Feedback on renewal and suggestions

Toriko

I think PIA vpn is one of the best vpn around. 

- It is fast for me and cheap

- One of the first to properly implement a killswitch

- No-frill android app
- No-logging policy

The things that I think are negative

- Won't be able to watch Netflix ( This is very important, many people signed up for PIA to be able to just do that, I suggest that you re-route connections to sites like Netflix and Hulu like how you re-route P2P traffic or do some dns tweaks if possible)
- Cloudflare captchas, like for a month now. 
- Certain vulnerabilities like the port-forwarding one

Still, it is one of the best. 

tomeworm

I'm resigned to accept the fact that PIA will never properly address the now infamous port-forwarding scare. The month they spent kludging up their app, with one failed release after another, was an utter fiasco that we pray never happens again. For my part I just use an older version (49) and avoid using any of PIA's servers that support port forwarding. Hopefully someday PIA will see the wisdom in patching their servers. That would be not just the right thing to do, but the only right thing. The reality though is that the level of threat from the port forwarding scare was dramatically overblown and there was never a cause for the panic we saw. PIA took advantage of the panic with marketing hype and it blew up in their face. Hopefully they won't ever go down that path again.

As to geolock circumvention I'd like to see PIA once again support that. Some of PIA's competitors are being very aggressive about it, and some are even being quite innovative in the special technologies they're developing and employing. There are new companies being formed for this specific purpose, including offering "smart dns," which appears more promising for bypassing geolocks than vpn alone. I've had private discussions with several of these companies. However, they're all being very hush-hush about how they're doing it -- trade secrets and all that. But I have little doubt that they'll be successful in keeping several steps ahead of Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, et al.

It's pretty clear by now though it won't be happening with PIA. We've already attempted to have that discussion and it was shut down. More than one of my comments in that thread was deleted entirely, allegedly due to "legal concerns." PIA appears very afraid over any talk of geolock circumvention, especially where it concerns any mention of Netflix.

My sense is that it's as much an issue of PIA's recognition of their own technological limitations as anything. PIA will never admit this though, so instead has attempted to portray this as a "legal issue." I'm reasonably confident that's just a smoke screen. Geolock circumvention requires a significant commitment to technological innovation and expertise. That's something PIA is dreadfully lacking in. PIA is a marketing-driven company, not a technology company, and the evidence for that is more than adequately proven by their port forwarding debacle. Running a vpn company is relatively simple compared to the technological challenges of staying a step or two ahead of geolockers like Netflix.

Toriko

I think it is possible what you are saying might be true. 

UltraHumanite

I think that the way things stand there is no perfect VPN service that covers all the bases and a prospective user has to research and test different providers before committing to one that suits his needs the most.

I think that PIA has rested on its laurels and become stagnant. There seems to be a lot of interest in advertising, deals and discounts designed to lure in new customers but not nearly as much attention to making sure the service is well maintained and improved. 

Khariz

I think there is such a perfect service. I use it myself. Out of respect to PIA though, I don't discuss their competitors here.

tomeworm

@Khariz, I agree and I do thank you for your recommendation. They are indeed a great vpn company. Not as large as PIA, but absolutely brilliant folks that do deliver on their promises. Excellent support too.

moshbeast

@[email protected] ; I appreciate you guy's insight but I gotta ask...if you found a VPN service that is much more to your liking, then why are you still on this forum complaining?? I would've forgotten PIA even existed at this point...time to move on, don't ya think? no offense ( I know you're not complaining in this topic but you are in others )

tomeworm

@moshbeast, I'm still a PIA customer, so I'll be sticking around at least until my subscription expires, perhaps even longer. Participation in these forums often brings challenges, both interesting challenges and sometimes annoying ones. I like being challenged. I've also met some great people here and a few nut jobs. You would fall into the former category.

Khariz also falls into the former category. Part of the reason Khariz may still be around is I asked him to not leave us. I've valued his input that has come from his having used so many different VPNs. He's a wealth of knowledge and he knows what he's talking about. He's also very diplomatic, something that's desperately needed in these forums.

OmniNegro

I am not a current PIA subscriber either. And the reason I am still here is that you cannot rely upon news about a VPN from anyone but the VPN itself.

Plus I have invested too much time and effort in a number of threads here to walk away now.

tomeworm

Omni, you're a gentleman, but you're also a glutton for punishment. You should have fled these forums long ago!

Khariz

I'm now a former PIA customer! I'm going to try to still make positive contributions to this forum. I fear that I'll still be a sarcastic jerk from time to time, but I'll do more help then harm.