Norton Secure VPN Review 2024: Before You Buy, Is It Worth It?

Norton Secure VPN Speeds Are Fast on All Servers

Norton Secure VPN maintained fast speeds across its servers. Nearby servers and distant servers provided me with fast speeds and unlimited bandwidth to stream, play online multiplayer games, and browse the internet safely.

Speed Test Results

Before connecting with Norton Secure VPN, I had a base internet download speed of 78Mbps. During my tests, I got an average download speed of 56.76Mbps — a 27.27% drop in my internet speed. I was pleased that I didn’t experience any significant decrease in my speed. Nearby servers like the US, UK, and Canada gave me download speeds of 56.29Mbps, 63.69Mbps, and 57.12Mbps. Even with the server in Japan, I got a download speed of 49.92Mbps, which was only a 36% drop in my internet speed.

I wasn’t that lucky with the upload speeds that Norton Secure VPN provided, though. My baseline upload speed was 13.16Mbps, but I got an average of 0.74Mbps. This low upload speed makes it unrealistic for activities like online gaming or bot trading, where split-second decisions are essential. I saw my latency ranging from 100-450ms while connected to the VPN, making it an unsuitable VPN for gaming as you normally want latency under 100ms for an optimal experience.

Is Norton Secure VPN Fast Enough for Gaming? Barely

Although Norton Secure VPN allowed me to play a few games without any lag, it did not provide the optimal speeds for fast-paced gaming. My upload speeds and ping were not high enough to truly enjoy a seamless gaming experience.

Usually, upload speeds more than 2Mbps and a latency of less than 100ms are optimal for most online multiplayer games. However, I got an average upload speed of less than 1Mbps with most servers. Despite that, I could still play online games like Krunker and Hell Let Loose without any noticeable lag. That said, your experience may differ from mine depending on your location and base internet connection. More demanding titles will likely suffer due to poor connection speeds and high latency.

Other equally important factors for online gaming are packet loss and bandwidth. Packet loss is the amount of data lost during transmission, while bandwidth is the amount of data transferred. To my surprise, I had a 0% packet loss and bandwidth above 40Mbps during my tests, which surpasses the recommended 25Mbps for fast-paced gaming.

Server Network — Small Server Network in 29 Countries

Norton Secure VPN has an undisclosed number of servers in 29 countries. Compared to some of my top VPN picks with thousands of servers to choose from, this is a small network. Unfortunately, its website doesn’t say how many total servers it has, and customer support directed me to the server list within the app when I asked for clarification.

Among the many locations available for use, Norton Secure VPN users can connect to servers in Europe, North America, South America, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. Specifically, the company has a strong presence in Europe, with servers in countries such as the UK, Norway, Finland, Belgium, New Zealand, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, and France. Additionally, users can access servers in the US, Canada, and other regions such as Australia, Japan, Singapore, South Africa, Hong Kong, India, Israel, and Ukraine.

Norton Secure VPN lacks server switching, meaning that users cannot select a specific city or server in the chosen country. This can be problematic for individuals seeking optimal performance or security through a specific connection. Additionally, it is unclear whether the company utilizes bare-metal or virtual servers. Through testing, it was determined that Norton Secure VPN relies on third-party providers, such as Amazon, for its server infrastructure.

It took approximately four seconds to establish a connection to a server. However, during peak usage hours, it was noted that some servers were difficult to connect to, possibly due to high traffic volume. A VPN with a limited number of servers may become overcrowded as more users join, leading to slower speeds, streaming issues, and failed connections, as observed during connection attempts with certain servers.

From what I’ve seen, CyberGhost is a great choice if you’re looking for a VPN with multiple server locations. It boasts over 11,676 servers across 100 countries, giving you a wide range of options to choose from.

Security — Standard Security Features

I find Norton’s VPN service to be reliable, offering all the essential security features. On the other hand, I discovered that the overall security architecture has room for improvement.

Norton Secure VPN offers the following security features:

• Military Grade Encryption – To protect your data from potential hacking attempts and unwanted surveillance, Norton employs AES 256-bit encryption – a widely recognized and trusted standard in the industry. This encryption ensures that all information transmitted through the VPN service remains confidential and secure.
• Good protocol options – Norton Secure VPN offers exceptional security through the utilization of IKEv2 and WireGuard protocols. One drawback is that it doesn’t allow you to manually select a preferred protocol for use. This severely restricts your ability to tailor your connection for individual tasks, such as video streaming or file sharing.
• Kill switch – A kill switch is very important to me since it prevents my information from leaking when a VPN connection goes down suddenly. The Mac client does not currently include this feature.
• Split tunneling – Norton VPN also has a split tunneling feature that allows you to choose which traffic you want to encrypt while allowing other traffic to go through your normal IP address. I tested the split tunneling feature and it works as expected as I used it to access my local banking apps while streaming simultaneously.
• WiFi protection feature – I was also pleased to find that Norton Secure VPN has a WiFi protection feature that automatically scans and secures your WiFi connection.
• Ad tracking blocker – This feature prevents advertisers from serving you repeated and targeted ads from the knowledge of your device ID. Since I’ve only seen ad blockers provided by many VPNs, a tracking blocker is a new and useful feature.

