Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Panama, Nord VPN is a strong contender in the VPN industry. A reputed and branded VPN service provider, Nord has millions of customers and supports access on multiple platforms – macOS, iOS, Android, Linux, Windows, Raspberry Pi, Chromebook, Synology, Western Digital, Dray Trek, Socks 5 and more. The genesis of the name, Nord, was inspired by “Nordic ideals of confidence, trust, and innovation”, as the CMO Marty Kamden said. Our team signed up and used the Nord VPN for weeks, and came back with the following review.
Nord Account Setup
The account setup is seamless. Simply download the software in the chosen devices, login with
credentials, and start surfing. You can connect up to 6 devices simultaneously across many platform
types. All the connected devices will be secured individually. Through the personal dashboard, you can
remove any device anytime.
Nord VPN Servers
Nord VPN has around 5100 servers in its network spanning 62 countries. Even if a couple of these
servers do not work or gives slow speed, there are thousands of options to choose from. Most of the
servers are based in the USA, followed by Europe. The number of server networks in Africa and the Asia
Pacific is limited.
Nord VPN Speed
Our team checked the Nord VPN speed on various geographical locations and the results were good. The
overall speed was good. You can check the VPN speed through Speedtest.net. We regularly got 45Mbps
speed on a 50Mbps line. As the distance between your physical location and chosen server location
increases, there can be a slight drop in the ping time but overall, it was extremely satisfactory. During
testing, we could stream 4K HD and 2K on YouTube without any disruptions.
Streaming Options
With the Nord VPN premium account, you can use their servers to access these international platforms
– Hulu, Netflix, YouTube, Yle, HBO Now, BBC iPlayer, Globo SportTV, Eurosport, Channel 4, Comedy
Central, Player.PL and ORF.
Do note that Netflix hates users who try to bypass their content restrictions. However, Nord has set up a
dedicated page highlighting how you can access regional content on Netflix – bookmark this page.
Torrenting activities are supported only on their selected servers. It is categorized as the Onion Over
VPN, Double VPN, Dedicated, or P2P. It gives greater options for torrenting but the speed was not too
good as it was with normal streaming or browsing activities.
Nord VPN Privacy
The privacy features of Nord VPN are similar to other VPN industry leaders. They have a “no log data”
policy which means that all your Internet activity via the VPN is not logged and stored on their servers.
Since they are headquartered in Panama, they don’t need to store your data for legal enforcement
purposes.
However, it does collect non-personal and personal anonymized data to improve its performance
metrics. These anonymized data include IP addresses, ISPs, operating system, browser type and version,
and access date/time, email address, name, address, payment details, billing method, country, and
credit card (partial) information. Do note that you can buy the Nord VPN subscription with Bitcoin,
Ripple, and Ethereum to avoid providing your credit card information or via Cash if you are in the US.
Nord Security
Nord VPN does not use redundant Internet security protocols. It works with industry standard
encryption technology. Nord is known to provide IKEv2/IPsec and OpenVPN protocols, apart from
CyberSec which constantly monitors the Nord servers for malware and virus. CyberSec keeps track of
bot activities and blocks DDoS attacks swiftly. It also automatically blocks your access to dangerous
websites, auto-play videos and pop-ups unless you manually switch off the Settings to allow pop-ups
and videos.
Moreover, Nord VPN uses the Double VPN technology, which means that two VPN servers are linked to
give you a double layer of protection and identity masking. Your computer first connects to the first
VPN, the first VPN connects to the second VPN before reaching the desired web address. In short, your
data is twice encrypted
. In conclusion, the performance of Nord VPN is good and commendable. Their privacy protection laws
are strong and they have a 30-day refund policy, which not many VPN service providers offer. Nord VPN
is a reputed and a strong VPN provider that we can recommend. You get security, privacy, and speed at
a throwaway price.