NordVPN Review & Test (2021)

NordVPN Review & Test (2021)

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It’s not often that a VPN has cheap rates coupled with an excellent set of features. However, when my team and I looked at what NordVPN had to offer, this was exactly what we found. It offers a huge global network of servers, unblocks hundreds of streaming platforms, and has iron-clad security and privacy features — and you can get them all for just $3.30 a month. I had to wonder what the catch was.

So I did an in-depth analysis of NordVPN – I tested its speeds, geo-blocking capabilities, security features, privacy policies, torrent servers, device compatibility, and more. After extensive testing, I am happy to report that NordVPN’s claims are true.

Its blazing speeds are great for unlimited streaming, torrenting with minimal waiting time, and lag-free gaming even with heavy loads. I had no trouble accessing many geo-blocked streaming sites from my location in Serbia (the only sites I had a problem with were Netflix and Sky Go). Plus, your data will always be safe with military-grade encryption and strict privacy policies.

There is certainly room for improvement in some categories. One of them is that it can take a long time to connect to some servers. If you don’t want to wait to connect, ExpressVPN offers the unique Lightway protocol that lets you connect in less than a second. However, NordVPN does offer a 30-day money-back guarantee so you can test it out for yourself before committing to a subscription. NO RISK – If you decide it’s not right for you, you can get a full refund within 30 days.

Do you have a short time? Here are my main results

• It unlocks over 400 streaming platforms including Amazon Prime Video. The only sites it failed to unblock are Netflix and Sky Go. See the full results of all the sites I tested.
• High speeds on local and international servers. Although it is faster on local servers, its international servers are still fast enough for smooth streaming, gaming, and torrenting. Check out the full speed tests here.
• Strong security and privacy features. With 256-bit AES encryption, a kill switch, split tunneling, and a strict no-logs policy, you’ll stay safe and anonymous online. My team and I delved into these features to see if we could find any weaknesses.
• P2P optimized servers make torrenting easy. Although I tested other VPNs that are easy to use for torrenting, I had no issues using uTorrent, Bittorrent, Popcorn Time, and other torrent-based websites with NordVPN. Find my tests below.
• Compatible with Mac, Windows, Android and more. NordVPN can also be installed on a router to protect all your devices at once. You can see the full list of supported devices here.
• Installation and configuration takes minutes. Its apps are really easy to navigate, even for beginners. Check out what the interface looks like here.
• Offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. NordVPN lets you try its features for free for 30 days with a money-back guarantee. I tested the refund policy and found it very easy to get my money back.

Note: This product is not currently available on our website.

NordVPN Features – Updated December 2021

10.0

Streaming – Unlocks 400+ streaming platforms including Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and more

I had no problems accessing most of the popular streaming platforms with NordVPN. She has unblocked Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, and many others. Moreover, I get access to more niche websites like Crunchyroll and regional streaming websites like TG4 and TVING as well. The only streaming platforms that NordVPN can’t unblock are Netflix and Sky Go.

After testing 45+ of their servers around the world, I was able to unblock these streaming sites:

Unblocked: Amazon Prime Video

Amazon Prime Video has really strong geo-blocking and many VPNs fail to get around it. I’ve had some problems with some NordVPN servers – but luckily with its huge network of servers in the US, I didn’t have to waste much time trying to find another that worked.

It started testing its servers in Charlotte and Buffalo. While they were able to access the US site, Prime Video still detected that I was using a VPN and blocked me from watching any shows. I was able to get around this by switching to New York server #6718 which worked perfectly and allowed me to stream at high speeds (my average download speeds were close to 80Mbps).

Amazon Prime Video has a lot of original shows and you can watch them all with NordVPN

Other servers that didn’t work for me at the time of testing were Atlanta, Dallas, and Phoenix. If you want a VPN that consistently bypasses APV geo-blocks, there are quite a few better options out there.

Open: Hulu

I had no problems unblocking Hulu. During testing, I easily bypassed Hulu’s geo-blocking while connected to servers in New York, Manassas, San Francisco, and Salt Lake City. The only time I got blocked was when I called Dallas #8105 – but after refreshing the page, Hulu immediately loaded.

