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NVPN Review & Test 2022 - Keep This in Mind Before Buying
nVPN is well known for its security and privacy, but I was curious to see how well it would do in other areas. Its price of $3.33/month per month isn’t the cheapest, so I was initially skeptical of its abilities. The lack of information about nVPN online didn’t raise my hopes either.
After conducting my own research, the verdict is that nVPN only delivers with its security features. If you’re wanting to use a VPN for other reasons, such as streaming or gaming, then I’d consider using another service.
Other VPN providers usually come with a free trial or a money-back guarantee, which lets you try them without any risk. nVPN is extremely strict about its money-back guarantee, so the same can’t be said about them. For this reason, I couldn't test nVPN and had to base my findings on research.
Short on Time? Here Are My Key Findings
Enhanced security. If you are worried about security, then NVPN offers strong encryption (256-bit CBC/SHA512) and multiple protocols for enhanced encryption with sTunnel. You can check out the stringent security features here.
Cannot unblock Netflix. If you want to watch Netflix or Hulu, then NVPN isn’t a great tool. However, it can unblock Skype and Yahoo in geo-restricted areas. See what else it can unblock here.
Reliable speeds. Its speeds aren’t superfast, but they’re reliable enough to do most online activities, such as streaming and gaming. Click here to see if it increases your speeds.
nVPN can’t unblock popular streaming sites like Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, Kodi, ESPN, YouTube, and Amazon Prime Video. This is because it can’t get past the robust detection systems and security protocols that these websites use. However, it succeeded in unblocking Skype, Yahoo, and Google Talk in geo-restricted areas.
The main thing is that nVPN is honest and upfront about its inability to unblock Netflix. If streaming is your main focus, then it’s worth considering another VPN provider that’s proven to work.
Speeds — Steady and Reliable
nVPN’s speeds are largely steady because they don’t slow down your usual online activities. The speeds you get will depend on the protocol you use, as each protocol has different purposes. From my research, I discovered that nVPN reduces download speeds by about 74%, which is standard for a VPN. Your data has to travel a further distance with a VPN and gets encrypted, so your speeds usually decrease.
However, its speeds are still fast enough to stream shows in HD, which only require you to have download speeds of 5 Mbps. nVPN also provides unmetered bandwidth and doesn't throttle your speeds either, which helps is ideal when streaming or gaming. If you want a VPN that can unblock streaming sites, then there are plenty available.
Server Network — Small Global Server Network
nVPN has 56+ servers in 27+ worldwide, which even includes some obscure countries like Iran and North Korea. Unfortunately, that’s not a lot when compared to the big providers like ExpressVPN, which has over 3,000 servers in 94+ countries. The good news is that the servers don’t perform any throttling.
Signing up for nVPN requires you to choose a country, but the problem is that it only lets you change servers within your country for free. You only get one chance to change countries, and after that you’ll need to pay a monthly fee of around $10 to change countries on its server network. Most VPNs provide unlimited server switching at no extra costs, so it is really disappointing.
Security — Very Robust
nVPN keeps you safe with its selection of robust protocols, such as OpenVPN, L2TP/IPsec (IKEv1), IPSpec RSA (IKEv2), Squid proxy, and SOCKS5 proxy. These protocols keep you protected from online threats like hacking and surveillance. Its default proxy is the Squid Proxy, which can be used with OpenVPN and provides a good balance of security and speed.
To protect your internet traffic nVPN uses AES-256 bit encryption as a default, which is military-grade encryption. It’s also possible to use 128-bit Blowfish-CBC encryption with SHA1, which provides faster speeds at the expense of protection. This is ideal if you require more speed than security, such as when you’re gaming.
It also supports SSL encryption with sTunnel, which lets you set up your connection using the TCP protocol with port 443. This means you can bypass internet restrictions that are put in place by the likes of schools, colleges, and workplaces.
By using nVPN’s members area, you can also use open ports (port forwarding) without configuring your router. The benefit is that it protects its servers from unwanted access when you’re using them, as well as public IP addresses. It even uses Anti Port Clash technology, which prevents any port crashes with other users.
Privacy — Strict No-Logs Policy, but Not Audited
The nVPN privacy policy clearly states that they operate on a stringent no-logs policy, which means that they don’t collect any of their users’ online activities or data. When I read their privacy policy, it stated that they don’t collect connected IP addresses, session duration times, device information, the websites you visit, and the amount of data your online traffic uses.
nVPN states that it keeps a no-logs policy, but we can’t be entirely sure
But upon reading their privacy policy, I discovered that they collect your payment-related data, such as your payment method and transaction ID. However, this can be avoided by paying through cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, which enable anonymous payments. VPN widely accepts cryptocurrency payments that allow anonymous payments through the likes of Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Even though nVPN works on minimal data retention, it has never been audited by third parties. This means you need to fully trust them to uphold their privacy commitments because they haven’t been proved to follow them.
