Gabe: Hey, folks.
This is Gabe at Security Baron.
Today, we're checking out one of the biggest players in the VPN market, with over eight
million subscribers, NordVPN.
[music]
Gabe: In today's review of NordVPN, I'm going to look at the pros and cons, features, run
speed, and leak test.
Check out the subscription options, customer support, and finally, the mobile application,
so that you have all the information you need to make the right decision.
If you'd like to see a list of our favorite VPNs, Google "Security Baron best VPNs."
If you have a question about today's review, leave us a comment and I'll get back to you.
Let's start by looking at the pros and cons of NordVPN, beginning with the pros.
Well, NordVPN is based in Panama.
It isn't a part of any of the international surveillance organizations.
You shouldn't have to worry about it giving over your information to other parties.
You also just might want to stream Netflix.
NordVPN has one of the most consistent Netflix viewing experiences for VPNs out there.
Finally, it has amazing app ratings from both iPhone and Android users.
You should have a pretty solid experience with your mobile device.
Now, on the con side, I don't love that it gives you the same IP address every time you
use it.
I like for it to vary your IP addresses.
Finally, it doesn't allow for split tunneling.
That's definitely another con for NordVPN.
Now that we've gone over the pros and cons for NordVPN, let's check out its feature set,
beginning with data logging.
They're not going to log when you use the VPN, which server you used, what IP address
you use, what was your traffic, or even any downloaded files, which is pretty secure,
especially when combined with their Panama location.
That's a pretty great policy for data logging in that there is, basically, no policy for
retaining any of your information.
If we go look at Kill Switch, or also known as a network lock feature, it's also positive
in that they have the Kill Switch that makes sure that whatever you're using, be it an
app, a browser, you're going to not have your information exposed, if for some reason, your
private network connection is lost.
If you're browsing using an app, and all of a sudden NordVPN goes out, it also cuts everything
out.
You're not automatically exposed on that public Internet.
That's a great thing to have with NordVPN.
Continuing looking at the feature set of NordVPN, let's check out split tunneling.
Split tunneling allows you to have part of your information going through the public
network and part of it going through the private network.
Unfortunately, NordVPN does not have a split tunneling option.
You can either be using NordVPN and running things privately or just be all the way on
the public network.
There's no way to have any type of bifurcation of bytes going back and forth.
When we look at Netflix, however, Netflix is available on the NordVPN.
Definitely one of the more consistent VPNs out there for just checking out Netflix.
It's definitely a positive element of the NordVPN.
Hey, folks.
Quick break.
Looking at NordVPN and how strong it is as a Netflix VPN, we're wondering how important
is that to you as a consumer.
Do you plan on using Netflix with your VPN?
Leave us a comment below.
We'd love to hear your thoughts.
Let's get back to the video.
Now that we've gone over pros, cons and features for NordVPN, let's have a little fun and actually
run some tests.
Today, we're going to run a speed test, a DNS test, and WebRTC leak test.
Just so you'd know, I'd get all of these on a Optimum network in Brooklyn, New York in
my apartment using a MacBook Air and an ASUS VivoBook.
Just so you know, the control for conducting these tests.
Let's dive in.
Let's start with the speed test.
As far as download speeds go, NordVPN affected both of my computers by around the same percentage,
There was a 52 percent decrease on my Mac and a 50 percent decrease on my Windows computer.
For upload speeds, NordVPN put only an 11 percent decrease in speed on the ASUS VivoBook
compared to a 23 percent on my MacBook Air.
They're both pretty impressive numbers.
Finally, measured ping, also known as latency.
Here, the MacBook Air actually won with a 43 percent increase in latency compared to
a 72 percent increase on the ASUS VivoBook.
Overall, something that you might want to keep in mind is that NordVPN created a little
bit more slowdown on my Mac than on my Windows computer.
The next test that we ran is the DNS leak test.
DNS stands for Domain Name Server.
It's essentially when you type in Google.com, there's actually an underlying IP address
below that.
Think of it as if you use White House as shorthand for 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
You don't want that information to get out.
Fortunately, when we ran our test for NordVPN, that information stayed secured.
The final test that we ran is the WebRTC leak test.
WebRTC stands for Web Real-Time Communication.
If you use Firefox, Chrome, Microsoft Edge, or Opera, you're probably pretty familiar
with it.
