Pros:
Prices as low as $3.07/month
77+ servers in 39 countries all over the world
15 days money back guarantee
2 Simultaneously connections
Compatible with Android, iOS, Mac, Windows, Routers, Linux and Smartphones
Excellent protocol support of PPTP, OpenVPN, L2TP/IPSec and SSTP
Remote Assistance and Live Chat available
Cons:
No 24/7 Live Chat availability
Plans & Pricing
ibVPN offers users a neat little pricing plan that is designed especially for VPNRanks readers.
This is one of the all-in-one packages that ibVPN offers which is priced at yearly basis, and includes complete access to all 90+ ibVPN servers across all 39 country locations. All three plans come with multi-protocol support, and guarantee complete compatibility for all devices (including smartphones).
The price that ibVPN charges for a one month subscription might seem slightly steep, but the 6 and 12 month subscriptions are comparatively much cheaper. We have tested ibVPN to check if it is worth spending $6.91/month or $5.82/month and we have to admit that even these prices are nothing against the features and services that it is providing to its users!
Unique Selling Proposition
There is a chance that my editor will disagree with me on this (and probably edit this part out), but ibVPN does not have a unique selling proposition. It has DNS service but you don’t get access to ibVPN DNS services for free unless you either buy the one of the two high-end packages that ibVPN offers. The other way to access get ibVPN’s DNS service is to subscribe separately to it – hence my reluctance towards considering it a unique selling proposition.
Some ibVPN reviews will argue that ibVPN’s hyper-segregated pricing plan is its unique selling proposition, but I don’t buy that. Creating an over-complex pricing plan cannot be equivalent to delivering a unique feature good enough to be a selling proposition.
Servers
ibVPN has some neat server management going on. At the time of writing this ibVPN review, the VPN service provider had 90+ servers up and running in 39+ countries.
This is an industry where competition is evolving rapidly and if you have less than 100 servers you will have a tough time attracting in customers when you stand against other VPN service providers who have over 200 servers.
One could argue that a server is only as good as the load it can take or the IPs that it can offer. ibVPN seems to be offering no more than 2000 dynamic IPs.
The way I see it, (and other ibVPN reviews will agree with me) segregating customers on the basis of their need for a VPN will help ensure that customers have to share their servers as little as possible.
Considering the fact that ibVPN is the only VPN service to create such a complex assortment of package plans, I think this is a very bold approach on the part of ibVPN since most VPN service providers choose to offer flat package plans that only differ with respect to subscription duration – and I can appreciate the method behind the madness.
Speed Test
To carry out this speed test, I used ibVPN’s Ultimate VPN package. While using a 100 MBPS internet connection, I obtained the following ping, upload and download speeds.
In comparison, while using a 100 MBPS internet connection, I connected ibVPN to its US Houston server and obtained the following results.
If you can stand the extra ping, ibVPN.
New Addition in DNS Channels
ibVPN is consistently working hard to include more and more TV and radio stations in its list of DNS channels. Currently it offers more than 100+ channels, of which, six channels from Romania, Australia, United States and Netherlands were added recently. You can select one of the packages that offer both VPN and DNS services, if you are interested in both.
With ibVPN’s DNS you can unblock more than 100+ channels from all over the world including the top entertainment, news, business and sports channels from the US and the UK.
Kill Switch
The Kill Switch option provided by the ibVPN is a bit different from other VPN providers. While others give you the option to disconnect all the network activities when your connection drops, ibVPN gives you an additional option to add applications that need a proper internet connection to work.
So if your VPN connection ever drops, you cannot only halt the internet connection but you can also stop the applications until your VPN connects again.
Proxy Servers
If you are looking to unblock the content in a few specific regions, you can use ibVPN’s proxy servers. ibVPN offers proxy servers in US, UK, Germany, Ireland and Netherlands. However, you should note that the proxy servers won’t be able to protect you from the surveillance and hackers.
Customer Support
The ‘Help Center’ link located at the top of the page leads to ibVPN’s customer support page. There is a separate ‘Contact’ link as well – located in the footer of the webpage.
FAQ
How to Setup
Forums
Knowledge Base
Remote Assistance
Contact Support
History
ibVPN is owned and run by Amplusnet. Romania based Amplusnet has been offering online privacy solutions (through ibVPN) and custom software development services (Amplusnet Offshore Development Center) since 2003.
The physical address of the company is:
1 Decembrie 1918 Nr.52 Ap.1
Tirgu-Mures, Mures 540743
Romania
ibVPN offers VPN and DNS services with package plans ranging from 1 to 12 month subscriptions.
FAQ
The FAQ is a one-page help section with answers for common questions on accounts, trials, technical specifications, payment refunds and logs. Other ibVPN reviews might argue that ibVPN could have done with a larger FAQ section but I feel that the current size of the FAQ section is quite sufficient. It addresses all the areas that a FAQ section should address with concise and comprehensive answers.
How to Setup
The ‘How to Setup’ page is essentially the tutorial page and gives you a table full of tutorials to help you setup your ibVPN.
Forums
Forums? What forums? All the ibVPN Forums webpage shows is a ‘Coming Soon’ when you click on it!
Knowledge Base
The knowledge base us less of a knowledge base and more of an extended FAQ section. I for one was not satisfied with the quality, presentation and size of the knowledge base.
