There certainly are a lot of VPN review sites out there. Of course I’m biased, but I think I’ve got the best VPN review site out there.  There are a couple of reasons why my VPN reviews are the best.

• + I’ve used the VPNs I review
• + I give full disclosure about making commissions on the VPNs I review
• + I review VPN services in a concise, easy to understand way
• + I don’t outsource my reviews

To tell you the truth, a lot of other websites just outsource their content, stick it up on the web, and then pay other people to link to it.  Though you’re more likely to find their web pages in Google, you’re more likely to stick with a service you find on my site.  Anyway, enough about how great I am.

I’ve included some reviews of my favorite VPN services, and highlighted some of their features to help you find the right service.  VPNs have a wide variety of uses – some may be more appropriate for anonymous browsing, others for privacy features, and still others for streaming foreign TV and movies online.

Top VPN For Anonymity

IP Vanish is a relatively new company, but one thing that is unique about them, and stands out among VPN services is that they own their own VPN server network. I know that sounds strange, but surprisingly, a lot of VPN services use ‘Hosted” networks which means that they don’t have full control.  Sure, privacy policies and all that stuff say they protect your data, and they don’t keep activity logs, but at the end of the day, without full control of the network, you can’t do much about it.

IP Vanish also has a very simple system of $10 per month for full access.  Unlimited bandwidth, unlimited server switching, and access to PPTP, L2TP, and OpenVPN servers in one package.  There are 39 servers in 15 countries which is impressive considering that they own and maintain all servers in their network.

>>> Go To IP Vanish

Top VPN For Server Location

This one has to be IAPS Security or Hide My Ass.  IAPS has something like 120+ country locations including Antarctica, Iraq, Kazakhstan (Borat anyone?).  Plus, there’s a huge variety of VPN protocols, and they’re not badly priced.  You can choose 1, 3, 6, or 12 month options.  IAPS VPN also has an impressive privacy policy and offers other privacy-related features on their site.

Hide My Ass also has an impressive server network, spanning almost 50 countries and growing.  HMA’s website is easier to navigate, and includes PPTP, L2TP, and OpenVPN in one package.  They also come with a 1 month money back guarantee which is impressive.  There’s a support forum, and lots of freebies on the site, plus they frequently offer discounts for renewing members, so there’s plenty to be happy about if you sign up for HMA.

The main difference to note is that with IAPS you must choose 1 country, while with HMA you get access to ALL countries with one subscription.

>>> Go To IAPS

>>> Go To HMA

Top VPN For Device Support

12VPN has a lot of nerdy features which will appeal to those who have specific requirements about how they want to run their VPN.  One of these features is an extremely broad device support, including various smartphones, VPN routers, and even connection in VPN censored areas of the world.    You can complete and order in 2 clicks, and use the promo code “promo7286″ for a 10% discount.  iOS, Mac, Windows, Linux, Nokia, DD-WRT, Tomato, and more devices supported.

>>> Go To 12VPN

Top VPN For Price

StrongVPN offers an impressive VPN package for just $55 per year.  You get access to US and UK servers, or a choice of European servers.  The package is for PPTP VPN or OpenVPN for $85.  PPTP uses a dynamic IP and OpenVPN uses a static IP.  StrongVPN is a trusted VPN service that has been operating in the industry for many years.  They also offer live support.

>>> Go To StrongVPN

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France, The UK The US, New Zealand, and Australia are really on the internet monitoring bandwagon recently.  If it’s not piracy, it’s hackers, and they’re looking for ways to keep tabs on what you’re doing online.  Sometimes they say its for our own good. Sometimes they say it’s for the good of society.  Every time it’s super annoying.  An offshore VPN is going to be the best way to combat big brother, not matter where you are.

Now the term ‘offshore’ is going to depend on where your shore actually is, but chances are that you mean something in Central/South America or Asia.  I’ll try not to sound too shady when I say this, but their laws are different there, and there are a lot of advantages and work arounds involved with having an IP or rerouting your internet traffic through these locations.

