Idaho is a landlocked state located in the northwest region of the United States. Six states plus Canada form the borders to this lightly populated area. Since 40% of the state’s population lives in the Boise area, the rest of the state provides visitors with many different natural experiences. Despite the low population, there are some excellent reasons to connect to a VPN while in the state. We’ll tell you why it matters shortly. First, though, let’s take a look at our list of the best VPNs for Idaho.
| Rank | VPN Service | Price | Visit | Server Locations | No Logs | Browser Extensions | Smart DNS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | $6.67 |  | 160 |  | | |
| 2 |  | $3.49 | | 87 | | | |
| 3 |  | $2.19 | | 95 | | | |
| 4 |  | $3.99 | | 73 | | ||
| 5 |  | $1.99 | | 58 | |
Even though some students have chosen the online method recently, Idaho has physical campuses where students can learn and socialize on campus. Those schools include Boise State University, Idaho State University. Brigham Young University, Idaho, and several others. Whether you plan on attending one of the schools there or plan to visit, connecting to the school’s WiFi network will help you get internet access. That is important there if you have connection issues. Unfortunately, that means you are at the mercy of the schools’ firewall rules. By connecting to a VPN, you can get around the blocks that other students face.
Because Idaho has such a low population, you have plenty of opportunities to go hiking, biking, walking, running, and other physical activities. One of the best ways to keep track of your activities is by using a fitness tracker. While those are great, they can leave you vulnerable. That is because of the amount of data they transfer to each other. To protect your privacy, you’ll want to connect to a VPN on your favorite mobile device. Doing so can protect your phone and fitness tracker as well. That way, you can focus more on the wild animals than someone getting your health data.
Most conventions or festivals in Idaho will likely be in the Boise area. Some of those include Anime Oasis, the Naturally Made Craft & Wellness Fair, and the Boise Hempfest. If those or others are in your plans, you’ll have a chance for downtime after the day is over. Streaming is a popular thing to do in the evenings. That said, you don’t have to be limited to the US content libraries. The key is to connect to a VPN server in a different country or region. Then, you’ll have the chance to view content from other places. That is also great if you are traveling to Idaho from abroad. You won’t have to worry about catching up on your favorite shows or movies that way.
What is the Best VPN for Idaho?
To answer that question, let’s take a look at a few factors. The most important deal with security, so we’ll list those first. Here are the ones we used:
- VPN servers in Salt Lake City, Portland, or Seattle that perform well in Idaho
- Strong encryption to help protect your privacy while in the state
- Providers that are transparent and offer a no-logs policy for users
- Large and stable network to help you eliminate dropped connections
- The ability to unblock geo-restrictions when in Idaho
- Mobile apps and support for Amazon Firestick devices
Let’s take a closer look at our list of the best VPN services for Idaho:
1. ExpressVPN – Fastest VPN in the region
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If you play games online, you may have heard about Distributive Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. Those are attacks that can put a stop to your gaming experience in a hurry. However, the way around that is to connect to a VPN server. By doing so, you can get around those types of attacks because it changes your IP address. Whether you play competitively or casually, you have better things to concentrate on than not being able to compete in your favorite game.
The ExpressVPN team manages a large network of servers in the United States that is well represented in the Northwest. As for Idaho, the best VPN servers to connect to are either Salt Lake City or Seattle. We connected to a VPN server in SLC and tested to Idaho with a download speed of 412 Mbps. ExpressVPN was the fastest VPN in our testing by a wide margin.
Of course, you can find sports fans all over the world. Because different events interest different people, you can expect strong regional support where the event takes place. What you can not always expect, however, is to be able to watch it if you are outside the area. The idea is to connect to a VPN server from ExpressVPN. As long as you connect to one in the area of the sporting event, you will be able to watch the local broadcast. Just make sure you have an account for one of the streaming options for the event.
The ExpressVPN team goes the extra mile to provide a feature rich service. They are also strong privacy advocates. They offer a $5,000 Future of Privacy scholarship every year to help promote privacy among college students. Just a quick example of their dedication to spreading the message of privacy around the world. Just as important, they offer a premium network to allow for fast connections. This makes the service an excellent choice for downloading and streaming. Test their network for yourself with their 30-day money-back guarantee. Sign up for 12 months and get 3 months free with our ExpressVPN deal.
