I currently have both PIA and NordVPN. I've been using PIA for about 8 months with great speed and no issues. Unfortunately, my wife kept complaining she couldn't watch Netflix and Hulu from our shared PC. I recently tried both ExpressVPN and NordVPN (bought 1 month ExpressVPN and 3 day NordVPN trial). Every review I read said that ExpressVPN was the fastest, but it didn't work that way for me. I recently purchased an AC86U and I was able to get within 3-5mbps of my max speed with PIA and NordVPN but nowhere near that with ExpressVPN.
I tested on a fast Windows Gaming Desktop, a cheap Windows Notebook and my new RT-AC86U Router. Max internet speed without VPN is 118mbps.
Here's my experience so far with each one:
PIA
Windows speed - 114mbps
Router speed - 116mbps
Pros
Very fast
Easy to use Windows app - right click on icon to choose auto server or specific server.
Easy webpage that shows fastest servers for me
Cons
No Netflix
ExpressVPN
Windows speed - 82mbps
Router speed - 64mbps
Closest server that does Netflix on either - 26mbps
Pros
Easy to use Windows app - auto connect to closest server or choose another. Closest servers are in recommended list. Also the app has a built-in speed test for everyone of their servers worldwide.
Live Chat support - great for initiating refund!
Cons
Slow Speed
No close server that bypasses Netflix VPN blocking
NordVPN
Windows speed 114mbps
Router speed 114mbps
Closest server that does Netflix on either - 109mbps
Pros
Very Fast
Live Chat support - though fun to find link. Easiest location is under one of the router installation tutorials.
Cons
App sucks - You can auto connect using the supposed closest server, but for some reason the app thought I was in New York like 2 states away. Also if you want to manually choose a server it does not show you the servers location but just their distance from you which is worthless if it has your location wrong!
Recommended Server Page only chooses best server for you. You can choose specialty servers, but a Netflix server is not one of the choices! I spent hours on live chat and also randomly testing servers listed in their Netflix FAQ page until I found a close server that works with Netflix. Literally hours!
In the end I chose NordVPN. Yes, I had some major issues with finding the right server but it is much faster than ExpressVPN. I have NordVPN setup for just about every device using selective routing on my AC86U and no one in the family has complained over the last few days (knock on wood
. I have been using the PIA client on my own Windows PC randomly when I want to torrent. NordVPN supports torrents, but only through specific servers.
Thanks
RT-AC86U - ASUS Merlin 382.2_beta2