- NordVPN will move the conversation from server quantity to quality
- Server count is one of the most important measurements for measuring the quality of a VPN service across today’s industry
- NordVPN believes providers should focus on the factors that directly affect the user experience instead
NordVPN has just thrown a challenge to the VPN industry -to change how providers talk about VPN servers.
Server numbers have been and is currently one of the most important recognized standard metrics to measure the quality of a VPN service throughout the industry. You may have noticed how today’s best VPN providers use these often huge numbers to market themselves among the competition.
Nevertheless, NordVPN believes that providers should instead focus on all the other factors that directly affect the user experience, such as server bandwidth, speed, reliability and more. This is exactly why the team is now trying to move the conversation from server quantity to quality.
“The idea that the more VPN servers you have, the better you are, is basically not very true. So we have to start talking about this,” Nordvpn Cto Marijus Biedis told Techradar.
VPN -servers: what matters
VPN servers are an important part of how a VPN works. Each time you connect to a service, your Internet traffic is redirected via the provider’s network, which consists of these servers. This is how Virtual Private Network (VPN) -Software SPOOF your IP address.
While it is true that offering worldwide coverage is an important factor in giving users access to as much international content as possible, it doesn’t matter much if the user experience is bad.
“Think of it as a way,” Biedis explained in a blog post. “More roads do not solve traffic problems if they are in poor condition or poorly planned. What means more is to have high capacity lanes and well -planned routes so that millions of cars can move without getting stuck in traffic.”
All in all, according to Biedis, we need to think of a VPN as an ISP (ISP) because it is the service that de facto allows us to connect to the Internet.
“ISPS they don’t say how many servers have around the world. What They talk about how much network capacity they have, what kind of connection quality do you have, and so on, “he told Techradar.
So what actually does a good VPN server? Here are the most important factors according to the NordVPN team:
- Network capacity. This refers to how much the data network can handle at a given time. To go back to the weighing example is network capacity where wide and fast lanes on a highway are. For example, NordVPN offers 70 Tbps for each servers – but this alone is not enough.
- Bandwidth and load control. The amount of data a server can handle is crucial, but is perhaps even more important is how a provider controls them across the entire infrastructure. To avoid server overloading, even during use tips and delivering the best user experience, NordVPN ensures to cover the maximum load to 30% for each server.
- Speed and reliability. Having a fast and reliable VPN connection is what users ultimately want most. According to NordVPN, providers achieve this through high network capacity and effective load control rather than the highest number of servers.
- Georgafisk Distribution. This metric refers to the spread of servers in different places. “The more strategically distributed the servers are, and the better the infrastructure is designed to handle global traffic, the smoother your VPN experience will be,” Biedis explains.
A real breakthrough?
The VPN industry has been firmly on the server count as the metric is easy to convey to the users. Quantity is a specific number, while quality that we have seen depends on many other factors.
But is the idea that server quality is what actually matters is a real breakthrough?
According to Techradar’s leading security reviewer, Mike Williams, the performance is not entirely new and will not make much difference.
“The reality is that the number of servers, the overall capacity and most network details do not tell us much. To get a proper feeling we need statistics based on use but I doubt someone will tell us because they are commercially sensitive, ”said Williams.
“In general, I agree that server numbers don’t mean much, but I doubt most providers will soon replace them at any time,” Williams added. “However, we have to applaud the north to try. Although it does not replace the number server as a benchmark, users give extra details to consider being a positive move.”
Answer to Williams’ comments said Biedis: “Each company has its own rules how much they try to squeeze from the VPN server, but for us there is no more than 30% of the load One of the most important quality components to ensure that our user has the best quality in this place. “
All in all, “We have to talk about the user experience in general. This is one of the most important strategic areas that we can move forward.”