Want to learn more? Read our full ExpressVPN review.
2. NordVPN – hosts servers near Idaho in SLC and Seattle
Since many stream sports on mobile phones these days, some wireless companies have given their users the ability to watch on their devices free of charge. Of course, that is offered in several different countries. If you are traveling abroad, though, you may have to miss out on seeing your favorite team in action. The solution is to connect to a VPN server from NordVPN. When you do, you make the blocking software think you are still in the correct region. That way, you won’t have to miss out on the great moments of your sport.
NordVPN has similar network coverage as ExpressVPN when it comes to servers located in the Northwestern region of the United States. However, the performance can fluctuate at times. Out recommendation is to change servers anytime you are not happy with the speeds. We did this in our testing and achieved a speed of over 210 Mbps when testing from SLC to Boise.
If you play one of the many games that are available through an internet browser, we suggest that you connect to a VPN server by using NordVPN. While browser games are fun, you may have noticed that they can sometimes take a while to load. Often, that is because of the processes or ads that are trying to load on the page. Some companies even create free games to spread their malware. By turning on the NordVPN CyberSec feature, however, you can block annoying ads and potentially avoid malware that could cause harm.
Want to learn more? Read our full NordVPN review.
3. Private Internet Access – US-based VPN with an eye on privacy
If you are one of the many people that like to stream sports on your favorite mobile device, connecting to a VPN server from Private Internet Access may be useful to you. More and more providers are allowing their users to watch some sports for free. Great examples of that include baseball and American football in the US. However, if you are traveling abroad or are otherwise outside of your home area, you would miss out on those games. By connecting to a VPN server you should be able to regain the access you wish.
Private Internet Access is the first VPN in our list that is based in the USA. In fact they are headquartered in California and also have an office in Colorado. When traveling in Idaho, we recommend connecting to a PIA server in Seattle. The performance was a bit slower than the other VPNs in our list with a download speed of 76 Mbps to Idaho. Some alternative server locations include Denver, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles.
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. IPVanish – dependable VPN with servers in Denver
Whether you are an ex-pat, on a trip, or just otherwise outside of your home country, you will have issues if you try to watch content from your home region. Fortunately, connecting to a VPN from IPVanish will help you change that. From watching the great shows and movies from the BBC to gaining access to Australia’s Stan streaming service and many others, you just need to pick a region. Afterward, you will be able to enjoy everything your favorite streaming service has to offer.
IPVanish is the second US-based VPN provider in our list. They were also the second fastest VPN in our testing with a speed of 218 Mbps when testing from a server in Seattle to Boise. We connected on a Windows 10 system with IKEv2. You can also use OpenVPN, L2TP, SSTP, or PPTP. We would like to see them add WireGuard in the future, but their network is already quite fast.
If you are a gamer that likes to play online, you probably know that while popular games eventually become available in all regions, it is not always at the same time. The trick to that is to connect to a VPN server from IPVanish located in one of the early access countries. Australia is a popular choice. By doing so, you will make the software think you are there. That way, you can enjoy the game and play it earlier than others in your area.
Want to learn more? Read our full IPVanish review.
5. PrivadoVPN – support for P2P and Socks5 proxy
Unlike some providers, PrivadoVPN gives you great protocol protection. They offer IKEv2, a next-generation encryption protocol that is especially useful for mobile devices, and OpenVPN, the gold standard of encryption protocols. Both of these will provide you with the best combination of speed and protection available in the community. That way, you can browse confidently, keep yourself safe, and not have to worry about others seeing your internet traffic.
PrivadoVPN is the only company in out list that hosts servers in Portland. Those who travel between Idaho and Oregon will find PrivadoVPN to be a good solution for protecting your privacy, As you can see, they host servers throughout the USA and will be adding more locations in the moths to come. We were pleased to get a download speed of 130 Mbps when testing from Portland to Idaho.
While PrivadoVPN is relatively new in the community, their team is not. They have more than 20 years of experience in the online security and data protection fields. They founded the company to meet the growing need for personal privacy on the internet. However, that does not mean they have a premium price. They state that everyone should have an easy, secure, and affordable way to browse the internet and get access to geo-restricted content.
Want to learn more? Read our full PrivadoVPN review.