Through extensive testing for DNS, IP, and WebRTC leaks, I found that Norton Secure VPN performed exceptionally well in every single one. The VPN was successful in its intended purpose of blocking IPv4 and IPv6. This is a testament to the strong security measures that Norton Secure VPN has in place to protect users’ online privacy and data.

Norton Secure VPN may not have many added bonuses beyond its core features, but it becomes a valuable addition when combined with the comprehensive Norton 360 security package. Even though it may require an additional fee to protect multiple devices, its value becomes more apparent when considered as part of this package.

Privacy — Keeps User Logs

The fact that Norton gathers so much personal information from its VPN users worries me. According to the policy, Norton’s VPN collects four categories of data including, account data, device data, security data, and service data.

Account data includes information related to setting up and paying for the VPN service. Device data includes details about the device you’re using, such as its name and type, the operating system version, and language settings. Security data includes the overall amount of data used, diagnostic information, crash reports, and the serial number of the VPN app. The service data that is collected includes the IP address, as well as identification numbers for the installation and license of the VPN.

For a company that claims to be “no-log,” this is a substantial amount of information collected. Furthermore, Norton may reveal the information it has collected in response to a subpoena, court order, or other legal process, or if requested to do so by law enforcement officials.

Norton LifeLock Inc, formerly known as Symantec Inc, is the creator of Norton Secure VPN. The company was established in 1982 and is based in the United States. With its headquarters in the US, it is subject to the 5 Eyes data-sharing agreement, which forces VPN providers to share user data with the member nations for surveillance.

Norton doesn’t have any published transparency report that would outline how often it has received data requests. I would have liked to see Norton collect less data and regularly publish transparency reports, something like ExpressVPN already does.

Torrenting — Supported Through Dedicated Server

Norton Secure VPN has made a significant change in its policy by introducing a new server option called “torrent-optimized region”. This new feature allows users to engage in torrenting activities, which was previously blocked by the VPN provider. I tested this new server option and found that it is located in France. When users select this server option, they will be automatically redirected to the torrent-optimized region for seamless torrenting experience.

Using the new server option was very easy, and it worked well with all of the common torrent clients. The fast speed and the kill switch feature of Norton Secure VPN made the experience even better. Unfortunately, the provider is located in a potentially hostile jurisdiction and maintains logs of personally identifying information that could compromise you in the event of a subpoena.

Keep in mind that my team and I don’t condone illegal torrenting, so be sure to check the rules and regulations in your country and make sure the torrents you download are copyright-free.

Does Norton Secure VPN Work in China? No!

Norton Secure VPN doesn’t work in China and this was confirmed by the provider’s support department. The Chinese government restricts access to the internet and monitors online activity, making it more difficult for VPNs to work in the country. Very few premium VPNs have enough resources to frequently update their servers and apply cutting-edge technology to access the internet safely.

Norton Secure VPN doesn’t have the right obfuscation features for its servers that would make the VPN work in China, Russia, Turkey, or the UAE. You can read up on the best VPNs for unrestricted internet access in China if you plan to travel there.

Keep in mind that using a non-government-approved VPN is illegal in China. However, there haven’t been any cases of tourists being penalized for using a VPN. Instead, the country uses tools that technologically block many VPNs from working over there.

Norton Secure VPN offers multiple support channels. You can get support through live chat (24/7), Social Media (Facebook and Twitter), Phone (24/7), FAQ/knowledge base, Community Forums, and Blog posts. However, there is no email support.

I decided to try out Norton’s 24/7 live chat support and was pleasantly surprised when an agent answered within 20 seconds. The agent was able to provide useful information in some cases, but it seemed that they were primarily sales representatives and unable to assist with technical questions. For example, I had to explain to one of the agents what Wireguard was when I was trying to inquire about the VPN’s security protocol.

However, the agent did suggest scheduling a free phone call with a technical representative who could answer my questions and even offer remote installation assistance. It’s worth noting that this offer is only available to US customers.

I also looked at the FAQ section, which had helpful guidance on common issues such as installation, error messages, and account problems. The FAQs were well-organized and had quick links to sections on downloading and installing, buying and renewing, and protecting and fixing. While the FAQs seemed well-written and even covered the issue I encountered, I wasn’t able to resolve it with their articles.