Get the most out of NordVPN's VPN client
One of the VPN providers that I use on a regular basis is NordVPN. Is is popular provider that is offering an excellent service for a reasonable price if you pay annually.
While there are certainly cheaper providers out there, I found NordVPN to be one of the best choices when it comes to VPN networks.
Obviously, you may have different priorities than I have, but the service offers all the features that I require. The servers are fast -- I get full throughput on my 50 Mbit connection, there are not any limitations or quotas in regards to the connection, DNS leak protection, a no logging policy, kill switch, and what NordVPN calls double data encryption.
Double-encryption makes use of VPN server pairs that your traffic gets routed through. So, instead of just one VPN server that your device connects directly to, the connection would flow through a second VPN server.
You can download and run the company's VPN client which I do. While it works fine out of the box, you can get more out of the client if you modify its settings. This guide looks at those settings, and offers recommendations.
NordVNP's VPN client settings
You open the settings with a click on the settings link in the client's main interface after start. It loads the screen that you see above (which changed in recent versions to the one you see).
The following items there are of special interest:
- CyberSec -- A relatively new feature that blocks certain threats -- think malware or phishing automatically. Think of it as an extension of resident security software that you run.
- Custom DNS -- You may add your own custom DNS servers so that these are used instead of NordVPN's DNS servers.
- Auto connect to -- If you have a favorite server that you connect to at all times, you may select it from the list to have the client auto-connect to that server on start. Works well together with the "Start NordVPN on startup" setting.
- App Kill Switch -- All programs that you add to the kill list are terminated when the VPN connection drops. Add P2P clients, or chat or messaging software to the list for instance.
- Internet Kill Switch -- Internet access is disabled when there is no VPN connection. In other words: you can only use Internet services when you are connected to the VPN.
- Invisibility on LAN -- Hides the computer on the local area network.
- Obfuscated Servers -- To use NordVPN from restricted locations.
- Notifications -- To get connect and disconnect notifications.
DNS Leak protection is baked into the client and no longer an option that you need to enable manually. You can use custom DNS providers if you want or need but need to realize that any request you make on your device is sent to the provider.
App kill list may be useful if you want to make sure that programs don't leak information about your "real" IP if the VPN connection drops.
The Windows client provides country-specific server lists and options to add any server to the favorites. It does list specialty servers as well which come in four different types:
- Dedicated IP address -- Servers with dedicated IP addresses that don't change.
- Double VPN -- To chain the VPN connection so that traffic flows through two VPN servers all the time.
- Onion over VPN -- To use TOR while connected to the VPN.
- P2P -- Servers that support P2P traffic (not all do).
It is recommended that you run tests using various online privacy test tools to make sure that personal information is not leaked while connected to the VPN.
Now Read: All Private Internet Access settings explained
Doesn’t Windows 8 know that www. or http:// are passe ?
Well it is a bit difficulty to distinguish between name.com domains and files for instance.
I know a service made by google that is similar to Google bookmarks.
http://www.google.com/saved
@Ashwin–Thankful you delighted my comment; who knows how many “gamers” would have disagreed!
@Martin
The comments section under this very article (3 comments) is identical to the comments section found under the following article:
https://www.ghacks.net/2023/08/15/netflix-is-testing-game-streaming-on-tvs-and-computers/
Not sure what the issue is, but have seen this issue under some other articles recently but did not report it back then.
Omg a badge!!!
Some tangible reward lmao.
It sucks that redditors are going to love the fuck out of it too.
With the cloud, there is no such thing as unlimited storage or privacy. Stop relying on these tech scums. Purchase your own hardware and develop your own solutions.
This is a certified reddit cringe moment. Hilarious how the article’s author tries to dress it up like it’s anything more than a png for doing the reddit corporation’s moderation work for free (or for bribes from companies and political groups)
Almost al unlmited services have a real limit.
And this comment is written on the dropbox article from August 25, 2023.
First comment > @ilev said on August 4, 2012 at 7:53 pm
For the God’s sake, fix the comments soon please! :[
Yes. Please. Fix the comments.
With Google Chrome, it’s only been 1,500 for some time now.
Anyone who wants to force me in such a way into buying something that I can get elsewhere for free will certainly never see a single dime from my side. I don’t even know how stupid their marketing department is to impose these limits on users instead of offering a valuable product to the paying faction. But they don’t. Even if you pay, you get something that is also available for free elsewhere.
The algorithm has also become less and less savvy in terms of e.g. English/German translations. It used to be that the bot could sort of sense what you were trying to say and put it into different colloquialisms, which was even fun because it was like, “I know what you’re trying to say here, how about…” Now it’s in parts too stupid to translate the simplest sentences correctly, and the suggestions it makes are at times as moronic as those made by Google Translations.
If this is a deep-learning AI that learns from users’ translations and the phrases they choose most often – which, by the way, is a valuable, moneys worthwhile contribution of every free user to this project: They invest their time and texts, thereby providing the necessary data for the AI to do the thing as nicely as they brag about it in the first place – alas, the more unprofessional users discovered the translator, the worse the language of this deep-learning bot has become, the greater the aggregate of linguistically illiterate users has become, and the worse the language of this deep-learning bot has become, as it now learns the drivel of every Tom, Dick and Harry out there, which is why I now get their Mickey Mouse language as suggestions: the inane language of people who can barely spell the alphabet, it seems.
And as a thank you for our time and effort in helping them and their AI learn, they’ve lowered the limit from what was once 5,000 to now 1,500…? A big “fuck off” from here for that! Not a brass farthing from me for this attitude and behaviour, not in a hundred years.