Important! ibVPN was acquired by StrongVPN and it has been shut down. We recommend switching to NordVPN.

I am using ibVPN (along with other Virtual Private Network services) for more than five years. There are many things to love about this VPN service that I consider one of the best. It offers excellent features, helpful apps, and fair pricing. Take a look below at my (ultimate) ibVPN review!

ibVPN review 2020 in a nutshell

Headquarters & jurisdiction

As stated on their website, ibVPN (aka InvisibleBrowsingVPN) operates from Romania, an East European country, a member of the European Union. Romania is not a member of the Fourteen Eyes group of nations that share intelligence to avoid breaking domestic laws. Also, it looks to be outside of the influence of NSA and GCHQ. However, as a member of the European Union, some retention laws may be implemented in the future. But, at this time, Romania seems to be the right place for running VPNs with no logs policy.

Log policy

ibVPN (InvisibleBrowsingVPN) is a no-log VPN provider, as stated in their privacy policy:

ibVPN does not collect or log any traffic or use of its Virtual Private Network service. We cannot relate any specific activity with any specific user. If any legal notices are forwarded to our legal department we will comply with that notice. However, we cannot be compelled to hand over information that we do not have.

GDPR compliance

ibVPN is one of the VPN providers that addressed the GDPR issue and communicated the measures taken to comply: Privacy Policy and Terms of Service updated, Data Privacy Notice added to the apps, consent required when a free trial account is created. Here is the Data Privacy Notice that is shown at the start of the ibVPN applications:

ibVPN is committed to respecting your right to personal privacy. The information provided by our users is kept with the utmost care, and would never be used in ways other than the ones permitted by them.

Please take a moment and read our Terms and Conditions and the Privacy Policy. We recently made changes to our service in order to be GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) compliant.

Data usage notice: when you are using this ibVPN application the following data is sent to our servers: your email address and your password in order to authenticate you. The communication with our servers is secured (HTTPS).

We do not collect other information about you or your online activities.

By clicking the Agree & Continue button you confirm that you understand the way this application uses your personal data.

Thank you for using ibVPN!

Servers & locations

ibVPN offers access to over 180 servers in 40+ countries (United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary, Serbia, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Ireland, Russia, Ukraine, Spain, Italy, Finland, Denmark, Poland, Slovenia, Estonia, Mexico, Brazil, Panama, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Turkey, India, South Africa, China, Vietnam, Lithuania). They are all available for the UltimateVPN package and lesser to the Standard VPN and Torrent VPN packages.

Dynamic & static IPs

Most of the servers have static IP addresses, only a few have dynamic IPs, namely: USA (Jacksonville), USA (Los Angeles 3), USA (Phoenix), USA (Denver 1), P2P – Netherlands (Utrecht), P2P – Netherlands (Amsterdam 3), P2P – Netherlands (Rotterdam), P2P – Netherlands (Amsterdam 2). You may find the complete list of static and dynamic IPs in the Client Area.

Dedicated IPs

ibVPN does not have dedicated IPs in the standard offer, but you may get a custom offer by opening a support ticket or contacting them on live chat. From my discussion with the customer support team, I understand that you can get the US, UK, or the Netherlands dedicated IP for about $10/month.

VPN protocols and security

A strong point of ibVPN is that it provides access to most of the available protocols: OpenVPN, IPSec, L2TP, PPTP, SSTP, StealthVPN, Softether. Thus, you may choose the one that suits you best. You may either set up the VPN connection manually or use the ibVPN applications. Take a look at the table below to see how you can use it (for the manual setup you may find detailed tutorials on the website site):

OpenVPN connections are secured with an AES-256 cipher, HMAC SHA384 hash authentication, and RSA-2048 handshake encryption. Perfect forward secrecy is provided with Diffie-Hellman Exchange (DHE) keys. Thus, we can conclude that ibVPN now uses a robust encryption suite.

Advanced VPN protocols

DoubleVPN and TorOverVPN are not precisely VPN protocols; they are instead a combination of settings to provide advanced features.

By connecting to DoubleVPN the Internet traffic is sent to the entry server, then sent to the second server (exit node). Thus, the traffic is encrypted and passed through two servers.

TorOverVPN uses VPN servers (Netherlands – tornl.ibvpn.com, Singapore – torsg.ibvpn.com, US – torus.ibvpn.com) to connect to the Tor network. They provide an extra anonymity layer, plus they allow you to access the .onion sites.

Both DoubleVPN and TorOverVPN can be accessed from apps for those subscribed to the Ultimate VPN package.

Update September 2018: ibVPN has released a new version of their Windows All-In-One application that exposes ShadowSocks as an alternative protocol. Specifically, the connection uses ShadowSocks and OpenVPN to bypass very restrictive firewalls.

P2P & torrent policy

Downloading torrents is allowed on specific servers located in the Netherlands, Canada, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Russia, Ukraine, and Hong Kong. They are marked with the “P2P” string in front of the name.

ibVPN is an excellent choice for those interested in torrenting and P2P downloading as:

• It offers KillSwitch and DNS leak protection.
• It provides a particular package (TorrentVPN) that is cheaper, and it gives access only to P2P-friendly servers.
• It offers access to SOCKS5 proxies.
• Fastest P2P server selection helps users to connect to the fastest P2P connections available.

Must read: Learn how to torrent safely! Also, check other torrent-friendly VPN services! Is VPN usage legal for torrenting?

InvisibleBrowsingVPN review – VPN applications

ibVPN Windows app

I already presented the ibVPN Windows app in detail in a previous post, but I will also list here its main features. The All-In-OneVPN application is quite complex, with a lot of options. At the same time, it can easily be used by those using the secure tunnel for the first time.

From the Dashboard, you may easily Connect/Disconnect to a server, turn the KillSwitch on/off or turn ibDNS on/off. Also, you see the latest connection log entries (the status of the connection). The speedometer shows the ibVPN download and the upload speed while connected to the secure tunnel. Thus, there is no need to test the connection speed every time you want to check the quality of the server.

By default, the Location is set to Fastest Server and Protocol to Automatic. To Connect the app tries to find the server that can provide you the fastest VPN connection. It usually selects a server close to your location. The Automatic protocol chooses a VPN protocol appropriate for your connection. As far as I was able to observe, the app goes to IPSec, OpenVPN-UDP, or OpenVPN-TCP.

Connection Wizard

A recently introduced feature of the Windows app is the Connection Wizard. It allows you to select pre-defined settings for specific use-cases. At the time I tested the app, the following options were available:

• Setup the fastest connection
• US streaming
• UK streaming
• Torrenting and P2P File Sharing
• Bypass China Great Firewall

After selecting one of the options, the proposed settings are shown (KillSwitch, Auto-connect, Firewall, FastestServer, Protocol) and you may apply them or continue with your manual settings.