***DISCLAIMER***

Before you get to excited, it should be noted that VPN services are NOT FOR ILLEGAL ACTIVITY.  While things like online gambling websites, P2P, and some types of site content are permissible by international standards, if you are breaking international law, YOU WILL GET CAUGHT.  I don’t even want to mention some of the stuff that people do online for fear that my site will turn up in the search engines for those keywords, but you have an imagination.

REMEMBE: Using an offshore VPN hides your online activity from your ISP and own government.  It however, does not hide the virtual IP address from the VPN.  IF you use the IP address from the offshore VPN to do something that breaks international law, the IP address can be traced back to the VPN service.  With a court order, or sometimes even just a complaint from a foreign government, you could get your account disabled or worse.

For example, if you are in The USA and want to connect to a P2P site, you should not use a French IP address.  France’s government will see that a french IP is downloading torrents, contact the VPN service, and there could be consequences.  This is possible even if the VPN service is not located in France, or The USA.

***Notes About Anonymity***

Sorry for all the warnings.  No matter what VPN service you choose, they will keep logs of some sort. Most will not log your activity.  They do not know what you’re doing online.  They do however keep time logs, which means you activity can be traced back to you.  Continuing from the example above, if France logs a complaint that an IP address is downloading copyrighted content and traces it back to the VPN service, they can see what time the content was downloaded.  If you are on record of having used that IP at that time period, that labels you as the culprit.  All VPN services do this to maintain server and service integrity, and if they don’t, it’s probably a rubbish VPN service or they’re lying to you.

>>> Best Offshore VPN Services <<<

***it should be noted that with whatever VPN service you choose, regardless of the location of their ‘home base’, you can choose your IP address location. The following services are located in Hong Kong, but have many IP options including Malaysia, Russia, Switzerland, and more.

#1

The obvious #1 choice is 12VPN.  They have broader device support than other services, offer OpenVPN (more secure VPN protocol), SSL encryption upgrades (military grade), and are dedicated to great customer service.  Installation and setup is fast and easy, and it comes with a money back guarantee.  For an offshore VPN service, that’s all you can really hope to find: Privacy, Anonymity, Professionalism, Guarantees.  Servers are fast, and they offer two package options (US IP, and World VPN)

>>> Go To 12VPN

#2

PureVPN another Hong Kong based VPN service. They’re home base is located in Hong Kong.  They allow P2P on Russian, Netherlands, and a few other servers.  They’ve got live support, and unlimited server access to 14 different countries.  The standard service gives you 30 GB of bandwidth per month for the mega low price of $74.95 (I know that sounds like an advertisement, but it really is low).  There’s an unlimited bandwidth upgrade, and a dedicated IP server upgrade.  Definitely a high quality, fast offshore VPN service.  They don’t offer OpenVPN, but do have SSTP for Win 7/Vista.  VPN servers in Panama, Switzerland, Malaysia, Russia, and 10 other countries.

>>> Go To PureVPN

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This is a surprising turn around – how did The White House and Obama get so against CISPA?  Sounds like a campaign strategy rather than actually caring for the American people, but hey, I’m a pessimist.  Read the full article on Nextgov.

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Here’s an interesting quote from an article I read today in the Calgary Herald

It even has the same punch line – civil liberty and personal privacy in all of our online communications, blog postings, photo sharing and social networking will be sacrificed to big government, as well as the service providers, aggregation companies, and data mining corporations that operate, monitor and monetize the Internet.

The funny thing is that it is kind of like a joke.  Even if this bill doesn’t get passed, there will be another one.  Though CISPA has a bit of a different flavor – this time they’re attacking hackers, not file sharers, the idea is the same. Give the government as private organizations more power, to protect us from ourselves.

Read the full article HERE.

