my experience with the one I use, ibvpn.com.
I checked the net and compared a few VPN services. There are loads out there and they all offer the same service when it comes to the crunch. One thing I did like about ibvpn.com was the fact that you have multiple servers on their full package. They include UK, USA, CA, DE, IE and NL. They also don’t allow P2P and torrents which is a good thing in my book. I never use P2P so its not an issue.
ibvpn.com will set up a free 1 day trial if you request it and it gives you access to all of their VPN servers. I got an email about 6 hours after requesting the trial and I was up an running quickly thanks to OSX on the Mac being so easy to set up VPN access.
Another good point is that their support is excellent. Replies are quick and in my case sympathetic. What went wrong? Well I’ll tell you…
ibvpn.com use Plimus as their payment provider. I don’t have a major issue with them other than they verify payments with phone calls, their support for the paying customer is slow, it’s difficult to get in contact with them, they take ages (around 17 hours) to tell you your payment has failed even though you use a verified PayPal account and I wont go on. This is not bad news as I have found how to get your payment authenticated with Plimus instantly. Call them, it’s as simple as that. Make a Skype call as it will only cost pence and use their automated system to verify your payment. There was me expecting a call for 2 days and I could have verified this instantly. Third time lucky as they say. Anyway, enough whinging about Plimus.
There is little to say about ibvpn.com other that it works. It works very well and I can switch between servers easily on my Mac. I also have the VPN setup on my iPod Touch and iPad. They all work without a problem. The only issues I have had is connecting to the DE server over the last few days but it is fine now.
Various services I use are all fine, web, Usenet, email, etc. I can get full speed (4Mbit) if I download off Usenet with SSL.
Now all my access can be secure to my destinations while on a free network. I can check my mail without giving out my passwords and I can browse anonymously. There is an added benefit to using the multiple servers and that is accessing blocked servers. In the UK we can’t watch shows on hulu.com but switch on your VPN to one of the three US servers and you can. It’s not my reason for getting VPN but if there is nothing to watch locally you can just tune in to a US site.
The cost of ibvpn.com is also good. You can access all servers, one at a time, over a 3 month period for just $19.95 or about £13. Pay for 6 months and it’s even cheaper. The small cost certainly pays for the added security peace of mind and the access to other countries blocked sites is a bonus.
ibVPN review – 239
