Is NordVPN Any Good? This Review is All You Need

I was bombarded with ads on NordVPN, and being a techie, it left me curious to know if this VPN service was any good or if the marketing guys were only spending company money for a run. So, I quickly downloaded NordVPN and did ten severe tests to know if it was any good, and this NordVPN review is all about it.

In this review, we tested NordVPN on the ten most important factors: 1. Security, 2. Privacy, 3. Speed, 4. Streaming, 5. VPN Protocols, 6. Torrenting & P2P, 7. Logging, 8. Student Benefits, 9. Compatibility and 10. Pricing.

But first, let us quickly look at NordVPN features that make it a user-favorite VPN tool. We can then hop on to the detailed take on each factor.

NordVPN Features: A Quick Overview

Hide your internet identity and secure your communications behind a true wall of defense; NordVPN offers the strongest military-grade encryption with lightning-fast speed and user-centric privacy and policies.

Here are some of the notable features of NordVPN,

1. Secure Internet
2. Strict No-Logs Policy
3. Use with ease
4. Multiple devices
5. Ultra-fast connection
6. Worldwide access, including China
7. VPN servers everywhere
8. P2P Servers

These are only some of the features; there is a lot that NordVPN offers, and discussing all of them would be out of scope for this review. However, to help you make a decision, we will discuss each of the ten tests we did and what results we got from them.

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1. Security | Your Connection is Now Secure

You might often think you have a secure line of communication on the internet; well, it’s your home network, you haven’t shared the WiFi password, and there can be no intruders; but wait, a network is never secure unless it is encrypted.

Most cyber experts, governments, or hackers can easily tap into insecure networks and copy the data you are communicating with the least effort. 

It is not really your fault to think that you don’t communicate any private or sensitive data as most other users and just scroll through social media apps. But what about bank transactions do you make? How about signing in to your social media accounts or discussing your private life with your partner or friends and family through texts and media? Your data is oil, and everyone wants it: some for advertisements, some for access, and a few for selling your data to make money.

NordVPN secures your information here by encrypting every signal you send with an AES-256 encryption standard. As per cyber experts, it is one of the strongest military-grade encryption systems that would take years to break by supercomputers without a proper key. 

Alongside, you get added security features such as,

• Double VPN
• TOR Over VPN
• CyberSec
• Socks5 Proxy
• Obfuscated Servers

You might feel that encryption or security is not needed much in your daily life, but internet activities are rising, and it is always best to keep your digital life secure even with the smallest of your information. With such a grade of security, NordVPN does wonders for users.

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2. Privacy

Alongside securing your information from intruders and snoopers, it is also important that your information is not stored by the VPN itself. Most VPNs store your information on their private servers and later sell it to advertisers, and that’s how they make the business work.

NordVPN is a big name in the VPN industry, and it is well known for securing your information and assuring you with trust. VPNs like ExpressVPN and NordVPN have unannounced independent audits by third-party cybersecurity companies on their servers. This audit is done to check if any of the user data is stored by the VPN service.

These independent audits are a great way to assure the audience in regards to privacy concerns. The best part is that these audits are unannounced and transparent, which builds more trust among users and leaves no chance for any manipulations. I firmly believe NordVPN does a good job of addressing privacy concerns with transparency.

3. Speed

If we look at how a VPN works, an encryption/decryption server is placed between both devices, and the signal is transmitted through these servers. So, if you are from Texas and are using a VPN server from Asia and sending information to a receiving device in Georgia, the signal would transmit from Texas to Asia, and from Asia to Georgia, and in such a case, it has to travel more based on the response rate. This is why most VPNs are slow and ruin your experience, be it using Google for a quick search, streaming a movie/TV show, or even playing online games.

We did a speed test using NordVPN on servers based in the US, UK, and Asia to know how good was the response rate. This data might change for you based on the current server configurations, your location, and how far the server is located. However, this should give you a good rough idea of what response rate you can expect from NordVPN.

