The NordLynx protocol – the solution for a fast and secure VPN connection

What is NordLynx?

NordLynx is a proprietary VPN protocol developed by NordVPN that is built upon the high-speed WireGuard framework. It combines the superior performance of WireGuard with a custom double NAT system to ensure industry-leading speeds without compromising user privacy.

NordLynx has only 4,000 lines of code (compared to OpenVPN’s 400,000), making it more streamlined than older VPN protocols and easier to troubleshoot and resolve technical issues. This allows us to continuously maintain and improve your VPN experience.

Originally introduced in 2020, NordLynx received a serious boost in 2025 with post-quantum encryption support. 

How does NordLynx work?

While connecting to VPN servers adds an extra step on your traffic’s journey, our NordLynx VPN protocol helps ensure you won’t notice that extra step at all. Your traffic will travel rapidly to the NordVPN server and back, staying fully encrypted by the ChaCha20 algorithm every byte of the way. 

The process begins the moment you click "Connect." Before leaving your device, your data is instantly scrambled into unreadable code. This secure information is then shot through the high-speed NordLynx VPN tunnel until it reaches the VPN server. Upon arrival, the server decrypts the data and forwards your request to the internet, allowing you to access the web more privately without your ISP or other snoopers seeing what you are doing.

Why did NordVPN create NordLynx?

For any VPN provider, the ultimate challenge is balancing high-speed performance with reliable privacy solutions. While traditional VPN encryption protocols like OpenVPN or the whole IPsec protocol suite are safe, their massive architecture can be cumbersome and slow users down. But when WireGuard entered the scene, it marked a turning point. Built on state-of-the-art cryptography and running on just 4,000 lines of code, WireGuard offered faster VPN speeds and easier auditing than any existing VPN protocol.

However, integrating this technology into our apps required overcoming a specific hurdle. While WireGuard is now considered one of the most secure VPN protocols, its original architecture required servers to store a static IP table connecting users to their internal IP addresses. But for us, storing user identities on a VPN server was simply not an option.

To solve this privacy vs. speed conundrum, we developed our own double NAT system — the heart of NordLynx. This system allows us to harness WireGuard’s speed without compromising security by using two distinct layers:

1. 1.The first interface assigns the exact same local IP address to every single user connected to a server, effectively masking individual identities within the crowd.
2. 2.The second interface uses the dynamic NAT system to assign a unique IP address specifically for each tunnel session, ensuring data packets reach their destination without getting mixed up.

Most importantly, the dynamic IP assignment lasts only while the session is active. User authentication is handled through a secure external database, so no identifiable data is ever stored on the VPN server itself. 

NordLynx’s advantages and disadvantages

While NordLynx combines industry-leading performance with advanced security, it is still helpful to weigh its features against a few specific limitations to see the full picture.

Benefits of NordLynx

• Lightning-fast performance: Thanks to the lightweight architecture of WireGuard, NordLynx delivers connection speeds that consistently rank among the fastest in the VPN industry. 

• Smooth gaming experience: Looking for a gaming VPN? NordLynx’s efficiency significantly lowers latency and ping times you would get with other protocols. 

• Seamless movie nights: NordLynx allows you to stream your favorite content from back home — access your paid subscriptions on legal platforms while you travel. 

• Robust security: NordLynx is built on the ChaCha20 encryption cipher and Poly1305 authentication, providing advanced cryptographic protection that is faster and more secure than many older standards. 

• Lightweight efficiency: NordLynx consumes far less CPU power, which translates to smoother device performance and longer battery life for laptops and phones. 

• Post-quantum protection: NordLynx supports post-quantum encryption, future-proofing your privacy by protecting your data against next-generation threats posed by quantum computing. 

• Easy setup: No complex manual configuration is required — NordLynx is fully integrated into NordVPN apps, allowing you to secure your connection automatically with a single click. 

• Broad compatibility: NordLynx is available on all major operating systems, including Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, and Linux.

Drawbacks of NordLynx

• UDP-reliant: NordLynx primarily utilizes UDP (User Datagram Protocol) to achieve its high speeds. In more restrictive networks, like universities or workplaces, UDP traffic is occasionally blocked, while TCP traffic usually isn’t. 

• Easy to detect: While extremely fast, NordLynx traffic has a distinct digital fingerprint that deep packet inspection (DPI) tools can identify more easily. In regions with heavy internet censorship, this makes it potentially easier to detect. On restricted networks, we recommend using the NordWhisper protocol instead.

NordLynx vs. OpenVPN vs. IKEv2

The most popular NordVPN protocols at a glance:

How to enable the NordLynx protocol

Follow these simple steps to turn on the NordLynx protocol on your NordVPN app.

On desktop

1. 1.Open your NordVPN app, and make sure you’re signed in.
2. 2.Click the "Settings" gear icon on the lower-left side of the screen. 
3. 3.In "Connection and security," open the "VPN protocol" menu.
4. 4.Select NordLynx from the list of protocols.

On Android

1. 1.Open your NordVPN app, and make sure you’re signed in.
2. 2.Tap the "Profile" icon at the bottom of the screen.
3. 3.On the Profile page, tap the gear icon, and then tap "Protocol."
4. 4.Select NordLynx from the list of protocols.

On iOS

1. 1.Open your NordVPN app, and make sure you’re signed in.
2. 2.Tap the "Profile" icon at the bottom of the screen.
3. 3.On the Profile page, tap the "Settings" gear icon, and then tap "Protocol."
4. 4.Tap “Location and protocol” and select NordLynx from the list of protocols.

On Linux

By default, NordVPN for Linux runs on the OpenVPN protocol. Follow these steps to switch to NordLynx:

1. 1.Update your app to the latest version.
2. 2.Install WireGuard. Tutorials for different distributions are available in our Help Center.
3. 3.Open the terminal and enter:nordvpn set technology NordLynx
4. 4.To connect to a VPN server enter:nordvpn c

That’s it — now your NordVPN Linux app is running on NordLynx. You can always switch back to OpenVPN by entering ‘nordvpn set technology OpenVPN’.