I would simply write both numbers : “IPs from 112 countries, including 40 virtual countries”.
This thing is something that I learned quite late. I didn’t realize that regardless of my ISP’s speed, my VPN speed will always depend on the proximity of my physical location to the VPN’s server. It was a little heartbreaking to learn that. This is why, IMO, every VPN reviewer should include that caveat in their assessment. That’s exactly how I found out.
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Perhaps you could submit a PR which breakdown each provider with
- Number of servers locations (cities)
- Number of country IPs
- Number of owned servers
I feel like this would give a complete picture to people.
The flow for those who purchase the service is as follows:
- Read the main page and click on Resources, specifically VPN Servers.
No information about Smart Routing is provided.
The website states that there are 108 servers in Brazil. Only 12 are physically located in the country, and they do not have P2P. The remaining 96 are located in Miami, USA. However, the website does not provide this information.
- In the Secure Core section, click on Learn More.
It gives you the following information:
“In countries with restrictive Internet regulations (China, Russia, Iran, Turkey, etc.), or countries with broad surveillance powers (USA, UK, etc.), state surveillance agencies typically have the legal ability to coerce either the VPN provider, or the network/server provider of the VPN provider, to assist with such network monitoring.”
It then explains how the technology works and that the intermediate servers are owned by Proton. But it does not provide any information about the exit servers.
By conducting tests and comparisons and using Brazil as an example, it is possible to see that the Secure Core servers in Brazil belong to the same ISP as the servers located in Miami, USA.
- Returning to the Servers page, at the bottom there is a page entitled “What countries are in the 5 Eyes, 9 Eyes, and 14 Eyes agreements?”, which explains the intelligence cooperation agreements between countries.
At no point during the VPN service purchase process is Smart Routing mentioned. You only find out about it if you look on the Support page or when you install and use the app.
But there is one detail missing from this discussion: the contradiction between Secure Core and Smart Routing.
Smart Routing offers fictitious servers located in countries that Secure Core claims have draconian surveillance policies.
And some Secure Core exit servers are likely located in the very countries that the technology seeks to defend you from.
The rabbit hole may go deeper when considering geopolitics, which I will not delve into:
Some of the Smart Routing servers are in countries with a history of colonial, commercial, religious, or ideological conflict. African countries with physical servers located in France and Venezuela with an exit in the USA.
In conclusion, I personally believe it is very important to make explicit the information about the servers physically located in the countries, followed by the link about Smart Routing and the other country servers.
Nothing in the process of purchasing ProtonVPN services provides this information transparently. I personally went through this purchase process and was frustrated when installing their application and encountering real problems and frustrations.
Some good suggestions for changing the section were given in this thread, so I will avoid suggesting anything new.
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