Best VPNs for India

India’s internet has over 300 million users, which makes the world’s second biggest base of users, after China (that has almost twice as many). However, considering that the two countries’ populations are relatively close to each other, India’s numbers point to a worse availability. Luckily, if you are interested in connecting to the country, you can always utilize a VPN service that provides safe and easy access to Indian websites. Since less that 25% of the population uses the internet, IPv4 and somewhat older models of network are still the norm. For the safer protocol of IPv6, the availability is consequently not that good. Support varies between 10-20% usually.

The basics of internet law and regulation in India were laid out in the Information Technology act of 2000. The sanction experienced criticism in terms of limitations on freedom of speech in section 66. In effect for fifteen years, there are finally plans for alteration in 2015. The government has total authority over the internet of the country, possessing the power to shut down the network entirely. The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team is responsible for upholding the safety that the government defined. An easy way to bypass restrictions is using a VPN service to pass through any imposed limitations while enjoying anonymity, and using a SmartDNS service to stream content on full speed.

Torrents and P2P services are similarly not welcome in India. The Pirate Bay and Torrentz are the most prominent examples of these blocks. Video streaming websites like Vimeo are also not available in the country, even though it is more often concerned with art rather than light entertainment. Pornography of any kind is banned in India. Thus, we conclude that several elements that simply do not correspond to Indian culture are censored or not allowed. On the other hand, websites that enable the quick exchange of cultural aspects like social media – even though occasional filtering hits them – are nevertheless allowed.

Streaming availability in India is not the best; most of the services deemed popular are not available in the country. Instead, similarly to social media sites, India runs its own variants of streaming services. Some of them include Spuul, Eros Now, and free service PopcornTime is accessible. For the more recognized services of Europe and North America, Spotify is not available. Apple Music is, but Google Play Music is not allowed (the relationship between the company and India is not the best). Guevra, or Rdio however are rarely seen additions. Netflix does not flex in the country, but there are plans to do so from 2016 and onwards.

India is a country whose internet is censored in selective areas quite heavily. Therefore, to help you with better access to or from the country, we recommend three VPN services that suit your purposes. First, we advise you to flip your page to VyprVPN in the book of VPN. This provider offers very safe connection, with a built-in NAT firewall next to the high security encryptions. Furthermore, bypassing restrictions is also easy with them, as their own VyprDNS is a specialized tool in this matter. Secondly, for a more general-purpose VPN, check out HideMyAss that houses plenty of fast VPN access to and from India. They offer one of the most complete services on the market with widespread device support, great customer service even after purchases and reasonable prices on top of that. And lastly, IronSocket is another good choice to consider. While they do not offer SmartDNS, other proxies are all good to go, ranging from HTTP and HTTPS to SOCKS proxies.