Nowadays, the Internet has become an indispensable part of life. Therefore, privacy and security when surfing the Internet must not be ignored to ensure that your online activities are not tracked by others, data is stolen by hackers, or even monitored by government agencies and ISPs. VPN is a very good tool. In addition to providing you with the ability to surf the Internet anonymously, it can also unlock the content region restrictions of many services. For example, movies that are only available on Netflix in the United States and Japan can be watched in Taiwan or any country.
However, not all VPNs can do these things. We have always recommended them. Ivacy VPN It is well worth considering. It has many features, such as: high security, the ability to unlock Netflix libraries in 7 countries, more than 1,000 servers, and even a China-specific application that allows you to circumvent the Chinese wall.
Recently, they are offering a super 90% discount, which costs as little as NT$30 per month. Moreover, this subscription plan supports up to 10 devices at the same time, which means that if you can find 10 people to share it, it only costs NT$3 per month. It is cheap enough, and it is really worth buying it!
Why should you choose a paid VPN over a free VPN?
Many people must ask, are there no free VPNs available?
Although free VPNs do not require payment, they often have many shortcomings, such as poor stability, slow speed, worrying security, IP leakage problems, etc.
Of course, there are some trustworthy free VPNs on the market, but these usually have various restrictions, such as: they can only connect to one country, monthly or daily usage limits, and cannot unlock Netflix and other foreign limited content, etc., which are very restrictive to use.
More importantly, there are huge doubts about safety.
Not only are the developer backgrounds and companies of most free VPNs opaque, it is difficult to find out who the owner is. IP, DNS or WebRTC leaks often occur after VPNs. Representatives say that someone can still know your true location.
In addition, since they are free, these VPNs will of course make money in other ways, the most common of which is collecting your usage data and then selling it to third-party advertisers.
Paid VPNs are very strict in these aspects. The official website will basically fully disclose its privacy policy, such as: Will usage logs be recorded? What information will be collected? What it is used for will be clearly written, so you can fully understand it.
The speed part is also very stable. Even some of the best VPN services can provide high-speed connection speeds at any time. There are no usage restrictions. You can use as much as you want. There are many advantages, like this one Ivacy that is.
Ivacy VPN basic introduction
Ivacy It is a VPN service launched in 2007 and has a history of 13 years, so it is quite experienced and very trustworthy. In recent years, their reputation in Taiwan can be said to be growing, and their names can be seen in major news and magazines:
Is the security good? Is it a zero logging policy?
Ivacy’s official website clearly states that they strictly adhere to a zero-logging policy, which means that they will not record any information or data during your use.
It is also mentioned in the privacy statement, they will not collect any information that can identify you, such as original IP address, browsing history, usage, connection time, etc.:
The VPN communication protocols provided are also quite diverse, including not only the most secure OpenVPN today, but also IKEv2 / IPSec, L2TP / IPSec, PPTP and SSTP protocols. All connection data will also be encrypted with AES-256 technology, so there is no need to worry about being stolen by others.
It also provides advanced functions such as IP/DNS leak protection and VPN Kill Switch function, which can provide more peace of mind for VPN users and the security is really good.
Under GENERAL in the settings menu, you can find IP/DNS Leak protection:
Number of servers
Ivacy There are also a lot of servers. There are now more than 1,000, and there are up to 100 countries/regions to choose from. Basically, there must be a server available near you, so you can enjoy a high-speed Internet experience.
For countries/regions, the commonly used ones include the United States, Canada, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, etc., and all of them have encryption technology to ensure the security of your data. All servers can be used for P2P and streaming services,Please click here to view the detailed server list：
Operational teaching
Ivacy supports most operating systems. Windows, Mac, iOS, Android and Linux have dedicated applications. Download points can be found on the official website. For iOS and Android, you can directly search for keywords in the App store and download and install it.
Just log in to your account and you can start using it. I will use Windows as an example for the computer version below, and iOS for the mobile version. Basically, the interfaces are the same.