The Windows app has a lot of features for increasing privacy and security:

• IPv6 leak protection
• DNS leak protection
• WebRTC leak protection
• Adblocking
• KillSwitch (Internet / Applications)
• Auto-reconnect on disconnect

To sum up the ibVPN review regarding the Windows application: easy to use, great features, nice privacy options, but it could be more stable.

ibVPN macOS apps

ibVPN has two MacOS applications, one that is listed in MacOS App Store and the other one that can be downloaded from the website. The main difference between the two apps is that the store app does not include the KillSwitch feature (it requires admin rights on your computer).

ibVPN OneClick for MacOS (App Store version) is a straightforward application that connects/disconnects to/from a certain server from the list.

There are several options in the server list that make the selection easier: you may choose from FastestServer, FastestUSServer, FastestUKServer, FastestEUServer, FastestAsianServer, FastestSouthAmericaServer, or FastestP2PServer. Also, you may search for a specific location or a channel you would like to unblock.

A handy feature: you may select several servers as favorites and then use the Fastest Favourite option. The app will connect to the fastest one from your preferences.

The available protocols for the macOS apps are IPSec, IKEv2, and OpenVPN.

Another option available is the VPN OnDemand. When this option is activated, the secure tunnel is turned ON as soon as your device connects to the Internet.

When you firstly download ibVPN OneClick app from the Mac Store, you may create a 24-h trial account. Further, you may subscribe from within the app to UltimateVPN, the full-featured package, for $10.99/month or $59.99/year.

ibVPN All-In-One for macOS (it can be downloaded from the Client Area) looks very similar to the OneClick app. The only extra feature is the Application Kill Switch. It automatically closes selected apps in the case of disconnects.

ibVPN iOS app

The ibVPN iOS app exposes the same easy to use interface as the macOS apps: select the desired location and connect/disconnect.

The FastestServer, FastestUSServer, FastestUKServer, FastestEUServer, FastestAsianServer, FastestSouthAmericaServer are available. Also, you may select several servers as favorites and then use the Fastest Favourite option. The app will connect to the fastest one from your preferences.

The available protocols for the iOS app are IKEv2, IPSec, and OpenVPN.

An interesting and useful option is the Auto-secure Connection. It automatically turns on the secure tunnel when the device connects to untrusted Wifi networks. The list of Trusted Networks needs to be defined. You may enter your home and your office networks, for example.

When you firstly download the ibVPN iOS app, you may create a 24-h trial account. Further, you may subscribe to premium packages directly from the app. A special package (iOS VPN) is available for $1.99/month or $14.99/year. Also, you may subscribe to the full-featured package for $10.99/month or $59.99/year.

ibVPN Android app

The ibVPN Android app (it requires Android 4.0.3 or up) uses the OpenVPN protocol, and you may switch between OpenVPN-TCP (default) and OpenVPN-UDP. The default port is 1197, but you may choose another one from the 55,000-65,000 range.

When selecting a location, you may choose a specific server or go for the Fastest options: FastestServer, Fastest US Server, FastestUKServer, FastestEUServer, FastestAsianServer, FastestSouthAmericaServer or Fastest Favourite (you need to first choose several servers as favorites).

The Android can also be downloaded as an apk file from the Client Area.

ibVPN Android TV app

The Android app also works on Android TV devices. The simple user interface is a perfect match for the TVs running Android. You may download it directly on your TV from the Android Play Store.

Other devices (manual setup)

The service offers access to a lot of tutorials that allow manual VPN setup (PPTP, L2TP, OpenVPN, SoftetherVPN) on different devices like DD-WRT routers, Sabai routers, Tomato USB routers, Raspberry PI, NAS Synology, Boxee Box, FreeBox Revolution.

Browser extensions and add-ons

If you use ibVPN only for changing your IP address for your browser (unblock sites, access forums, bypass Chatroulette ban) then you may use the browser extensions. It is essential to understand that a browser extension does not set up a Virtual Private Network connection, it sets up a proxy.

ibVPN provides access to browser extensions for Chrome, Opera, and Firefox (it works for Firefox 57+ as well).

Again, the user interface is straightforward: select the desired location and turn the extension “ON.” The browser sets the proxy and connects it to the server. Also, you may switch to the Country tab and select a country for your location. It will connect to a proxy located in the desired country.

The latest versions of ibVPN extensions (v2.2.0+) provide WebRTC leak protection (you may enable/disable WebRTC functions) and the Bypass list. Requests made to websites found on the Bypass list use a direct connection that is not protected by the Virtual Private Network.

An exciting feature of the extensions (that I discovered recently) is the Guest Mode. You may use the extensions without login and access servers located in the Netherlands, United States, United Kingdom, and Singapore. It is free to use, but it disconnects every 10 minutes, probably to prevents abuses.

Recently, I have discovered that the ibVPN extensions cab be turned on and off using keyboard shortcuts. It is convenient when you need to change the IP address for specific sites.

Kill Switch

Kill Switch is a fail-safe mechanism that is a must for all VPNs. It cuts off the access of the computer to the Internet when the connection drops accidentally.

Generally speaking, there are two Kill Switch implementations possible: application KillSwitch (selected applications, like BitTorrent clients, are closed in case of disconnect) and Internet KillSwitch (the Internet access is completely cut off in case of disconnect until it is manually restored or the VPN reconnects). Application KillSwitch may be more convenient as it does not completely close the access to the Internet, but Internet KillSwitch is safer.

InvisibleBrowsingVPN implements the KillSwitch feature for the All-In-One Windows and macOS apps. The All-In-One Windows app offers both Internet and application KillSwitch, while the All-In-One macOS app-only Application KillSwitch. As far as I was able to test they work well.

DNS leak protection

ibVPN provides strong DNS leak protection with the following options: use their DNS servers while connected to the VPN and filter the DNS requests using the firewall, to avoid DNS leaks while connected to the encrypted tunnel.

Generally speaking, it is advisable to use DNS services that do not log your activities.

Automatically change IP

A useful feature for those obsessed with online anonymity or for online marketers is the automatic shift IP feature: go to Servers, select the desired server locations as Favourites and click on Rotating Favourites. Next, click Connect. The app will change your IP every several minutes (you may choose the time interval from the Settings tab from predefined values: 5, 10, 15, 30, 60 minutes).

I recommend you also to turn KillSwitch (Internet KillSwitch) ON, as the IP switch requires 5-30 seconds to complete.

Proxy & SOCKS5

ibVPN is more than a VPN provider as it also offers other anonymizing services. By subscribing to the UltimateVPN plan, you even get access to proxies that you can use to manually set up your browsers (Chrome proxy, Opera proxy, Firefox proxy, Edge proxy) or you may use in proxy in proxy switcher apps, like EliteProxySwitcher. The browser extensions use the same proxies.