You will have no problem unblocking Hulu or Hulu + Live TV with NordVPN

All the servers I tested not only allowed me to access Hulu shows, but also They also let me unlock Hulu’s full add-on library (great for streaming sports) as well as Hulu + Live TV.

Nobody likes to miss sports events due to buffering or delays, so I wanted to make sure their speeds were fast enough to stream sports. I connected NordVPN’s Virginia, Charlotte, Denver, and Atlanta servers to watch an MLB game and got an average speed of 75Mbps, which was more than good enough to stream sports matches without interruption.

Unlocked: Disney +

Disney+ has already ramped up its VPN discovery game in recent months, so I was happy to find out that NordVPN can still get around the hurdles without problems.

The US Disney+ library always gets the new releases first (plus you get the cheapest US subscription prices) so I wanted to make sure there were servers that could access the US page. I tested NordVPN servers in New Jersey, San Jose, and Salt Lake City – They all bypass Disney Plus geo-restrictions easily.

You will be able to watch the entire season without any delays or buffering

Next, I wanted to see if any servers could open the Australian library because it has the most Disney+ shows. I tested servers in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth, and was able to access Disney + Australia with ease. The Melbourne server (#689) was a little slower at first causing my shows to be delayed, but I reloaded the page and this problem didn’t happen again.

Unblocked: HBO Max

NordVPN has easily unblocked HBO Max. I tested 10 servers in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Virginia, and they all worked fine. I can watch Shazam! without facing any delays or any other problems.

HBO Max has a large library of DC superhero movies that you will be able to watch using NordVPN

Unblocked: BBC iPlayer

It’s been a while since NordVPN hasn’t been able to unblock BBC iPlayer, but since testing it again, I’ve been happy to find out NordVPN Bypass All Restrictions Easily. I connected to 12 different servers in the UK and they all gave me access to BBC iPlayer without any issues.

I can watch RuPaul’s Drag Race UK and many other BBC content including sporting events from other countries

Blocked by: Sky Go

Of all the platforms my team and I tested, Sky Go was the only one I couldn’t unblock. We used to be able to unblock Sky Go using the US, UK, Ireland and France servers, but since then it only has limited access to the UK. In addition, Sky Go has improved its VPN discovery technology, so none of the UK servers I tested beat the blocks.

Sky Go has a remarkably strong geo-blocking, so most VPNs can’t unblock it

However, I contacted support regarding this and they said the developers are working on a fix for this issue.

This means that NordVPN may unblock Sky Go in the future, so it’s worth trying again

Banned by: Netflix

NordVPN was unable to unblock Netflix. The platform has improved its VPN detection technology, and started blocking many VPN services – NordVPN is one of them. In general, these problems are fixed very quickly, but this time it was not so. I reached out to a customer support rep, and he confirmed that at the moment NordVPN can’t access Netflix. It was suggested that I try to connect to other servers, but that didn’t solve the problem.

NordVPN may fix the problem in the future, but the proxy was unable to give me an ETA

This was a disappointment for me, as it performed great with the other services. Although NordVPN claims to be actively working on it, it may take a long time before you can access Netflix again.

Speeds – Exceptionally fast speeds on all servers

I was really impressed with NordVPN’s consistently high speeds. Each VPN will slow you down a bit because it sends your traffic to different servers (and the farther away the server, the slower your speeds). But while testing different NordVPN servers around the world, I didn’t notice the speed drop at all as there was no difference in my browsing, streaming or even gaming experience.

I tested 3 main components during speed tests:

• Download speed Shows how quickly data can be downloaded from the server. You need about 5Mbps for HD streaming and 25Mbps for 4k streaming.
• upload speed Shows how quickly data is sent to the server. You need about 2Mbps to make high-quality video calls, and about 5Mbps to send files quickly.
• ping (Measured in milliseconds) Shows how long it takes data to travel to and from your device. This is…

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