Windows version
After opening the app, there is a function to automatically select the best server (Automatic). If you just want to improve the security and privacy of the Internet, such as not letting others discover your real IP address and not wanting to be tracked, you can directly click the “power icon” at the bottom of the screen to connect. It will automatically find the nearest and fastest server, which is usually the same country. For example: I am in Japan, and I will connect to the Japanese server:
The You’re Now Protected screen is displayed to indicate success, and the left and right sides will also indicate No logs, Encryption Enabled, Hidden IP and Secure Browsing:
Click on the menu to select the country to connect to:
Some countries also provide city servers. For example, you can specify a server connected to Los Angeles or Miami in the United States. Click Select Location’s City, and you can see the available city servers in the menu below:
In addition to general connections, Ivacy also provides a variety of dedicated servers in the left menu, such as:
- Secure Download P2P, download event dedicated server
- Streaming online streaming media dedicated server
- Unblocking Unblocked content dedicated server
- Dedicated IP Exclusive IP
I think this is quite good, especially for novices. You can directly choose the appropriate dedicated server according to what you want to do next, such as watching foreign limited videos, P2P activities, etc., so that you don’t have to try one by one.
Streaming provides many foreign streaming media options, in addition to the common Netflix US, there are also Hulu, BBC, Amazon Prime US, ABC, etc. Using the servers listed here also means that you are guaranteed to successfully unlock:
Secure Download’s server is capable of detecting and blocking more than 4 million viruses. When you download files from the Internet, if any virus is found, the VPN server will delete it directly to avoid infecting your computer. HTTP, SMTP, POP3, IMAP, FTP / SFTP are all supported, and there are also functions to prevent spam, malware and pop-up ads:
There are 5 options for the Windows version of VPN protocols: TCP, UDP, LTP, IKEV or automatic. If there are no special requirements, just use automatic. If you pay attention to Internet security, it is recommended to turn on the Internet Kill Switch function below. This way, when the VPN is suddenly disconnected during use, your network will be immediately interrupted to avoid real IP leaks:
There is also a SPLIT TUNNELING function. If you have any software or applications that you don’t want to be affected by VPN, you can add them here:
iOS version
The iOS interface is quite similar to the computer version. It also has a VPN automatic smart connection function. Click the power icon on the screen to find the fastest server:
If the connection is successful, Secure Connection Enabled will be displayed:
Click the menu below to specify the country or city you want to VPN to:
The mobile version also has dedicated servers for online streaming, secure downloading, and content unlocking:
Unlock Netflix library from more than 7 countries with one click
Many people subscribe to Netflix, but what you don’t know is that the number of Netflix movies in each country is actually different. Taiwan has very few. According to statistics in 2019, there are only more than 500 (movies + dramas), and the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom each have 5,000.
This is the data compiled by finder.com last year. There are only 537 units in Taiwan and nearly 5,000 units in the United States:
uNoGS Live Data US now wants 6,000 units:
through Ivacy VPN servers in multiple countries can trick Netflix into thinking you are abroad. To put it simply, after you connect to a US server, your IP location will immediately change to the United States, and Netflix will think you are now in the United States and release all Netflix videos available in the United States.
The official website clearly states, they can unblock Netflix in the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, basically all major countries. After my actual testing, Taiwan Netflix can actually be unlocked. If you want to watch Taiwan-limited movies abroad, this set can:
As shown in the picture below, I used the US dedicated server in the Streaming menu and successfully unblocked US Netflix. This Sleepless limited time rescue is not available in Taiwan. It is available in the United States:
Many people will say that many foreign Netflix movies do not have Chinese subtitles, even if they can be unlocked. In fact, Netflix can also add external subtitles, which means that if you can find the subtitle file, then this is not a problem.
Sleepless originally only had English subtitles, but after I used the Super Netflix plug-in subtitle file, it now has Chinese subtitles (For detailed operating instructions, please refer to this article）：
For countries other than the United States, Ivacy recommends using Chrome or Firefox extension plug-ins to remove content restrictions, which will be more stable. I have actually tested that there is no problem in 7 countries including Japan, the United Kingdom, and Canada. Japanese Netflix has a lot of anime:
There are also many movies to watch in Canada:
I am currently in Japan, so I also tested the Taiwanese server. Although Taiwan is not on the list, it can still be unlocked and you can find Miyazaki Hayao’s animations (such as My Neighbor Totoro), which are not available on Japanese Netflix:
Make sure it can be played normally:
In addition, there is Taiwan iQiyi, which can also be viewed normally:
Let you purchase online streaming services at the lowest price
Nowadays, many online streaming services are priced differently in each country. Although Taiwan is already cheaper compared to Australia, the United States, Japan, etc., there are still some countries where it is even cheaper. By using Ivacy to VPN to a designated server, you can immediately enjoy the country’s lowest price in Taiwan (or other countries).
