is perhaps still a little incomplete but it has the merit of existing.

The only downside is that the company is based in the United States and intelligence laws are very present in this territory. That said, faced with everything that the VPN has set up to guarantee everyone's online security and anonymity, we trust it.

The features of its VPN

With private internet access, your web traffic will be fullyfigureDepending on the algorithm of your choice and it will protect you wherever you are. In parallel, its activationimmediately mask your IP addressAnd you attribute a new one. We did the test and, in fact, all the sites identified the IP address of the VPN server and not ours.

In the “intimacy” tab of the application settings, you will find two important features aimed at maximizing your online protection:

• theKill Switchwhich blocks your web traffic in the event of interruption of your VPN connection;
• Pia Mace, an anti-scam that blocks trackers, advertising and malware.

It's up to you to choose whether or not you want to activate your options. We recommend that you activate at least the Kill Switch to avoid leaks in your IP address in the event of a faulty VPN connection.

After going around the characteristics of Private Internet Access, our opinion concerning the security of personal information is very satisfactory.

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Does private Internet Access manage to get around the blockages?

Most Internet users use a virtual private network to remove the blockages that apply on the Internet. Sometimes, for economic or political reasons, network filtering can take place. Several websites, applications or services will therefore be inaccessible in certain countries. The solution is therefore to use a VPN to modify your location and get around these restrictions. Does he manage to do it? Answer below in our opinion on Private Internet Access.

The answer is yes. On the network of your business or school, this VPN is entirely able to access media sites and social networks blocked in normally.

It also works perfectly in the countries of the Middle East and it even succeeds in bypassing the strictest censorship applicable by the Chinese government. Private Internet Access even offers several configurations for users in countries practicing strong censorship.

On the other hand, we had a little more trouble accessing the replay of French television channels. Very often, the video did not load. So we had to try again several times.

To conclude, Private Internet Access is pretty good when it comes to bypassing censorship applied by certain countries and local networks. Our opinion is less good regarding access to French programs when you are abroad.

Analysis of its speed: the results of our tests

When you install a VPN on your computer, tablet or smartphone, you will have to expect to see your flow decrease. The whole thing is to choose a VPN offering good performance in terms of speed to avoid having too negative impact on your navigation.

To give you our opinion on the speed of Private Internet Access, we have submitted this VPN to several gear tests.

After registering our Download and Upload debit, we then connected to the French location (Private Internet Access has a location and 48 servers in France). Our speed increased from 230.87 Mb/s to 163.49 Mb/s in Download and from 249.10 Mb/s to 155.72 MB/s in upload. Our ping has not varied much, it went from 10 ms to 19 ms by being connected to our VPN. These results are very correct but also quite predictable since we were located in France to carry out this test. The server was therefore not far away.

By renewing the experience with a location in the United States, our speed was 59.87 Mb/s in Download and 42.37 Mb/s in upload. The ping rose to 157 ms, which a little higher but still very good speed.

On the application, the average server latency is indicated on each location. Depending on the type of activity you want to do, you can take it into account to choose the fastest server.

Finally, the VPN Private Internet Access has reserved good surprises in terms of speeds. Despite a low slowdown in our flow, we did not perceive any real difference when it was connected.

Our opinion on streaming and download with this VPN

If, like many, you love to chill on Netflix, know that with Private Internet Access it will be possible. With this VPN, we have managed to connect to the platform without any problem, whether in the French catalog of Netflix or in the American catalog. Everything worked correctly. In addition, loading was extremely fast.

On the other hand, we did not have this chance on Hulu. The platform detected our VPN and immediately blocked access. Our opinion on Private Internet Access is therefore halftone with regard to streaming.

For Torrent download, you will not have a problem since the supplier authorizes the P2P and provides a secure and anonymous connection.

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Customer support: How to contact Private Internet Access?

To contact the Private Internet Access customer assistance, you will need to send a ticket by filling out an online form. If our opinion is mixed regarding the customer support of this VPN, it is not so much because of the absence of live cats. Rather, it was the complexity of the contact form that surprised us. Besides the fact that it is in English, you must complete a whole bunch of sections before you can finally ask your question.

During our customer support test, the answer was not immediate but it had the merit of being very clear. The technical teams were effective and helped us solve our problem effectively.

The supplier also answers many questions in a very complete FAQ.

Now let's move on to one of the most important elements: prices. At first glance, our opinion on the pricing exercised by Private Internet Access is very good. The prices appear correct and the longer duration packages allow you to achieve great savings. There are therefore three offers to which you can subscribe:

• 1 month subscription for € 11.69
• The 6 -month subscription which costs € 5.67
• The 1 year subscription to € 2.66 to which 2 additional free months are added

As you have certainly noticed, the annual plan at € 2.66 is the most advantageous and by far. Note that unlike most competitors, you will not have to engage over a long period of two or three years to benefit from competitive prices.

Private Internet Access © Iphon screenshot

A valid reimbursement guarantee for 30 days is added to these offers from your subscription. Nothing better to forge your own opinion on its service while taking no risk.

How many devices can you install this VPN?

Private Internet Access's strengths do not stop there. By subscribing, you will be able to install and use your VPN onTen different devices at the same time. It is more than many other VPN suppliers who generally offer 5 to 6 simultaneous connections.

It is for this reason that many families appreciate Private Internet Access: only one account allows you to equip all the terminals of the house! And its compatibility with many supports makes the process even simpler.

Verdict: our opinion on private internet access

Faced with our test, our opinion on Private Internet Access is more than positive. Private Internet Access is a very good VPN in 2025, there is no doubt. We particularly appreciated its competitive prices, its quality and secure service. The number of servers and locations is more than enough and its speed is very satisfactory for daily use.

Its application is very successful and users have a lot of choices in terms of functionality. For some it will please and for others not.

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Despite everything, the stability of the VPN deserves to be a little improved since we have encountered some connection problems on certain servers. Finally, its performance in the streaming is good but not excellent. To get a better experience in terms of video streaming and stability,We recommend expressvpn rather.

And you, what is your opinion on Private Internet Access? Give us your impressions in the comments!