NordVPN releases open-source VPN speed-test tool
In search of the best way to measure VPN speed, the company presents its own solution
Leading virtual private network provider NordVPN has developed an open-source tool and methodology that helps to objectively measure and compare the speed of different VPN services. The tool accounts for a broad array of testing use cases, allows users to add and compare different VPN services, and provides detailed reporting.
“Connection speed is one of the most important factors that affect user experience when they use a VPN. People want to secure their internet traffic without having to sacrifice speed,” says Vykintas Maknickas, a cybersecurity expert at NordVPN. “However, testing VPN speed meaningfully is a complex procedure because countless factors can impact it.”
Lack of a unified approach towards how performance is measured leads to the industry’s current situation: different researchers via different outlets showcase different results ranked in different order. This conflicting information is bad for VPN users and providers alike. The confusion can make it difficult for users to make informed decisions. Likewise it can be hard for VPN providers to evaluate how their performance will measure up when they are working on improvements to their service and infrastructure.
“A unified, standard speed-testing methodology would go a long way towards solving the problem for all of us. And that’s what we’re trying to achieve,” Vykintas Maknickas adds.
PCMag’s readers were able to evaluate the world’s leading VPN services (such as NordVPN, ExpressVPN, PIA, and others) by rating them on a scale from 0 to 10 based on a number of factors: likelihood to recommend, setup, ease of use, reliability, performance, internet speed, trustworthiness, and others. NordVPN earned the highest marks for overall satisfaction in the survey, with ratings of 8.8. NordVPN also had the best scores for likelihood to recommend (8.9), satisfaction with technical support (8.7), trustworthiness (9.1), and was not far behind its competitors on the rest of the aspects.
Community input and trust is crucial in order to reach the goal of having a standardized methodology. Therefore, NordVPN invites other VPN service providers, researchers, journalists, and tech enthusiasts to read the whitepaper, review the source code, and participate in the further development and refinement of the speed-test tool.
ABOUT NORDVPN
NordVPN is the world’s most advanced VPN service provider, used by over 14 million internet users worldwide. NordVPN provides double VPN encryption, malware blocking, and Onion Over VPN. The product is very user friendly, offers one of the best prices on the market, and has over 5,000 servers in 60 countries worldwide. One of the key features of NordVPN is our zero-log policy. For more information: nordvpn.com.