Writing note

Writing note

NordVPN is by far the most popular VPN service on the market in particular thanks to its communication strategy (sometimes even invasive)) to boast its performance and its quality.However, is it really the safe bet that he tries to sell us?Answer in our opinion, is it necessary to specify it, 100% objective.

The characteristics of NordVPN

Who is NordVPN?

If you are used to watching your favorite youtubers on the platform of the same name then you are probably not unrelated to NordVPN.It must be said that the service launched in 2012 by four enthusiasts of cybersecurity in recent years put the package in terms of communication.Great good took him, because the VPN today established in Panama recorded worldwide no less than 14 million customers identified in 2019 and certainly even more today.He is today the great leader in a market, however very competitive.

NordVPN has always bet on its simplicity, its performance and its privacy policy.However, this did not prevent him from undergoing hacking in 2018 having led to a massive data leak, certainly without consequences for customers, but having tainted the reputation of the service.In 2020, NordVPN launched its own connection protocol to its servers, called Nordlynx and having considerably improved performance while excluding the very promising Wireguard for security reasons.

Interface / handling

This is the great force of NordVPN: its interface is both very simple and very complete.As soon as the application is launched, a world card appears.Just walk around and click on the icon of a country to connect.To go a little further, a banner on the left of the application also allows you to choose the country from which to navigate the Internet.But above all, it is from this banner and the three small points located next to each country that one can choose a particular server, even the location of a city.

The choice of the city is not available for all countries, however, only for larger ones like the United States or Canada.In France, 2 cities are accessible: Paris and Marseille.In all cases, the VPN systematically proposes the most optimal server adapted to its geographical situation if we want protection that limits only the connection.

Connecting to a server on the NordVPN application is very simple through the search engine.

We also appreciate the speed of connection.If some VPNs take long seconds to connect to a server, even close to their locality, NordVPN is surprisingly reactive and a server Jump is done in just more than 3 seconds each time.Going from New York to Tokyo has never been so fast.We carried out tests with the same account on 3 different devices with the same connected account at the same time to ensure that the service is usable.

On the other hand, we would have liked to have a minimum of information concerning statistics when connecting to a server or the network protocol used, in any case with regard to the Desktop application.On the latter, it is also impossible to choose a protocol preference where this is the case on the mobile application, which is very strange.

NordVPN also does not offer servers dedicated to streaming (to access the American catalog of Netflix, for example)), it has several tabs to connect to peer to peer servers (for the download of torrent)), toServers specific to the Tor network.Other very practical options enhance everything, such as Kill Switch for safety or split tunneling to define security on specific applications.VPN also includes a function called Cybersec blocking the display of advertising and malicious sites.

Advanced parameters are not full of features either, but we appreciate the fact that it is possible to define a specific DNS or even hide your computer on the local network while having access to connected devices, such as a printer for example.In any case, the interface does everything to be user-friendly and is fully translated into French.

On the mobile application (Android)), we find the same world card with the same servers.It also seems much more provided in functionalities while remaining little intrusive.The first concerns the choice of protocol which, if it is not directly selectable via the chosen server, can be done by preferences in the options.The other very practical function concerns the display of alert notifications against applications that can add a superposition of screens and on the potential of an exposure of your email address in case of hacking.For the latter, we would have liked to be able to do it with an address other than that of the account.

The mobile application strictly uses design desktop

Global, even if the mobile and PC ecosystem seems complementary, it still lacks features, but above all convergence.It is however highlighted by the possibility of connecting up to 6 devices with the same account.

Servers and performance

We said in the above part, NordVPN does not offer dedicated servers for each type of use.This does not mean that the service does not have an important global park of more than 5000 servers distributed in 60 countries.It is certainly less than a certain cyberghost, but that absolutely does not mean that it is less efficient.Here are the results obtained after various tests carried out with a fiber, wired and Parisian connection from the NPERF site.

