I’m considering switching VPN but was curious how PIA’s speeds were faring so I did a speed test, first with my entire Win10 machine connected to a local PIA server (via the OpenVPN gui), then with only my browser (Chrome) PIA extension connected (OpenVPN disconnected). When using OpenVPN for the whole machine, speeds were as I’d expect – slow (about 10-20% of my ISP account speed). With only the browser extension connected, speeds were virtually identical to my ISP baseline – not something I’d expect with any VPN.
How does the browser extension give me far faster speeds than using the same PIA account and server location via OpenVPN? Is this to be expected, or should I be suspicious that the browser extension is not actually working, despite the PIA vpn server’s IP address showing up? Am I doing something else wrong?
And on a different subject, has the storm over PIA’s new owners blown over or is it still something I should consider when deciding whether to renew? I’ve had no significant problems for a few years with PIA, the price is good, and finding legit reviews of other VPN option is hard, so my inertia is strong!
When using OpenVPN for the whole machine, speeds were as I’d expect – slow (about 10-20% of my ISP account speed)
Windows’ network stack (specifically the TAP driver) has known performance issues that impact VPNs
On Linux using WireGuard kernel module I can saturate my connection on a good day (ignore the high ping, that’s mostly because I’m in mainland China)
With only the browser extension connected, speeds were virtually identical to my ISP baseline
The browser extension does not use Windows’ TAP driver, and so isn’t impacted by its abysmal performance 
has the storm over PIA’s new owners blown over or is it still something I should consider when deciding whether to renew?
Yeah pretty much, PIA reaffirmed their commitment to their principles and seemed to insinuate that Kape are trying to improve their image with the acquisition.
There’s a disproportionate amount of negative posts and comments in this sub since most folks only come here to rant when there’s problems or they’ve got a chip on their shoulder.
The browser extension is a proxy, not a VPN so it’s usually faster but less secure (all VPN extensions do this).
You can get similar performance if you use the PIA application with the Wireguard protocol.
But as others said, there are better options for VPN now.
Easy answer. PIA sucks ass. They used to be the best up until about two years ago. Now they’re very suspect. Owned by a questionable company, have questionable privacy rules, and their service is dogshit now. Good luck.
Good to know. Thanks. Is the PIA application itself on Windows likely to be any faster than using the OpenVPN GUI, or is it purely a Windows thing? I assume the PIA application also uses the TAP driver.
Which raises another question that maybe you can help with: I currently only use the PIA socks5 proxy option in qBittorrent would prefer to use split tunneling when torrenting,but if speeds are going to be much slower with the TAP-based VPN connection is there an alternative way of hiding my P2P activity completely without destroying speeds? Is PIA particularly bad with Windows TAP, or are all VPN options going to be about the same?
Thanks, I’ll try PIA/Wireguard.
I know it’s subjective, and that shills and paid PR abounds in the VPN space, but what would you recommend as an alternative to PIA now, especially one that is good for torrenting and works well for Windows, Chrome/Firefox, and Android? NordVPN seems to have gone downhill recently from what I’ve read, ExpressVPN is expensive, and the rest seem to all be in a similar ballpark in terms of reputation, reviews, and price.
Is the PIA application itself on Windows likely to be any faster than using the OpenVPN GUI, or is it purely a Windows thing? I assume the PIA application also uses the TAP driver.
Yeah, so probably a Windows thing - but the available speed would depend on your CPU vs your internet link I guess…
Reports of Windows’ TAP driver speed limit seem to range from 90Mbits to 400Mbits, although the latter seems to be on a server rather than a PC.
I currently only use the PIA socks5 proxy option in qBittorrent would prefer to use split tunneling when torrenting,but if speeds are going to be much slower with the TAP-based VPN connection is there an alternative way of hiding my P2P activity completely without destroying speeds?
Well since I firmly believe that windows networking is an oxymoron, I’d build a Linux machine from trash and try that out - Transmission is a lovely Linux torrent client with a network RPC daemon interface model including a web interface and several GUI clients fwiw, and PIA allows up to 10 devices connected using a single account.
Is PIA particularly bad with Windows TAP, or are all VPN options going to be about the same?
Apparently the Windows TUN driver is faster, but it’s also apparently still in beta - some VPN clients may try to use it, but I couldn’t tell you which ones, or how well it works.
There’s a newer VPN that I’m impressed with - AdGuard VPN (I was familiar with they’re adblocking app). It’s clean, fast, works for unblocking content (maybe their IPs are not as known), has a great app and also a browser extension.
Surfshark is also a good one, love their advanced features like Static IP and Multihop (they’re free) and it’s extremely fast.
I’m now also trying something different, a custom DNS provider - ControlD, that works as a VPN at DNS level and where you can customize every site or service from what country to be accessed (or change your location globally) and also block ads with it.
Hi, since you have mentioned you are in mainland China right now, can you please tell how is your experience with PIA? I am currently using Nord but the connectivity is extremely poor and I am in search for a better option. I also have express, but the available servers are limited and are very slow.
Hi, since you have mentioned you are in mainland China right now, can you please tell how is your experience with PIA?
Gotta hop servers once a week or so, other than that it works great - pretty common for me to have over 100 megabits available.
Ping is always 180-300ms, but as someone who grew up with Australian internet, that’s pretty normal for me.
Fwiw, Wireguard seems to work a lot better than shadowsocks or OpenVPN through the great firewall
Agreed, but unfortunately it’s hard to tell?
