NordVPN provides its users with its own VPN security protocol called NordLynx (covered in our full review on this page). Let’s see in this article how to install, enable or disable NordLynx protocol from your VPN application.
The VPN provider NordVPN has developed its own encryption protocol based on the open-source Wireguard protocol, which is known to be the fastest and provide a good level of security. NordLynx is an enhanced version of the latter and is available only on the NordVPN application.
The main advantage of NordLynx is that it offers the speed allowed by Wireguard, while maintaining a higher level of security, on par with that offered by OpenVPN. It is therefore one of the best VPN protocols on the market, the fastest and perfectly suited for streaming, P2P transfers and web browsing.
Below we will discuss how to activate or deactivate NordLynx on the NordVPN application, then we will see the advantages and disadvantages of these multiple protocols.
Tutorial: How to change the protocol on NordVPN
In this tutorial, we will see step by step how to change the protocol used by NordVPN according to our needs.
Step 1:
If you are not yet a subscriber, sign up for NordVPN with a 30-day trial
Download NordVPN
Step 2:
Launch NordVPN, then in the settings (cog icon) heading “Auto-connect”, disable the automatic choice of VPN protocol as below:
Step 3:
You will see below that NordLynx is activated by default and that the list of protocols appears on the screen.
If you want to change the protocol to use OpenVPN (TCP or UDP), you just have to select it, then the change will be taken into account automatically.
Note that if you want to use the obfuscated servers, it will be mandatory to use the OpenVPN TCP protocol.
The different NordVPN protocols:
NordVPN has decided to simplify its choice of VPN protocols by offering only NordLynx (from Wireguard) and OpenVPN, which are the two best performing on the market.
The provider used to offer the IPSec/IKEv2 protocol which is known for its speed, but this is no longer the case.
We, therefore, suggest you use NordLynx by default which is particularly complete because it is fast, reliable and secure, but if for any reason you prefer to use OpenVPN you can easily switch from one protocol to the other as we have seen above.
NordLynx vs OpenVPN?
NordLynx is a more technologically advanced protocol than OpenVPN, as it is both much simpler and more powerful. As we mentioned above, NordLynx protocol is based on Wireguard which is composed of only 4000 lines of code, against 400000 lines of code on OpenVPN which makes bug detection much more difficult.
The big advantage of NordLynx is that it offers a more secure encryption system than Wireguard and other protocols while keeping the ultra-fast connection speed of Wireguard. In other words, NordVPN wanted to develop a protocol that combines the advantages of Wireguard without the drawbacks.
NordLynx developers have used a NAT (Network Address Translation) encryption system that allows for a secure connection without storing identifiable data on a server. Dynamic local IP addresses remain assigned only while the session is active and user authentication is done using a secure external database.
NordLynx makes NordVPN one of the fastest VPN providers in the world, ideal for online gaming, streaming and P2P file downloads. You can use it on PC, Mac, Linux mobile iOs and Android.
Other existing protocols:
There are many other security protocols in addition to those offered by NordVPN, namely NordLynx and OpenVPN. You will find below all the VPN protocols that exist on the market.
- NordLynx: both fast and efficient
- OpenVPN: powerful and very secure protocol
- WireGuard: protocol known for its speed
- IPSEC / IKEv2: fast and secure protocol
- SSTP: formerly used, less fast and less secure
- L2TP/IPSec: moderately fast and secure
- PPTP: fast but less secure
If you prefer to opt for a VPN running under WireGuard or IPSec/IKEv2 we suggest you use VyprVPN which offers both encryption protocols. VyprVPN also offers a 30-day refundable trial period.