SOCKS5 is extremely useful for those interested in torrenting. Most of the BitTorrent clients can be set up to use SOCKS5 proxies and, the advantage is that the downloads automatically stop if the SOCKS5 connection drops. InvisibleBrowsingVPN provides SOCKS5 proxies on the P2P servers and locations.

ibVPN review – SmartDNS

ibDNS is the SmartDNS solution from ibVPN. It is essential to understand that Smart DNS is not a VPN. It only can be used to access/unblock specific online streaming channels. SmartDNS does NOT change your IP address, nor does it provide any security or anonymity.

The Smart DNS solution unblocks over 300 channels from all over the World (United States, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Netherlands, Spain, Ireland, Denmark, Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, Italy, Romania, Poland, Egypt, India, Brazil). A complete list can be found in the Client Area.

ibDNS/SmartDNS is available for the UltimateVPN and ibDNS packages (see the Pricing).

ibDNS can be set up automatically from the Windows app or manually on the following devices and operating systems: Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7/Vista, Windows XP, macOS, Linux, iPhone/iPad, Android, Kindle Fire, DD-WRT, Boxee Box, Chrome cast, Apple TV, LG Smart TV, Sony Smart TV, Samsung Smart TV, LG WebOS Smart TV, PS 4, PlayStation 3, PS Vita, Xbox 360, Xbox One. On iOS, ibVPN provides a helper app to set up the ibDNS servers.

Simultaneous connections/devices

The UltimateVPN package (see Pricing) offers access to 5 simultaneous connections, meaning that you can connect from 5 different devices at the same time. You may install InvisibleBrowsingVPN on how many devices you want, but you can only connect to their apps from 5 devices.

The Standard VPN and Torrent VPN have only one concurrent connection. If you need more, you may opt-in for the Family VPN packages (7 devices) or the Small Business packages (up to 200 connections).

Free trial

The VPN free trial is available for those interested in testing the service before subscribing. The available trial is for 24 hours from the time the account is created. It is full-featured (equivalent to the Ultimate VPN package). If you need more time to test, you may contact the customer service, and they will extend it manually.

Pricing

ibVPN is one of the few top VPN providers that still promote a pricing structure based on packages. Every package encloses a set of features suitable for specific scenarios. Take a look below at the available packages and the pricing:

What package to choose? For using a VPN on one device at a time (one connection), go for the StandardVPN. It is a good deal. If you need it for downloading torrents, choose the TorrentVPN package. For online streaming go for the ibDNS package. The UltimateVPN is the most complete and, probably, the best pick.

Promos and discounts

I am an ibVPN client for more than five years, and I noticed some patterns in their marketing strategy. Thus, if you are waiting for a good deal for the packages listed below here are the main discount campaigns:

• Anniversary Promo – the end of January – 50% off everything.
• Summer Promo – during the Summer months – 50% off to the StandardVPN.
• Black Friday/Cyber Monday – last Friday from November – various discounts.
• Winter promo – from the middle of December to the beginning of January – different discounts and multi-annual plans.

Are you looking for a VPN deal? Here is a site that lists active promotions. If you know other promotions feel free to share them in the comments below.

Payment methods

You may pay for ibVPN services using many ways: credit cards, PayPal, Bitcoin, other cryptocurrencies (Litecoin, Blackcoin, Dogecoin, Ripple), Perfect Money, OKPay, OOOPay, Payza, Webmoney, Credit cards, SMS, iDeal, AliPay, Qiwi Wallet, Openbucks, MOL.

Moneyback

15 days money back plus the 24-hour trial shows that ibVPN is confident in the quality of their service. Even if you have tried the service, you may ask for a refund after subscribing.

Support

ibVPN offers 24/7 live chat and ticket support. My experience with customer service was always excellent, both on sales and tech issues. They are very friendly and try to find solutions for every reported problem. The only point I noted is that the chat support is not live 24/7. Sometimes it goes offline for several hours.

Invisible Browsing VPN review – Performance/speed testing

It is essential to understand that the speed of your Internet connection while connected to a server depends on factors like the speed of your regular Internet connection (without VPN), the connection from your location to the VPN server, the policy of your ISP (some may block or slow down VPN connections), the load of the VPN server (the number of users sharing the location), the available bandwidth. Thus, some factors may NOT be related directly to the service.

Back to my study: I have performed some speed tests to see how the service behaves for some specific settings.

Firstly, I have tested my regular Internet connection and then compared it with the speed of the connection (the test was performed using the Windows app, Setting the fastest connection from the Connection Wizard). I got connected to the Czech Republic, and the speed results were the followings:

Secondly, I selected a US server (for streaming). It worth mentioning that I am located in Europe.

Thirdly, I was curious to see the speed for the recommended P2P server and settings:

To sum up, I found the performance/speed of the ibVPN servers enjoyable, but it depends on the servers, locations, and chosen settings.

Website

The ibVPN site looks fresh and provides a lot of information and tutorials.

User reviews

Before subscribing to any VPN service, it is advisable to look for real user reviews. ibVPN has a lot of such reviews on their site. As far as I can tell, they look real, but you could never know. They may be filtered and the “bad ones” may not be shown. You may also find several ibVPN user reviews on TrustPilot and other ibVPN review sites.

ibVPN Pros – What I like about ibVPN

I have to say that I am a fan of the ibVPN service and I am recommending it when I have the chance. Here are some of the things I like the most about ibVPN:

• Robust VPN service, good security, no logging
• Fair pricing, great discounts during promotions.
• Great VPN apps.
• Lots of great features like Fastest server option, Double VPN, Tor Over VPN, SOCKS5, etc.
• It includes access to ibDNS / SmartDNS.
• The support team is excellent. Every time the ibVPN team made me feel like an important client and I wrote the InvisibleBrowsingVPN review having this in mind.
• It works with Netflix and BBC iPlayer.

ibVPN Cons – What could be improved

There is not much I can say bad about ibVPN. I would like to see more servers (including backups) in specific locations like the East European countries and Asia. Also, it would be nice to see a page with the live server status.

ibVPN review 2020 – Conclusion

This is my extensive ibVPN review. It is long, but not exhaustive, and, there is probably more to say about ibVPN. The conclusion is that ibVPN is a top VPN provider and you should consider it as your VPN solution.

What do you think of ibVPN? Have you tried it? What features should I add to this ibVPN Ultimate VPN review? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.

What is a VPN Chrome extension?

As you probably know, a VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a solution that encrypts the Internet traffic between your computer and a VPN server. Thus, your browsing data is secured, and your public IP address is hidden behind the VPN server. It is important to underline that a VPN app encrypts ALL your Internet traffic, for ALL applications, not only for your web browser.

Then, what is a VPN Chrome extension? Well, truth to be told, there is no such thing as a VPN web browser extension. For the simple reason that browsers can not set up VPN connections, only proxy connections. Proxies work similarly with VPNs, but they are less secure, and they can be configured application-based (you may set up a specific app to use a proxy and let others un-proxified).

