Router choice and PIA VPN service
- Thread starter Licra
- Start date
Tanyac
Reputable
- Aug 30, 2014
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Do you want to have your VPN always on? Do you want every computer in your house (including PS3/PS4/XBOx etc), on the VPN all of the time?
If the answer to any of those is no, then you don't need a PIA router.
If the answer is yes to all of the above these are the routers they recommend: https://www.flashrouters.com/vpn-types/privateinternetaccess
If you want to be on the VPN on specific devices only, and only when you choose to be you can accomplish this two ways...
1. Download and install the PIA client software (There are some caveats - see below).
2. Set up manual L2TP connections.
Don't use PPTP. It's the weakest security.
You can use PIA on 5 devices simultaneously.
They think that setting up L2TP connections manually is a "daunting task" to use their words. Took me 5 minutes to set up half a dozen connections. But that is on Windows.
This is the link to set up L2TP/IPSEC on MAC .. https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/pages/client-support/osx10.10-l2tp
With the PIA client - On Windows - it needs to run 6 or more processes to get the job done (That's a lot for one function, considering many people already have their systems overloaded with bloatware and unnecessary processes bogging down their systems). I assume the situation would be similar for MAC?
The PIA client uses the Ruby interpreter, which will run two processes. These processes are often seen as malware (As well they should be because of the way they behave), and some virus/malware programs will flag them, requiring you to add an exclusion for questionable software.
PIA are not a bad VSP, but their support is atrocious. You get what you pay for. If there are problems they will just throw in the towel and tell you your ISP is at fault.
For me - I either have to put up with slow speeds (100KB downloads on a 100mbit fiber connection), or if I want faster speeds I can't send emails through my ISP email address. Like I said, you get what you pay for.
But they currently advertise that they don't log traffic information (Obviously they log billing information). So it may be worth the hassle if you get better anonymity out of the deal.
EDIT: Another thought: If you choose to only use the VPN when you want to then you might want to find a program that will stop all activity if the VPN drops. You will find PIA server locations will reset at least once a day. On Windows there is a free program called "VPNNetMon", but I don't know of a MAC equivalent.
If the answer to any of those is no, then you don't need a PIA router.
If the answer is yes to all of the above these are the routers they recommend: https://www.flashrouters.com/vpn-types/privateinternetaccess
If you want to be on the VPN on specific devices only, and only when you choose to be you can accomplish this two ways...
1. Download and install the PIA client software (There are some caveats - see below).
2. Set up manual L2TP connections.
Don't use PPTP. It's the weakest security.
You can use PIA on 5 devices simultaneously.
They think that setting up L2TP connections manually is a "daunting task" to use their words. Took me 5 minutes to set up half a dozen connections. But that is on Windows.
This is the link to set up L2TP/IPSEC on MAC .. https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/pages/client-support/osx10.10-l2tp
With the PIA client - On Windows - it needs to run 6 or more processes to get the job done (That's a lot for one function, considering many people already have their systems overloaded with bloatware and unnecessary processes bogging down their systems). I assume the situation would be similar for MAC?
The PIA client uses the Ruby interpreter, which will run two processes. These processes are often seen as malware (As well they should be because of the way they behave), and some virus/malware programs will flag them, requiring you to add an exclusion for questionable software.
PIA are not a bad VSP, but their support is atrocious. You get what you pay for. If there are problems they will just throw in the towel and tell you your ISP is at fault.
For me - I either have to put up with slow speeds (100KB downloads on a 100mbit fiber connection), or if I want faster speeds I can't send emails through my ISP email address. Like I said, you get what you pay for.
But they currently advertise that they don't log traffic information (Obviously they log billing information). So it may be worth the hassle if you get better anonymity out of the deal.
EDIT: Another thought: If you choose to only use the VPN when you want to then you might want to find a program that will stop all activity if the VPN drops. You will find PIA server locations will reset at least once a day. On Windows there is a free program called "VPNNetMon", but I don't know of a MAC equivalent.
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