NordVPN is getting an upgrade that’s poised to dramatically increase internet speeds on the service: It's now widely implementing the WireGuard protocol.
On Wednesday, the company began rolling out the WireGuard implementation via a software update to the NordVPN client for Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS. In the settings menu, you’ll now find an option to turn on “NordLynx,” the company’s spin on the protocol.
The open-source WireGuard is essentially next-generation VPN technology akin to 5G; it requires less computer code, and can also substantially boost the download and upload speeds over the existing OpenVPN standard.
Last year, NordVPN began experimenting with the protocol by adding it as an option in the company’s Linux-based VPN app. We tried it and we were blown away by the speed increase. As Max Eddy put it: “Using WireGuard has no significant negative effect on speeds. It's almost like the VPN isn't there.”
NordVPN ran over 256,000 speed tests in weighing whether to adopt the technology. “In a number of internal tests, NordLynx significantly outperformed the other two VPN protocols — IKEv2 and OpenVPN,” the company said.
It plans on publishing the speed test data on Thursday. But in the meantime, NordVPN says the protocol can in some cases boost the download and upload speeds by 100 percent.
However, WireGuard is still technically an early stage software release. So for now, NordVPN is sticking with OpenVPN as the default protocol over its VPN service.
In addition to the speed increases, WireGuard uses newer encryption standards. Still, NordVPN did have one privacy concern with the technology; the current version of the protocol will take your computer’s IP address and store it on the VPN server to which you connect. So technically, NordVPN keeps a running log of who's been connecting to a server, a violation of the company's no-logs privacy policy.
In response, NordVPN added another layer to its WireGuard implementation, called the “double NAT (Network Address Translation) system." It works by temporarily generating and assigning new IP addresses for your computer during each VPN session.
“The double NAT system allows us to establish a secure VPN connection without storing any identifiable data on a server,” NordVPN said in a blog post describing the system.
Although the company is starting to roll out the new NordLynx option today, it may take a few days to arrive to the NordVPN app. Stay tuned for our review.
Further Reading
- What Is a VPN, and Why You Need One
- Do I Need a VPN at Home?
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- Market Research Firm Uses Free VPN Apps to Harvest Data From Consumers
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