To sum up, the extensions you may find in Google Web Store and that call themselves “VPN” are not using, in fact, VPN technology, but a proxy. Why do they use the VPN term? Probably because not many users know the differences between VPN and proxy, plus both can be used to hide your IP address. It’s only marketing

Free VPN for Chrome extensions

I have tested several Google Chrome extensions advertised as VPN, and that show up to the top of the search results. Read my findings below.

Hotspot Shield VPN Free Proxy

Hotspot Shield Chrome extension offers an elegant browser extension with a lot of extra, security and privacy-related options, like an ad blocker, tracker blocker, and cookies blocker. The default server selection is “Optimal,” but you may switch to manual and pick one of the following countries: Canada, Chile, Sweden, Netherlands, Spain, Czech Republic, Turkey, Russia, India, Germany, and Singapore.

The extension is very popular and used in millions of Google Chrome browsers, but don’t install it just yet. You should first be aware that AnchorFree, the company that runs Hotspot Shield, was recently accused of snooping on its users and selling data to an advertising company. True or not, you should use it cautiously.

Betternet Unlimited Free VPN Proxy

Betternet offers a basic, but friendly, user interface with no extra options besides connecting/disconnect and select from the two available server locations: the United States and the United Kingdom. It works smoothly and it can be activated with a single click. It may be a good free VPN for Chrome. However, the latest news shows that Betternet is not safe.

Hola – Unlimited Free VPN

Another very popular VPN extension (10+ million users) is Hola. It seems to be designed for unblocking certain websites (like Netflix) and not for general browsing. To be honest, I find the usage a little bit complicated and confusing. Too many messages and options. Plus, I see the pages that load from time to time quite annoying.

The same concerns as for Hotspot Shield: before installing the browser extension you should read the info regarding the rumors that Hola sold users’ bandwidth.

TouchVPN – Free Proxy to Unblock any sites

TouchVPN (a project associated with AnchorFree/Hotspot Shield) states that it uses proxy, not VPN. Thumb up!

The extension combines the site unblocking with hiding the IP address in a more straightforward interface than Hola. The available locations/servers are Canada, France, United States, Chile, Sweden, Netherlands, Spain, Czech Republic, Turkey, Russia, India, Germany, United Kindom, Singapore.

ibVPN – Best VPN & Proxy

ibVPN Chrome extension is an alternative to the more popular free VPN for Chrome extensions listed above. ibVPN has recently launched the so-called Guest Mode that allows you to enter without signup and connect to servers located in the United States, Netherlands, Germany, and Singapore.

A nice feature (also available in the free version) is the Bypass List (Whitelist) that allows you to select sites that are not using the proxies even if the ibVPN extension is activated. Also, it offers WebRTC leak protection. The extension automatically disconnects every 10 minutes, and manual re-connection is needed.

Which free VPN extensions for Chrome should you use?

It depends on what you need.

• If you are concerned about your private data, I recommend using ibVPN.
• If you need to access blocked sites (unblock Netflix or other online streaming channels), then you may try HotspotShield or Hola. Make sure you activate the VPN extensions only on the web browser you are using for unblocking the website, and you are not using the browser at the same time for accessing your PayPal account or performing any online shopping.
• If you need to change your IP to multiple locations install HotspotShield, TouchVPN or subscribe to the premium ibVPN service (it offers 150+ locations).

What do you think?

Do you use free VPN for Chrome add-ons? Which one is your favorite? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

StrongVPN, the American based company established in 1995, is one of the best and reliable VPN services on the market. The number of servers and locations is imposing. Servers located in US, UK, Germany, Netherlands, Canada are available.

Why would you look for StrongVPN alternatives?

Even if StrongVPN is one of the top VPN providers, you may have your reasons to leave StrongVPN and search for other VPN providers. Some users complain about the support. The response time is long, and some questions are never answered.

How to look for alternatives?

Firstly, you should analyze your experience with StrongVPN and make your mind on what you need. Do you need faster reply to your tickets or faster connection speed? Is the price an issue? If so, you may find cheaper providers.

Secondly, take a look at the list below or just search Google. You will find plenty of StrongVPN alternatives. Do not jump on the first one that looks good! Take your time and look for user reviews and reviews written by bloggers. These will help you make an informed choice.

7 StrongVPN alternatives – Top VPN providers

If you are looking for StrongVPN options, I have selected several VPN services that have an extended number of servers, offer excellent support, and the price is lower that StrongVPN for similar service.

Additional tips

StrongVPN provides access to a large number of servers/locations, and it offers an excellent service. When switching to an alternative provider, it may happen that you are not happy. Or maybe, you are not satisfied with the support or connection speed.

To prevent any hassle, my advice is to create a trial account first (if the provider allows it) or create a subscription for the smallest period available (one or 3 months). Thus, you will be able to thoroughly test the alternative service before committing to a more extended billing agreement.

Please share your experience StrongVPN and its alternatives in the comments below.

Have you heard about the fact that PureVPN keeps logs and you plan to switch to another VPN provider? This post lists 7 PureVPN alternatives for secure browsing and unblocking streaming sites.

PureVPN logging policy

As I have explained several times on this blog, it is hard to tell if “no logging” really means that no (to be read zero) logs are kept for each user or connection. I believe that “No logs” is more likely a marketing strategy and that most of the VPN (Virtual Private Network) providers are maintaining (some) logs for their protection. Logs that can, in some cases, be handed out to authorities.

A few days ago, the news about PureVPN helping the FBI with logs for catching a cyberstalker came as a surprise. The service was advertised as “zero logging,” but it seems that it was not the case.

Was it a surprise?

The PureVPN privacy policy starts with “We Do Not monitor user activity nor do we keep any logs.“, but if you look closer you may find out that “Our servers automatically record the time at which you connect to any of our servers. From here on forward, we do not keep any records of anything that could associate any specific activity to a specific user. The time when a successful connection is made with our servers is counted as a ‘connection,’ and the total bandwidth used during this connection is called ‘bandwidth.’“. Thus, some logs are kept for ALL users. Are these all logs that are stored on the PureVPN servers? Well, who knows?

Anyway, PureVPN did what most of the companies would have done in the same situation: provided the info requested by the FBI.

It is debatable if what they did was wrong or not. The question is: what can you, as a PureVPN user, do? And the answer is simple: if you don’t care about logs you don’t need to do anything, but if you do, you need to start looking for alternatives.

Is PureVPN a good VPN service?

Yes, it is! PureVPN is one of the top VPN providers with some excellent features:

• Large VPN server network.
• Great VPN applications.
• Kill switch, split tunneling.
• Competitive pricing.

How to look for PureVPN alternatives?

