NordVPN Review

Simply one of the best VPNs for privacy and security on the Web

If you’re looking for a top-notch VPN, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better service than NordVPN. It’s consistently ranked as one of the top VPN providers, with over 5,225 NordVPN servers across 60 countries. Offering 256-bit military-grade encryption, robust torrenting support, and optional Double VPN protection — it’s no wonder this Panama-based VPN provider is popular with millions of privacy-driven Web surfers around the world.

We thoroughly tested NordVPN to see if its reputation is all it’s cracked up to be. Among other things, we evaluated how easy it was to set up and use, cost and speed, as well as encryption options to determine if it’s worth buying a subscription. (Spoiler alert: Yes).

Setup Process: Simple and straightforward

We found the setup process for NordVPN to be exceptionally easy and straightforward. From the NordVPN website, download the appropriate software for your device and operating system, and follow the installation steps on your screen. With NordVPN, you don’t need to download any extra configuration files or do any additional tweaking to the program to make it work. It works right of the “box,” and we like that a lot.

Design: User-friendly and intuitive

NordVPN’s engineers have taken complex VPN technology and made it simple to use — even if you’ve never used a VPN before. The desktop interface is clean, sleek, and intuitive.

To get started, you simply use the Quick Connect button at the top, or manually select which country you want to connect to. NordVPN automatically selects the best server for you, connecting you in seconds. The visually-based interface also features a map that shows the location of your server (in green). At any time while surfing, you can choose another server (in blue) without your internet connection being dropped.

Once you’re connected, you’re protected. You can check the connection status at the top of the screen or in your computer’s menu bar.

Performance: Excellent, with minor blips

With NordVPN, the connection and surfing speeds are excellent. We were able to achieve connection speeds of 229Mbps on a 300Mbps connection, so this is a VPN that isn’t likely to slow you down much.

We did notice a slight lag when opening up new web pages, but it was minor and did not significantly detract from the browsing experience. (In the case of one banking website unable to load, switching the server quickly resolved the issue.)

Embedded videos loaded quickly, and there was virtually no buffering or freezing. We also viewed videos on news sites such as CNN, plus movie-length videos on YouTube and paid streaming services like Amazon Prime. For faster streaming, NordVPN gives you the option of UDP over TCP (User Datagram Protocol over Transmission Control Protocol), which is faster than TCP and provides reduced latency.

With such a large variety of high-quality servers, NordVPN is even suitable for most types of gaming. When connecting to a West Coast server from the East Coast, we noticed a marginal 1ms increase in ping, zero packet loss, and just 5.56ms jitter.

Streaming: Netflix, BBC iPlayer, and more

Streaming services typically try to block VPN connections whenever they can, but NordVPN is consistently ahead of the curve. NordVPN provides a number of dedicated streaming servers that provide the kind of speed, reliability, and compatibility with streaming services that you need to keep up with your favorite shows without worrying about region locked content.

During our hands-on testing, we were able to watch Netflix when connected to U.S., Japanese and U.K. servers, BBC iPlayer when connected to U.K. servers, and Hulu when connected to U.S. servers. NordVPN’s streaming servers do get caught and blocked from time to time, just like any VPN, but our overall streaming experience was very positive.

Privacy Policy: Strict

NordVPN is strategically located in Panama, which is considered a privacy haven thanks to having its own laws and jurisdiction. Specifically, Panama isn’t subject to U.S. data retention laws or the EU DRD (Data Retention Directive). This allows NordVPN to guarantee their strict no logs policy, making it a safe haven for privacy-seekers, torrenters, and anyone looking to circumvent surveillance and draconian censorship laws.

From the NordVPN website: “NordVPN guarantees a strict no-logs policy for NordVPN services, meaning that your activities using NordVPN Services are provided by automated technical process, are not monitored, recorded, logged, stored or passed to any third party. We do not store connection time stamps, session information, used bandwidth, traffic logs, IP addresses or other data.”

Security Features: Extensive and impressive

When it comes to security, NordVPN goes above and beyond the usual VPN service. Whether you’re a casual Web surfer, work with sensitive data, or a need to keep your information out of the hands of the government — NordVPN offers multi-pronged protection over a variety of platforms.

NordVPN’s enhanced security features include:

• Advanced Encryption Standard (AES): NordVPN uses military-grade AES with 256-bit keys. To break this, you would need supercomputers running for billions of years.
• Strict No-Logs Policy: NordVPN does not keep or save details about you and your online activity for any reason.
• Automatic Kill Switch: NordVPN’s kill switch provides continuous monitoring of your VPN server connection. If it drops for any reason, the Kill Switch blocks your device or specified apps from accessing the Web.
• DNS (Domain Name System) Leak Protection: With NordVPN, your device will only use DNS servers operated by NordVPN, not leaked to DNS servers at your ISP.
• Onion Over VPN (Tor): This is an exclusive NordVPN security feature that gives you the advantages of The Onion Router (Tor) combined with the security of a VPN tunnel.
• CyberSec: This is an optional feature in the NordVPN settings that automatically blocks ads and malware.

An Extra Security Feature: Double VPN

Besides the above security features, NordVPN also offers something called Double VPN. Just like the name sounds, Double VPN doubles your level of encryption. With Double VPN, your data traffic flows through two VPN servers, not just one. For anyone who needs a high level of online security and privacy, this feature can be invaluable. This might include journalists and political activists who need to protect their activities and sources from the government.

Torrenting: Plenty of P2P servers, and a kill switch

NordVPN offers exceptional support for Peer-to-Peer (P2P) traffic, offering over 4,433 active P2P servers in around 40 countries. Just choose the P2P option on the left-hand side of the menu, and you’ll automatically be connected to the best servers for torrenting. It probably goes without saying that if you torrent, always use a reliable and highly secure VPN service.

For added security, NordVPN offers a kill switch feature. This feature automatically shuts down all P2P traffic if your connection to the VPN is interrupted. This ensures that your real IP and identity won’t be revealed in the event that you are ever momentarily disconnected from NordVPN while torrenting.

Ad Blocking: DNS level ad blocking through CyberSec

The NordVPN app includes CyberSec, which is a feature that blocks ads, dangerous websites, and even protects you from botnets. It blocks ads at the DNS level, so you don’t even have to worry about your browser providing any compromising information to an unscrupulous ad server.

CyberSec is available through the Windows, macOS, iOS, and Linux NordVPN apps. It’s also built into the Android app, but that version is a little different. Due to Google’s policies regarding apps in the Play Store, the NordVPN Android app protects you from malicious sites but doesn’t block ads.