Best VPNs for Taiwan in 2024: Streaming and Safety
Though it’s a small island, Taiwan is a place known for its food, hot springs, and lovely hospitality towards foreigners. In the past few years, Taiwan’s worth as a vacation destination and tourist hotspot has skyrocketed. It has even been rated as one of the best places to live for expatriates.
However, while Taiwan is a spectacular place to live and visit, those who live within Taiwan are not exactly free on the internet. Taiwan does have specific laws and regulations that very strictly say that the protection of personal data is up to the individual or organisation in question.
In line with this, there is no official organization specifically for the retrieval of stolen data. This means that your data isn’t all that safe from organizations that may want to buy it from your Internet Service Provider (ISP).
The best VPN services for Taiwan
You, wise reader, are here because you already know you need a VPN to be utterly secure while online in Taiwan. However, there are thousands of VPNs available, and going over the pros and cons of each one is a huge task. That’s why we’ve narrowed down the options to only include the best VPNs to keep your data safe in Taiwan. Let’s get into it.
ExpressVPN
Features
- Number of servers: More than 3,000
- Speeds: Unlimited
- Server locations: 160 in 94 countries
- Maximum devices supported: 5
- 24 live chat: Yes
- 30-day money-back guarantee: Yes
Pros/Cons
- Fastest VPN out there
- Strict no logs policy
- 256-bit AES encryption
- Few discounts
ExpressVPN is a steady, reliable VPN with over 3000 servers in 94 countries. One of these countries is Taiwan, which ensures your secure connection and fast network speed.
This VPN is also packed with features designed to protect your internet security. One of these is the use of military-grade encryption technology and protocols. These encryptions mask your information as you send it off across the web so that even your ISP cannot decode your messages. A kill switch allows you to connect to any Wi-Fi network without fear of your data being intercepted. The kill switch insures you against any sudden breaks in the VPN’s connection so that your data cannot be stolen.
And, if you’re traveling to Taiwan from another area, you can be sure that you can watch any show or access any content that’s available only in Taiwan. You can also choose which apps or data you want to run through ExpressVPN and which you want to run without it.
ExpressVPN does not keep logs, and to prove it, their servers are run with TrustedServer technology, which automatically deletes all your data as soon as you power down your computer. ExpressVPN can be used on mobile devices, laptops, smart TVs, and even routers. It’s a little pricier than other VPN companies. Its cheapest plan is $8.32/month for a year’s subscription. It goes up with $9.99/month for six months and $12.95 for the monthly plan.
- Pros: Fastest VPN out there; Strict no logs policy; 256-bit AES encryption;
- Lowest price: $6.67
NordVPN
Features
- Cryptocurrency accepted? Yes
- Simultaneous connections: 6
- Dedicated IP-addresses? Yes
- Servers: 5342 in 58 countries
Pros/Cons
- Lots of pricing options
- Netflix support kept up to date
- 256-bit AES encryption
- Slow app
NordVPN is another giant VPN with an extensive range. It has over 5500 servers in 58 countries. There are sixteen of them in Taiwan, a pretty large amount for a smaller island. But this only guarantees your speed and connectivity even more.
NordVPN is very keen on its users’ security and had loaded up on features to ensure that there will be no breaches on its watch. Apart from having a kill switch and secure DNS servers, NordVPN also allows your data to go through not one, but two secure servers, thereby doubly encrypting them. And since NordVPN uses best-in-class encryption technology and protocols, this ensures that your data cannot be decrypted. NordVPN is also one of the VPNs that offer the new secure Wireguard protocols.
And for those who want even further security, NordVPN has a feature that allows your data to pass through the Onion server. The Onion network covers your data with layers of encryption, so it cannot be decrypted.
NordVPN also keeps annoying ads, messages, and malicious websites away from you, while you stream or access any content you want. You’re also allowed to torrent on specially provided servers. NordVPN is available as an app on phones, laptops, smart TVs, routers, and browser extensions.
NordVPN has four pricing plans. The cheapest one is for a three-year subscription at $3.49/month. A two-year plan is $4.99/month, and a year’s fee is $6.99/month. The most expensive of all the plans is the monthly plan, which is $11.95/month. NordVPN has a 30-day money-back guarantee in place just in case they’re not the VPN for you.
- Pros: Lots of pricing options; Netflix support kept up to date; 256-bit AES encryption;
- Lowest price: $3.71
Surfshark
Features
- Free trial? Yes
- Simultaneous connections: Unlimited
- Ad blocking? Yes
- Servers: 1000+ in 61 countries
Pros/Cons
- No footprints
- Allows torrenting
- 256-bit AES encryption
- Not the fastest
Our next favorite VPN for Taiwan is a relative newcomer to the VPN industry. SurfShark is only a few years old, and yet, it’s become one of the best VPN providers around.
SurfShark has over 3200 servers in more than 616countries. It also has a fantastic feature list. For starters, there’s its very unique product, Camouflage Mode. This mode allows you to browse the web without anyone seeing your traffic or knowing you’re online. Not even your ISP. It also has a split tunneling feature called Whitelister and another asset named CleanWeb, which keeps ads, malicious websites, phishing attempts, and trackers off your back. MultiHop is a double encryption feature, designed to make your data completely unreadable.
SurfShark has all these features in addition to the ones most VPN providers have like a kill switch, DNS leak protection, secure protocols, and a strict no-logs policy. In fact, SurfShark’s no-logs policy has been verified to be utterly true by Cure53, an auditing firm.
