Best VPNs for Australia

Best VPNs for Australia

 

Since mandatory data retention was introduced in 2017. Privacy and data have been very much an issue in Australia. With the Liberal-National coalition fending off a defeat in the 2019 national elections, many privacy watch groups are concerned that the party will continue to ramp up government overwatch and access to the Australian public’s data. However, this article provides the best VPNs for Australia

Digital Right’s Watch assigned privacy scorecards to all the parties and the Liberal-National coalition scored bottom for digital rights.

The recent introduction of the Assistance and Access Act means Australian law enforcement agencies now can access encrypted communication of anyone that they suspect of criminal activities. No warrant or proof required. This has caused widespread outrage as well as the need for technology companies to build backdoors in their encryption protocols which can then be sniffed out by hackers.

With the rise of censorship and privacy intrusion by the Australian government, there has never been a better time to invest in a great VPN and protect your anonymity.

In this article, we pick out the best 5 VPN services for Australia and answer any questions you might have about using a VPN in Australia and how to overcome the growing privacy issues.

 

What Makes a Good Australian VPN?

There are thousands of VPN’s, free and paid. How can you choose which one is right for you?

• Zero Logs Policy: The best VPN provider will not log your data. With strict laws and the tendency for Australian law enforcement to search and ask questions later. The best providers will have no logs to show
• Pro-Netflix: Australia is often one of the last English-speaking countries to access the newest content. With a great VPN you don’t have to wait. Access all your favourite media sites with ease. Whether you are using Kodi or checking out US Netflix, HBO or Hulu. These sites block many VPN’s who don’t rotate servers and IP’s.
• Torrent Friendly: If you love uploading and downloading files, find a VPN provider that has speed and even special P2P servers which are modified for Torrenting.
• Secure: The best VPN’s in Australia should have secure 256-bit AES encryption. With an increasing number of Australian companies building back doors to allow government snooping.
• A Good Price: A good VPN shouldn’t cost you more than $9.99 per month, with some offering yearly subscriptions for $3-7 per month depending on the term of the contract. As well as a 7-45 day money-back guarantee in case you don’t like the service
• Gaming Speed: Gamers need speed. Pick a VPN that is going to give you local speeds of 60MBps+, as well as obscuring traffic to avoid ISP throttling (where an Internet Service Provider will slow down your internet speed) as well as lower latency. Remember it’s all about lowering the ping speed, with the best VPN servers delivering pings of 30ms or less
• Multi-Devices: A good VPN will allow you to connect to 5+ simultaneous devices. Meaning you can keep all your devices secure. It should also offer cross technology support.

 

 

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Best VPNs for Australia

Our pick of the Top 5 VPN providers in Australia, that meet all the criteria and more.

 

Surf Shark

Our new kid on the block. Surf shark is one of the fastest-growing VPN networks in the world. With their application downloaded 100,000 times compared to the 10M+ downloads of ExpressVPN, they are still some way off but gaining traction.

Their biggest selling point is their price, with a multi-year plan starting as low as $1.94 a month, and they offer a 30-day free trial, as well as 30-day money-back guarantee.

They have an as yet untested zero logs policy, which has been verified by a third-party German security company. Demonstrating that they keep no logs of their user’s activity online.

Where Surf shark excels is the sheer number of features on offer for the price. They offer a similar feature to NordVPN’s Double VPN service. You can multihop your data through 2 neighbouring countries VPN. Also, their Clean Web function acts as an inbuilt ad and content blocker. You can also choose servers based on your usage preference.

Surf shark has a beautiful application with a clean interface. Though there are still some bugs they are working out. This reviewer had used Surf Shark and raved about it but got frustrated with some glitches in the application upon connection and disconnection. But we are sure those are just teething problems that will or have already been fixed.

You’ll have no problem using Kodi and accessing Netflix, Hulu or HBO with Surf shark, and enjoy great speeds and unlimited data usage.

 

 

NordVPN

NordVPN along with ExpressVPN and Surfshark are some of the most established names in the VPN industry. They offer the largest number of servers of any VPN provider with 5,500+ servers across 62 locations their depth of server architecture is matchless.

NordVPN offers a whole host of additional features which makes them stand. You can enjoy inbuilt adblocker and malware software which makes browsing the internet a clean and ad-free experience. They also offer a double proxy service which allows your connection to be routed through 2 VPN servers making it almost untraceable.

Their zero logs policy has been true. NordVPN were not able to give logs, because they kept none. Meaning they are a provider who has proved they can be trusted. They also have a warrant canary on their site, which lets their users know if they have been served a subpoena for their servers or logs.

With over 5,000 servers you can be sure to find a fast server near to you with many of their servers modified to be P2P friendly and give you the maximum upload and download speeds.

You are also all set to use Kodi or stream US Netflix. NordVPN offers access to hundreds of media sites at the click of a button, allowing you to freely stream content from all around the world.

