Why Use a VPN in Australia

Australia just like many countries in the world is home to cyber attacks, content censorships and restrictions as well as government surveillance.

Typically, Australians are not considered the top priority when making films, developing games, and streaming contents for native English speakers around the world. This implies that you have very few options to play games and stream contents with Australian IPs. In addition, Australians are expected to pay an online ‘Goods Tax’ which amounts to about 20% on Netflix which has fewer contents for them than for Americans.

Furthermore, piracy has become rampant in Australia which made the federal court compel ISPs to block some popular Torrenting websites. Torrenting copyrighted contents is a very serious crime which can incur severe punishment.

In addition to all this, Australians have to deal with government agencies that have been empowered by laws to have access to their meta-data. By just filling a short form, your ISPs will have no choice but to release all the information they have of you.

Lastly, Cybercrimes is at an all-time high. Australia is one of the top ten nations targeted by hackers all over the world. Public Wi-Fi’s that are popularly used all over the countries are more vulnerable to such attacks.

 

Top Reasons why you need a VPN in Australia:

• VPNs offer anonymity

• VPNs protect you from hackers and secure your Internet connection

• Secures your privacy from government surveillance

• Help you avoid Australian Site Blocking Bill and Data Retention Law

• Help you avoid the notorious “Netflix tax”

• Help you access Australia-only content from abroad (Channel 9, Stan TV)

• Offers access to geo-restricted content

Best VPNs for Australia

NordVPN

NordVPN is arguably one of the best VPN service providers anywhere in the world today. With more than 3500 servers in over 400 locations worldwide, NordVPN offers Australian access to geo-locked contents like Netflix, BBC iPlayer and so on. NordVPN’s Australian servers are capable of unblocking and spoofing local contents.

NordVPN is based out in Panama which implies that it is not under any laws to track and monitor users. It has a strict no logging policy, a kill-switch, a DNS leak protection, double VPN encryption as well as VPN into Tor.

NordVPN supports Torrenting, HD streaming, and PSP sharing at very fast speeds with unlimited bandwidth. Australians can enjoy NordVPN services on up to six simultaneous devices operating on all the major platforms. NordVPN’s monthly plan cost about $12 and users can take advantage of the 30-day money back guarantee.

Pros:

• Zero-logs policy

• Connect 6 devices simultaneously

• Wide selection of servers

• Very fast speeds

• 30-day refund

• P2P with unlimited bandwidth

• Excellent customer service

Cons:

• Does not block ads

• Double encryption affects the speed

ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN is one of the biggest and fastest VPN services providers in the world today. This British Virgin Islands-based company has over 1500 servers located in Australia and 90 other countries. Just like NordVPN, ExpressVPN uses the standard, AES-encryption as well as the OpenVPN military grade tunneling protocol. ExpressVPN has a kill-switch, a smart DNS and so many other amazing features that are quite handy in unblocking geo-locked contents, providing privacy and security as well as fast internet browsing speeds.

The location of this company gives it an edge in terms of not being under any spying and surveillance law. ExpressVPN offers unlimited bandwidth, fast speeds for online gaming, Torrenting, and HD streaming.

ExpressVPN’s monthly plan costs just $13 plus it has a 30 –day money back guarantee feature.

Pros:

• User-friendly apps

• Zero-log policy

• Strong encryption

• Unlimited bandwidth

• Fast Speeds for streaming, P2P, gaming,

• Killswitch

• Accepts Bitcoin

• 30-day money-back guarantee

Cons:

• Doesn’t block ads

• The monthly plan is expensive

• Logs non-identifiable metadata

Hotspot Shield

Hotspot Shield VPN is one that is quite popular for offering users extremely fast internet connection speeds. It is ideal for Australians who perform data-intensive tasks like HD streaming, P2P Torrenting and online gaming. Hotspot shield has over 2500 servers in more than 25 countries worldwide. Its Australian servers are particularly very effective in providing security and privacy for users.

Although Hotspot Shield free plan does collect or store users’ data, the premium plans do not store user logs. Also, it is important to know that Hotspot Shield does not make use of the popular OpenVPN protocols instead it uses its own unique protocol that relies on the OpenSSL library in addition to the AES-128 data encryption. This makes Hotspot shield very fast, secure and reliable. It is very easy to use and allows for up to 5 simultaneous connections.

Pros:

• Fast speeds

• Compatible with Windows, Mac OS X, iOS and Android

• Has browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox

• Has a seven-day free trial

• Offers a 45-day money back guarantee

Cons:

• Based in the US

• Invasive policies

CyberGhost VPN

CyberGhost VPN is also another very popular VPN that offers excellent services for Australians. It has over 1000 servers in more than 50 countries and utilizes the standard military grade OpenVPN encryption protocol.

CyberGhost offers user-friendly apps on all major platforms and users can make up to 7 simultaneous connections. Based in Romania, CyberGhost is not under any directive to spy on or store users data. It has a strict no log policy a DNS leak protection and a Kill-switch among other astounding features. Australian can enjoy lightning fast speeds while streaming HD contents, Torrenting and playing games.

Pros:

• Great logs policy

• Based in Romania so no government spying!

• Easy-to-use software

• 7 simultaneous connections

• Effective Live Chat support

• Peer-to-peer (P2P) Torrenting allowed

Cons:

• Does not block ads

• Some servers may are slow

VyprVPN

VyprVPN rounds off our list of the best VPNs for Australians. It has over 700 servers in more than 90 countries worldwide. VyprVPN boasts of lightning fast speeds, effective 24/7 customer support system, stability, and ability to unblock geo-locked contents on popular streaming services like Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Hulu and so on. VyprVPN uses the 256-bit encryption as well as an exclusive Chameleon encryption and a VyprDNS. Read a full review here.

Pros:

• Based in Switzerland

• Users can make up to 5 connections on paid plans

• Fast speeds

• Unlimited bandwidth

• Cross-platform client

• 3-day free trial

Cons:

• Does not block ads

• No money-back guarantee

• Does not accept Bitcoin