Take a look at the list below or search Google. You will find plenty of PureVPN alternatives for surfing anonymously and unblocking restricted websites. Do not jump to the first one that looks good! Take your time and look for user reviews and reviews written by bloggers. These will help you make an informed choice.

7 PureVPN alternatives – Top VPN (Virtual Private Networks) providers

I have selected seven excellent VPN alternatives to PureVPN that may offer what you need: an extended number of server locations, unlimited bandwidth, excellent support, and good connection speed. Make sure you also read the additional tips.

Is there such a thing as the best VPN? In my (humble) opinion, no. You need to find the VPN service (Virtual Private Network) that is suitable for you and that fulfills your needs.

Additional tips

Before you proceed to the alternatives, here are some additional tips:

• Start with ibVPN. It is an excellent alternative to PureVPN. It offers a free trial, and it is somehow similar to PureVPN. It also provides SmartDNS (with plenty of channels – not a VPN solution!), access to Softether VPN protocol, great apps, and excellent support, DNS leak protection, IP address leak protection. However, ibVPN’s servers network is smaller (United States, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, etc.). You may read our complete ibVPN review here.
• If you are not interested in SmartDNS, then go for NordVPN or ExpressVPN. They have plenty of servers, good connections, excellent support, kill switch, leak protection, great data encryption, good Internet security options.
• Are you using split tunneling? Then ExpressVPN is your alternative to PureVPN.
• Private Internet Access is also an excellent VPN service, a PureVPN alternative when it comes to VPN server speed! Take a look at our PIA speed tests.
• If you are interested in free alternatives to PureVPN, you may try Hotspot Shield. But don’t expect much in terms of online security and privacy. Free, means well … that you are the product!

My advice is to create a subscription for the smallest period available (one or 3 months). Thus, you will be able to thoroughly test the alternative service before committing to a more extended billing agreement.

Please share your experience with alternatives to PureVPN in the comments below.

If you are a fan of British TV shows streamed over the Internet you know that they are only available for UK users. Well, this is not entirely true. The whole truth is that they are available for users that have UK IP addresses and this can easily be solved using UK VPN services.

UK VPN services provide your computer with a “virtual” connection to a VPN server, and it then behaves exactly as it would if you were actually in the United Kingdom.

What is a VPN with a UK IP address?

If you are traveling outside the UK or you are a UK expat, you may still get access to British TV shows that are streamed online even if they are geo-restricted. By subscribing to a VPN service (yes, you will need a VPN) and connecting to a server located in the UK. Such a server usually exposes a UK IP address, and it is seen as a regular UK Internet user. The good news is that most VPN providers offer access to UK servers. Take a look below at an extensive list of important description details about each provider.

What you can do with a VPN

With a VPN account, you can enjoy a vast array of services with your active VPN subscription; you can easily access Hulu, Netflix, or even use BBC iPlayer wherever you may be in the world! VPN for the UK will readily accept payments in pounds, use Paypal, or even credit card payments for your convenience.

Moreover, you do not need to be an internet geek to configure a VPN service online and unblock British TV. The VPN service provider will give you a step-by-step guideline for you to set up your VPN connection, and you will have your PC connect to any website you wish (including blocked sites), in as little as 5 minutes!

Besides unblocking streaming channels a VPN (Virtual Private Network) also provides increased online security, will protect you from ISP (Internet Service Provider) tracking, will help you stay secure while using public Wi-fi networks, will hide your online activities. Thus, using a VPN is a must these-days. But also keep in mind the VPN disadvantages.

United Kingdom VPN downsides

You may have imagined yourself watching UK TV shows or programs on the web from a remote country in the world, and you think to yourself this is just impossible! Currently, you can do that, but there are several downsides, which in mind aren’t that burdensome. They are as follows:

• Buffering. You will experience video buffering half-way through your streaming. This is normal, however, if it persists try contacting your VPN service provider and ask for a new IP address on a new server that has a faster connection.
• Connection dropping. If you happen to encounter an abrupt stop on your internet connection, reconnect your VPN, or refresh your connection. It may happen occasionally, but you should not worry about it as you can always contact your VPN service provider for technical support.

Although these are not somewhat technical problems, you can somehow carry on with your viewing and ignore such temporary nuances from time to time. Imagine all the amazing benefits you will get if you can conveniently access British TV shows and programs wherever you are? It is reason enough to continue and persist with your VPN monthly subscription account.

What channels can you access using UK VPN services?

It is very probable that you already know what site you want to unlock. Anyway, I am going to list several of the channels that I follow. If you know others that worth mentioning, please share them in the comments.

• BBC iPlayer – Great for watching Formula 1, Master Chef, EastEnders, Louis Theroux, Poldark, Ordinary Lies, and many more.
• ITV – Champions League, Saturday Night Takeaway, Emmerdale, Coronation Street, TOWIE, etc.
• Sky Go – Arrow, Game of Thrones, Blacklist, and many more.
• UTV – Britain’s Got Talent, Big American Food Trip, Vera, etc.
• Channel 4 – Indian Summers, The 100, Supernatural, PokerStars.com, Raised by Wolves, Gogglebox, etc.
• BlinkBox – Latest movies: Paddington, Interstellar, The Hobbit, Better Call Saul, etc.
• Wuaki TV –  The most popular UK TV series, and the best films from independent filmmakers.
• 4Music – For thosewho love music and pop culture.
• AbsoluteRadio – Live music, Rock ‘N’ Roll Football.

List of VPNs with UK servers

After some extensive search, I have found 15 good United Kingdom VPN services (probably the best VPNs) that offer UK IP addresses. If you are interested, take a look below and don’t forget to share your experience with us after you try one.

