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The VPN market is evolving very quickly. In a short period of time, a VPN provider can significantly expand its server network, completely change its privacy policy, or add a whole host of shiny new features.

Of course, not all developments are for the better, and one VPN improving its offering may come at the expense of others who thus fall down the hierarchy. The constant state of evolution is why we test (and retest) VPNs regularly.

Our latest round of testing saw Private Internet Access (PIA) are not among the top five in our best VPN rankings. That’s not to say that PIA has taken a step back in terms of quality, and it’s still a great value VPN with some intriguing extras. Yet, due to the greater progress made by other VPNs, it is no longer among the top competitors on our shortlist. Keep reading and I’ll tell you why.

Private Internet Access – from $2.03 per month
A great choice for experienced users
Private Internet access ranks among the the most secure VPNs we tested it – and it’s easy to see why. PIA’s open source applications are available for all platforms, including Linux, and are massively customizable. This is great news for advanced users who want to personalize every aspect of their VPN experience. PIA also offers many beginner-friendly tools, including a circuit breaker this will prevent accidental data leaks. Take a test drive with the provider with a 30-day money-back guarantee.See the offer

Reason #1: Intimidating Apps

You have everything you need to browse the web securely in PIA apps. Your connection is secure in 256 bits AES encryptionYou’re protected against DNS leaks and there’s a great kill switch at startup that will ensure you don’t leak any identifiable information.

While there are many advanced features that experienced VPN users will appreciate, such as port forwarding and split tunnelingSome of these customizable extras can be intimidating if your only goal is to unblock geo-restricted streaming platforms.

The fact that PIA’s desktop app is hidden in the system tray is another sign that it may not be the most beginner-friendly. If this is your first time using a VPN or you’re unfamiliar with the PIA app, you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s gone or shut down. Fortunately, there is an option to switch to a window view.

It’s easy

Wondering which VPN is the best choice for beginners? Consult our guide of the day best VPNs for beginners.

When opening the PIA app, you get a simple home screen with a quick connect button, a shortcut to the VPN server list, and key information like your IP address and, once connected, the IP address of the VPN. Expand that and you’ll find a host of options, including performance information, your connection, and even a VPN snooze feature, all of which can be pinned to the home screen.

This information is all highly configurable. You can add or remove each setting with one click or by dragging and dropping them in your preferred order. Experienced VPN users will appreciate this – but if you’re a VPN newbie, all that clutter vying for your attention can seem a little excessive.

If you’re looking for a cleaner, more user-friendly app interface, you’ll be better off with ExpressVPN. It’s my top recommendation for new users thanks to easy-to-navigate apps and excellent 24/7 live chat and email customer support.

Reason 2: Poor Speeds

A VPN protects your digital privacy by routing your Internet traffic through a secure, encrypted tunnel through its servers before it continues onto the Internet.

However, these extra steps can have a negative impact on your connection speed. How much of a slowdown (and whether it is noticeable) depends on a few factors such as VPN protocol used and the distance between your actual location and the VPN server.

Everyday browsing doesn’t require super-fast speeds, but a poor VPN can slow your experience down to sluggish crawling. This is especially true when it comes to streaming, video calls, and gaming.

THE the fastest VPNs offer unlimited bandwidth and use lightweight, speed-optimized VPN protocols such as WireGuard. This allows for smooth streaming in HD and even 4K resolution, all without having to deal with performance issues.

Unfortunately, PIA simply isn’t able to keep pace with our other best VPNs in terms of speed. When using PIA via the WireGuard protocol, the average was 436 Mbps. While it’s not slow by any means, it’s still a bit behind models like Surfshark And NordVPNboth of which peaked at over 950 Mbps. With speeds like that, it’s no wonder NordVPN is our go-to best streaming VPN.

It was a similar story when we used OpenVPN. PIA only averaged 257 Mbps, which isn’t great news if you’re a fan of this tried-and-true protocol, especially when Surfshark averaged 460 Mbps.

That said, PIA is still more than capable of handling streaming, gameand torrent sessions. It’s just that there are faster options on the market.

Reason 3: Unimpressive Customer Service

Having encountered a serious technical issue while attempting to test Private Internet Access, our lead tester, Mike Williams, raised the issue with PIA customer support. The problem in question was that PIA refused to connect to WireGuard and OpenVPN protocols.

PIA Support was initially responsive, walking Mike through the usual troubleshooting steps, including uninstalling and reinstalling the PIA app. However, all this despite Mike explaining that he had already taken these steps without success.

As the suggestion failed to resolve the issue, PIA’s temporary solution was to use an older version of the app in the meantime.

Mike responded to customer support with detailed information about the problem, but PIA did not provide a response the following week. We assume the issue was reported to the PIA developers, but the lack of response has been disappointing.

It’s fair to say that the quality of customer support a VPN provides is relative to its subscription prices. Although ExpressVPN is more expensive than PIA, some of that higher subscription fee goes towards what is arguably the best support of any VPN on the market. This is part of what makes ExpressVPN one of the best and most reliable VPNs today.

Conclusion

PIA does a lot of things very well. It’s as secure a VPN as you could hope for, it offers a ton of advanced features, and it also has a generous server network. It’s just that it falls a bit short of the top providers when it comes to our testing criteria, such as server speed and unblocking.

PIA’s lack of responsiveness to our serious technical issue in recent testing shows that there is room for improvement. Beginners may also find the app’s offerings a bit overwhelming, with its mass of customizable options.

However, it’s this customization that makes PIA a solid choice for power users at a price that remains very competitive.