Torrenting — No Issues
Torrenting is optimized on nVPN through the Squid and SOCKS5 proxies. They work by encrypting your connection and narrowing your bandwidth, which increases your security and speed when torrenting. Without a VPN, your ISP and other third parties can easily see your torrenting activity and possibly intercept your connection, which can be a serious threat to your privacy and security.
nVPN also works with Kodi too, which is a streaming platform that provides shows and movies through torrenting. This lets you watch your favorite content on Kodi with the increased protection and speeds.
China — Bypasses the Great Firewall
nVPN uses Anti DPI (Deep Packet Inspection) technology to bypass the Great Firewall of China. This is done through the OpenVPN over SSL protocol and is available to all the nVPN users. The anti DPI technology works by scrambling your internet data so that it looks like a normal connection to firewalls. Since firewalls like the Great Firewall of China can’t tell that you’re using a VPN, they won’t block you.
Simultaneous Device Connections — Up to 5 Devices
You can connect up to 5 devices simultaneously on nVPN, but it requires you to use different protocols.
The main problem is in OpenVPN’s security settings, which randomly drops a connection when one or more devices are detected on the same network. These drops occur every 2 minutes and are rather irritating. Therefore, the best way to enable simultaneous device connections is to connect each device with a different protocol. Since there are 5 different protocols, you can have up to 5 device connections.
It should also be noted that nVPN’s validation script has a max session value to prevent account sharing. If you share your account with other people, such as friends or family, nVPN has the right to terminate your account. This occurs when you regularly exceed the max session value.
Device Compatibility — Problematic for non-Windows Users
nVPN has device compatibility issues. Even though you can use it on all major operating systems and certain routers, it only has a native app for Windows. Therefore, you will need to manually set up the VPN if you aren’t a Windows user, which can be quite complicated.
Installing nVPN takes around 5 minutes. Since it doesn’t have a native app of its own (apart from Windows) you’ll need to manually install it through OpenVPN. Help is only available through its website and a YouTube video, but all you need to do is install OpenVPN and then download and copy the nVPN configuration files into the OpenVPN configuration folder. The nVPN configuration files can be downloaded from the nVPN member’s area.
Once that’s all done, you can quickly connect to nVPN through the OpenVPN app at any time.
nVPN has two pricing plans, Shared IP and Dedicated IP, which both of them have monthly and annual payment options. The only difference between them is that Dedicated IP gives you your own IP address to use, whereas you have to share one on Shared IP. Having your own IP address is better for security because it can’t be tampered by other users. When another user abuses a shared IP address, then every user using that address will also get the consequences.
nVPN’s prices are mid-range — not too cheap or expensive
According to its refund policy, nVPN comes with a 3-day money-back guarantee. However, it clearly states that you’ll only be refunded if their service breaks down or if you’re unable to connect to their network, which doesn’t include maintenance and hardware upgrades. Therefore, the chances of getting your money back are really slim, so I wouldn’t even call it a money-back guarantee.
Using nVPN’s money-back guarantee is very difficult
The good news is that it accepts a number of payment methods to increase convenience. These include credit cards, bank payments, PayPal, online gift cards, digital wallets, and cryptocurrencies. They also give new PayPal users a pending time of two days for the payment to process, so that it doesn’t overlap with their money-back guarantee.
nVPN accepts a wide range of payment options
Reliability & Support
7.8
nVPN's customer service is pretty poor because you can't contact them via live chat or email — unlike a lot of other VPNs.
The only support you get is through their FAQ's Knowledgebase and TicketSystem — where you submit queries through tickets. I must say that the FAQ Knowledgebase is elaborate and covers a lot of common questions. However, I think that some of the answers could’ve been more detailed.
There\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s no refund policy unless the servers are down and switching servers can get expensive.
After carefully examining nVPN, it’s not a VPN I’d recommend. Its security is very robust with the different protocols it offers, but that’s about as good as it gets. Even though it claims to have a no-logs policy, I can’t be exactly sure about it because it hasn’t been independently audited.
I was quite surprised that they charge a monthly fee for users to switch server countries, which is a given with most VPNs. While it may seem affordable at 59% per month, its 3-day money-back guarantee lets it down. It's not just the length of the guarantee, but the fact that it’s almost impossible to get your money back.
nVPN is safe because of its security protocols and military-grade encryption. Its default protocol is OpenVPN, which is an industry-standard protocol that balances security and speeds. Other protocols it users are L2TP/IPsec (IKEv1 and IKEv2), Squid proxy, and SOCKS5 proxy. You can also use the 5 protocols on the same network to connect up to 5 devices at the same time.
