[H]ot PIA VPN Deal

  • Thread starter Deleted member 278999
  • Start date
D

Deleted member 278999

Guest
Per sources, the XDA Developers Store (XDA Depot) has a pretty flippin' darn good deal on PIA subs.

For one year for instance they are offering 58% Off initially, but stacking the Promo Code "GIFTSHOP15" adds an extra 15% off (compounded) which brings a 1 year subscription for instance to a sweet, sweet $29.71 or $2.48/month. The regular on sale price per month is 6.96/month, 3.33/year or 2.91/two years.

https://depot.xda-developers.com/sales/private-internet-access-vpn-subscriptions

1, 3 and 5 Year Subscriptions are available!

The promo code appears to be one use only. I should have bought 5 years, ha! But alas, who knows what the future holds.

Enjoy!
 
I've always had issues with speed when using a VPN. Is this company decent with internet speeds?
 
cvinh said:
I've always had issues with speed when using a VPN. Is this company decent with internet speeds?
Click to expand...

Will depend on your speed, you will never hit your max, even if that max is low because of overhead etc from the VPN. It will also depend on load and server being used, however this is the speed I see right now.

6914650894.png
 
AltTabbins said:
Pia is the fastest I’ve found. I’m on symmetrical gigabit.
Click to expand...

Been considering trying out a VPN due to Gigapower's obvious youtube throttling (though not sure if it'll help). How fast do you get on speed tests, and how's your youtube experience?
 
StoleMyOwnCar said:
Been considering trying out a VPN due to Gigapower's obvious youtube throttling (though not sure if it'll help). How fast do you get on speed tests, and how's your youtube experience?
Click to expand...

Gigapower here, never seen any type of throttling for YT. Have you checked this? Or just assuming? Are you connecting to a CDN or straight to Google servers? In most cases this turns out to be an issue with Youtube/CDN peering and not actual throttling. You can block the CDN IP ranges however and get it to connect straight to YT, this is more or less what using a VPN does, it goes around the CDN, however blocking the CDN IP range is free.

CDN's can have HW issues, be overloaded, have peering issues to YT or ATT can have peering issues to the CDN etc etc.
 
BlueFireIce said:
Gigapower here, never seen any type of throttling for YT. Have you checked this? Or just assuming? Are you connecting to a CDN or straight to Google servers? In most cases this turns out to be an issue with Youtube/CDN peering and not actual throttling. You can block the CDN IP ranges however and get it to connect straight to YT, this is more or less what using a VPN does, it goes around the CDN, however blocking the CDN IP range is free.

CDN's can have HW issues, be overloaded, have peering issues to YT or ATT can have peering issues to the CDN etc etc.
Click to expand...

Dude, I have had friends come over and watched my videos start having to buffer down to like 240p (and then still start buffering even on that quality). Hell sometimes it just literally pauses and will not even go for minutes. Sometimes times they were my own uploads. So I don't know. Maybe the CDN near me is trash. But this sucks a lot. Every video I watch, I basically have to hope it will load without issues, and 4k is practically out of the question.

Where did you find a list of CDNs to block? I tried that before, and it did not help... but I couldn't find any complete lists on the internet.
 
Last edited:
StoleMyOwnCar said:
Dude, I have had friends come over and watched my videos start having to buffer down to like 240p (and then still start buffering even on that quality). Hell sometimes it just literally pauses and will not even go for minutes. Sometimes times they were my own uploads. So I don't know. Maybe the CDN near me is trash. But this sucks a lot. Every video I watch, I basically have to hope it will load without issues, and 4k is practically out of the question.

Where did you find a list of CDNs to block? I tried that before, and it did not help... but I couldn't find any complete lists on the internet.
Click to expand...

Sounds like the issue most people have with overloaded etc CDNs. You will have to Google for the CDNs and will probably have to check yourself the ones you are connecting to as it can change based on network and location. I also know in the past ATT has suggested using Googles DNS servers and disabling IPv6, not really sure why that would work but, there you have it.

Also after a short bit of Googling it seems Google might use their own CDN for YT, rather than a third party etc, which means there might be a list of all of them somewhere.
 
BlueFireIce said:
Sounds like the issue most people have with overloaded etc CDNs. You will have to Google for the CDNs and will probably have to check yourself the ones you are connecting to as it can change based on network and location. I also know in the past ATT has suggested using Googles DNS servers and disabling IPv6, not really sure why that would work but, there you have it.

Also after a short bit of Googling it seems Google might use their own CDN for YT, rather than a third party etc, which means there might be a list of all of them somewhere.
Click to expand...

They do use their own CDN.
 
BlueFireIce said:
Sounds like the issue most people have with overloaded etc CDNs. You will have to Google for the CDNs and will probably have to check yourself the ones you are connecting to as it can change based on network and location. I also know in the past ATT has suggested using Googles DNS servers and disabling IPv6, not really sure why that would work but, there you have it.

Also after a short bit of Googling it seems Google might use their own CDN for YT, rather than a third party etc, which means there might be a list of all of them somewhere.
Click to expand...

