Securing a Private Internet Access dedicated IP equates to unlocking a personalized online experience. Bypass the drawbacks of shared IPs and enhance your privacy by understanding what a PIA dedicated IP address is, its main benefits, and how to seamlessly integrate it into your digital life.
The real question, however, is whether or not a dedicated IP from Private Internet Access (PIA) is worth the extra price. This is a tough decision, especially when you examine some of the other best VPNs for a dedicated IP.
Key Takeaways
- Private Internet Access offers a dedicated Internet Protocol (IP) address as an add-on feature to their VPN service, providing users with a stable online identity, fewer CAPTCHAs, and improved privacy through their token-based system which ensures dedicated IP addresses cannot be linked to personal accounts.
PIA’s dedicated IP enhances online activities such as secure banking, uninterrupted gaming, and simplified remote work access, by preventing IP bans and facilitating consistent access to resources with the option for server location choices across the globe.
The dedicated IP address feature of PIA offers a consistent online presence across all user devices. It can be activated on all your devices, is easy to set up via PIA’s user-friendly platform, and comes at an additional cost that varies with the chosen VPN subscription plan.
- Private Internet Access did not make our list of the best VPNs – but it may serve your purposes as an inexpensive way to get a dedicated IP address.
- Based on our extensive testing, the best VPN for a dedicated IP is NordVPN, with a 74% off coupon here.
Now let's examine the main facts about Private Internet Access.
| VPN | Private Internet Access |
| Based in | USA |
| Logs | No logs |
| Price | $2.03/mo. |
| Support | Email and Chat |
| Refund | 30 days |
| Website | PrivateInternetAccess.com |
Understanding PIA Dedicated IP
A dedicated IP address serves as a unique, stable identifier. This feature is a game-changer, especially for those who need a permanent IP address for secure internet access from various devices. PIA provides this dedicated IP address feature, which guarantees a stable online identity, minimizes CAPTCHAs, and streamlines remote connections.
PIA’s dedicated IP feature delivers strong privacy and security. It’s an attractive feature for those who want to keep their online activities discreet and uninterrupted, providing an exclusive online identity that distinguishes you from the crowd.
While there are several distinct advantages to using a dedicated IP address, there are also potential drawbacks, including an additional monthly charge. In this article, we will cover the pros and the cons of using PIA with a dedicated IP address, and help you decide whether using one is worth the small additional monthly fee.
The Importance of a Dedicated IP Address
A dedicated IP address offers the following benefits:
Ensures a consistent online identity
- Reduces the chances of access interruptions caused by shared IP addresses
Particularly beneficial when you frequent certain websites that might block or limit access from shared IPs
PIA’s dedicated IP offers the following benefits:
- It reduces CAPTCHAs and other access interruptions, resulting in a smoother online experience.
It provides an added layer of privacy by not being linked to any personal information.
It allows you to surf the web with peace of mind.
The CAPTCHA issue can be a real problem, as we noted in the Mullvad vs NordVPN comparison guide, with Mullvad struggling to overcome CAPTCHA challenges.
PIA's Token-Based System
One drawback of the dedicated IP address systems that most VPNs use (including the PureVPN dedicated IP feature) is that the address is tied to the user's VPN account. PIA distinguishes itself with a token-based system for dedicated IP addresses. This system ensures that your dedicated address cannot be traced back to your VPN account or email address, protecting your anonymity.
The token-based system functions as a secret key to your dedicated address. PIA does not have any records that show which user owns which token. While this is great for anonymity, it places the burden of protecting the token upon the user.
Once you receive your token, we highly recommend that you store it securely, as it acts like a password that cannot be retrieved if lost. While that is an additional burden on you, it grants you great flexibility as well as anonymity.
You can share tokens at will and acquire multiple dedicated addresses without compromising privacy or anonymity. This system highlights PIA’s commitment to operational security and user privacy.
Note: The CyberGhost dedicated IP option also uses a token-based system.
