IPredator VPN is a Swedish (legally — Cypriot) VPN provider that puts particular stress on masking the identity of its users. Unfortunately, it’s not suitable for unblocking geo-restricted content, and there are a number of issues that make IPredator VPN inconvenient for regular users.
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IPredator VPN: the origin
In 2003 Peter Sunde, a Swedish politician, co-founded The Pirate Bay — an index of magnet links and torrent files. After the government of Sweden had implemented the law that allowed law enforcement officials to request personal information on those suspected of copyright infringement, Peter Sunde launched IPredator — a VPN service meant to hide the IPs of The Pirate Bay visitors.
For legal reasons IPredator is registered in Cyprus, although all of its 100+ servers are located in Sweden. Among other things, this means that this VPN cannot be used for unblocking streaming services like Netflix and BBC iPlayer: you are forever stranded in Sweden and cannot change this virtual location. Back in 2009 when IPredator was launched streaming services were few and far between and geo-restricted content wasn’t common; it seems that this VPN service didn’t even try to adapt to the changes that took place in the 2010s.
IPredator VPN: usability
The application can be installed on a multitude of platforms, including both desktop computers (Mac OS X Mountain Lion, Linux, and Windows) and mobile devices (iOS, Android, Blackberry).
The best way to use IPredator VPN is to install the open-source OpenVPN program, download a configuration file from the developer’s website and copy it to a specific folder. As your only possible virtual location is Sweden, you don’t have a lot of setup options.
People who review IPredator sometimes say that OpenVPN is nor very reliable and as often as not loses connection to the Swedish server. Another desktop client for IPredator VPN called Netsplice is alleged to be more stable. Unfortunately, it is meant for advanced users, and even such a basic task as creating a connection profile takes considerable effort.
The developer assures that IPredator doesn’t significantly slow down your Internet connection. Still, there is more than one review that says that the actual decline in speed might reach as much as 50% of its initial reading. The rule of thumb here is that the farther from Sweden you are, the lesser speed you get.
If your connection is inactive for 10 minutes, IPredator VPN will disconnect automatically. While this might help to reduce the load on the servers, it also causes inconvenience to the users of the service.
Security
Almost every review of IPredator remarks on its security features. IPredator operates a strict no login policy; your traffic is not logged and your personal data is not stored. For the processing of payments only such details on individual users as their email addresses, usernames and passwords are stored for “a bit over 6 months”; they can be disclosed to the Swedish authorities only if there is an accusation of serious crime. Military-grade AES-256 encryption is used to protect both inbound and outbound Internet traffic.
IPredator VPN: costs and benefits
A monthly subscription to IPredator costs $8; as the service does not offer discounts on long-time subscriptions, this amount is impossible to decrease. What’s more, as one license covers only two devices, the costs of having IPredator on a device are rather high.
On the bright side, there is a 3-day free trial period (it doesn’t turn on automatically — you are supposed to email the customer support and ask for it). While there is no unconditional money back guarantee, the refund policy stipulates that if you have tried to fix the issue with the support and the program still doesn’t work, you will be refunded.
VPN Unlimited as a viable alternative to IPredator: a review
It is highly commendable that IPredator takes great care to ensure the privacy of its users. Still, the service completely neglects the advent of streaming platforms and the necessity to unblock geo-restricted content: Sweden might be a very pleasant country to live in, but it is certainly not the virtual capital of the world. Thus, more and more users turn to VPNs that provide a similar or even greater level of security as well as a means of unblocking censored and geographically restricted websites, videos and podcasts.
VPN Unlimited is a New York based VPN that — just like IPredator — works on numerous desktop and mobile platforms, carries out a strict no-logging policy, and protects its traffic with AES-256 encryption. Unlike IPredator it is much easier to install and use: you don’t have to rely on software that is either glitchy or too demanding.
It is the financial side of the deal that makes VPN Unlimited a real bargain. While a regular monthly subscription to the service costs USD9.99, you can easily halve this amount by opting for an annual subscription that is priced at USD59.99. Not only will you get access to as many as 500 Virtual Private Network servers in more than 80 locations all over the world, you will be able to install VPN Unlimited on as many as 5 devices as well. Thus, you can both watch your favorite show on Netflix or BBC wherever you are and enjoy the highest possible level of safety and anonymity.
VPN Unlimited offers a free trial period; there is no need to activate it by writing emails and waiting for a reply. In fact, you can try it right now!
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