PureVPN Introduction

Hong Kong based Purevpn has been serving security and accessibility enthusiasts since 2007. The official website states that the service is currently catering to users around the world with over 500+ servers in 140 countries.
This PureVPN review of September 2016 covers all of the functions and features that make PureVPN a popular choice amongst every day internet users. At VPNRanks we conduct detailed  VPN Reviews and  we can surely say that PureVPN is the best in its category.

Plans And Pricing

There are three pricing plans to choose from.

• The one year (12 month) subscription comes for $4.99/mo
• The 1 month PureVPN subscription comes for $9.95
• The semi-annual (6 months) subscription comes for $7.49/mo

Is PureVPN Safe?

Unique Selling Proposition

In our PureVPN review, we found that Split-Tunneling tool is clearly it’s unique selling proposition. The feature allows the PureVPN client to remain active for only selected applications while all other data traffic flows from outside the perimeter of the VPN tunnel established upon VPN activation. Users can add the programs of their choice through the Split-Tunneling tab.

The feature is easy to use and can be enabled/disabled as required. It is ideal for individuals looking to take a load off their VPN tunnel and improve VPN performance. Users looking for heavy VPN use (such as users wishing to engage in more than one of streaming, gaming and torrent downloading at the same time) will appreciate this feature.

PureVPN Trial

A trial can help a user experiment with a VPN service without having to make a full commitment. Since the encryption and tunneling quality provided by most VPN services is impacted by a number of elements, VPN services often offer either unpaid trials or refund guarantees to users. In this PureVPN review, we found that trial is available through the three day money back guarantee. Users can try out the full range of PureVPN features, functions and services. This is a much better deal than other free trials, since free trials usually come with restrictions and limitations.

In comparison, the PureVPN trial provides users full compatibility to try out the service on desktop, laptops, mobiles, routers and other devices. In addition, PureVPN review showed that trial users can also seek support from the LiveChat system to get their problems, issues, and queries resolved. This provides an excellent chance for users to troubleshoot their problems if they want to stay with the service, or ask for a reimbursement if they want to abandon the subscription.

The PureVPN trial also gives users an excellent chance to try the service on custom operating system or consoles. The additional advantage of tutorials and setup guides provides additional support that is not usually available with other VPN services.

Server Spread and Locations of PureVPN

For our comprehensive PureVPN review, we found that the provider boasts a server-strength of over 500+ servers. These servers are spread out across 140 countries. The largest collection of PureVPN’s servers is located in the United Kingdom, the United States and in Canada. Besides these, PureVPN has at least two servers located in all the other countries.

A VPN service provider is nothing without a good server spread and PureVPN seems to know this quite clearly. A good server spread is sensibly distributed to give users maximum online anonymity, accessibility and security. But the PureVPN review unveiled that it goes a step further and includes server in those countries as well, where the internet freedom is TRULY considered as a blessing because of strict censorship policies.

That is the reason why PureVPN has three optimal servers in China – because China blocks and bans the living daylights out of the internet. PureVPN chooses to focus server expansion efforts across the world while the bulk of the server count remains in the US and UK. Recently it has further expanded its server locations in the Asian, European, American and African regions as well, where several servers have been added in its list to facilitate the users.

Speed Tests of PureVPN

US Server Without PureVPN

For a server located in the United States, SpeetTest.Net reported the following Ping, Download speed and Upload speed for my internet connection when used without a PureVPN connection.

• My IP Location: New York, US
• Destination Server IP Location: Kansas, US

With PureVPN

Once I had connected PureVPN, SpeedTest.Net reported the following Ping, Download speed and Upload speed for my encrypted and tunneled internet connection.

• My IP Location: New York
• Destination Server IP Location: New York

The Ping came down considerably which is a definite improvement and the upload speed remained consistent which is also quite encouraging. However, note that PureVPN’s accessibility and anonymity seems to be coming at the cost of download speed.

UK Server Without PureVPN

For a server located in the United Kingdom, SpeetTest.Net reported the following Ping, Download speed and Upload speed for my internet connection when used without a PureVPN connection.

• My IP Location: Maidenhead, England
• Destination Server IP Location: Maidenhead, England

With PureVPN

Once I had connected PureVPN, SpeedTest.Net reported the following Ping, Download speed and Upload speed for my encrypted and tunneled internet connection.

• My IP Location: London, England
• Destination Server IP Location: London, England

I love the Ping I got from the PureVPN server but the download speed seems to have suffered once more while the upload speed hardly experienced any significant change.