How to Get Your PIA Dedicated IP
Securing a dedicated IP address from PIA is easy. It’s an additional price add-on option you can select during VPN subscription checkout, meaning you can start enjoying the benefits of a dedicated IP immediately.
Post-purchase, you can acquire dedicated addresses by redeeming and validating the unique token supplied by PIA on your account dashboard. This process ensures that your dedicated IP address is ready to use immediately. An additional benefit of this approach is that you can generate multiple tokens, allowing you to control multiple dedicated addresses based on your unique requirements.
VPN Plan Options and Pricing
PIA provides a range of pricing options to suit different user needs. A monthly VPN subscription plan is priced at $11.95, while an annual plan costs $3.33 per month. For those looking for the best value, the three-year VPN subscription plan delivers at a rate of $1.98 per month + 4 months free. They also sometimes offer VPN coupons for users.
The cherry on top is the option to add a dedicated IP address to your VPN plan at an additional cost as low as $2.50 per month with the three-year plan. That said, there is no free trial VPN option if you are using a dedicated IP, due to the added cost.
With flexible duration options, PIA ensures that you can choose a plan that suits your needs and budget. The pricing of their three-year plan puts them firmly into the cheap VPN pricing category. Unfortunately, PIA did not qualify for our list of the best cheap VPNs.
Setting Up Your Dedicated IP Address
After selecting a plan and buying a dedicated IP, PIA sends setup instructions that are easy to follow via email. These include activating your dedicated IP address from the Dedicated IP tab in the Client Control Panel, a process designed to be user-friendly and hassle-free.
Before finalizing the payment, you need to log in to your Client Control Panel to choose the duration and location of your dedicated IP address. This choice is permanent, so it’s crucial to think about your needs and requirements beforehand. After payment, you’ll receive a dedicated IP token, which you should store securely since PIA does not retain this information.
Activating your dedicated IP address is simple. On the desktop, navigate to the PIA client settings, input your dedicated IP token, and validate it under the Dedicated IP section. The process is similar on mobile devices, as you simply enter the dedicated IP token in the app’s Dedicated IP option to activate it.
Note: Once again, remember that once a location for a dedicated IP is chosen and redeemed, it is permanent and cannot be changed.
PIA's Global Server Network for Dedicated IPs
PIA offers its dedicated IP users a broad array of server location choices. This global server network ensures flexibility depending on your needs, as you can choose a dedicated IP from major countries such as:
the US
Canada
Australia
the UK
Germany
They currently offer dedicated IPs in 26 locations spread across 10 countries. Not surprisingly for this US-based VPN, the country that has the most dedicated IP address locations is the United States.
After choosing a plan and making a payment, you’ll be prompted to select your dedicated IP location from a predefined list. This location will be permanently associated with your user account, providing you with a consistent online identity that can bypass geo-restrictions and provide access to location-specific content, such as when using a VPN for China to evade censorship.
Enhance Your Online Experience with PIA's Dedicated IP
The dedicated IP feature from PIA delivers numerous benefits, capable of significantly improving your online experience. It: @@
Prevents potential IP bans caused by other VPN users on shared IP addresses
Facilitates uninterrupted online activities
Ensures a consistent online identity
Let’s explore certain use cases wherein a dedicated IP can drastically alter your online experience, encompassing secure banking, uninterrupted gaming, and simplified access to online services for remote work.
Banking Made Secure
Given the sensitive nature of financial data, online banking necessitates robust security measures. A dedicated IP from PIA can provide seamless access to your banking accounts, preventing security warnings and blocked access that may arise from using non-dedicated or shared IP addresses.
Financial institutions tend to be less suspicious when they can connect with consistent and reputable IP addresses, which are attributes associated with a dedicated IP. Using a dedicated IP for online banking helps maintain a clean IP reputation, crucial for sensitive tasks like money transfers and accessing financial statements.
Gaming Without Interruptions
A dedicated IP could drastically improve your online gaming experience, providing faster speeds and possibly reduced latency (lag). It offers a stable connection that doesn’t change, assisting game servers in recognizing data packets, which can lead to reduced latency or ping.
