Austria is a mountainous country located in Central Europe. Being in Europe, it should be no surprise the country has been targeted to make changes to its anti-piracy procedures. After five years, it seems the anti-piracy association in Austria called VAP will be able to require ISPs to block certain websites known for pirated content. Almost a year ago, VAP won a court case blocking such sites, but the ISPs refused and took the court’s decision to appeal. After losing the appeal, it was found that blocking sites was legal and the ISPs would front the cost of blocking them, stating they had the financial and technical ability to do so. That said, you would still be able to gain access to these sites with a VPN.
| 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 | |
This ruling has been championed by Hollywood and the VAP, but the ISP’s are not quite as happy with the outcome. Because of costs incurred and the blocking of sites in general, this is seen by many to be a slippery slope. Similar to the laws of Australia and Singapore, Austria is just the latest to follow suit. Most understand the intent of the blockades, but it raises future questions that make some nervous. Will these website blocks stop with pirated software? When the ISPs block the websites, does it release them from liability? Only the future can answer that.
As it stands now though, you would still be able to gain access to blocked websites with a virtual private network. A VPN is a service that does a few things. The first thing it would do for you is add an extra layer of encryption to your internet surfing. Though Austria has no data retention policy, there are others that would love to obtain your personal data.
As mentioned, a VPN would allow you access to blocked content. Whether the content is being blocked by the government or geo-blocked, you could enjoy these sites. An example of geo-blocked content is a premium streaming service like Netflix. In light of the fact, there is an Austrian version of Netflix, there is no better library to access than the United States. That is because the US has around 7,500 titles. That is five times the number of the 1500+ titles available in the Austrian version. You would be able to access it or any of the other popular streaming services with a VPN. Of course, to enjoy Netflix, you need a paid subscription as well. Why not have access the library with the most content?
Hopefully by now, it is clear to see there are definite advantages to using a VPN. That said, there are many choices in the types of VPNs to pick, but thankfully we have some great selections for Austria. All of them have custom clients so you would simply choose a country to connect to, hit the button, and enjoy all the benefits we have listed. These suggestions all use secure encryption levels, however, using the OpenVPN protocol will always be your best decision. OpenVPN (UDP) is best for streaming.
First of all, let’s look at your reason for using a VPN. If you want to secure your data or unblock content, we would suggest IPVanish. They offer no-logs and have a kill switch feature, thus adding an extra layer of protection to your browsing. For streaming things online, say from a premium streaming service like Netflix, IPVanish is still the way to go. They have the fastest network in North America and throughout Europe, so you would be able to easily connect to those libraries of content and enjoy them.
If you are traveling outside of Austria and you want to be able to see some of your favorite shows, we recommend IPVanish or ExpressVPN. Both encrypt traffic, but ExpressVPN includes SmartDNS with their VPN which will help you unblock channels without the overhead of encryption. Why not be able to see your favorite channels like Intersport Rent TV, Krone TV, or MF1 from anywhere? You do not have to miss them with a VPN.
Please read over our list of the top 10 VPN services if you’d like other suggestions, but we think you will be pleased with any of the VPNs in this post. We have chosen these selections over other leading VPN services based on privacy, server locations, speed, and price. We also looked for services with a good network of VPN servers in the region for you. That is our list of reliable providers.
Reliable VPN providers are those that help secure your online privacy and have fast networks to stream HD content in other countries. The ones we have mentioned in this post are the best VPNs overall for whatever goal you wish to achieve. Geo-blocked streaming services and many other popular channels would all be accessible from Austria.