This is clearly one of the strengths of the VPN, its proposed flows are very good and regularly exceed 200 Mb/s in download on servers even several thousand kilometers.In addition, the ping (in MS)) is quite contained, even if it is not necessary to count on a first -rate responsiveness from the American servers for example, the online game under these conditions therefore remains almost impossible.

For streaming, however, we are perfectly in the nails.All market platforms and their foreign catalogs are accessible (Netflix, Video Prime, Disney +, OCS, Apple TV +, etc..)).However, to take full advantage of it, it is still necessary to have a strong basic connection to avoid having to wait for too long buffering.We have also noticed that servers can be blocked by certain services, in these specific cases, just connect to another random server until you go around the geoblocting.

The Netflix US exclusive series are in excellent quality on mobile and desktop.

Concernant les protocoles de connexion utilisés, NordVPN en propose deux : Open VPN (en mode TCP et UDP)) et sa solution propriétaire appelée NordLynx.If the first is a classic protocol found by default on most services, Nordlynx is exclusive to NordVPN since developed internally and derived from Wireguard.If the latter aims to ultimately replace the aging Open VPN, it is not necessarily to the taste of NordVPN which considers it "not very secure".The interested party declares that:

Difficult to verify the veracity of this information as it is, but the fact remains that Nordlynx has been developed in order to better guarantee the confidentiality of users while providing increased performance.Simple marketing pirouette or real advance, we must still recognize that Nordlynx makes the job.If we compare, for example, performance with Cyberghost under Wireguard, the result carried out from a Parisian server is unequivocal.

The trend on other foreign servers is also confirmed: Nordlynx is ahead of the performance.The latter is still called to evolve in this sense as Open VPN in its time.

Finally, with regard to the availability of servers located in the authoritarian area, NordVPN Botte in touch.For example, it is currently impossible to connect to a Chinese, Saudi, Iranian or even Egyptian server.

PRIVACY POLICY

This is the other point on which NordVPN puts a lot to perfect its legitimacy and which is also highly highlighted from the main page of the site.Like other VPNs, NordVPN ensures that its service does not keep any register of user activity: a "no logs policy".Concretely, this means that NordVPN says you do not know when you connect to the Internet, or know the sites you visit, or the content you download.

To confirm its statements, NordVPN called on four independent audit companies.The reports can be consulted by NordVPN users, directly from the customer area.It is a guarantee of fairly strong trust, especially since the service often renews its audits in order to show white leg.Difficult in its conditions to take it in the absence.

Nord VPN's privacy policy is very clear.

This does not necessarily mean that NordVPN does not know or keeps absolutely nothing.Some elements are kept, such as the user's email address (mandatory to open an account)).Other data is also kept, whether it be exchanges with customer service or the temporary timing of connections, to avoid excessive sharing of the same.

NordVPN was also the victim of a hacking on one of its Finnish servers in early 2018.The result led to the leak of an SSL key allowing a third party to recover this information and to pass through NordVPN.On the other hand, this incident did not give rise to any leak of user data or any hostile intrusion.Nord VPN also details the postmark post of this incident in a blog post.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

NordVPN provides customer service entirely in French that can be contacted by an online cat directly from the contact section of the site.It is however surprising that the application returns directly to the English site while the application is configured in French.During the request, an option allows you to select the French language and therefore have an interlocutor who perfectly mastering our language.It's a very good point and NordVPN is today one of the only ones to offer this quality of service.In addition, it is accessible in just a few minutes and responds very quickly to the questions.

PRICES

NordVPN is far from being the cheapest VPN service on the market.He offers almost all VPNs on the market 3 subscription formulas with a particular emphasis on the longest subscription, in this case of 2 years.At a time when we write these lines, the 2 -year subscription is listed at 78.85 euros, or 3.15 euros per month.The subscription is done in one go and not monthly.These are higher rates than at Cyberghost or Surfhark to name a few, but we stay below a VPN Express for example.

NordVPN still offers 30 days of trial during which a total reimbursement is possible.