Look I'm no networking pro. I know how some stuff works on a basic level, but a lot of the stuff people attempt in those threads is far beyond me.

https://networkengineering.stackexc...-to-switch-to-a-different-google-global-cache

Like here, someone is noting that they tried all this complicated BS, only to find out that they blocked themselves off from content because the youtube player will not automatically switch to another CDN. It would help if you posted what you're looking at, along with any walkthroughs of how to go through with any necessary changes. Right now, I was just considering a VPN as a "maybe this'll work" solution. I could try contacting AT&T or Google, but I just seriously doubt it will do anything...
 
Kirika said:
I have had decent speeds with PIA way better then I to get with NordVPN.

Can you buy this deal and get it added to your current PIA subscription if you already have one or is it for new users only?
Click to expand...

Now here's something I'd like to know!

I've been a PIA user for years now, wouldn't mind this subscription.
 
StoleMyOwnCar said:
Look I'm no networking pro. I know how some stuff works on a basic level, but a lot of the stuff people attempt in those threads is far beyond me.

https://networkengineering.stackexc...-to-switch-to-a-different-google-global-cache

Like here, someone is noting that they tried all this complicated BS, only to find out that they blocked themselves off from content because the youtube player will not automatically switch to another CDN. It would help if you posted what you're looking at, along with any walkthroughs of how to go through with any necessary changes. Right now, I was just considering a VPN as a "maybe this'll work" solution. I could try contacting AT&T or Google, but I just seriously doubt it will do anything...
Click to expand...

Nor am I, but back when I dealt with this for people, this is more or less what I remember. Have you checked to see what servers you are connecting to or your speeds connecting to YT? Have you changed your DNS servers?
 
Seems deal does not stick with your current account. It sends you a new account info with the years purchased and a different log in. My current account only had 4 months left so wasn't so bad.
 
I have been using PIA for about 5 years. They do have speed problem sometimes but that usually resolve in couple hours. I usually connect to the US East server.
 
PIA is awesome it comes with socks5 proxy support for torrents, a desktop app with kill switch, router level openvpn certificate, chrome vpn app for browsing vpn only, and a app for your phone to vpn also.

I play online games fine while connected to most vpn servers, sometimes they are slow then I just connect to another.
 
From all these good review I just got a 2 year deal. Log in to find out that they have instruction for my asus merlin firmware. Will give it a shot.
 
Signed up for a 3 year. So far not so happy with the speeds. I have 300 down and 20 up. Always get 350 down realistically. I'm getting about 50-75 with PIA in California =*(.
 
I've posted about this before so I'll post it here again for those that might want to give it a shot if you're having issues with PIA and speeds not being what you would expect them to be, so it's worth attempting.

Go read through this post I made last year:

https://hardforum.com/threads/bittorrent-dain-bramage.1903218/#post-1042377351

The link I provided to get the OpenVPN client is no longer valid as they made some changes to their website and file servers so you'll need to open this address instead:

http://build.openvpn.net/downloads/releases/

The rest of the information is still valid from that post, however, and the version of the TAP driver - 9.9.2.3 which is the last version listed so just scroll to the bottom of the page and get the .exe installer - is still the one I recommend and use myself with PIA per those instructions. Even if you decide to use the very latest version of PIA's software you should still use the OpenVPN TAP driver 9.9.2.3 (it will overwrite the one the PIA software installs) and then use the instructions in that post I made to go the further step of manually overwriting the TAP driver that's located in the PIA installation directory with the one that gets installed in the TAP-Windows directory.

I can't explain why this process works, but it does. I moved a few months ago and didn't have PIA service for a while but I signed up again recently and I also did a clean install of my always reliable Windows 7 OS on my Latitude laptop and of course I installed the latest PIA software and then overwrote the TAP driver manually as explained in that post linked above and wham, I get the speeds I expect to get even though I'm in a different location in the US now connecting to different PIA servers than previously. After installing the default PIA software I did the usual testing and yep, slow as shit as I suspected, but then I installed that TAP driver manually and overwrote the one in the PIA directory and voila, very first connection after that was pulling 95Mb/s on a speed test which is exactly what it should be considering I have a ~100Mbps connection.

So, it's worth a shot, it takes a minute or two to get it done, and it should resolve speed issues with the "stock" PIA software. If it doesn't for some strange reason - and I've heard from a few hundred people that it helped, both here from some members and also from people at the PIA support forums where I posted the same answer like 2 years ago - then I can't say what might, but it's always resolved any and all speed issues with my PIA usage, hopefully it'll prove to be useful to others even now.
 
Tried it out Tiberian. Didn't really do much for me. Depending on the VPN connection I receive, I can reconnect and get a faster service. Just need to connect a couple of times. But still no improvement. Feels really annoying that I can't get my full 300.

Have to say though, a bit misleading on their website about their speed tests. I check the california locations, even their east coast sites with their location direct speed tests. Get full 300 there, but once I actually use their service, no where near. Going to keep testing for a few days, might see if I can get a refund.
 