PureVPN seems to be holding stable in upload speeds and that is good since VPN encryption relies heavily on data upload speed. The download speeds are moderate but I figure a bit of tweaking with the software and a little bit of nagging with the tech support should bring about an improvement.

Customer Support

Support tickets can be opened for tech support, billing issues and abuse complaints. In addition, the support tickets can also be used to request assistance for corporate plans and reseller support. I tested the responsiveness and effectiveness of PureVPN’s Support Ticket system – and I was very happy with the results.

• Support Ticket Opened at: 11:28 AM
• Response Received at: 11:34 AM

My Question: How can I use PureVPN on a router if I do not have a DD-WRT flashed router? How can I turn it into a DD-WRT flashed router?

PureVPN’s Response: Thanks for contacting us. Please share with us a screen shot of your router’s WAN Settings page and the make and model of your router and we will let you know if you can configure VPN on your router or not.

The FAQs are detailed and provide information on general queries related to payment, tech queries, router based VPN connections and software queries.

The Forums  seem to be pretty active and PureVPN support representatives frequently jump in to help concerned customers.

The 24/7 Live Chat is the crowning glory of PureVPN’s customer support. It is online 24 hours a day without fail and there are no bots involved. Customer support provides immediate assistance to queries and concerns. Smaller and mid-sized problems are almost always solved within moments. Problems relating to trouble-shooting and setup assistance are resolved the fastest while user-account related problems tend to take longer.

PureVPN scores full marks in providing customers the comfort of knowing that there is always somebody (and by somebody i mean a real individual) present on the other side to help with service issues. The support team can probably be a little better but it beats some of the other VPN services out there that expect users to find respite in the limited customer support options of dropping touble tickets and emails.

PureVPN Review on CNet

For our PureVPN review, we read the CNet’s review of PureVPN and decided to include the feedback by the users. Some comments (genuinely moderated) will help you decide if you should give PureVPN a try or not.

1. A user commented on how he found PureVPN helpful for the unblocking purpose.
   
2. Then there were some users who were disappointed with the services of PureVPN.
   
3. Some users couldn’t hold themselves back from appreciating the PureVPN app.
   

PureVPN Review on Google Play

We wanted to know what the users feel and think of PureVPN’s service, therefore we read some of the comments and PureVPN review on Google Play. Most of the comments were positive, with a few users complaining about the app’s functionality.

1. Some users asked for a Kill Switch for the Android app, otherwise appreciated the PureVPN Android App for functioning properly.
   
2. Some users appreciated the quick response by the PureVPN officials and were appreciative of the fact that their issue was resolved within 48 hours.
   
3. Like mentioned above, there were some users who were disappointed with the PureVPN Android app and vented out their anger on Google Play.
   

PureVPN Review on Twitter

Once we were done with our findings on Google Play, we checked on Twitter to see the general feedback and PureVPN reviews given by the users. Much like Google Play, we got a similar type of response from the users. But there were definitely more happy customers than the ones who were complaining about its services.

We are embedding the tweets below to give you an idea about the reviews and opinions of PureVPN users.

1. A user decided to help others stream the Ice Sliding World Cup that is geo-restricted by recommending them PureVPN.

Worst case, if you can’t view @IBSFsliding World Cup live due to regional blocking, I strongly recommend @purevpn

— Ken Childs (@TheKenChilds) November 27, 2015

  2. Much like the previous one, this user here also recommended PureVPN when a Twitterati took to twitter asking for a VPN.

@gillw72 purevpn is the service I use — Steve Corke (@st3v3_c) November 24, 2015

3. Streaming blocked? No problem! PureVPN has got you covered.

@Glinner I can access Netflix US with Purevpn. Never had an issue

— Michael Slowey (@twitmgs) November 19, 2015

Payment Methods

The PureVPN review showed that it accepts over 50 payment methods. These include Paypal, credit cards, Alertpay, Bank Transfer, Paymentwall and Bitcoin. PureVPN also takes Bitcoin as an accepted payment method. In my experience, this indicates a strong desire that the company harbors to remain on top of developing e-commerce trends.

PureVPN has partnered with Paymentwall to cater to customers wishing to pay with other e-payment methods such as AliPay, Webmoney, Yandex, PaySafeCard, Ukash, CashU, Giropay, Necard, Mercado Pago, MyCard Wallet, Qiwi, iDeal, Todito Cash, Mol Points, NeoSurf, Dotpay and others.

You can choose your desired payment method in step 3 of the check-out process. Your choice will influence the next stage of the process.

• Selecting PayPal as your payment option will redirect you to a new webpage (gateway) where you may enter in your PayPal account details and confirm them so that PureVPN staff can process your order.