1. NordVPN – Probably the best VPN on the market with plenty of server locations. It is fast, reliable, and it offers great value for the money. Additionally, you may benefit from the 30-day money-back guarantee policy.
2. HMA –It provides access to over 800 servers in 300+ locations in 182 countries. More, HMA VPN offers over 113,309 VPN IPs, keeps changing between them, and you need never appear in the same place for long. For only $11.32 per month. About 100 servers in the UK.
3. ibVPN – One of my favorite VPN providers (take a look at my extensive ibVPN review)., probably the best VPN for torrenting. The guys that handle the support are very friendly and helpful. You may try the service for 24 hours for free (no credit card required) and, even after you subscribe, you benefit from 15 days money-back guarantee. Prices start from $4.95 per month and offer access to about 10 servers located in the UK. More than that the service includes Smart DNS access, advanced technology for unblocking websites, including the ones mentioned above. Also, you may benefit from 5 simultaneous connections, DNS leak protection, WebRTC leak protection, Stealth VPN, Double VPN, and Tor over VPN.
4. PureVPN – Great VPN provider with a lot of servers and many add-ons that can help you do a lot of VPN related stuff. There are plenty of UK servers to choose from and 5 simultaneous connections. Thus the access to UK channels is ensured. The starting price is $9.95/month with lower rates for annual and semi-annual plans. You may choose from various payment options.
5. StrongVPN – One of the oldest players in the VPN market, provides access to hundreds of servers all over the World and more than 20 in the UK. StrongVPN is somehow expensive, starting from $15/month.
6. HideIPVPN – HideIPVPN is a smaller provider, with a limited number of servers and locations. But it provides excellent access to UK servers for $5.99 per month. Also, Smart DNS is included in more expensive plans. The support is excellent and the server speed is quite good.
7. VyprVPN – It is one of the biggest VPNs, advertised as the World’s fastest VPN. With 700+ servers and 200,000+ global IPs, connections are always available. Prices start at $6.67/month. It may be a good choice for those looking for a specific location for their UK server.
8. TunnelBear – Probably the nicest VPN service with great design and wonderful site. Simply great! It is built with love for those that prefer a very friendly and funny service. The apps are so easy to use that even computer illiterates are capable of using them without any issues. No much to say about the number of servers, as you are only allowed to choose the country, not the exact server location. You can even get a free (but limited) version of the service, but the premium packages start at $4.99/month. Highly recommended for those looking for an ON/OFF VPN button.
9. IPVanish – With 10 VPN servers in the UK you can surely access the sites you want. IPVanish offers access to the Tier-1 VPN network, and the server speed is excellent. They provide access to hundreds of servers all over the World. All for $10/month.
10. BoxPN – BoxPN is a good provider, with a limited number of UK IP servers. From $9.99/month.
11. ExpressVPN – Important VPN service with a high number of servers. High speed, ultra-secure, and easy to use. Instant setup. 30 Day Money Back Guarantee. It starts at $12.95/month.
12. Witopia – It can bypass blocks from UK content providers, but they only offer annual plans for $49.99.
13. CyberGhost VPN – Very modern provider with excellent looking applications, good servers, and great support. CyberGhost VPN also offers free access to traffic limitations. Premium subscriptions are available starting at $6.99/month. Highly recommended for German speakers.
14. Private Internet Access – Another big player (take a look at my PrivateInternetAccess review), with several unique payment methods like Ripple, Stellar, Gift Cards. The PIA VPN apps are user-friendly and offer strong encryption. It is quite popular these days. Available for $6.95/month.
15. VPN Tunnel – The Swedish VPN is an excellent provider with several servers in the UK. The accessing price starts at 9.99 Euro per month.

Of course, there are several free VPN providers that also offer access to servers in the United Kingdom. However, most free VPNs are already blocked by popular streaming channels. So, they are of no use when it comes to watching your favorite streaming website.

Conclusion

To sum up, most of the sites that stream British shows can be unblocked from the outside UK using United Kingdom VPNs. The only condition is to choose a provider that offers servers located in the UK. Further, if you are not happy with the speed provided by the VPNs, you may also consider a SmartDNS service like the one offered extra by ibVPN, PureVPN, or HideIPVPN.

Enjoy!

Important! ibVPN was acquired by StrongVPN and it has been shut down. We recommend switching to NordVPN.

ibVPN, one of the services that I like and use, has presented their new Windows app. The ibVPN All-In-One VPN v2.0 is not only better than the previous version, but it also represents a significant step forward.

My first impression

The new ibVPN Windows app does not follow the latest app design trends as most of the VPN providers do. The app is not over-simplified, and it can be used by both the beginners and advanced VPN users. Let’s take a more in-depth look at the essential features.

Easy connect/disconnect: Automatic VPN Protocol selection & Fastest Server option

The basic function of every VPN app is to connect and disconnect. The ibVPN app does it simply and easily. Open the app and click the Connect button. The default settings are Fastest Server and the Automatic protocol. The Fastest Server option seems to search for the fastest server to connect to. The criteria are not clear, but the search does not take long, which is good. Starting from the second attempt, the connection is even faster.

If you want to connect to a certain server, click on the Fastest Server and select the location. You may easily get the servers from a certain location, those that allow P2P traffic or that unblock certain streaming channels.

The Automatic protocol actually takes the protocols one by one and tries to connect to the selected server. As far as I can see the default protocol is L2TP, but it can be easily changed to PPTP, SSTP, IPSec, OpenVPN, StealthVPN.

KillSwitch – a must for heavy downloaders

KillSwitch is a must when it comes to P2P/torrent downloads. It provides a fail-safe mechanism to make sure your real IP address is not revealed in the case of VPN disconnection.

The ibVPN app implements Kill Switch with a list of apps that are automatically closed when the connection to the VPN fails and restores them on the VPN re-connect.

Privacy protection – DNS and IPv6 leak protection

The ibVPN All-In-One VPN v2.0 implements IP v6 disabling. Also, the DNS leak protection is done by forcing the operating system to use ibVPN DNS servers and by using the firewall to filter DNS requests. WebRTC leak protection is enabled by default.

VPN Connection Speedometer

A very nice feature of the new ibVPN app is that shows the download and the upload speed while connected to the VPN. Thus, there is no need to test the connection speed every time you want to check the quality of the server.

Unblocking streaming channels using ibDNS

SmartDNS is a technology that quickly unblocks streaming channels without speed loss. It tricks the DNS such that the geo-restricted websites see you in the “right” location. Unlike the VPN, the SmartDNS solution does no slow the connection at all: you get the same download speed as provided by your ISP.

The ibDNS (SmartDNS solution from ibDNS) can be easily enabled from the new ibVPN Windows app. You may choose the desired location (country) and switch it on. An important thing to remember: you may not use the VPN and the ibDNS at the same time.

What I like the most about the ibVPN All-In-One VPN v2.0

These are some of the critical features of the new ibVPN All-In-One VPN v2.0 app, but the one the I like the most is the Fastest Favorite. It allows you to select several favorite servers and then connect to the fastest one. Great idea! Also, you get access to Double VPN and Onion over VPN servers.

Conclusion

To sum up, the new ibVPN All-In-One VPN v2.0 is a feature-rich, nice and easy to use VPN app. Hopefully, we will see the MacOS equivalent in action soon. Make sure you also read my ibVPN review.

Have you tried the new ibVPN All-In-One VPN v2.0? How do you like it? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Most of the how-to-hide-ip online anonymity guide are already familiar with the VPN solutions that are available out there. Like most of us, there will come a time where your VPN provider will send you a subscription renewal reminder. Learn what you need to check before renewing your VPN subscription.

My experience with ibVPN VPN subscription

This just happened with my ibVPN subscription. They kindly remembered me that my annual subscription is about to expire and that an invoice to renew my annual subscription has been issued. Frankly speaking, it’s a great sales method: from a sales perspective, it’s easier to sell to a customer who already bought your service rather than trying to convince a new one – and I see nothing wrong with it.

