I see that IP Vanish has a threat protection including ads. However, it says just for android use. Does that mean cannot use with firestick?
Firestick is Android based, just a heavily forked android. Should work but no promises.
IP Vanish, the “we don’t keep logs until we need to give them to authorities” company. 
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Right? 
Miki, I think that you misspelled “forked” in your comment about Firestick and Android.
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Think it is a good idea to get Surfshark and dump IP Vanish?
There are many here that have voiced issues with surfshark. I’m in a minority that doesn’t seem to have any major issues with SS. Recently this week, my app was update to 3.4.0. I tested bandwidth speeds as soon as I noticed the version update. Speeds are holding fine for me, with 55-60% retention. The update also fixed the IP issue on their dashboard where after connecting to a server, exiting, and opening the app again, it would display your true IP address rather than the IP of the server that you’re truly connected to.
I’ve started with IP Vanish for years and it became less reliable for me progressively. I can’t get any decent speed retention using it, despite best efforts on my Shield. When my sub ends next month, I won’t be renewing.
I always like to have a backup vpn as a contingency. I’ll likely be getting a Proton sub next month. My SS is good for another year.
All you can do is use a trial and error approach. Take advantage of any trial periods that is offered and see how your test run goes. As with anything, your mileage can vary from anyone else.
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I’m one of the ones who are hit or miss with SurfShark. At first, it was amazing, now when I use it, sometimes it’s great, sometimes server connection issues. Many emails back and forth with SS, but it is what it is. I still try to use it, but I mainly use Express VPN. Some ppl have great success with SurfShark, others don’t. Just chalk it down as personal experience such as some ppl like Chevy, some like Ford, etc etc.
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Get a trial of SurfShark if you can, test it out. I know IP Vanish lost a lot of street cred some yrs back about keeping logs…no matter what the reason they did it. IMHO, I have SurfShark but rarely use it. If I have to use a VPN, I use Express VPN with zero issues. My employer has us using Express VPN, and we deal in high volume, highly sensitive information and data. They encourage us to use the VPN on our personal equipment as well, “never know who’s watching”. Also, a “zero logs” policy doesn’t actually mean logs are not kept. Each country has a data retention policy, which even a VPN is required by law to hold records/logs for a specific period of time, before it can disappear.
Is it unusual for speed to slow down by two-thirds. My normal speed without a vpn is320…WITH IP Vanish 110. Are other vpns any better?
I posted some results for a speed test using ProtonVPN. My rated speed from my ISP is 150Mbs down. With my VPN active I get 150+ no matter the time of day, Without the VPN my speeds are 145+ .
I seem to recall that Troy stated, in a tutorial, that you only need something like 40mbs to get 4K. Please correct me if I am wrong.
40 will work if you are the only one using the internet and you are only using one connection at a time. 40 mbps down is a very slow speed.
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Just FYI: I had IPVanish for 2 or 3 years; ditched 6 months ago because they throttled files at ~35mbs. Their customer support claimed they don’t do so – but the older version of IPV offered a download speed graph showing instantaneous speed + about a minute’s of history. It was simple to watch what they did. I can well understand why they deleted this feature!
IPVanish announces new threat detection that also blocks spam and advertisements. Works on Amazon devices and other Android OS devices.
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I thought that this was interesting. This is from the sidebar in the article.
Shield your online data with IPVanish
Privacy on any network
One account, unlimited devices
Verified no traffic logs
2,200+ servers in 75 locations
What they need to do is what they said they were working on three years ago. Add a kill switch. Simple. Until then, SS keeps my business. I seriously don’t see the big problem. Disassemble the code of those VPNs that have it and get it done. Be like Nike and just do it. You’re playing catch up with your competitors and you’re not winning.
Thank you, jayhawks659. That’s good to know. I haven’t really looked into setting up the threat protection, yet.