You have probably heard about Avira antivirus. Avira Phantom VPN is from the same company. Does it mean that this VPN can ensure the safety of any activities you do online including torrenting? Or maybe it is another provider that can’t live up to the hype? We decided to test the service out to answer the simple question ‘Is Avira Phantom VPN good for torrenting or no?’ If you want to know what we discovered, keep on reading.
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Does Avira Phantom VPN Allow Torrenting?
Normally, you can find details about a provider’s offering right on its website. Apparently, Avira Phantom VPN breaks its tradition. Their website tells nothing about peer-to-peer file sharing. We had to reach out to their customer support for clarification.
The support replied that Avira Phantom VPN doesn’t block any type of traffic. In simple words, it means that you can use any Avira’s server for torrenting. The company doesn’t feature P2P optimized servers to maximize your experience; therefore, the safest option is to connect to locations in torrent-friendly countries – the Netherlands, Switzerland, Mexico, etc.
Avira Phantom VPN Main Features
Although Avira Phantom VPN allows torrenting, it is yet not clear if it is a good option. A fast and secure connection, no logging, as well as easy to use apps, are three pillars of a VPN suitable for torrenting. Let’s see how Avira Phantom is doing in these aspects.
- Speeds. Unfortunately, Avira Phantom CPN doesn’t come on tops in this regard. When we connected to servers in Europe close to our physical location, the slowdown varied within a 30-80% range. After hooking up to a location in the USA, we experienced a 75% speed drop. Although the results show inconsistency, you can still get a decently fast server if you’re willing to spend a few minutes on searches.
- Security. The service features the industry-standard AES 256-bit cipher paired with OpenVPN (for Windows, Mac, and Android), IPSec (for Android), and IKEv2 (for iOS). Its apps feature protection from IPv4 and IPv6 leaks (we couldn’t find any leakage during our tests) and the Windows client has a Kill Switch. That’s good that Avira Phantom supplies the essential security functionality but some helpful features are missing. There is no port forwarding or SOCKS5 proxy, for example.
- Jurisdiction. Avira GmbH is a company registered in Germany. While Germany is famous for its outstanding quality, it is actually not the best country to register a VPN. First of all, Germany has to comply with rigorous EU data retention laws. Secondly, it is a member of the Fourteen Eyes alliance. It means that German authorities may secretly spy on people, including Avira’s clients and share intelligence data with the partners.
- Logging. By and large, jurisdiction doesn’t matter if your provider keeps no logs at all. Thankfully, the service has only minor logging – the total amount of bandwidth consumed and some diagnostic information (you can opt-out from the latter). No personal data is collected.
- App convenience. Avira’s apps are pretty convenient and easy to set up. No wonder, there are not many features to play with. Nevertheless, if you require a simple and straightforward app, Avira Phantom VPN is a good choice.
- Pricing. The service’s subscription is affordable to anyone. You can start with a Free plan that features 500 Mb monthly. For unlimited data, there are three plans available. You can have the service for as low as 2.95 euro/month if you’re going to use it on either Android or iOS devices.
Best Alternative VPNs for Torrenting
Avira VPN has some good features but for us, it is a hit-or-miss service. If you require a perfect VPN for torrenting, you should look elsewhere. Where to look? At the list, we posted below. Here, are the best alternative VPNs that combine lightning-fast connection speed with maximum security, and ease of use:
- Provider
- User Rating
- Our Review
- Price
NordVPN- 10429 Votes
- $3.29 / month
PureVPN- 4807 Votes
- $3.24 / month
ExpressVPN- 3795 Votes
- $6.67 / month
Conclusion
Do we recommend Avira Phantom VPN for torrenting? No. Its speed is not good and registration in the Fourteen Eyes country is a potential threat to your privacy. There are many trustworthy VPNs that outperform Avira Phantom, so it makes sense to use them instead. Check out the list we compiled for you to learn which providers we recommend.