It allows two servers to essentially bypass the intermediate server and you can, basically,
connect to IP addresses for live streaming, FaceTiming, or just transferring large files.
Of course, to do so, that usually means that those IP addresses have to share it with one
another.
That's what we don't want.
Fortunately, with NordVPN we want to protect that information.
Ultimately, we had a really solid experience with no leaks.
Now that we've ran a few tests, let's check out the subscription options for NordVPN.
If you sign up for one month in NordVPN, that's going to be $11.99.
If you sign up for an entire year, that price goes down $5 a month to $6.99.
If you sign up for two years, it goes down to $3.99.
For three years, it gets all the way down to $2.99 a month.
You see the pattern here.
The longer you sign up, the more affordable it will be.
When it comes to your manual configurations, you're going to want to make sure you check
to make sure it works with the operating system that you prefer.
When it comes to supported browsers, I want to go ahead and make it clear that it does
not work with Safari.
That's something you want to keep in mind when you're looking at the subscription options
for NordVPN.
Let's check out customer support with NordVPN.
Nord has, of course, an online help center with troubleshooting guides and FAQs to help
you figure out what's going on with your system, if you have any questions.
What's really rare and impressive about NordVPN when it comes to customer support is they
have 24/7 live chat and email.
You are really never going to be cut out in the dark with no information regarding their
VPN, which is definitely a plus.
We don't have a ton of experience with NordVPN.
We went to check out what other people were saying.
Looking at Amazon, for example, it has a 3.8 out of 5-star rating which is pretty solid.
Of the reviews that specifically mentioned customer support, there are only three.
Of those three, two were negative.
That gives us a little bit of pause, but it's not that much of a sample size.
If you look at their general Amazon reviews, half of them are five stars and 20 percent
are one star.
That makes us worry a little bit about how they are dealing with customers that are unhappy.
Those are our thoughts on NordVPN and its customer support.
The final thing we're going to look at in our review today of the NordVPN is its mobile
application.
It does really well here.
If you look at the ratings in the Apple App Store, it has 4.5 out of 5-star ratings.
If you look at it in the Google Play Store, it has 4.4 out of 5-star ratings.
People generally say that it's easy to use and free of bugs.
Let's look at it on my iPhone X.
Here I am checking out the NordVPN mobile application on my iPhone X.
You note that now, we are looking at the map.
You can look at the various countries, and you can hit Quick Connect.
If you want to connect to a country, or if I wanted to hit United States, tap on United
States and here I am.
Now you can see that it says "Connected to United States" at the top, and there's a disconnect
button.
I hit Disconnect, now I am no longer connected.
Let's try out our neighbors to the north, Canada.
Voila, I'm already connected to Canada.
I'll look at Canada.
I'll look at the United States.
I can be connected wherever I need to be.
Of course, there are some specialty servers.
You can make a favorites list.
You can even search for various servers.
If I go into the top-right corner, you see the gears.
That means that's your settings.
I click on Settings.
You have your Kill Switch option, your cybersecurity option, which will block all ads and malware.
Below that, you can contact support directly and look at your subscription info, Terms
of Service, of course, and Privacy Policy.
It's pretty solid options right there in settings.
It's a very simple, straightforward, intuitive, easy-to-use app.
Overall, a huge fan of how easy it is to switch within servers on NordVPN and just use it
generally.
All right, folks.
We've come a long way with NordVPN.
You want to know, "Is it right for me?"
Let's me just state this -- if you're really into Netflix, I guess one of the priority
things for you, then you're going to want to go with NordVPN.
It's one of the strongest Netflix VPNs out there.
On top of that, it is one of the overall most intuitive, seamless, positive experiences
on a mobile application.
People love it, we like it.
You've seen it now on my iPhone X.
The issues that may make you want to steer clear are those related to IP addresses.
If you want a new IP address every time you sign in, you may want to go with someone else.
If you want to do split tunneling and be on a public and private network at the same time,
you may want to go look at another VPN.
However, when it comes to overall, NordVPN is definitely one of the strongest VPN options
out there on the market today.
[background music]
That concludes our review of NordVPN.
If you appreciated today's video, give us a like, hit that Subscribe button.
As always, this is Gabe at Security Baron.
Be secure.