NordVPN review: An encryption powerhouse with the most important VPN bang
NordVPN deserves a spot on our list for a mess of reasons, including its status because of of of the VPN provider will deliver the foremost bang for your buck. handily, you are not getting to find a VPN anywhere else which will do quite what NordVPN does, as cheaply as NordVPN does it. Despite a security breach reported in 2019 (more thereon below), you’d still be hard-pressed to seek out another VPN service that will do what NordVPN does in the least.
Sure, if it boosted the number of servers it owns, NordVPN could offer a touch more privacy, but we’re talking about over 5,400 servers in 59 countries, a zero-log policy,,, and jurisdiction in Panama. It’s an encryption powerhouse and features a feature that permits you to VPN into Tor.
It’s no surprise the NordVPN app racked up quite 59,000 ratings within the App Store for a score of 4.6 out of 5, and 132,871 reviews within the Google Play Store for a 4.4 out of 5 ratings. it is also not shocking that the VPN client snagged my trophy for the best value.
As a speed bonus, NordVPN’s SmartPlay feature lets it do with ease what numerous other VPNs struggle with: streaming video. It’s available not only and Android, but also on Windows Phone and even BlackBerry.
Speed
- Average speed loss: 53% speed lost in autumn 2020 tests
- Number of servers: 5,400-plus servers
- Number of NordVPN server locations: 59
- Number of IP addresses: 5,000
We ran our NordVPN speed tests over the course of three days using both wireless and Ethernet connections. Internet speeds within the US vary widely by state and provider. And with any speed test, results are getting to
believe your local infrastructure, with hyperfast internet service yielding higher test speed results.
That’s one reason we’re more curious about the quantity of speed lost because the use of any VPN can typically cut your internet speed by half or more. NordVPN reduced our connection speed by 53% on average, compared to the 32% speed loss we measured once we tested it in 2019. While not as fast as a number of its competitors like ExpressVPN and Surfshark, we found that NordVPN’s speeds were reliably fast; there have been never any sudden dips or service interruptions, and where we expected it to underperform, it proved itself up to the task.
NordVPN’s overall global average speed was 91Mbps during my testing, during a dataset with average non-VPN speeds of 194Mbps. While it’s normal for a VPN to chop your internet speed by half or more, the notable context here is that across the averages of my five test zones, I never saw NordVPN fall below 85Mbps. It’s still one of the foremost consistent, stable VPNs I’ve worked with.
Singapore led the testing averages at 98Mbps, while UK speeds beat European speeds by a hair’s breadth. At 99.93Mbps, UK connections squeaked before French and German ones, which averaged 91.90Mbps. NordVPN also had another finish during testing, with Australia beating US scores, 88Mbps to 86Mbps. None of those are scores that you simply can look down your nose at.
Security and privacy
- Jurisdiction: Panama
- Encryption: AES-256, 4096-bit RSA key, Perfect Forward Secrecy
- No leaks detected
- Includes a customizable kill switch
We like that NordVPN is headquartered in Panama, which is usually considered a privacy-friendly country thanks to its lack of surveillance-sharing agreements with other countries.
Its encryption is standard AES-256-CBC, and it supports Perfect Forward Secrecy, which suggests it frequently changes encryption keys to avoid security compromises. NordVPN also uses OpenVPN protocol (one of the foremost secure protocols available) and IPSec/IKEv2 (which is a smaller amount secure but still quite fast). No IP address, DNS leak,,, or other potentially user-identifying data leaks were detected during our testing.
The VPN tool offers a useful kill switch security feature, which prevents network data from leaking outside of its secure VPN tunnel in the event the VPN connection fails. Those unacquainted with the software should note the extra customizable kill switch that permits you to pick which apps to kill within the event of a VPN drop-out. confine mind that any apps not thereon list will still transmit information over the web and will therefore become a privacy liability.
Additional features include a site filter to dam out a broader swath of malicious sites, alongside optional ad and tracker blockers. The latter goes an extended way toward keeping accelerates for the typical VPN user. We also like Nord’s Double VPN feature, which allows users to leap across multiple servers for a touch of additional encryption. and that we found its obfuscation (the process of creating a VPN does not appear as if a VPN) effective in every instance of testing.
While NordVPN has lived on our list of recommended vendors for an extended time, we moved it to the bench in October 2019 to re-evaluate our recommendation after a report emerged that one among its rented servers was accessed without authorization in 2018. Nord’s actions following the invention included — eventually — multiple security audits, a bug bounty program,,, and heavier investments in VPN server security.
While we’d have preferred that the NordVPN team disclosed the difficulty much earlier, the very fact that the breach was very limited in nature and involved no user-identifying information served to further verify that NordVPN keeps no logs of user activity. And NordVPN’s subsequent move to full RAM-disk use — meaning it isn’t storing anything on hard drives — as a breach response went an extended way toward convincing us of the company’s security commitment. As a result, Nord remains on our list of recommended vendors.
Cost
- Usability: Friendly interface with easy controls
- Platforms: Mac, Windows, Android, iOS, Linux
- Price: $3.30 monthly (72% discount) for a 2-year plan
- Number of simultaneous connections: 6
We like NordVPN’s clean, easy-to-use interface, its toggle controls, and its server search functions. The interactive map graphic is pleasant in design but might be made more useful if its default setting identified cities rather than only the countries.
The VPN company offers 24/7 customer service support through live chat, with an email option. NordVPN also features a well-built support section on its website, which contains a veritable library of FAQs and tutorials.
The VPN service provider imposes no data caps and allows unlimited server switching and torrenting. We had no problems using it to access Netflix. Unlike some competitors, however, you’ll only run six devices simultaneously on one subscription.
Since the planet of VPNs moves at a quick pace, we’d like better to see NordVPN’s steep discounts applied laterally toward all of its contracts to report better overall purchasing value. that might be a sharper criticism if NordVPN wasn’t already a long-standing industry leader with a lengthy history, and it’s certainly a criticism that would be applied to just about all VPN providers. because it stands, its best deal is via its two-year contract at $3.30 per month, a 72% discount, billed once every two years for $89. NordVPN does offer a 30-day money-back guarantee, however.
While NordVPN does not accept PayPal payments, you’ll pay with a Mastercard or cryptocurrency including Bitcoin, AliPay, WeChat Payments, iTunes, Google Pay, Amazon Pay,,, and UnionPay.
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