Remote Assistance
The way ibVPN uses the Remote Assistance feature swept me off my feet. The feature lets you get a Remote Assistance appointment for a 30 minute duration. ibVPN lets you select the day and time for Remote Assistance from a large number of available time-slots.
ibVPN uses TeamViewer to run Remote Assistance so expect that you will have to download it before you can get ibVPN to help you through that method.
Just about every VPN service provider offers remote assistance these days, but placing it on top as a help center feature is a wise way to go about it.
LiveChat
The LiveChat is only online for 16 hours every day but the LiveChat widget at the lower right of your screen is usually visible even if no customer representative is online. In such cases, the chat window will ask you to leave your name, email address and question, and get back to you on email as soon as a customer support representative becomes available.
I tested it out and noticed that response time for such queries is usually no more than one to two hours and very rarely goes beyond that.
In case a customer support representative is available for Live Chat, the LiveChat window will indicate the time you will have to wait by displaying the number of people in queue before you.
Payment Methods
ibVPN’s check-out page asks you to provide basic information and asks you to select your desired payment method from the list provided at the right side of the webpage.
As you can see, ibVPN accepts a wide variety of payment methods.
The more popular payment methods accepted by ibVPN are PayPal, Credit Card and BitCoin.
The relatively less popular payment methods accepted by ibVPN are WebMoney, Perfect Money and Payza (Formerly known as AlertPay).
ibVPN also accepts CashU for Middle Eastern and North African clients; as well as AstroPay for Latin America clients.
Once you have selected your preferred payment method, clicking on ‘Go to payment’ redirects you to a new webpage depending on the payment method you selected. Basically, you will be forwarded to the payment gateway of the selected payment method. I found it slightly uncomfortable that I was required to enter in most of my information twice – once before and once after clicking ‘Go to payment’.
All payment methods come with a 15 day money back guarantee.
Compatibility
ibVPN’s ‘How to Setup’ page shows that ibVPN offers extensive compatibility with Windows, Mac, Android and Linux platforms. In addition, ibVPN also provides tutorials for setting up its service on DD-WRT routers.
ibVPN clients are available for Android, Mac, and Windows.
ibVPN’s website provides an excellent representation of platform and device compatibility with respect to the protocols that ibVPN offers for each.
Tutorials Provided
I am a big fan of the ibVPN tutorial page. You can access it by entering the ‘Help Center’ and clicking on ‘How to Setup’. The web page is highly well structure and well presented.
The tutorials are presented with screen-shots and are in extensive detail. Processes have been explained with just enough detail to ensure that users do not get confused. I guess this is what ibVPN was doing for most of its 10 years.
Tutorials are available for Windows, Mac, Android, Linux platforms as well as DDWRT routers – for every available protocol.
Protocols And Encryption
ibVPN offers PPTP, L2TP, OpenVPN and SSTP available for Windows 8, Windows 7 and Windows Vista. ibVPN offers all protocols but SSTP for Windows XP users.
The ibVPN knowledge base provides details on the general encryption standards that exist for each of the four VPN types that ibVPN offers, but does not provide any specifics on whether or not (or to what extent) ibVPN’s encryption is based on the same standards.
So I decided to look up Customer support and leave them a ticket asking about encryption protocols.
PPTP protocol runs at 128 bit encryption
L2TP protocol works at 256 bit encryption
OpenVPN protocol runs with 256 bit encryption /1024 for authentication
SSTP protocol 256 comes with bit encryption
Log And Privacy Policy
ibVPN does not maintain any permanent user activity log. It keeps a running records your VPN usage duration, date, time, and location for a period of seven days.
In addition, ibVPN records personal information provided by the user as well as from cookies, as per the normal Standard-Operating-Procedures of the internet – and uses them to remarket its products and services. So expect a submission of your email address to be a voluntary click on the ‘add me to mailing list’ button.
Additional Services
ibVPN continues to tot ibDNS as its additional service. The ibDNS service costs the same as the low-level VPN packages provided by ibDNS. Starts from $2.48 for a month and goes to $18.48 for a year.
The prices for ibDNS are tolerable – but if I had the money for a one month ibDNS subscription and saw that a one month VPN subscription comes for the same cost, I would probably go for VPN and ditch DNS altogether. Why? Because DNS offers accessibility but it comes without any privacy and security coverage. I really don’t see the point of offering DNS services alongside VPN services when the DNS costs the same as VPN.
Conclusion
To be honest, ibVPN has a very reliable service, an impressive software that has stood the test of time (and trial), adequate prices, and a very professional server setup that can be trusted to provide impenetrable online privacy and freedom.
ibVPN offers a number of packages and plans, that are fairly confusing if you ask me. So we asked ibVPN to chalk up a neat little plan that we knew new and veteran VPN users would love. ibVPN’s all-in-one package appeal to VPN users looking to settle for limited VPN services on account of a limited budget.
Besides offering VPN services, it is also possible to purchase ibVPN’s DNS service. In my opinion, ibVPN could have fared better if it had sold its DNS service under a different corporate flag or through a different website.
Oh snap, you didn’t like this VPN? Don’t worry, here are other VPN reviews that might satisfy all your privacy & unblocking needs.
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