Used it for one year in China, and only because I was stupid to pay for one year upfront(I read some recommendations). I highly recommend not using VyprVPN, at least if you’re in Asia. Next time I go will choose some other VPN. All of my friends with VyprVPN switched a long time ago.
I’ve used PIA for several years now. Very reliable and reasonably priced. I use it on my wifi router to put a VPN on all the devices that attach to it and I also use it on devices when away from my wifi via the app. Speed has never been an issue.
I have 150 Mbit and if I connect to a server in The Netherlands (where I live), I keep 130 of that with PIA on. When I connect to Finland (outside all spy country agreements) I get 30-40.
I tried all the more premium options (NordVPN, Cloak, Tunnelbear) and they are all significantly slower for me.
Haven’t tried buy skype does fine.
In normal situations, wifi is slept when the display is turned off, if NordVPN only uses app based VPN’ing, that’s probably the problem. If you’re on cell and it’s happening, I don’t know what to say. The build in iOS system VPN services (Settings.app → VPN) allow the OS to handle connection and radio device control properly.
At any rate, depending on your requirements, regional availability, etc., the latter two public services I listed are my recommendations:
TunnelBear - https://www.tunnelbear.com/
Overplay - https://www.overplay.net/
And Cloak is run by like 3 guys in Seattle. Years ago when I was having trouble with their VPN they would personally email me and were fantastic about getting my issues resolved. Plus, their set up is a easy my mom could understand and use cloak when she traveled in Europe. Love them.
That sounds like a pretty good feature, definitely wish openvpn had that. I consider using this app as more of a free add on to the vpn I use with my windows laptop, and it doesn’t seem like cloak has a solution for that platform. Some people may even get a free openvpn compatible connection through their university.
Price could also be a concern for some people. Private internet access is about 40/yr for up to 5 connections at a time, and you can also use it on your pc laptops. Cloak has a lot of pricing plans, but it seems like it’s at least twice as much no matter what your situation is.
That’s what I do, no issues.
Meh. I only use it to get around the blocker at work. Free ones are sufficient for that.
I’m a bit new to this, so when you have it setup on the go you just use the app?
Used to be. They were recently acquired and are now a larger team under another company.
I still use Cloak, but I’m a lot more cautious after the acquisition. I also hate the new name they’re switching to 
No issues, unless you mean constant disconnects and authentication problems?
Best thing is to leave a computer on at home and tunnel through it.
As long as you know the risks, go for it. Lots of people don’t know the risks with using those.
I use PIA the same way as him and I’m from the US.
Yes. If you are looking for private traffic on the internet then the app is the way to go over cellular or public WiFi. Especially public WiFi as it hides your personal info such as when you use a credit card or anything else that’s highly confidential.
No it’s not considering that most people in the US have asymmetric broadband. My 7mb/s upload is not going to cut it for heavy streaming.
Could you tell us what risks as well?
This is a good point
Some free vpn programs use your computer as an exit route, so other people’s traffic is routed through you, meaning if they do sketchy shit it could fall on you. Some free vpn programs have had bitcoin and other ecoin miners that run in the background. VPNs can snoop your traffic, how much do you really trust a free vpn provider with all that private information?
Best Free VPN Apps in 2025 (And Some to Avoid) has a decent breakdown of some problems associated with vpn programs