• Selecting Bank Transfer will present you with a fully prepared invoice with all the relevant details you need to make a bank transfer.

• Selecting Payza will forward you to Payza’s Member Check-Out page with your selected order details visible on the right side of the screen. You may then log-in and complete the payment transaction.

• Selecting Paymentwall will forward you to gateway of Monetization Platform Paymentwall where you can either make your payment using a Paysafe Card or make your payment using a Paymentwall powered bank transaction.

Compatibility of PureVPN for different Platforms

PureVPN offers tutorials to setup the VPN service on Windows, Mac, Linux, HP Web OS, iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Routers and Boxee Box. However, custom PureVPN apps are only available for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android.

While screenshots of PureVPN Windows app can be seen above, details on the functions and features of Mac app can be found in this detailed PureVPN Review.

PureVPN’s compatibility is gold! The service is compatible with almost every device and platform under the sun. In addition, PureVPN also works great for secondary devices such as gaming consoles and the rest.

An interesting episode I had with the PureVPN Live Chat support is worth mentioning here. I went through the full website and saw no content for using PureVPN on an XBox 360, so I decided to see if I finally had any dirt that I could use to mess with Live Chat support. Within 60 seconds of having initiated the conversation I had been presented with a URL for a PDF document constituting a detailed setup guide for setting up PureVPN on XBox 360 – with and without router support. Kudos to PureVPN!

PureVPN Internet Kill Switch

The PureVPN Internet Kill Switch has been designed to ensure uncompromising security.

The PureVPN Internet Kill Switch pauses all your internet traffic if your connection to the PureVPN server ever goes down unexpectedly.

This means that data will not leave your system unless it has been routed through PureVPN’s encrypted tunnel; because PureVPN’s Internet Kill Switch will stand guard. The Internet Kill Switch has been designed for online security lovers who are unwilling to compromise on their data security.

Once the Internet Kill Switch identifies that you have reconnected to the PureVPN server, it unpauses your internet data traffic. You can also manually deactivate PureVPN’s Kill Switch from the PureVPN if you wish to continue using the internet without VPN coverage.

According to the PureVPN FAQ on the Internet Kill Switch, the feature is accessible from PureVPN’s client software. It can be activated/deactivated by checking the feature titled “Activate Internet Kill Switch when VPN disconnects“.

PureVPN’s Optional Addons

1) SmartDNS

With PureVPN’s SmartDNS, you can go past the geo-restrictions to access your favorite movies and TV channels. The VPNs are not generally directly supported on the SmartTVs and you have to manually configure them before you use them. SmartDNS is available on all the PureVPN packages and you do not have to pay a single penny to access it.

2) Web Protection & NAT Firewall (for $2.99 per month)

The Network Address Translation Firewall (NAT Firewall) is PureVPN’s answer to users worried about end-to-end security – particularly at the VPN server end. The NAT Firewall is present at the server end and compensates for the hopeless firewall that is built into your Windows and easily penetrable.

A VPN is the ultimate online security solution, but it comes with the catch that your NAT Firewall becomes somewhat redundant, and you lose the protection that NAT Firewall provides.

Activating the PureVPN NAT Firewall will allow you to protect the IP address assigned to you by PureVPN’s server. Failing to use the NAT Firewall makes VPN users at risk from sophisticated hackers who exploit data packets to gain entry into the internet users’ system.

The image below shows how you can activate the NAT Firewall Add-on during check-out from the PureVPN website. The Add-on costs a meager $2.99 per month to secure your data stream from the VPN server end, thus ensuring safety that nobody’s grand daddy can get through (pun intended)!

3) StealthVPN Browser (For high cencorship countries & ISPs) (for $2.99 per month)

The StealthVPN Browser is a VPN browser that is fully device/OS compatible and is the perfect tool for people who want a one-shot gun-shot solution to unblock websites without any extra hassle. The ultra-light super-accessible browser ensures a zero-logging experience for all your sensitive internet use.

4) Dedicated Streaming (for $3.99 per month)

The Dedicated Streaming AddOn works by providing PureVPN users a special browser designed just for streaming purposes. Streaming anything in that browser will give you a 20Mbps speed boost. This speed boost is ideal for internet users who have slow internet connections and therefore fail to enjoy quality movie streaming because of buffering and lag.

5) Dedicated IP (for $1.99 per month)

This AddOn provides PureVPN users a fixed IP. This feature is usually used by specialized VPN users and heavy duty internet users. It is ideal for people who want to setup any form of server for others users since it will give users access to the same fixed IP every time they log in.