Because of its wide range, SurfShark can unblock geo-restricted content like Netflix, Hulu, and HBO. SurfShark’s servers are also optimised for speed and torrenting. You can watch shows in 4K quality. And you can watch these shows on any device because SurfShark has no limit on how many devices can be connected to a single account. Share the VPN love with all your friends and family.
SurfShark’s 2-year plan is priced at $1.99/month, the best bargain out of all its plans. A year’s subscription is $5.99/month, and the monthly plan is $11.95. There’s a 30-day refund policy in effect; if you buy a plan with SurfShark and you find it’s not for you, SurfShark’ll refund you no questions asked.
- Pros: No footprints; Allows torrenting; 256-bit AES encryption;
- Lowest Price: $2.49
Why does anyone need a VPN in Taiwan?
The above question can be answered in many different ways. There are several circumstances in which you’d need a VPN while staying in Taiwan.
For example, a foreigner who is homesick might use a VPN’s unblocking capabilities to catch a few local shops and alleviate his homesickness. There are several other uses for VPNs in Taiwan. Here are a few:
- Access to information: Some websites will not open because your IP address is displaying your location to the world. These websites, for reasons, know to them, block incoming traffic from certain countries. However, there might be some information you might need while in Taiwan, and this block can be a big problem. A good VPN will give you access to most websites and remove those annoying error pages.
- Protection from hackers: Foreigners in most countries are an easy mark. The corrupt indigenes may see them as easy to fool or scam. They might set up a free Wi-Fi, and as people are using it, it’s taking the information and displaying it to the hackers. Every day, we enter critical data into our devices, such as credit card numbers, personal information, passwords, etc. A VPN stops this kind of thievery from happening.
- Shopping: This is a little known fact, but a good VPN can help you shop smarter and save money online. If you live in Taiwan and you’d like to buy something over the internet from outside the country, using a VPN can get you a reduced price. How? Well, some websites reduce or increase prices based on your current IP address. That is, if you switch servers and, therefore, switch IP addresses, you can compare prices and find a lower price on goods and services. This works particularly well for flight tickets, vacation accommodation, and rentals.
- Sharing information: There are a few things that the Taiwanese government and ISPs flag while sending information, especially in the case of anything it might see as an opposition. The use of a VPN can protect you from this. It’ll allow you to express yourself freely while on the web.
- Streaming/Torrenting your favorites: We all have a favorite series or movie, but not all of them are available in Taiwan. If you just moved to Taiwan, or you’re there for some business, it can be frustrating not to have access to your favorite content. A VPN that’s worth its money lets you have both. You can live in Taiwan and easily access any library of Netflix or any other online content you want. Streaming or downloading any of your favorites from Taiwan is a breeze with a good VPN.
How to pick a good VPN for Taiwan
Before writing this article, we had to go through a selection process and choose the 3 best VPN for Taiwan. We used specific criteria to select, and even if you don’t choose one of the VPNs, considering these factors will help you get a good VPN for Taiwan.
1. Server Location: The ideal VPN has at least a few servers located in and around Taiwan. This will help in securing a good connection and reducing breaks in the signal.
2. Network Speed: Everybody hates a slow connection. VPNs secure your network through their own servers. This means they have to take them through different tunnels apart from the conventional ones. Turning on various features like Tor servers, split tunneling, double VPN, and others can make the connection even worse because several more steps have to be taken before the information reaches its destination. But a good VPN most likely has servers optimized or specific measures in place to cover up the lag in connection time.
3. Encryption: The most advanced encryption technology available right now is the AES-256 paired with RSA-4096 or 2048. These are the most reliable encryption algorithms in existence at the moment. Though others that are more powerful in production, this algorithm should be the yardstick of encryption for VPN you want to use in Taiwan.
4. Protocols: A serviceable VPN should use the best protocols available, which are OpenVPN and IKEv2/IPSec. Some VPNs have a lot of protocols to choose from. Depending on what device you’re using, it might be a little easier to change protocols as needed. But the best VPNs will have OpenVPN and IKEv2/IPSec as options because they’re the safest and most secure of all the VPNs.
5. Devices: A good VPN should be able to support a few devices simultaneously. On average, the number of devices that can be supported by one account is five. Some VPNs even support unlimited devices. Most good VPNs support no fewer than five devices at a time. This should be the standard number of devices for a VPN to be used in Taiwan.
6. Customer Service: The best VPNs have a responsive customer service for clients’ questions. Though, the method of approach is different from VPN provider to VPN provider. Some use the ticket method or through emails. Some clients ask questions through live chats. A few VPN providers have a combination of all three and more. These VPNs are usually the most responsive.
Can free VPNs work in Taiwan?
Any VPN, whether free or not, can be used within Taiwan. The question is not whether it can work, but how well it does its job. The primary purpose of using a VPN in Taiwan is to hide information from ISPs and those that may want to invade your privacy by stealing your personal information.
Free VPNs may change your IP address, but they may not hide your data properly. This is because they don’t have the funds to access that technology. Free VPNs mostly make their money through donations and ads. These funds may only be enough to cover the bare minimum of maintenance bills. If you’re truly serious about protecting your online privacy, a paid VPN is the only way to go.
In conclusion
You might be using a VPN in Taiwan for streaming, shopping, online privacy, etc. There are so many VPNs out there, both free and paid. We’ve recommended 3 VPNs we believe to be the best for use in Taiwan. All of them include a money-back guarantee period so you can test them out for free and pick the one you feel works best for you.