Aside from typical problems from any VPN, I like PIA. Cheap, fast , reliable. I actually use it to improve my ping to some northern game servers from Texas. Drops ping about 20 points.

More folks seem to be out right blocking detected VPN traffic. Still would recommend.
 
Went with PIA with the 5-year plan myself for around $120 with the code. So far I haven't had any major problems with the speeds besides what seems to be a little slowdown every so often. Pretty much have it on and don't even notice it most of the time.
 
Quick question, relating to an issue that annoyed me when using NordVPN for international travel: does PIA's client for Windows and for Android allow a configuration where the VPN activates automatically for open Wifi connections, but does not activate automatically for secured connections?

[did I miss this setting in NordVPN's clients?]
 
StoleMyOwnCar said:
Been considering trying out a VPN due to Gigapower's obvious youtube throttling (though not sure if it'll help). How fast do you get on speed tests, and how's your youtube experience?
Click to expand...

It works great. Centurylink actually has some huge issues on youtube during peak hours. If its anytime between 4-8pm, videos will either auto-drop to 480p, or I can try and force +1080p60 and it buffers like crazy. With PIA it will pretty much load the entire video in a few seconds.
 
Thanks for the link, I was a yearly sub, but this 5 year was a better deal... and my sub was up in 2 days anyway.

15% promo code didn't work, but they offer a 10% for initial signups.
 
I signed up for 2 years and set it up. I have it running on my router, as I have various different device types, (XBOX's, Shield, PC's, HTPC, etc.) However I did not realize so many things are blocked when you use a VPN. For example, Netflix is blocked. For me it would not be a problem, I can go and switch devices on and off, however for the family - they can't really go into the router and turn it on and off (even if it was on each device, I would never expect my wife to go and turn the VPN off when she wants to watch Netflix). So what do most of you do? just leave it off, and turn it on only when you want to browse "anonymously"? I thought the point was to run the majority of your traffic over VPN so basically you were somewhat protected from monitoring. I also ran into an issue with one of my banks, which I though would have been one of the primary types of traffic I would want encrypted over a VPN... I'm starting to wonder what I am going to do here, with a VPN that I have to constantly switch on and off and won't provide any protection unless I am around to manually turn it on and off. God forbid I leave it on and I am not at home to get yelled at to allow access to Netflix.

What do you guys do for this situation?
 
nubbin77 said:
I signed up for 2 years and set it up. I have it running on my router, as I have various different device types, (XBOX's, Shield, PC's, HTPC, etc.) However I did not realize so many things are blocked when you use a VPN. For example, Netflix is blocked. For me it would not be a problem, I can go and switch devices on and off, however for the family - they can't really go into the router and turn it on and off (even if it was on each device, I would never expect my wife to go and turn the VPN off when she wants to watch Netflix). So what do most of you do? just leave it off, and turn it on only when you want to browse "anonymously"? I thought the point was to run the majority of your traffic over VPN so basically you were somewhat protected from monitoring. I also ran into an issue with one of my banks, which I though would have been one of the primary types of traffic I would want encrypted over a VPN... I'm starting to wonder what I am going to do here, with a VPN that I have to constantly switch on and off and won't provide any protection unless I am around to manually turn it on and off. God forbid I leave it on and I am not at home to get yelled at to allow access to Netflix.

What do you guys do for this situation?
Click to expand...

PIA is so common that many of their ips are blocked. Consider a lesser known VPN (Google it up, they tend to be more expensive though), or run two separate wireless access points. One for main browsing, the other dedicates to Netflix
 
Kirika said:
I have had decent speeds with PIA way better then I to get with NordVPN.

Can you buy this deal and get it added to your current PIA subscription if you already have one or is it for new users only?
Click to expand...

When you purchase it it creates a new account. Seems like you can have multiple accounts per email though.

I have an original PIA account from back when and when I got this it sent it as a gift code which I activated and it sent me new login credentials.

So even if you have an existing account you can still get in on the deal. That being said, you can't add time to your existing account.

Hope this answers some questions Kirika and for you octane
 
I didn't get the extra 10% off or whatever, so I ended up paying 36 for the year. Decided to just try it out. My speedtest looks something like this now:
6985355586.png


That's down from Gigabit speeds... but for an actual real world test, not bad (considering I'm nowhere near that location). Speedof.me speed definitely went down though.

For youtube, though, so far none of the videos I've tried have really had to buffer. AT&T was definitely either throttling me, or maybe Google was connecting me to a terrible CDN... but this is definitely better for real world performance. We'll see if it lasts. For the yearly price I was quite willing to give it a shot either way. It's a paltry fee really.

What's odd is that subsequent speed tests seem to go down in speed. I think AT&T tries to throttle VPN traffic. May just be me being paranoid, but considering my position and what I know, I just can't see the company ever really working to the customer's benefit. But that goes for every corporation I suppose.
 
Last edited:
Anyone of you using this from your router directly?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top