1. UK Servers

The NordVPN servers located in the UK are some of the best ones for testing the response rate. We tested a few of the servers from the UK and found an internet boost of almost 15% without even having to use an internet speed booster tool. Now, the reason for this speed boost is due to the server optimizations and use of NordLynx protocol, which improves the response rate of the communication even when the signal has to pass through additional servers.

2. US Servers

The US servers are often crowded as there are a lot of users who prefer using US servers to unblock geo-restrictions and stream their favorite shows or movies. Thankfully, NordVPN has a larger number of servers in the US, which allows you to use the VPN more conveniently than other VPN servers.

With NordVPN on the US servers, we still saw a speed boost of 8-10% without a lot of jitter on a longer period of use. Of course, it is a little less than the speed boost from the UK servers, but overall, it is still better than having a significant drop in speed.

3. Asian Servers

NordVPN servers are widely available across the globe in multiple regions, including China, which has its own restrictive internet policies. The number of servers is smaller in regions such as Hong Kong, but the good news is that they are available to connect.

Here, we saw a significant drop in the internet speed, probably due to longer signal transmission and a more restrictive environment. In our multiple tests, we found almost a 15-20% drop in the speed when using some of the Asian servers. Of course, not all of these servers are slow, but most of them are.

4. Streaming

One of the popular reasons why most users prefer using a VPN is to unblock entertainment in geo-restrictive regions. This is because creative licenses are limited to certain regions only unless they are registered for all regions globally. For example, a TV show on BBC iPlayer may not be available to stream in the US or other regions globally, but it can be streamed only in the UK. In another example, a certain movie available for Netflix users in the US may not be available to stream for Netflix users in Asia, such as India.

With a VPN, your location can be set to the regions where certain streaming is available, and you can enjoy it from any part of the world where the internet is available.

But wait, not all VPNs can break the geo-restrictions and are easily caught off guard by streaming companies. In such cases, the stream won’t load, or you will find the message “Looks like you are using a VPN.”

With NordVPN, we were able to unblock most of the streaming services from other parts of the world. A few of the popular ones include Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Netflix, Paramount Plus, Amazon Prime Video, Disney, and even other major libraries from Japan and other Asian countries.

BBC iPlayer is the most restrictive, and most VPNs fail to unblock this platform from outside of the UK, and we were able to do it with NordVPN. So, yes, NordVPN does help you stream your favorite content across the globe with geo-unblocking features.

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5. VPN Protocols

Think of VPN protocols as directives for how the data is transmitted between a device and a VPN server. These protocols are one of the most crucial factors you should be looking at when picking a VPN service.

NordVPN offers 3 VPN protocols, OpenVPN, NordLynx, and IKEv2/IPSec. There were two additional VPN protocols that NordVPN no longer offers as they are outdated and not very secure: PPTP and LT2P/IPSec.

• OpenVPN: A highly secure VPN protocol that is both reliable and great for privacy-conscious users. This VPN protocol works great across all devices and is one of the VPN standards.
• NordLynx: Built on WireGuard, this VPN protocol is ideal for most users as it is high-speed, reliable, secure, and efficient.
• IKEv2/IPSec: Excellent for mobile devices, it offers high reliability and stability with decent connection speeds.

NordVPN intelligently employs appropriate VPN protocols based on the usage. It also uses a mix of these protocols when required. If you are a user who prefers a particular protocol, you can set it manually under the VPN settings of the NordVPN app.

Also Read: VPN Tunneling: What is it and How Does it Work?

6. Torrenting and P2P File Sharing

Another crucial factor to consider when picking a VPN service is the torrenting and P2P (Peer-to-Peer) file sharing. We have tried a bunch of VPNs, and they fail when it comes to torrenting and P2P sharing. There aren’t many surprises with NordVPN, either.