The Dedicated IP AddOn works in addition with the standard dynamic IP plan, which means that you will have the standard dynamic IP service at your disposal, and can activate your fixed IP whenever you want.

Tutorials Provided

Setup instructions are available for operating systems that are not catered to with custom software. These include Linux, HP WebOS (Only for WebOS Version 3.0.2 and above), OpenVPN (for Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7), Blackberry, DD-WRT flashed routers and Boxee Box.

The setup instructions are great and explained in detail with screen-shots available for most tutorials. I would like to see a VPN service that has apps, clients and software running for every operating system out there.

Protocols

PureVPN offers users access to five protocols: PPTP, L2TP/IPSec, SSTP, OpenVPN and IKEv2. However, our user-experience turned out to be a little different. The protocol drop-down menu in the PureVPN client was limited to PPTP, L2TP and SSTP.

You have to talk to the customer support about the remaining protocols and they told me that an individual looking to use Open VPN will have to connect VPN through alteration in internal configuration files while IKEv2 has to be connected manually. Clearly PureVPN chose to exaggerate the VPN connection possibilities a little.

Encryption

The PureVPN website states that all three pricing packages come with up to 256-bit encryption. It is comforting to know that PureVPN has a consumer friendly feature set accompanying the pricing plans. You get at least 256-bit encryption no matter which pricing plan you choose to subscribe to. On the other hand, I find it slightly worrying that PureVPN uses the term “upto” in identifying protocol encryption levels.

What the website won’t tell you is that the PureVPN client offers four categorical encryption settings to choose from. Once you install the free PureVPN client, go to the ‘Settings’ tab for general system settings and look under ‘Security’.

• Option 1 – No Encryption Allowed (The VPN server will disconnect and thereby drop your VPN session if you choose this and the selected VPN server requires encryption)
• Option 2 – Optional Encryption (The absence or presence of encryption will have no impact on your VPN covered internet session)
• Option 3 – Require Encryption (The VPN server will disconnect if and thereby drop your VPN session if it declines your request for Encryption)
• Option 4 – Maximum Strength Encryption (Much like in the above case, the VPN server will disconnect if and thereby drop your VPN session if it declines your request for Encryption)

It is clear that PureVPN does not want you to acquire a quantification of encryption levels at any point. However, if you use your VPN without encryption, it fails the purpose behind the entire exercise of using a VPN. I would personally choose either option 3 or option 4 – anything else would be a compromise on value for money. I suggest you follow the same approach for the sake of your own safety.

Log And Privacy Policy

The PureVPN website explicitly states that it does not share, sell or rent user information. The PureVPN website uses browser cookies (which is acceptable and in line with industry standards). Data storage and protection policies state that consumer information is not shared with any third party unless and until the consumer specifically provides permission to do so at the point of information submission. Even then, the collected information is accessible to PureVPN’s technical and maintenance staff responsible for keeping the service running and roaring.

In few paragraphs on the PureVPN privacy policy page caught my attention and actually angered me a little. According to the ‘VPN Service Data Routing’ clause, PureVPN compensates for servers experiencing down-time by routing connection requests coming to the said server towards either an alternative server in the same country or a different country altogether if deemed appropriate by the service administrators.

I do not like the sound of that and I suggest you make life miserable for the Live Chat tech support if you ever feel that you are being routed to a second server at any time during your PureVPN session.

PureVPN Free Trial

PureVPN does not offer a free trial – For users still unsure of PureVPN’s service, there is a 7 day money back guarantee. Needless to point out, 7 days is a little too short a margin considering how there are other VPN service providers out there who provide money back guarantees for as much as 30 days.

Conclusion drawn from Review of PureVPN

PureVPN is a VPN for the middle-class netizen. If you don’t have enough money in your bank account to worry about losing a few hundred dollars every month, then PureVPN is the VPN for you. The server spread is beyond good and the customer support is exceptional. The client software is extremely user friendly and the compatibility is almost pioneering. PureVPN gets my vote!

When I visited the website for this review and went to the pricing plan page, PureVPN had yet another discount campaign running and was giving 10% off on all plans. PureVPN is a big one for discounts offers. A trip through PureVPN review made it clear that PureVPN manages to come up with a new discount offer for just about every single holiday on the calendar – making PureVPN extremely affordable for people who are into smart buying.

In light of the cost-effectiveness, the moderately good service quality seems quite justified and all of it comes together to form a complete package that makes for a good return on investment.

Now that you have read about Pure VPN, how you about looking at some of these VPN reviews.