Since Chicago, Illinois, was incorporated way back in 1837, the greater metro area’s population has exploded. Today, it is the third-largest in the United States. Many things make the city a popular place to visit. From history to sports to major businesses, people come to Chicago from all over the world. It has also become a popular place for conventions. No matter your reasons for traveling to the city, there are some good reasons to use a VPN while there. We’ll tell you more about that shortly. First, have a look at our list of the best VPNs for Chicago.
| Rank | VPN Service | Our Score | Server Locations | Visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | 9.8 | 160 |  |
| 2 |  | 9.4 | 87 | |
| 3 |  | 9.2 | 95 | |
| 4 |  | 9.0 | 110 | |
| 5 |  | 8.8 | 73 | |
Why might you want to use a VPN in Chicago?
Let’s take a look at some reasons to connect to a VPN while in Chicago.
- Sporting events – If you are looking for sports, you are in for a real treat. Chicago is a heavy sports town. In fact, the magazine Sporting News named it the best sports city in 1993, 2006, and 2010. One of the reasons for that is the massive number of top-tier sports teams. Those include 2 MLB teams (White Sox and Cubs), an NBA team (Bulls), an NFL team (Bears), an NHL team (Blackhawks), an MLS team (Chicago Fire FC), and even a WNBA team (Sky). No matter what your favorites are, they have it there. Unfortunately, if a team is playing at home, you’ll be blocked if you want to watch it online. That is due to the blackout restrictions. In other words, even if you have a subscription to a streaming service, licensing rights will stop you from seeing locally. The way around that is to connect to a VPN server in a different city. That will make blocking software think you are someplace else, so you can enjoy whatever sport you want to watch, locally.
- Festivals and Conventions – Festivals and conventions are a never-ending stream in the city. Some of the conventions include the Tattoo Arts Convention and the Comic and Entertainment Expo. For festivals, they have every type of music festival you can imagine, including jazz, blues, hip-hop, and more. As you can guess, that causes a constant influx of people. Since most people will stay somewhere in or near the city, hotels, restaurants, and any place that has free WiFi, gets busy. That leaves unencrypted attendees vulnerable to identity theft. You don’t have to look far to hear about that. So if you are going to visit the city, connecting to a VPN will add a layer of encryption to give you peace of mind.
In all of these places, connecting to a VPN will help you, no matter why you are visiting the city.
What is the best VPN for Chicago?
Our list of the best VPNs for Chicago is based on the following criteria:
- Speed tests performed on VPN servers in Chicago
- Network reliability for streaming live sports
- High levels of encryption to protect your online privacy
- Preference given to VPNs who do not keep usage logs
- Support for torrent traffic and popular online games.
- Mobile apps and streaming support for Amazon Firestick users
Without further delay, here is a list of the best VPN services for Chicago:
1. ExpressVPN – best VPN with Chicago IP Address
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Streaming media is one of the fun things you can do when you are using ExpressVPN. Because there are servers and locations in 94 different countries, you can use it to open your favorite streaming services. The biggest one, of course, is Netflix. The United States has the most extensive library, with some other countries getting closes in the number of titles offered. Since the libraries have different titles available, connecting to a VPN will give you access to your favorite shows and movies. The same is true for other streaming services in the US and beyond.
Connecting to an ExpressVPN server in Chicago will give you a local IP address along with a fast connection. We tested and we able to achieve a speed of 321 Mbps which was the fastest VPN speed. Sports fans and those who travel regularly will also appreciate the size of the ExpressVPN network. They mange thousands of servers in 160 cities across 94 countries.
If you are in a larger city, especially one that has a top-tier sports team, and you want to watch the game or match online, licensing rights will stop you from doing so. When that happens, the companies refer to it as a sports blackout. To get around this issue, you need to connect to a VPN server provided by ExpressVPN. The easy way to do that is to choose a server that is outside the area. That will make the blocking software believe that you are in another region. Then, you can enjoy the game or match.
ExpressVPN is the #1 rated VPN on our site. We have had the opportunity to compare hundreds of VPN services over the years and ExpressvPN is our favorite. Whether you want to protect your privacy on WiFi networks or unblock streaming services in other countries, ExpressVPN is a good choice. Best of all, you can sign up for 12 months of unlimited VPN access and get 3 months free during our current promotion. The ExpressVPN 30-day money-back guarantee gives you plenty of time to test the service.
Want to learn more? Read our full ExpressVPN review.
2. NordVPN – affordable VPN with servers in Chicago
As the world gets smaller, some sports become more visible in other countries. Whether you enjoy watching the English Premier League, American football, or others, you may have an issue doing that unless you connect to a VPN server from NordVPN. For example, if you want to watch an EPL match and have an active subscription, you’ll simply connect to a UK server and you should be able to enjoy them. You can say the same for other countries as well since NordVPN has thousands of VPN servers to choose from.