Here, of course, your file sharing and communication are secure as NordVPN employs powerful AES-256 encryption and masks your torrenting activities. What makes it a little different than other VPNs is that it is a reliable set of P2P-optimized servers. There are a few NordVPN servers that use LAX protocols to make file sharing more secure while masking your identity.

However, there are also downsides when it comes to torrenting with NordVPN; firstly, there are limited servers for P2P, which restricts a lot of users. Secondly, the download speed is usually slow compared to the speed you would get when torrenting without a VPN service. This is usually due to server load and distance from the server. On a larger picture, though you get slower download speeds, at least your identity is masked.

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7. No Logs Policies and Data Sharing

The last thing you would want to do is serve your data on a sliver dish to advertisers and the government. It is a general practice, at least with most of the free VPNs, where the VPN companies collect your data on their private servers and then sell it to advertisers and other benefactors. I’m not to blame them; it’s how they make the business work.

With NordVPN, there are strict no-log policies that state the VPN does not collect or store any of your data on their private servers. This is also why they have independent, transparent audits from third-party cyber companies to adhere to and prove their trust factor.

One of the additional things that most users don’t know about is the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliance. It is a group of 14 countries that can take any of your data whenever they need it for international intelligence, tracking, and more. Such countries can ask VPN companies headquartered in their region to pass your data with them. Thankfully, NordVPN is not headquartered in any of these 14 countries and need not let the government use your data for their own agendas.

It is interesting to know about the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliance, and if you wish to learn more, you can check our guide below.

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8. Student and Employee Discounts

NordVPN offers additional discounts for students and employees. All year round, there are some exciting discounts on NordVPN’s 2 Years Deal, and if you are a student, graduate, teacher, healthcare professional, first responder, or military officer, you get an added 15% discount to the overall deal.

The total discounts also go up to 73% + 15% with these student discounts added to your cart. Don’t worry; NordVPN also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, just in case you no longer need a VPN.

9. Device Compatibility

Cross-device compatibility is crucial as we now have devices in our pockets, our work laptops, personal computers, smart TVs, and even smart devices lying around. If your VPN supports only your phones and laptops, how would you secure yourself on other devices?

NordVPN offers an app client for your phones, laptops, browsers, and even routers to secure your entire connection. On Android and iOS devices, you can download the NordVPN app and sign in using your credentials to start using the VPN.

For Windows and Mac systems, you can readily download the NordVPN client app from the official website and sign in using your credentials to start using the VPN. For browsers on these systems, you can get the Google Chrome, Safari, or Mozilla Firefox NordVPN browser extension to use the VPN right from your browser.

Other devices, such as smart TVs, smart devices, and other unsupported devices with an internet connection, can be secured by using NordVPN on the router level. This way, your entire space and all the devices automatically route the VPN server, and you won’t have to do it manually on all devices.

Also Read: How to Choose a VPN: Key Factors, Tips and Deets

10. Pricing & Plans

Users get massive discounts of up to 73% on the 2-year plans or up to 60% off on the 1-year plan with NordVPN. There are a total of three packages: Basic, Plus, and Complete package, with a limited set of features, and users can pick a package as per their preference.

After the purchase of the complete package, users get,

• 30-day money-back guarantee
• Secure high-speed VPN with ten devices protected at once
• Threat and Antimalware protection
• Advanced browsing protection with ad and tracker blocker
• Data breach scanner
• Cross-platform password manager
• 1 TB of encrypted cloud storage

Most Frequently Asked Questions [FAQs]

Wrapping up: Is NordVPN Any Good? The Tests Speak for Themselves

We finally conclude our ten practical tests, and we can easily state that NordVPN does a good job when it comes to security, privacy, and other crucial factors. Of course, there are more VPNs, such as ExpressVPN, that offer similar features, but they are a little pricy and do not offer huge discounts, as big as 73% on their purchase. Otherwise, NordVPN has average pricing for all the features it has to offer.

Other reviews you might like to read,

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