By: Mitch | Last updated January 12, 2021 
Almost everyone nowadays uses the internet for a variety of reasons including entertainment, education, and work. Especially in the time of a pandemic, more and more parts of our lives are done digitally and online. Because of this, we regularly upload and download information through the gadgets that we use to connect to the internet. This part of browsing it makes it susceptible to being intercepted by trackers and third parties who may want to see the different activities and information of the user. If they are not careful enough, their information may be exposed easily.
Virtual Private Networks are services made for keeping the user anonymous while online. It hides your IP address and blocks tracking from anyone, including your own internet service provider (ISP). This anonymity which is so hard to have nowadays with the abundance of advertising companies who want to gather your personal info is given along with other features that can increase your gadget’s security and give you access to more features in the internet. While they come in different brands and features, one of the best that we have tried here in Best Review Guide is NordVPN.
NordVPN is a VPN service that was released back in 2012. The service is available for Windows, Linux, Mac, iOS, Android, routers, and more. The service is known for being one of the best choices because of their secure encryption technology, abundant features, and the complete anonymity they provide to their users. They are also known for being one of the few one which is capable of bypassing China’s great firewall which proves the quality of their service. The service was developed by Tefincom & Co. They are based in Panama which is not part of the Five Eyes and Fourteen Eyes Alliance.
Most VPN services are paid and comes in pricing plans that incentivize users for pursuing longer months of subscription. NordVPN also does the same, having lesser costs for each month whenever you purchase a plan for a year or two. However, if you are looking for a free trial plan that does not require any credit card info or payment, NordVPN may not be for you. Nord VPN offers a risk-free 30 day trial upon first purchasing which allows you to easily refund in case you are not satisfied with their service.
This may be a bit of a disappointment for some as there are VPNs that offer free trials if you would give your credit information or those that offer entirely free servers. However, NordVPN makes up for this with the amount of access they give to the user for the risk-free duration which means that they could use the service to its maximum while during a whole month and end up being refunded in case they would like to do so. While other VPNs may offer a free version, this might come with fewer features and security involved.
NordVPN is one of the best choices currently in the market. We have reviewed other VPNs here in Best Review Guide and NordVPN came on top.
One of the best parts about NordVPN is the speeds they offer. Often, VPNs can cause the internet connection to be slowed up to a half or more of the normal speeds making it hard to browse and watch videos. This is because it needs to encrypt the information you upload. It also becomes slower if you use a server that is further from your true location. NordVPN, on the other hand, can even make your speed faster in case you use a local server especially if your ISP is throttling your speeds. When used in servers further from you, their speeds are still good for gaming and downloading, with less ping and lag compared to other VPN services.
NordVPN also has a lot of servers scattered all around the globe, with up to 5,200 servers. This allows users to explore different contents available in different countries. It also allows maximum anonymity for them.
As mentioned above, NordVPN has one of the best bypass technologies for geo-restriction unblocking. This is a common activity for users who want to access content only available in other countries. Usually, it is for streaming the contents of Netflix, Amazon Prime, BBC iPlayer, and similar websites which are not available for the user. They simply need to connect to the server of the country which they want to be shown to be coming from. Another thing the VPN can do is bypass the Great Firewall of China which is a very secure wall that does not allow users from the outside to enter the websites of the said country. Aside from encrypting your information, the service also does not show that you are using a VPN which means that you will be completely anonymous and safe from any restrictions while visiting websites here.
NordVPN has a lot of gadgets that it can cover, ranging from PC, Mac, Linux, Android, iPhones, and up to routers and smart TVs. They offer applications for the said gadgets, supporting up to six devices which are standard for most VPNs. To make it easier to connect more gadgets, users can simply connect their routers to the service.
First, one of the most important tools of VPNs is the kill-switch feature. It automatically disconnects the gadget you are using in case it fails to fully activate its security protocols. This ensures that your information will always be safe and will not be gathered by hackers and will not be exposed to websites which may track them.
It also has an ad-block which removes annoying pop-ups and banners in the websites you visit. It uses the CyberSec suite to give more protection to the user against viruses and malware which they may encounter while browsing.
The service allows torrenting which is another primary reason for some to use VPNs. This is because this type of downloading which involves peer-to-peer sharing of data may be vulnerable to being hacked.
The service uses AES 256-bit encryption which allows military-grade protection for the information that you upload. It also uses the perfect forward secrecy technology which replaces the key for the encryption of your services with every session, ensuring that it will be harder for others to be able to access your information. Users can also select between two types of security protocols include OpenVPN and IKEv2/IPSec.
For some users, the location of where the VPN is based in is very important. This is because there are countries that are involved in the Fourteen Eyes or Five Eyes which requires online companies to upload their data if the government requests. This means that the activities of the user are never fully anonymous.
Asking for complete anonymity does not imply illegal activities as another common reason for the use of VPNs is for important business transactions. Because of this, most VPNs are located in countries not included in the mentioned union. This is why NordVPN is based in Panama. Examples of VPNs that also have a good no-logging policy include ExpressVPN and SurfShark, which are based in the Virgin Islands.
