- NordvPN wants to change the conversation of the server quantity to quality
- The server count is one of the main metrics to measure the quality of a VPN service in the current industry
- NORDVPN believes that suppliers should focus on factors that directly affect the user experience.
NordvPN has just launched a challenge to the VPN industry, changing the way suppliers talk about VPN servers.
The server count has been, and is currently one of the main standard metrics recognized to measure the quality of a VPN service throughout the industry. It is possible that you have noticed how the best VPN suppliers today use these often large numbers to be marketed among the competition.
However, NordvPN believes that suppliers should focus on all other factors that directly affect the user experience, such as server bandwidth, speed, reliability and more. This is exactly the reason why the team now seeks to change the conversation of the quantity of the server to quality.
“The idea that the more VPN servers have, the better it will be, it is basically not very true. Therefore, we have to start talking about this,” Nordvpn Cto Marijus Briedis told Techradar.
VPN servers: what matters
VPN servers are a crucial part of how a VPN works. Every time it connects to a service, its Internet traffic is redirected through the supplier’s network composed of these servers. This is how Private Network virtual software (VPN) falsifies your IP address.
While it is true that offering worldwide coverage is an important factor in allowing users to access as much international content possible, it will not matter much if the user experience is poor.
“Think of it as roads,” Briedis explained in a blog post. “More roads do not solve traffic problems if they are in poor condition or are poorly planned. What matters more is to have high capacity lanes and well planned routes, so millions of cars can move without getting stuck in traffic.”
In general, according to Briedis, we must think of a VPN as a supplier of Internet services (ISP) because it is the service that de facto allows us to connect to the Internet.
“ISP doesn’t say how many servers have worldwide. What They are talking about is how much network capacity it has, what kind of connection quality does, and so on, “he told Techradar.
So what is really a good VPN server? These are the main factors, according to the NordvPN team:
- Network capacity. This refers to how many data the network can handle at a given time. To return to the roads, the capacity of the network is how wide and fast are the lanes of a road. For example, NordvPN offers 70 TBP for each server, but this is only not enough.
- Bandwidth and load management. The amount of data that a server can handle is crucial, but perhaps it is even more important is how a supplier manages it throughout the infrastructure. To avoid server overload even during use peaks and offer the best user experience, NordvPN claims to limit the maximum load to 30% for each server.
- Speed and reliability. Having a quick and reliable VPN connection is what users finally want. According to Nordvpn, suppliers achieve this through a high network capacity and efficient load management instead of the largest number of servers.
- Georgafia distribution. This metric refers to the spread of servers in different locations. “The more distributed they are strategically distributed, and the better the infrastructure is designed to handle global traffic, softer will be its VPN experience,” Briedis explains.
A real advance?
The VPN industry has stuck in the server count, since the metric is easy to transmit to users. The amount is a definitive number, while quality, as we have seen, depends on many other factors.
But is it the idea that the quality of the server is what really matters a real advance?
According to Techradar’s main security reviewer, Mike Williams, the notion is not totally new nor will it make a lot of difference.
“The reality is that the number of servers, the general capacity and most of the details of the network will not tell us much. To have an adequate feeling, we would need statistics based on use, but I doubt that someone tells us because they are commercially sensitive, “said Williams.
“In general, I agree that server numbers do not mean much, but I doubt that most suppliers replace them soon,” Williams added. “However, we have to applaud Nord for trying. Even if it does not replace the numbers server as a reference point, giving users additional details to consider has to be a positive movement.”
Responding to Williams’s comments, Briedis said: “Each company has its own rules how much they are trying to squeeze from the VPN server, but for us not have more than 30% loading is One of the key quality components to ensure that our user has the best quality in that location. “
In general, “we have to talk about the user experience in general. This is one of the key strategic areas that we can advance.”