Due to their size, you can get a multi-year pass for as little as $2.29 per month and connect 6 devices simultaneously.

 

 

ExpressVPN

With access to 4 servers in Australia, plus 3,000+ other servers in 94+ countries. ExpressVPN is the most trusted VPN provider around.

With a zero logs policy that is watertight and has even been tested in an international criminal investigation, ExpressVPN has proven that they will not log anything you do through their VPN.

Prices start from as low as $6.67 per month, with a 30-day money-back guarantee. They offer blazing fast speeds, one of the fastest in the industry with a very little downtick in your speed. This holds for most locations worldwide, as ExpressVPN have a deep and wide infrastructure.

Their security is military grade with 256-bit AES encryption. Configurability security means you can make your connection secure if you are a gamer and want to squeeze a bit more speed out of your connection. With IP masking you can obscure your data to your ISP and circumvent monitoring.

ExpressVPN will work like a dream for torrenting, US Netflix and Kodi and they are one of the best at circumventing censorship and geographic IP restrictions.

Their application is intuitive and easy to use and even has its own inbuilt speed test, so you can test local servers for the best speed before connecting. With each subscription, you can connect 5 simultaneous devices and it will work on Windows, Android, Linux or iOS.

 

 

IPVanish

IPVanish is well known in the industry for fantastic speeds and customer service. With 40,000+ IP’s available in 2,000+ servers and 75+ locations. IPVanish offers a unique IP sharing service. Several users can use the same IP pool, which means that it becomes impossible to track the actions of one user.

They have a solid zero logs policy and their security is top-notch. Even opting to use the slightly faster and more secure IKEv2 protocol over OpenVPN, the most up-to-date security protocol. You will enjoy comparable encryption to the US government, meaning you don’t have to worry about your data transmission being broken or malicious agents or the Australian government taking advantage of an inbuilt back door.

With plans starting as low as $6.50 per month you can enjoy blazing-fast speeds and unlimited bandwidth and data for streaming, torrenting, or just browsing. You can also use a SOCKS5 proxy for more advanced users who want to increase their security.

What sets IPVanish apart from its competitors is that it cares about its competitors. One of the few providers to give you a toll-free number so you can call and speak to an actual human being. Imagine that! You can also access a comprehensive support center, ticket system, and 24/7 customer service agents through online chat.

 

 

CyberGhost

Cyberghost boasts over 30 million users and a 70 strong engineering team. One of the more transparent VPN providers around, they are proud of showing off their in-house talent. With prices starting as low as $2.10 for multiyear passes they are also one of the cheapest providers around.

They have a clear zero logs policy and go beyond many other VPN providers by showing just how many requests they have received each year. Another provider who has been consistently tested to reveal information on their users and never been found wanting.

With 3,500+ servers in 55 countries, they also have one of the biggest server parks in the industry. You can enjoy blazing fast speeds, as well 1,000 + servers that have been specially tailored to torrenting.

They have a wealth of easy user guides, which was broad and offered step by step instructions to access up to date media content. The user interface for their application is also highly intuitive and tailored to help find the best servers for you whether you are browsing, streaming or torrenting.

Like NordVPN they also have an inbuilt adblocker and block malicious content. This is all done server-side which means they are better than extensions. Particularly if you are on a mobile plan with limited data.

Their great speeds mean that using Kodi or accessing the latest content on US Netflix with their intuitive interface that lets you connect to popular media sites directly within the application.

Like Surfshark, CyberGhost uses IP sharing, which means the same IP is shown to be used by multiple people making it impossible to discern who is doing what specifically using that IP.

 

 

Will a VPN Avoid Australia’s Data Retention Law?

Every company must abide by their countries data retention law. In Australia, this is stricter than most. Companies that are based in Australia are compelled by law to keep metadata of their users. Including connection times, data usage and IP’s used. 

Coupled with access to encrypted data, Australia has been plummeting down the data and privacy rights boards over the past few years.

Luckily a VPN company does not have to contend with these laws unless it is physically based in Australia. All our VPN providers like NordVPN are based in countries that have no data retention laws, or if they are based in the US. They simply circumvent these laws by keeping no logs of their user’s data.

Australia’s restricted data laws only apply to companies that are based there, which is why we wouldn’t recommend a company based there.

 

Can I Torrent Safely With the best VPNs in Australia

Torrenting can be easily detected by your ISP due to the huge influx of data that is tracked back to your IP. This can then be reported with authorities or you may be served a cease and desist notice.

But if you use a VPN provider then your ISP will never know you are torrenting. Because the connection between your computer and your VPN server is encrypted. These packets are indistinguishable from all the others using your cabled connection and your sending and receiving IP has changed.

Meaning that with a secure VPN provider you can torrent safely, anonymously and quickly. On top of this, the Australian government has made it a law, that internet service providers must block access to user’s accessing sites that are known to allow access to illegal material which is being shared without due process to copyright laws.