Having a static IP address, as opposed to a shared IP address, when creating a temporary game server offers the advantage of:
Maintaining a consistent IP, making it unnecessary to look up the IP each time
Simplifying the multiplayer experience
Increasing the chances of more victories on the battlefield.
We discuss this more in our guide on static vs dedicated IP VPNs.
Remote Work Access Simplified
In the current digital era, remote work is more of a norm than an exception. A static IP address provided by PIA offers remote workers stable and uninterrupted access to business resources, which is crucial for remote communication platforms like VoIP services.
Businesses can enhance security and prevent unauthorized access by using dedicated IPs to implement allowlists and policies for server access. Dedicated IPs provide enhanced server-level control and network configurations to support the productivity and collaboration needs of remote employees.
PIA's Dedicated IP Across All Your Devices
One benefit of a dedicated IP address from PIA is that the service supports unlimited simultaneous connections. This means you can present a consistent online identity and reap the benefits of dedicated IP addresses, regardless of the device you’re using.
Note: Surfshark is another VPN that offers dedicated IP addresses and supports unlimited simultaneous connections. Click this link to learn more about the Surfshark dedicated IP address offering.
PIA’s dedicated IP can be activated on a range of device types, using the dedicated IP token within the PIA client on both desktop and mobile devices. But NordVPN dedicated IP addresses are supported on an even wider range of devices.
Comparing PIA with Other VPN Providers
When compared to other VPN providers, the dedicated IP feature of PIA has both pros and cons. The company is based in the United States, which is part of the Five Eyes surveillance alliance. This is not ideal, but PIA's token system can provide significant anonymity for users. PIA has and no logs policy and has stated in court that they do not log user activity, which is great. But as of now, they have not published a third-party audit to prove that they are a no logs VPN.
Private Internet Access has upgraded its server network to RAM-only servers with 10 Gbps connections. This matches what the industry leaders are doing. Unlike NordVPN, PIA's network contains close to 200 virtual servers. We cover the pros and cons of virtual servers in this article.
Note: We were not able to get a clear read on how many servers PIA has, as the company simply says their network is large.
While PIA could be a good choice for a dedicated IP VPN, it lags the top services in several areas. It is not a good VPN for Netflix and the built-in VPN ad blocker performs worse than those built into other VPNs such as ExpressVPN and NordVPN (among other issues).
PIA claims to be the fastest VPN, and it does support the fast WireGuard VPN protocol, but industry-leading VPNs NordVPN and Surfshark were far faster in our real-world testing. So were ExpressVPN and Proton VPN, although ExpressVPN does not offer dedicated IP addresses. This ExpressVPN dedicated IP article explains their reasoning.
While PIA is more affordable than NordVPN, it does not offer a student discount or a 30-day money-back guarantee. Despite its low cost, PIA did not make it into our list of the best cheap dedicated IP VPNs.
Summary
A dedicated IP from PIA offers numerous benefits for online privacy and security. With its unique token-based system and the ability to use the same IP across all devices, PIA is a reasonably strong option for someone who specifically needs a dedicated IP address.
However, our testing shows that numerous dedicated IP VPNs are superior to PIA. You can read about them in this guide to the best VPNs for dedicated and static IP addresses. Even in the low-price category, several superior options are covered in this cheap dedicated IP VPN guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some of the most frequently asked questions related to getting and using a PIA dedicated IP:
What are the benefits of a dedicated IP?
A dedicated IP provides a consistent online identity, reduces CAPTCHAs, ensures smoother remote connections, and enhances online privacy.
How does PIA compare with other VPN providers?
PIA has some real advantages over other VPNs, but also some potentially crippling weaknesses that are delineated in our complete PIA review. You could also consider NordVPN and CyberGhost as two better options. ProtonVPN is also worth consideration.
This PIA dedicated IP article was last updated on May 27, 2024.
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