My Personal Review of NordVPN

NordVPN is a VPN service with applications for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and Android TV. A VPN is a Virtual Private Network, which is a virtual private network that extends a private network across a public network and enables users to send and receive data across shared or public networks as if their computing devices were directly connected to the private network. So in English, it basically means a network tunneling inside of another network.

Many people use VPNs to enhance their security posture. To allow them to protect where they are located and to keep hackers away from their home network. A VPN is a service that both encrypts your data and hides your IP address by bouncing your network activity through a secure chain to another server miles away. This obscures your online identity, even on public Wi-Fi networks, so you can browse the internet safely, securely, and anonymously.

You will see some using a VPN when on a public Wi-Fi network, ensuring that they are protected from prying eyes on the public Wi-Fi network.

I use a VPN for the above and for testing websites that I build, as I own and operate a local web design service after hours from my real job, this allows me to test websites anonymously, ensuring that I’m seeing what others see. And for SEO, it allows me to get around Google’s geo services, where Google learns one way or another where I’m located (in general) so it can better serve more accurate search results. Using a VPN takes that out of the picture and is used in conjunction with Chrome’s incognito mode, giving me the most generic search results so I can truly see where a client’s website places in search results.

I was fortunate enough to get on the NordVPN train when they were offering 3 years for $70 after rebates, which is less than $2 a month.

After using them for nearly two years and after a ton of research, I can tell you that even though there is some controversy surrounding who actually owns the company,  NordVPN is one of the best budget VPNs on the market. They are secure, fast, and easy to use. They offer 256-bit AES encryption, end to end. They have over 5,000 servers located in over 60 different countries. I use it every time I’m on travel to protect myself from nosey people and hackers. Plus the speeds in the tunnel are fast. And as an added bonus they have a verified no-log policy, which means that they do not keep traffic logs of where any of their clients have been or where they are coming from online.

Not only do I highly recommend NordVPN, but I’m also a client and have been for several years.

A great example of my NordVPN usage on travel would be that in the hotel, I connect my computer to the hotel Wireless, and then I turn on NordVPN, which ensures that from my computer to the distant-end NordVPN server (in whatever country I select, including the U.S.), my connection is secured by 256-bit AES encryption. Once it exits the NordVPN server on the distant end, I’m not protected unless the website I’m visiting is using an SSL certificate. In that case, I’m double protected. NordVPN would be protecting me from my laptop to the distant end and the SSL is protecting my browser session from my browser to the web server of the website I’m visiting. This means any hacker lurking in or near the hotel will not be able to jack my connection and hack into my laptop.

I give NordVPN five stars.

*** This is my personal review of NordVPN, I do not get paid by NordVPN by any means ***