Using a VPN provider, you can access these sites using anonymous servers, or an IP address based outside of Australia.

 

What are Their Current Rules on Torrents / Filesharing?

Torrenting and filesharing are legal in most countries including Australia. What may not be legal is the content that is being shared. If the content is subject to copyright and has been shared without the consent of the provider, then this is illegal.

Australia passed a tough new anti-piracy law in 2018. The Copyright Amendment Bill closed loopholes to allow proxies and mirror sites to be used by popular piracy and torrenting sites.

It also compels Google and Bing to remove links from their search engine in Australia. Meaning it is becoming increasingly difficult for piracy sites to operate in Australia.

The climate of increased censorship of content has also caused concerns as there is no official guidance about a strict set of rules which decides what sites are offensive and what are not. Giving the state overarching powers to block content they deem unsuitable.

 

Should I use a VPN While Using Kodi?

Kodi is your all-in-one media solution. With access to tens of thousands of the latest tv shows, films and sporting events from all around the world.

Australian users can enjoy access to content as soon as it’s released using the hundreds of add-ons that Kodi supports. However, using Kodi without a VPN will mean 99% of these add owns will be blocked by your ISP.

In order to get the best out of Kodi, we recommend using a VPN to ensure that you get access to all the content and add-ons that Kodi supports.

 

VPNs to Avoid in Australia

The VPN’s we avoid falling into 2 broad categories. VPN’s that have been shown to not adhere to their zero logs policy including providers like HideMyAss, Earth VPN and PureVPN.

When asked to provide logs in ongoing criminal investigations these 3 companies provide logs that lead to successful arrests. We do not condone criminal activities. We merely want to point you towards the fact, that these were providers who had previously promised they keep no logs of their user’s activity.

This statement was found to be false, and we want to advise against users engaging with these providers if they want to guarantee their anonymity.

The second category is several freemium providers. Your user data will probably end up being sold by them.

A VPN’s primary role is to keep your privacy safe, your data secure and your identity anonymous.

2 of the worst examples of data breaches came from HolaVPN and Hot Spot Shield.

 

Hola VPN

HolaVPN have sites to revealing just how bad their VPN is. They use a mirror service – luminati.io. Through Hola, they offer a supposed free residential proxy service to allow you to access content with geographically restrictions. So, you use other users residential IP in the US to access Netflix USA.

Your data is vulnerable to a man in the middle attack on your traffic as it routs through an unknown proxy.

Secondly, your proxy and data will be sold by Hola VPN. This means you could be liable for whatever traffic is travelling through your IP. Also, you could have your bandwidth used up by another user who is streaming content, slowing down your connection.

On top of this HolaVPN will share your data with advertisers and sell it to the highest bidder. They represent the worst of the VPN industry, who offer a secure service and abuse your trust.

 

Hot Spot Shield

Hot Spot Shield also offer a freemium model. You can get meager data and use the service for free.

In return, they injected cookies into your data. Advertisers and companies were paying for targeted ad campaigns to appear in your browsing sessions without your consent.

Evidence submitted to the FTC (Fair Trade Commission) in the US showed extensive evidence that Hot Spot Shield was persistently injecting cookies and scripts into users’ data.

Avoid them at all costs.

 

Any Legislative Concerns / on the Horizon for File Sharers or Privacy Fans

With the election of the Liberal-National coalition, it is likely that there will be further restrictions and tighter regulations around censorship.

This coupled with invasive policies which allow government agencies to break users’ encryption makes an oppressive environment.

Technology companies like Atlassian have pointed out that Australia is seriously damaging its global competitiveness. Due to so much regulation and the need to publicly build back doors into their encryption.

Users face a dual threat of state agents and malicious third parties who are working to discover these back doors.

Use a secure VPN like Surfshark and secure your data today.

Note: For more information about Surfshark, please read our Surfshark Review.

 

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How to Install Surfshark VPN on Firestick

If your Firestick still has the older interface, read this article to learn how to update it: Update Firestick Interface.

Follow our screenshots below to install the SurfShark VPN app on your Fire TV stick.

1. Go to the Home screen of your Firestick.

 

2. Navigate towards the Find tab. Press the Search button from the resulting dropdown.

 

3. Type in the keyword of SurfShark and select from the suggestions that will appear.

 

4. Click the official SurfShark icon from your search results.

 

5. Press the Download (You own it) button.

 

6. The SurfShark VPN installer will download on your device.

 

7. SurfShark VPN’s app will automatically install itself on your Fire TV stick.

 

8. Press the Open button after completing SurfShark VPN’s installation process.

 

9. Please wait for the SurfShark VPN to load its user interface.

 

10. You can now log in with your SurfShark VPN account credentials.

Learn more about Surfshark and Grab the Best Surfshark Deal Now!

 

Install Surfshark on Firestick

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