If you have been checking out VPN services late, there’s a good chance that you would have come across the name NordVPN. This Panama-based VPN service provider is one of the more popular options in the market and today, let’s take a closer look at its features and performance.
NORDVPN Features
NordVPN provides all of the standard features you would want from a good VPN service like fast speeds, threat protection that blocks ads and other pop-ups , a long list of servers spread across different continents, logless policy, and also adds some interesting features like Double VPN and Meshnet.
Before we get into the performance of the NordVPN service, let’s take a look at these features in detail.
Long list of servers
NordVPN comes with a long list of servers spread across all the major continents. The company claims it has over 5522 fast servers in 59 countries across the world, meaning you always have multiple servers in different regions. What’s interesting is that Nord VPN has a server in Africa, specifically South Africa, which is usually a neglected continent among VPN providers.
NordLynx Protocol
NordVPN’s goto protocol is NordLynx which is based on WireGuard. If you are aware of the VPN protocols in the industry, then you would know that Wireguard is gaining a lot of popularity, for using its newer encryption techniques that provide faster speeds than traditional protocols like OpenVPN and IKEv2.
NordVPN also gives you OpenVPN and IKEv2 protocol options, if you prefer that over NordLynx.
Threat Protection
Like most good VPN services, NordVPN offers threat protection service which blocks ads and trackers when you are browsing. It can detect and block a bunch of ads, including inline and popup ads, keeping your browsing experience clean.
Dark Web Monitoring
This is a simple but useful service wherein NordVPN will alert you if your credentials have been leaked online via a breach or a hack. If you get this alert, you can immediately change your account details like password to resecure your data and account.
Logless Servers
NordVPN boasts of having a no log policy. This means that your personal data like browsing history, traffic information, or IP address is never logged on their servers. Most big VPN companies have a no logs policy and it helps to keep your account and browsing history anonymous.
Double VPN
Double VPN allows you to route your traffic through two VPN servers (also known as VPN chaining) instead of one. This means your data is encrypted twice, making it harder for hackers or malicious operators to gain access to your online activity.
Meshnet
Meshnet is an interesting feature from NordVPN which allows you to securely connect to another device to access its files and data. This makes for powerful use case scenarios like virtual LAN gaming, access to local web servers of your peers for development, or even sharing files remotely.
Presets
This feature allows you to set your preferred VPN server based on the app or requirement. So you can set a different server for work, gaming, streaming and so on.
NORDVPN Performance Speeds
The NordVPN offers one of the best speeds in the market right now. The company offers over 5000 servers in over 59 countries and if you are using NordLynx protocol, which is their default protocol, you get nearly 80-90% of your regular speeds when the VPN is connected.
While we found OpenVPN and IKEv2 protocols to be slower than Nord Lynx, they still connected without any issues.
The connection times were also very quick. Unlike VyprVPN which we have been using for more than a year, NordVPN servers were very quick to connect. It never took more than a couple of seconds to connect to a server.
We tested the NordVPN service using an internet connection with over 220 Mbps speed. When connected to Nord VPN’s US server via NordLynx Protocol, we were getting over 170 Mbps download speeds. This is pretty impressive, especially considering competitors like Vypr VPN could only offer under 30Mbps on their US servers. Even when connected to one of their servers on the opposite side of the globe, namely a Hong Kong server, we were getting close to 180 Mbps download and 20Mbps upload speeds, which again is quite impressive.
None of the servers we tested experienced any DNS leak, so our location data was protected.
What was even more impressive was the double VPN server we tested via Netherlands and London. The Double VPN connection gave us nearly 50% speeds, around 120Mbps. So even if you want the best protection via double encryption, you won’t have to sacrifice a lot on the download speeds.
Other servers in EU and Asia also provided excellent speeds. Nearly all of them could provide up to 150Mbps connection speeds on their servers. Moreover, if you click on the menu besides the server name, you get the additional option of connecting to a server from a specific region in the country, which is an added plus.
Most of their servers can also bypass regional restriction on streaming platforms. Whether it was Netflix or Amazon Prime, we could access the regional streaming platforms on their respective country based servers without any issues. Plus, the speeds were pretty fast too, so watching movies or series on a server was a relatively smooth experience.
NordVPN Pricing
NordVPN may not be the cheapest VPN in the market but it’s one of those VPNs that does everything really well. With super fast VPN speeds, a long list of logless servers, threat protection and features like Double VPN and Meshnet, you get an excellent user experience on all platforms like Windows, MacOS, Android, and even iOS.
The VPN service is currently available for just $3.69 per month with three months of service thrown in as free, making for a pretty good deal for those looking for a reliable and stable VPN service. While they don’t have a trial plan, they do offer a 30 day money back policy, in case you are not happy with their service.
You can check out NordVPN plans and details from this .
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