It also lets you use either AES-256 bit or AES-128 blowfish-CBC encryption, which are two of the strongest encryption standards available. AES-256 is used by the world’s leading security agencies to protect sensitive data, while AES-128 Blowfish-CBC increases speeds at the expense of some encryption (it’s still safe). These security features also keep you safe when torrenting too.
Can nVPN unblock Netflix?
No, NVPN can’t unblock Netflix. It also can’t unblock a lot of other streaming sites like Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, ESPN+, and Disney+. If you’re after a VPN for streaming, then there are much better options available.
Will nVPN slow my speeds down?
nVPN generally won’t slow your speeds down. Some of the protocols they use are lightweight and known to increase speeds, such as the Squid and SOCKS 5 proxies (which can be used with OpenVPN). Also, it lets you use AES-128 Blowfish-CBC encryption, which is faster than the standard AES-256 bit encryption. are significantly faster since they do not encrypt traffic.
Another aspect that makes it fast is that it doesn’t throttle your bandwidth. This is handy when engaging in high-bandwidth activities like streaming or gaming because your ISP will usually throttle bandwidth in these cases. But it can decrease your speeds by making your traffic travel further.
nvpn is a fantastic service for me. No mentionable downtimes, good speeds, very personal support (almost feels like you talk to a friend, straight in their replies with no bullshitting).
Plenty of protocols that other providers dont have and most importantly to me these guys are up to their words, no logs, means no logs. 5 years with them now and can't complain, smooth service.
You talk nonsense.
They have no support whatsoever.
They have no phone number, no livechat, no email address.... just the option to open ticket.
It does work, it's not expensive, but is definitely not the best out there.
In fact is far from being the best.
If you don't wanna spend a crazy amount of money is a good option, you want something better, go for something else.
Bin seit knapp zwei Jahren bei NVPN und denke, dass ich genug Erfahrung sammeln konnte. Habe bisher keine nennenswerten Probleme gehabt, was die Erreichbarkeit betrifft. Sowohl Erreichbarkeit der Server und der Support. Support kann nur Englisch. Gibt aber Foren, wo es anscheinend ein Teammitglied, oder mehrere Teammitglieder, deutschen Support geben.Deswegen auch der Titel ( Szene VPN-Anbieter ). Im Ticketsystem habe ich allerdings bisher nur englischen Support bekommen. Ist aber keinesfalls ein Minuspunkt. Denke die meisten Leute die sich ein VPN zulegen, sind der englischen Sprache gewachsen. Geschwindigkeit ist sehr gut, habe meistens 5% weniger Leistung, als ohne NVPN. Hierbei erwähne ich, dass ich eine 50K Leitung habe. Bei mir ist der Ping meistens zwischen 40 -70. Ohne NVPN habe ich ca. 30, abhängig von der Zeit. Zum spielen, reicht es aber allemal. Spiele meistens Ego-Shooter. Software gibt es nur auf Anfrage, damit wird nicht Werbung gemacht. Das sehe ich aber halt kritisch, da die Software gut ist, warum wird damit nicht beworben? Eine App für Android wäre super, am besten ausgestattet mit der Funktion, womit man restriktive Firewalls umgehen kann ( DPI ). Diese Funktion wird ja von NVPN unterstützt. Es ist auch nicht bekannt wo NVPN seinen Sitz hat, aber das Interessiert mich nicht, da die Leistung überzeugt. Preis an sich ist gut, aber man muss sich auf ein Server fixieren. Server wechseln kostet extra und wird kann dann teurer werden. Auf der Webseite sieht man welche Länder zur Verfügung stehen und die Preise sind auch zusehen. Am besten fragt man den Support, ob man ein zwei Tage kostenlos den Server wechseln kann, damit man den besten Server für sich finden kann.Was ich neutral finde ist, dass es keine eigenen DNS Server gibt. Hier muss jeder für sich entscheiden, wie wichtig das ist. Gibt halt zahlreiche namhafte VPN Anbieter, die auch keine eigenen DNS Server anbieten. NVPN hat auch nur dedizierte Server und nicht virtuelle Server, was für mich ein starkes Argument ist. Ich hoffe, diesen Service wird es noch lange geben, aber mit der gleichen Qualität. Hoffe, konnte einigermaßen meine Sicht mit Euch teilen. Wenn ich auf irgendwelche Punkte nicht eingegangen bin, dann tut es mir Leid.
nvpn is a fantastic service for me. No mentionable downtimes, good speeds, very personal support (almost feels like you talk to a friend, straight in their replies with no bullshitting). Plenty of protocols that other providers dont have and most importantly to me these guys are up to their words, no logs, means no logs. 5 years with them now and can't complain, smooth service.