Taking Spotify as an example, it only costs 119 rupees per month in India, which is about NT$46, which is very cheap:
YouTube Premium is the same, it only costs 129 rupees per month, about NT$50, and the family sharing plan is even cheaper:
The Netflix Premium plan only costs 41.99 Lira in Türkiye, which is about NT$180:
However, we should also remind you that some services will require you to log in again every once in a while, and then confirm whether you are in that country (such as Spotify). You only need to use Ivacy VPN to go to that country again, and you can log in.
Actual speed measurement, satisfactory connection speed
Ivacy The number of servers on offer is over 1,000, which is a huge advantage when it comes to VPN connection speeds, meaning that users’ connections can be spread out instead of being crowded on the same server.
After my actual measurement, the speed of the same country is almost unaffected, and the performance of foreign servers is also quite good.
Here are my speeds before using a VPN, 92.61Mbps download, 9.74Mbps upload, and a ping of 15ms:
After using a smart VPN to connect to a server in the same country (Japan), the download speed is 83.08Mbps, the upload speed is 9.21Mbps, and the ping is 17ms, which is almost useless. The Internet speed is still very fast:
Next is the VPN US server, downloading is 60.56Mbps, uploading is 8.6Mbps, and the ping is 203ms. Although it has dropped a little, at this speed, unless it is downloading, there is not much difference. Watching videos is also quite smooth, with almost no buffering problems:
It should also be noted here that everyone uses VPN at different times, so if it happens to be a peak hour, it will affect the speed to some extent.
Ivacy Prime designed specifically for Chinese circumvention
Ivacy is also a VPN that can be used in China and has successfully circumvented the wall. They also have a team working around the clock to ensure that users will not encounter any problems.Details can be found on this page。
However, it should be noted that Ivacy has an application specially created for China, called Ivacy Prime, so if you are in China or plan to go to China, remember to use this dedicated version.
The Ivacy Prime interface is almost the same as the regular version, but the number of servers that can be connected is smaller, which are available in major countries, such as the United States, Australia, Hong Kong, France, Malaysia, etc.:
There are also dedicated servers for online streaming to ensure that you can watch Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu videos in China:
Most particularly, this version also adds a dedicated social media server (Social Sites), allowing you to quickly access Facebook, Google, YouTube, Amazon, and Twitter in China with one click:
You can choose whether you want to use UDP or TCP protocol:
Price plan
Ivacy Currently, a 90% huge discount is being launched. It only costs US$60 for 5 years, which translates to only US$1 per month (approximately NT$39). This means that you only need to drink one less drink per month to have this high-quality VPN service. It is really a great deal.
More importantly, this 5-year plan can be used on up to 10 devices at the same time, which is a lot, so if you want to save even more, you can find someone to buy it together.
For those who feel that 5 years is too long, there are of course shorter plans, which cost US$9.95 per month (approximately NT$300) and US$40 per year (US$3.33 per month, approximately NT$99).
Each plan has a 30-day money-back guarantee. As long as you are not satisfied within this period, you can get your money back without any burden (if you want a refund, please write an email to them):
There are also many payment methods, including credit card, PayPal, BitPay, Alipay, Perfect Money, cryptocurrency, etc.:
If you encounter any problems during use, the official website provides 24-hour online customer service:
in conclusion
This time Ivacy’s 90% discount is really amazing. For those who don’t have or are in need of a VPN, it is really worth considering. It performs quite well in all aspects. There is also the Ivacy Prime app specially designed for China. It can be used by up to 10 devices at the same time. You can get a high-quality VPN without spending a lot of money.
Source: KOCPC Chinese