Tag Archives: Ivacy

#Ivacy VPN 2017

7 Aug

Ivacy VPN

If you pay any attention to my blog, you’ll know that for the last 3 years I have been living abroad and traveling to many countries including China, Korea, Japan, US.  All truly beautiful countries, you should try reading some of my other posts to see my adventures!

As always, I want to start by saying I do NOT support using a VPN to avoid legal blocks (like the Great Firewall), accomplish illegal or illicit activities, or do anything that the government would not approve of.  Those things are illegal – if you don’t want to follow their local laws, find a different country to live or travel in. 

So if you aren’t looking to break firewalls and get into sites you shouldn’t be getting into, why would you want a VPN?  You can find my list of the pros and cons of a VPN here. In general, I like the security a VPN provides to me, whether at home or abroad. I still use my VPNs in the US, especially if at a public location to avoid the same hacks, viruses, and trojans I worry about while traveling.  A VPN can help keep you fast and safe. Sometimes. Depending on which VPN you choose.  Also, it sometimes helps me bypass technical issues in the system. For example, my university uses Blackboard, but it does have random glitches that drop it a lot.  About 25% of the time, it only works if the teachers use a VPN.   When other teachers are down and out, those with a VPN can still get on.

To be honest, I actually go back and forth between several VPNs right now including Astrill and VyprVPN.  You can read my reviews for them here and here.  But I recently  Ivacy offered me the chance to test them out – kind of a new VPN on the shelf. Here’s my experience so far!
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Life Abroad ~ #VPN Apk

13 Jun

I’ve found in my experience that most VPNs are a pain in the neck to download in certain places.  If the websites are blocked, down, not responding (ehhm Astrill ehhm not naming names), it’s frustrating trying to figure out how to download it. Or WORSE! The new updated version crashes and you need to go backwards to an old edition but the website dropped it.  

ANNOYING!

So I’m providing links to the APKs here for the three I am familiar with Astrill, Ivacy, and Vypr.  Please note that I am NOT a computer wizard — I just let you know what worked for me.  So I cannot vouch for the security of any of these websites. I used them all on my phone to download the APKs and nothing died or crashed. That’s the best I can give you for advice on how secure these links are. 🙂   All of these websites are accessible in most locations where the VPN sites are blocked – for now

  • Astrill 1 | Astrill 2

  • Vypr 1 | Vypr 2

    • Still has that issue where you need access to the website to install the file.  For example, in China you need a vpn on in order to install Vypr. You can borrow a friends VPN wifi, but just know this is a problem. 
  • Ivacy 1 | Ivacy

    • Very nice in that I have NEVER had problems with their website, VPN on or not. 🙂  So you could try going to their website
    • Minor problem for phone downloads – If you choose “download for android” it sends you to Google Play (which may or may not be available in your region).

For those of you who are unfamiliar with APKs, here is a short explanation 🙂 

Normally when you start using a software program (like Microsoft Office, VPNs, Facebook apps), you follow a process. 

  1. You go to the APP store or the Staples store and buy the software.
  2. You click the file and say “download.” That puts the file (software) on your device (computer, phone, etc). 
  3. Once you have the file on your device, you “install it” (make it run).  You click yes to a lot of buttons, agree to follow terms and conditions, and watch it load.
  4. After installing, it asks “do you want to open this software” and off you go using your new tool. 

But what happens when the app isn’t on the app store. Or it isn’t available in Staples. Or the website is broken?  How do you get that file downloaded to your device? 

This is where APKs come in — APK are just the download “file” you need for step 2.  Only instead of getting it from an APP store or the website, you went to a 3rd party online and downloaded it.  

So here’s the new process. . . 

  1. Go to the APK website above or your own link
  2. Download the file they offer.
  3. Do steps 3 and 4 as usual!

Life in China ~ #Ivacy #VPN

5 Jun

Image result for Ivacy

Hey guys!  I’m about to test out a new VPN called Ivacy.  I’m curious to see how it works. I’m downloading it today, and I’ll put it through it’s paces. Then I’ll let you all know how it goes!  Can’t wait to see how it compares to Vypr and Astrill!  I’ll also be posting a 2017 update on Vypr in the next couple weeks! 

So much going on in the VPN department!  Exciting! 

*yes, I am a nerd – these things excite me 😛

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