But anyway, I’ve got some weird way of thinking, and maybe because I’m covering VPN solutions on this blog, I tend to reconsider every decision that I make when it comes to choosing a VPN solution. As a disclosure note, I am a fully happy ibVPN customer, and I fully endorse them. Just as a reminder, I went for the US+Canada option with ibVPN, especially because I actually needed to pretend that I am in either of those countries when browsing the internet.

Other VPN providers

But as I went through my research when trying to find something else interesting to write for How-to-hide-ip readers, other VPN providers also have interesting offers, especially HideMyAss. With ibVPN, they are great VPN solutions and what I want to highlight in this article is the fact that, depending on your needs, one provider may provide a much more interesting “package” than the other.

Things you need to check …

So back to the title of this article, the thing is to have a great understanding of what you want to achieve. As for my case, a year ago, when I needed to decide on the VPN solution, I knew I needed US and Canadian IP addresses for overcoming some geo-location limitations; I also knew that I didn’t need torrent support with my VPN package and finally, I wanted to be able to pay via Paypal (without exposing my credit card information). One year later, I am tempted to go for a VPN package that also includes UK IPs so that I can watch BBC iPlayer (they recently broadcasted great documentaries about my country

As of today, for example, with the introduction of OverPlay’s SmartDNS feature, this may be interesting to bypass geolocation with a simple trick at the DNS side of things. HideMyAss offers a free web proxy that may be interesting for some use (while I think it’s limited for serious people who want something that is more adapted to their actual needs). And with % 43OFF, HideMyAss is doing a lot of seducing to get my money to their accounts.

Now, if I look at StrongVPN, I kind of like the fact that they have packages that are tailored to my current situation. They have a feature on their website allowing you to chose the best VPN package for you based on your current locations. And for once they have a different pricing depending if you want to use PPTP only (which is cheaper), or if you want to use PPTP and OpenVPN (I’m not aware some other providers does this).

Conclusion

At the end of the day, I may end up choosing ibVPN again (or not). But chances are that I would opt for a different package than the one I chose one year earlier. The public offer for VPN services is changing a lot in a one year space. Why would I not consider those new (and usually more interesting) packages when it comes to renewing my VPN subscription?

What is your VPN provider and how many times have you renewed your VPN subscription? Let us know in the comments below.

Is web crawling and data scraping part of your daily routine? If so, you already know that most of the websites implement firewalls that automatically block repeated requests coming from the same IP address. The solution? Regularly change your public IP address. Learn how to change IP every X minutes and increase your productivity automatically.

Why automatically change IP?

There are two main reasons for changing your IP automatically every several minutes: to increase the level of anonymity or to automate tasks like web crawling or data scraping.

If you are looking for increasing your online anonymity, the automatic IP rotation virtually changes your online identity and hides your public IP address. Thus, tracking your browsing or downloading activities becomes more difficult (unlikely, but not impossible).

For data scraping and web crawling the frequent change/hide IP address is the way to go. Can it be done manually? Yes. Is it efficient? No. The auto IP rotation is an excellent solution to the problem.

Automatically change IP prerequisites 

The auto-rotate IP is not a trivial task, and the implementation depends on your needs. Before you proceed, you need to ask your self the following: how many IPs you need, on what locations (countries, states) and what is the desired rotating period.

Number of IPs

As mentioned above, if you are in the data scraping business than you need enough different IPs such that you don’t get blocked. How many exactly? It depends on the site you are scraping, on the site firewall, on the scraping frequency, etc. I guess that you need between 20 to 100 IPs for simple tasks, and more for complex data requests.

Number of locations

You may need to change your virtual position with IPs from different parts of the World. Yes, it is possible, but you have to find the proper solution.

Rotating period

How often do you need to have your IP automatically changed? Once every minute, every 5 minutes, once an hour? Some of the solutions to be presented have specific restrictions regarding the rotating frequency, and others are quite flexible. Keep reading.

Methods for rotating IP – Automatic IP changer solutions

I am going to present several solutions that are based on the following approaches:

• Proxies – free solution, requires some manual work, premium proxies available.
• Tor – free solution, depends on the quality of the Tor nodes, more challenging to set up.
• VPN services – the most reliable and safe solution, but the most expensive.

Take a look at the table below that summarizes the main features of the proposed approaches:

1. Elite Proxy Switcher

The first application that I recommend uses proxies: Elite Proxy Switcher. It tests proxies and rotates them. For the free version, you need to get your proxies from proxy list sites. Take a look below at the video tutorial for more details:

After you get the working proxies you may start rotating them: go to Switch > Use the automatic switch and set the switching interval (in seconds). Yes, you may change the IP every second if you need to. 

That’s it! You get the auto change IP feature. Elite Proxy Switcher also offers premium proxies that are already tested daily.

The main downside of the free proxies is that they have a short life and are most of the time unreliable. Thus, you need to check them regularly and add new ones all the time. Another issue (valid for all proxy-based solutions) is that they work only for browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer/Edge), not for other applications. Thus, if you use a particular app that performs the data scraping the Elite Proxy Switcher will not work.

2. TOR + Privoxy

This solution is not easy to be implemented as it requests some technical knowledge. If you are not familiar with Tor and you don’t have any Linux skills than this is not for you.

You need to set up Tor and Privoxy locally. Then, use Stem (Python controller library for Tor) to manage Tor. Here is a good tutorial on how to perform these tasks.

The main advantage of the Tor + Privoxy approach is that it is that you get the auto change IP for free. The downsides include the fact that you can not control the IPs and the locations you get (sometimes, even if you change the node you may get the same Tor IP address). Also, the Tor exists may be slow.

3. ibVPN

Next, a VPN-based solution to auto change IP: ibVPN, an excellent VPN service that may be used to rotate IP addresses.

Start with a free trial from the ibVPN site (now migrated to StrongVPN) and install the All-In-One VPN client for Windows (the macOS app does not include the rotating server’s option, at least not now). After login, go to Servers, select the desired locations/servers as Favorites and click on Rotating Favorites. Eventually, click Connect. The app will change your IP every X minutes (the value of X can be set up from the Settings tab from predefined values: 5, 10, 15, 30, 60 minutes). Thus, you may schedule IP address change as often as you need.

To make sure that the web crawler or data scraper app does not use your real IP I recommend you to switch ON the KillSwitch, a function that cuts the Internet connection while the IP is changed. It worth mentioning that the IP switch is slower when using VPNs than when using proxies, as it requires the setup of a VPN connection, a time-consuming operation (5-30 seconds).

4. IPVanish

IPVanish, another top VPN provider, is also a solution to be considered for the periodic IP address change. The Windows and macOS apps offer access to the Periodic IP address Change feature that you may use to rotate IPs. It comes with two drawbacks: the minimum rotating period is 45 minutes, and you may not select the locations/servers to be rotated.

Important! Your VPN connection will be temporarily interrupted while our app changes your IPVanish IP address.

