Private Internet Access Adds 15 VPN Server Locations, Reaching 104 Countries
Private Internet Access has added 15 VPN server locations, bringing its network to 170 locations across 104 countries and territories. The expansion includes first-time coverage in Cuba, Belarus, Myanmar and other markets, plus city-level servers in Naples and Tottenham.
PIA said it targeted underserved regions where demand is highest: the Caribbean, Central Asia and Southeast Asia, TechRadar reported. The full list includes the Cayman Islands, Cuba and Jamaica in the Americas; Belarus, Jersey, Naples in Italy and Tottenham in the UK in Europe; Bhutan, Brunei, Guam, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand in Asia Pacific; and Pakistan and Uzbekistan in the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia.
The new locations appear automatically in every PIA app, and users do not need to reinstall the app or change plans, the report said. Nearly all of the new locations are virtual except Tottenham, meaning a user's IP address matches the country selected while the physical VPN server is hosted elsewhere. PIA says it uses virtual locations where local infrastructure or laws do not meet its privacy standards, and it flags virtual locations in its apps.
More server locations can give users more choice, lower latency when connecting closer to their real location, and local IP addresses in more places. The Naples and Tottenham servers are described as city-level options that make a connection appear local to a specific city rather than just a country, which PIA says can help with regional content and reduce lag in busy metro areas.
International reach has been a weak point for PIA, according to TechRadar's review. At 104 countries and territories, PIA now edges past Surfshark, which advertises more than 4,500 servers in 100 countries, but it still trails ExpressVPN at 113 countries, Proton VPN at 148 and NordVPN at 150. At the time of writing, neither NordVPN's nor Surfshark's public server lists included Cuba or Belarus. NordVPN and Surfshark have argued that capacity, speed and reliability matter more than server count, and TechRadar said the real test for PIA's new locations will be everyday performance.
The update follows a recent wave of network upgrades and comes shortly after PIA more than doubled its streaming-optimized network from 13 locations to 35, TechRadar reported. PIA is a budget-friendly VPN provider that has had its no-logs policy tested in court twice, according to TechRadar, though the report noted that some unblocking issues and underwhelming speeds had previously pushed it out of TechRadar's top ranks.