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I read a very interesting article today about Tim Berners-Lee, the ‘inventor’ of the internet.  Really? I didn’t even know he was still alive. Actually, I never really thought about it – the internet has only been around for 30 or 40 years, so yeah, it makes sense that he’s still around. I guess with something so groundbreaking you tend to think of the inventor being long gone – like Thomas Edison or the inventor of the wheel.  Either way, the article talks about individuals needing to demand their personal data from web entities.  We spend so much of our lives on the internet, and companies are clamoring to collect our data, most likely to sell us more stuff.  None of us however asks for this data, or thinks to use it for our own advantage.  I won’t steal the writers work, because he does a much better job of describing the situation.  Go to The Guardian to check it out.

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I know that most top 10 VPN lists come in the form of a chart that lays out all the reviews in a start system, but I’m going to do things a bit differently.  To tell you the truth, many of these ‘star rated’ VPN charts are arbitrarily assigned by the owner of the site.  They often reflect the percent of commission that is paid for each sale, rather than the actual quality of the VPN service, which defeats the purpose of the review.  In fact, not all VPN services are suited to all people, and each user experience is going to be different.

So my Top 10 VPN list highlights some of the features, and I may make a few comments about which ones I like better than others.  This is not an ‘official review’, there is not rush to ‘order now’ because the deals are going fast, and there are not ‘exclusive offers’.  Just plain old facts. And if you want to know, yes, I make a commission off of these.  I believe in full transparency, unlike some blogs about personal VPNs or online privacy.  VPNs are listed in random order.

1.
StrongVPN

A reliable, and well established service.  If you want it, they have it.  PPTP, L2TP, OpenVPN, and SSTP.  Smartphone, PC, Mac, and Linux VPN, live support, and a wide range of options.  Choose plans based on your region, level of security desired, and budget.  314 servers in 19 countries.

• Best Deal: $55 / Year
• Best Feature: Fast, Reliable Servers
• Visit StrongVPN

2.
Hide My Ass

Come for the FREE stuff: Web based proxy, link cloaker, anonymous uploader, and anonymous email.  ProVPN is cheap and gives you free access to (2012) 43 server locations.  Simple download and installation, and choose servers based on speed. PPTP, L2TP, and SSTP for iOS, Android, Mac, Linux, and Windows.

• Best Deal: $ $6.55 / Month
• Best Feature: VPN Servers in 43 Countries, 30 day guarantee
• Visit HMA

3.
PureVPN

Live support, PPTP, L2TP, SSTP, dedicated IP servers, dynamic IP servers, and custom VPNs for China or other blocked regions. 3 plan options, 14 countries, and torrent access to dynamic IP servers.

• Best Deal: $74.95 / Year
• Best Feature: SSTP for Win 7, Dedicated IP Servers
• Visit PureVPN

4.
12VPN

Widest support for internet devices including DD-WRT, Nokia, Windows Phone (some models), and more. Custom VPNs for China and Middle East.  Friendly and fast support team, and simple installation are some of the highlights of 12VPN.

• Best Deal: $79 / Year
• Best Feature: Broadest Device Support, Military Encryption Upgrade
• Visit 12VPN

5.
SwitchVPN

Mega-cheap plan and 11 server locations.  Live support, and VPNs for most devices.  Good VPN service for the price you pay.

• Best Deal: $3.95 / Month
• Best Feature: Live Support
• Visit SwitchVPN

6.
IP Vanish

Simple plans means no headache for you.  $10 a month across the board – for anything and everything. It’s as simple as that.  Choose servers based on speed. 39 servers is 15 countries, and 29,000 IP addresses.

• Best Deal: $10 / Month
• Best Feature: Choose Servers Based On Speed
• Visit IP Vanish

7.
ibVPN

They’ve definitely got a unique setup, and divide plans based on user needs.  VPNs for families and small businesses available, and torrent ready VPN servers are also on the menu.  This is a very budget minded VPN service, and the even offer a free trial.