NordVPN fave us mixed results in Chicago. The first few times we tested their Chicago VPN servers the response was around 20-25 Mbps. Fortunately, you can select individual servers in their app se we tried some different options and found one that delivered fast performance of 239 Mbps. NordVPN hosts over 200 servers in Chicago and also has servers in St. Louis.
When you take a look at encryption protocols, NordVPN has you covered. Instead of dealing with some of the less secure ones like PPTP, the company offers you three different alternatives to use. Whether you like the highly adaptable IKEv2, known as an NGE (Next Generation Encryption) protocol, OpenVPN (which many experts consider to be the gold standard), or the newcomer to the group, NordLynx (a proprietary protocol that uses WireGuard technology), you can find them all with NordVPN. While some may worry about using WireGuard because of the flaws, the company made its protocol to address those issues.
Want to learn more? Read our full NordVPN review.
3. Private Internet Access – US-based VPN with P2P support
If you are a fan of mixed martial arts (MMA), you may have noticed that Private Internet Access sponsors some of the fighters. Of course, they sponsor other things as well. They have long been popular in the sports market, giving users the ability to watch sports in various parts of the world. Whether you want to watch new events or are traveling overseas, connecting to a VPN is a good idea. That will help you get around any potential viewing issues you may have.
Private Internet Access has its roots in the United States. They host servers in 13 US cities including Chicago. You can expect good privacy and performance from their network. Connecting to a PIA server in Chicago resulted in a download speed of 187 Mbps. While PIA supports the WireGuard protocol, we found that OpenVPN performed better in our testing.
One of the ways that connecting to a VPN with Private Internet Access will help is by granting you access to different parts of the world. As big as gaming is these days, you probably realize that developers release games in many different countries. However, that also means that you can get early access to some games if you are in the right place. With Private Internet Access, you only have to connect to the right area and you will be able to get access to your game as soon as it comes out.
Want to learn more? Read our full Private Internet Access review.
4. CyberGhost – 56 VPN servers in Chicago
Whether you stream a little or a lot of content online, connecting to a CyberGhost VPN server can help you. Streaming online continues to grow in popularity. Unfortunately, so do the numbers of ISPs that want to throttle your internet performance. They can detect streaming by looking for patterns. Even if you do not think it could happen to you, it certainly can. By connecting to a VPN, however, you can prevent that from happening. Simply choose a server, and your ISP will only see your actions as encrypted traffic. Then, you won’t have to worry about your streaming marathon.
The CyberGhost network includes over 55 servers in Chicago. You can view the ping time and load percentage for each server in their app. This will help you find the best VPN server to get a Chicago IP address. While not as fast as some VPNs, our speed test showed CyberGhost at 97 Mbps which is fine for most users.
Some VPN providers state they do not keep logs. However, they do not always keep that promise. CyberGhost says they keep their no-logs policy strict. In this case, that means they do not store or collect your IP address, DNS queries, browser history, web content you accessed, connection and disconnection timestamps, session duration, bandwidth usage, or even the VPN servers you use to connect. That is because they feel that information is none of their business. As you can see, when it comes to privacy, CyberGhost has you covered.
Want to learn more? Read our full CyberGhost review.
5. IPVanish – 126 servers in Chicago with Firestick support
One of the big things that streaming viewers still want to watch live is sports. If you are a sports fan, you know that some sports have an international following. Unfortunately, you may not be able to watch unless you connect to a VPN from IPvanish. Often, that is because of the licensing rights of some media companies. If you are a country that does not offer coverage, you would generally miss out. Instead, just connect to a server in the home country, log in with your credentials to the streaming service, and enjoy.
You will find most of IPVanish team in the United States. They own and manage their own network in the states. This includes over 65 servers in the Chicago area. We connected to one of them and found our speed to be quite good at 217 Mbps. Take a closer look at our network map to see the locations they offer throughout the country.
If you stream a lot of content, you may encounter what is known as library fatigue. That is when you have seen virtually all that you want to on a particular service. Since international services like Netflix and Amazon Prime have different libraries based on location, you will want to connect to a VPN server from IPVanish. That way, if you are bored with the current content available, you only have to change the VPN server region to be able to access others. Then, watch all you want.
Want to learn more? Read our full IPVanish review.
How to connect to a VPN server in Chicago
You can connect to an ExpressVPN server in Chicago to obtain a local IP address. This will give you access to local content in the Windy City. Let’s show you how:
Sign up for ExpressVPN (includes a 30-day risk-free money-back guarantee)- Next, you will want to download the ExpressVPN app. You can get it from the Android or Apple app store. The desktop version is available from the ExpressVPN website. The service also supports routers.
- You will want to open the app and connect to a VPN server in Chicago. This will give you an IP address in Chi-Town.
- Once connected you can test the IP location from in the app. Go to settings, Help & Support –> IP Address Checker. You will see that the server has assigned you an IP address in Chicago, Illinois.
- If you run into any challenges or have questions, the ExpressVPN team support team is available 24/7 via live chat or email to help.
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