5. HideMyAss

HideMyAss is (or it was) the preferred tool for those performing data scraping. Unfortunately, the latest versions of the HideMyAss apps (3.x) have removed the rotating IPs feature. Most probably it will be added in future releases.

The good news is that you may still install version 2 of the app. The rotating feature can be found in the IP address settings tab, on the left of the application.  If you are using one device the minimum time of IP change can be 2.5 minutes, and if you are connecting from 2 machines, you can set 5 minutes or more for the automatic IP change.

6. Backconnect proxies

Another proxy solution for rotating IPs is the one implemented by backconnect proxies.

A backconnect proxy is a proxy server that assigns a different IP address every time a proxy connection is established. Backconnect proxies can be configured to rotate certain types of IPs and given intervals.

Rotating IPs with backconnect proxies has the advantage that no additional software needs to be installed, but they are more expensive than regular proxies.

Conclusion

To sum up, the automatically change IP is possible. Firstly, you should know what your needs are and, secondly, select the proper solution. My advice is to give a try to proxies and ibVPN as it offers a free trial. Enjoy!

Do you know other methods for automatically change the IP address? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Double VPN allows you to increase your security while connecting to a VPN. Learn about this VPN approach and its advantages.

What is Double VPN or VPN chains?

Double VPN (VPN chain or multihop VPN) is a VPN technology allowing you to browse securely and anonymously by connecting to a chain of servers interconnected via a VPN tunnel. When the user connects to a Double VPN server, the first server redirects the Internet traffic to a second server, with all the traffic subjected to several encoding steps. Thus, the intermediate server is only used to ensure pass-through traffic but not the connection to an external network.

The working principle is rather simple. Firstly, the VPN client/app connects to a VPN server which then routes all your Internet traffic to another VPN server from where it reaches the destination. The traffic is encrypted within the two VPN layers before getting to the desired website.

Your computer >> First VPN server >> Second VPN server >> Destination

Advantages and disadvantages of using the Double VPN technology

You may not need using a VPN chain if you want to unlock remote services in your country (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, etc.). But, when it is about a high level of anonymity, double VPN can be of great help.

The main advantage of this approach is that the traffic between your device or computer to the desired destination is doubled encrypted. Thus, it is harder to be detected and decoded. Plus, your public IP address is supplementary protected.

You may already guess the disadvantage: the double encryption slows the Internet connection. However, in some cases, the multihop connection between the chain VPN servers can be so well optimized that it compensates the time lost due to the VPN encryption/decryption process. Thus, the Double VPN connection speeds may depend on the VPN provider.

To sum up, multihop VPN is suitable for high security, but I do not recommend it for unblocking restricted websites.

How to get it?

There are two ways to get and use it: use two VPN services (preferably from different providers) or use a VPN service that offers Double VPN technology as a service.

Setup your DoubleVPN

You may find a possible scenario for setting up your VPN chain. You need two VPN accounts and a router. If you are looking for right VPN providers here are some that I recommend: HideMyAss and ibVPN.

1. Set up the first VPN on your router. It will be your hardware VPN.

2. Start the second VPN from your device or computer (using your Windows/macOS/iOS/Android Internet Connection settings, or a VPN software). It will be your software VPN.

3. By connecting to the software VPN, your VPN connections will also be encrypted by the hardware VPN, obtaining the VPN chain.

Double VPN providers

There are VPN services that offer Double VPN or VPN chains as a service. They use inter-connected VPN servers, which double encrypt the traffic. The advantage of this approach is that, firstly, you need to purchase only one VPN service and secondly, you connect to it in the same way you connect to the single VPN.

NordVPN DoubleVPN – One such provider is NordVPN with the following nodes (entry/exit):

• Lithuania – Latvia -> lt-lv1.nordvpn.com
• Netherlands – Russia -> nl1-ru1.nordvpn.com
• Netherlands – United Kingdom -> nl-uk1.nordvpn.com
• Russia – Netherlands -> ru-nl1.nordvpn.com
• Taiwan – Hong Kong -> tw-hk1.nordvpn.com
• United Kingdom – Netherlands -> uk-nl1.nordvpn.com

ibVPN DoubleVPN – Another one is ibVPN the offers access to the following server locations:

• Netherlands – Singapore -> nl2sg.ibvpn.com
• Netherlands – United States -> nl2us.ibvpn.com
• Singapore – Netherlands -> sg2nl.ibvpn.com
• Singapore – United States -> sg2us.ibvpn.com
• United States – Netherlands -> us2nl.ibvpn.com 
• United States – Singapore -> us2sg.ibvpn.com

You may read more about the ibVPN multihop VPN here. It is available for all major operating systems, including Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. You may set up the chain VPNs servers from the VPN apps, or you may set them up manually.

How to check your DoubleVPN?

To check if you are connected to a double-hop VPN, you may perform a simple test: click Start-Run, type the cmd. In the window that opens, enter tracert google.com. You will see the entire route that passes traffic, including through the servers you have selected. After you do the test without being connected to the VPN, you should do it again when connected. Check the differences. You should see additional entries corresponding to the two chain VPN servers that route your Internet traffic.

What do you think about it?

Do you use it? Do you consider it secure? Let us know in the comments below.

Are you using HideIPVPN and you are not completely happy with it? This post lists seven good HideIPVPN alternatives for unblocking websites and browse the Internet anonymously. If you know other good VPN providers, please share them in the comments.

HideIPVPN is an excellent VPN (Virtual Private Network) provider. Here is what I appreciate the most to HideIPVPN:

• The simplicity of the VPN apps. They do what is supposed to go smoothly for the primary operating systems.
• The speed of the VPN connection and unlimited traffic.
• The Smart DNS option that easily accesses blocked websites.
• The fact that it offers access to SoftEther VPN protocol.

Why would you look for HideIPVPN alternatives?

HideIPVPN (Hide IP VPN) offers access to servers located United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, and France. If you are looking for more locations or more sophisticated options like DoubleVPN, TorOverVPN or Stealth VPN you need to look somewhere else.

How to look for alternatives?

Take a look at the list below or search Google for “alternatives to HideIPVPN.” You will find plenty of HideIPVPN alternatives. Do not jump to the first one that looks good! Take your time and look for user reviews and reviews written by bloggers. These will help you make an informed choice.

7 HideIPVPN alternatives – Top VPN services providers

I have selected seven excellent VPN alternatives that easily hide your IP address and may offer what you need: an extended number of servers, excellent support, simultaneous connections on multiple devices, and good connection speed.

Additional tips

HideIPVPN provides a smooth VPN service for a reasonable price. When switching to an alternative provider, it may happen that you are not happy with the one you picked.

My advice is to create a subscription for the shortest period available (one or 3 months). Thus, you will be able to thoroughly test the alternative service before committing to a more extended billing agreement.

Please share your experience with HideIPVPN and its alternatives in the comments below.