Here’s the checklist sheet to PIA VPN’s score.
I went through the 28 testing elements on Private Internet Access.
The final score is 71 over 100!
PIA Score Card
| Inspect Elements | Checked | Point Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Kill Switch | ✓ | 4/4 |
| Outside 14 Eyes | ✗ | 0/4 |
| No Logs | ✓ | 4/4 |
| OpenVPN Protocol | ✓ | 4/4 |
| AES-256 | ✓ | 4/4 |
| Double VPN Servers Routing | ✗ | 0/4 |
| Private DNS | ✓ | 4/4 |
| No Bandwidth Limit | ✓ | 3/3 |
| P2P Function | ✓ | 3/3 |
| Public Wifi Protection | ✓ | 4/4 |
| Own Server Farm | ✓ | 4/4 |
| Google Play Review | 33,949 | 5/5 |
| App Store Review | 64,246 | 5/5 |
| Download Speed Reduction | ✓ | 1/4 |
| Upload Speed Reduction | ✓ | 2/4 |
| Latency/Ping | ✓ | 1/4 |
| Ad-Blocker | ✓ | 2/2 |
| Unlimited Devices | ✗ | 0/2 |
| Obfuscation/Camouflage Mode | ✗ | 0/3 |
| DNS Leak Test | ✓ | 4/4 |
| WebRTC Leak Test | ✓ | 4/4 |
| IPV6 Leak Test | ✓ | 4/4 |
| Auto Connect | ✓ | 4/4 |
| GPS Spoofing | ✗ | 0/4 |
| Secure Hotspot | ✓ | 3/3 |
| Auto Cookies Deletion | ✗ | 0/2 |
| Ddos Protection | ✓ | 2/2 |
| Scan Downloaded File | ✗ | 0/2 |
Ranked 9th among all the best VPNs tested.
- Beta Distribution for Google Play and App Store Review
Playstore review of 4.5 stars rating from 33,949 individuals score is 0.90
Appstore review of 4.7 stars rating from 64,246 individuals score is 0.94
Remark:
A calculation closer to 1 is better.
1.00 < x < 0.8 – earn 5 points
0.79 < x < 0.6 – earn 4 points
0.59 < x < 0.4 – earn 3 points
0.39 < x < 0.2 – earn 2 points
0.19 < x < 0.0 – earn 1 point
- Speed Test
| Type | Without PIA | With PIA | Difference in % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Download | 30Mbps | 22Mbps | -26.67% |
| Upload | 26Mbps | 22Mbps | -15.38% |
Remark:
We are using fast.com to run the speed test for download and upload speed.
x < 5% – earn 4 points
x < 10% – earn 3 points
x < 15% – earn 2 points
x < 20% – earn 1 point
- Latency / Ping Test
| Locations | Without PIA | With PIA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington | 305 ms | 491 ms | +186 ms |
| San Francisco | 200 ms | 414 ms | +214 ms |
| Sao Paulo | 413 ms | 606 ms | +193 ms |
| Hong Kong | 59 ms | 298 ms | +239 ms |
| Amsterdam | 193 ms | 407 ms | +214 ms |
| Moscow | 302 ms | 454 ms | +152 ms |
| Average | 245 ms | 445 ms | +200 ms |
Remark:
The greater the measure distance, the higher the ping time will be.
x < 60 ms – earn 4 points
x < 100 ms – earn 3 points
x < 150 ms – earn 2 points
x < 200 ms – earn 1 point
- DNS Leak Test
PIA VPN passed the DNS leak test.
- WebRTC Test
Though it did not show my exact location, the Public IP showing is from Netherland whereas I am connecting to the Singapore server. It does raise some concerns and worries for me.
- IPV6 Leak Test
Passed.
- Misc – Server
There was over 3200 servers across 46 nations from PIA. The most important part is that they owned and managed all of them just like ExpressVPN.
Final Word
There goes my complete testing on PIA VPN.
They are not an all-rounded VPN for sure. The streaming capability is not what I am expecting.
If you are looking for Netflix or Hulu streaming, go for NordVPN or CyberGhost.
PIA VPN did not score well in speed and ping tests either. A faster and reasonably priced VPN that I’ve tested has to go to Surfshark.
One of the better sides is that all their servers are P2P compliant, which is great for torrenting.
Find out more at PrivateInternetAccess.com
… or read my PIA VPN review here.