• Best Deal: $36.95 / Year
• Best Feature: Package Deals: Torrent VPN, Multi-VPN (family,business), +more
• Visit ibVPN

8.
My Private Network

This is a UK oriented VPN service that also simplifies things.  Privacy, security, and a fake IP address for one price – 5 GBP per month for 1 location, 9 GBP for full access.  Sometimes simplicity says a lot. A cute dog says more.

• Best Deal: 5 GBP / month
• Best Feature: UK based, Easy To Use
• Visit MPN

9.
Black Logic

There seems to be a difference between ‘anonymity’ and ‘privacy’.  With a man in a black trench coat and shaded glasses, this is clearly a service for anonymous-minded individuals.  Just remember – no illegal stuff compadres.  Kind of a low-key service, they’ve been around for a couple of years and mentioned in several PC magazines over the years.

• Best Deal: $8 / Month
• Best Feature: Anonymity
• Visit Black Logic

10.
IAPS Security Services

With recent improvements to the site, and plans for expansion, IAPS is upping their game.  They already offer a pretty comprehensive service – over 100 countries, various types of encryption, SSH proxies, SSL encryption upgrades, and more. They are clearly dedicated to your PRIVACY, as clearly stated in their ‘about-us’ page.  It’s a pit I’ve got this as number ten, because it truly is an amazing service.  Transparency is a key highlight of IAPS, and they really lay everything out on the table so there are no misunderstandings about what their service provides.

• Best Deal:  $30 / Year
• Best Feature: IP Address in Antarctica? Yeah, it’s true. + 120 other countries you’ve never heard of
• Visit IAPS

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Click Photo For Original Source

The owners of Google are in the limelight again, as Sergey Brin speaks out on the future of the internet.  The original article is HERE, from Yahoo! Finance.

Basically, Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google says he’s worried about the future of the internet.  He makes a good point that there are governments as well as corporations that are working for control of information. The internet, as it is now, pretty much allows information to flow freely.  Unfortunately that doesn’t jive with media corporations who are trying to get a handle on internet piracy.  And that doesn’t swing with governments who want to know who’s saying what…where they said it…and to stop them from saying it again.

While there are obvious examples like pretty much all of Asia, The Middle East, and Africa where governments exercise overt control over what can and can’t be said on the internet, The West is not 100% innocent.  I’ll agree that there needs to be some kind of regulation of the internet to stop the perverts and criminals from taking it over, but where we draw the line on protection and privacy often ends up in a gray area that no one can agree on.

In the article it was mentioned that Facebook was contributing to the ominous future for the internet because of their refusal to share information about their users.

What?

That bit didn’t make any sense to me at all!

Good job Facebook. Why on Earth would I want them to share statistics about what I do on Facebook?  If I’m missing something, please tell me.  A walled garden? Yes please, thank you.

I like Google.  Their search engine is great, and I can see that they’re really trying to change the internet for the better – more information, that’s easier to find, and more accurate.  Kudos.  But as far as privacy is concerned, they’ve got a lot to work on.

I don’t have much to hide, but as you might be able to tell by the them of this blog, my privacy is important to me.  Do I really want my G+ profile linked to my FB account linked to my Twitter account, linked to my G+ history, linked to my search history, linked to my ISP and IP address and Gmail account and personal phone number (remember that confirmation text when you made your Gmail account).  Plus all of this is connected with what you buy, what you click, and who knows what else.

I don’t know the answers.  I want a free and easy to use internet.  I want accurate search results and easy access to my accounts.  But I also want to know that I have the choice to be just some guy on the internet, and not have my identity digitally recorded every time I click a mouse.

Conclusion

Honest, the Facebook comment struck me as weird.  It kind of took the power out of his original statement and made it seem like Google is mad that FB won’t share statistics.  Now you can see why there’s a need to use an anonymous VPN service.

The Guardian has a equally skeptical take on Sergey’s statements HERE.

BTW, you might want to check out some of the comments. They’re pretty funny. Apples patent on iSlaves? Lets hope not.

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