Norton Review 2019
BEST FOR: Ideal for frequent travelers
- Easy to use
- 24/7 live chat support
- 60-day money-back guarantee
- Blocks ads
Norton Overview
Norton WiFi Privacy is a product from one of the biggest names in the digital security industry, Symantec. It should be noted that Norton does not refer to this product as a VPN, but rather as “Norton WiFi Privacy.” The Symantec product tends to abide by its name “WiFi Privacy.” We have done this Norton WiFi Privacy review to explore the relatively new Symantec VPN and to help you evaluate whether it’s the product you are looking for.
Pros
What we liked
- Easy to use
- 24/7 live chat support
- 60-day money-back guarantee
- Blocks ads
- Auto-connection whenever on unsecured WiFi
- Affordable
Cons
What can be improved
- Weak encryption
- Keeps connection logs
- Doesn’t work with Netflix
Security & Privacy
Privacy
Norton is headquartered in California. The US is obviously not a friendly country in terms of data retention laws. Digital privacy in the US has been dying over the years, and now with the repeal of net neutrality laws, US-based firms can’t guarantee maximum privacy.
Nevertheless, just like most other VPNs, Norton WiFi privacy claims to be a “no-log VPN” with a promise to not “track or store your online activity or location.” This is a statement that we can’t back up, considering that the Norton VPN is just a product of the big Norton family. This means that it is still covered by the general Norton privacy policy which states that they collect “Information about your computer or device, including browser type and settings, IP address and traffic data relating to your Internet connection.”
This means that you can’t really rely on Norton WiFi Privacy for maximum privacy. Actually, that may be the reason they don’t refer to the VPN as Norton VPN, but rather Norton WiFi Privacy. However, you can rely on the software to encrypt your data and keep you secure from many of the dangers posed by the internet.
Further, Norton asks its users not to use the VPN in any of the following ways;
“In violation of any applicable laws or regulations, or to promote the violation of any applicable laws or regulations.To upload, post, or otherwise transmit content which you do not have a right to or which would otherwise infringe the intellectual property rights of any party. In a manner that infringes or violates any privacy, intellectual property, confidentiality, or contractual or other rights.”
This means that it is not suitable for torrenting, and so if you are looking for secure P2P service, you should look elsewhere.
Security
Norton WiFi privacy uses AES-256 encryption and HMAC SHA1 authentication. The Diffie-Hellman Exchange Key (DHE) is used for Perfect Forward Secrecy. However, the VPN uses RSA-1024 data authentication, a standard that is very weak and is considered insecure. We recommend a minimum handshake standard of RSA-2048.
As a result, Norton WiFi Privacy has only an average security level, which means you can’t trust the VPN with highly confidential information.
- OpenVPN
Pricing & Payment
Thanks to having many other products, Norton provides two different packages for users.
*Although we make every effort to ensure all prices are accurate, we cannot guarantee thet they are always up to date
These plans can be broken down into the following:
- Norton Secure VPN
- Norton 360 Deluxe (Includes VPN)
They can then be further broken down into the number of devices supported and the length of the subscription duration.
VPN only package for a period of 1 month: The one month plan costs $4.99 for 1 device, $7.99 for 5 devices and $9.99 for 10 devices.
VPN only package for a period of 1 year: The yearly plan costs $39.99 for 1 device, $39.99 for 5 devices and $59.99 for 10 devices.
Norton 360 Delexe: This package seems quite appealing. It includes, Secure VPN, Real-time Threat Protection, Dark Web Monitoring Powered by LifeLock, Password Manager, 50GB Secure Cloud Backup, Parental Controls, Smart Firewall, SafeCam,and 100% Virus Protection Promise. All these cost just $9.99 a month, or $59.99 for a whole year!
Generally, we can say that Norton WiFi Privacy is fairly priced.
Money-back Guarantee
Norton offers a 60-day money-back guarantee. This is one of the most generous offers that you can get in the VPN market, and it gives you ample time to evaluate Norton VPN first-hand. In case you feel that the VPN is not the product for you, you can cancel your subscription by contacting the support team. You will then get your money back after 3-5 business days.
Free Trial
Unfortunately, Norton doesn’t offer a free trial for their VPN. However, in compliance with the Play Store and App Store regulations, you can get a 7-day free trial for your smartphone. All you need to do is download the app from the various stores and you will get an option to try it for 7 days. Be aware that you will still be required to provide your payment details. You won’t be charged until after 7 days of registering. If you cancel within the 7-day period, you won’t pay anything.
Payments Options
Unfortunately, Norton only accepts payments via credit card or PayPal. This is not good news for those who would like to keep themselves anonymous by paying via Bitcoin.
Credit cards
Payment Service
Performance
Norton WiFi Privacy works pretty well. But we did experience some connection issues while using the PC client. The app could not connect to a server at some point, and restarting the app didn’t help. We had to restart our PC just to get the app to work. This is quite a huge disappointment considering that the maker is a worldwide reputable company.
Speed Test
To give you a glimpse of how fast Norton WiFi Privacy VPN is, we conducted a few speed tests. The first speed test was done without any VPN connection, and it’s only meant to give us a benchmark.
We then connected the VPN to a server nearby and below were the results.
A distant server produced the following results.
Generally, we can say that Norton WiFi Privacy is not among the fastest VPNs that we have tested. The VPN has average speeds but since it’s not meant for streaming, these speeds are still perfect for light-weight browsing.
This speed test was recently conducted on April 17, 2019.
Get started with Norton today to stay safe, private, and secure online!
Visit NortonServers & Location
Norton WiFi privacy has 30+ servers spread across 28 different locations. Though most of the major regions are well covered, this is quite a small number of servers compared to the top VPNs. Nevertheless, you can still access the most popular streaming sites using Norton WiFi Privacy.
It’s important to note that not all Norton VPN servers are actual servers. Some servers in the listed locations are virtual servers and unfortunately, Norton hasn’t put in place a way you can differentiate them.
The VPN servers do not support P2P, which is definitely bad news if you like torrenting. Server switches are unlimited.
Features
Being from the global IT security firm Symantec, you would expect Norton WiFi Privacy to boast some cool and advanced features. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. The VPN client doesn’t have split-tunnelling, open ports, a Kill Switch or even a DNS leak protection feature.
Fortunately, we didn’t notice any DNS leaks.
Features
Smart DNS
Bypass Netflix
Onion Tow Web Address
Split Tunneling
Stealth Technology/Servers
Allow Torrenting
Automatic Kill Switch
ipv6
Open Ports
Here are features of Norton WiFi Privacy:.
Ad-Blocker
Ads are always annoying and they even tend to slow down our surfing speeds. Norton implements some advanced ad-blocking capabilities in their VPN which greatly enhances surfing experience. You will also be able to browse without being tracked since the client can intercept cookies and remove information that can be used to identify you.
Device Compatibility
Norton WiFi Privacy started out with only smartphone clients, but we are glad to see that they have improved on that. The VPN can be used on the 4 major operating systems:
- Windows
- Mac OS X
- Android
- iOS
For Windows, the device needs to be running on a version of Windows 7 or later while Android needs to be on Android 4.1 or later.
Supporting the above systems means that you can comfortably use Norton WiFi Privacy on your PC, Mac, and Smartphone, iPad or tablet. Though this isn’t bad, we would like to see Norton expand to support Linux, which is a very common operating system.
The number of devices you can connect simultaneously depends on your subscription plan.
Autoconnection
If you love automation, Norton WiFi Privacy has a feature that detects a connection to an unsecured network and then automatically starts a VPN connection. This can be a useful feature especially if you travel a lot and you want to keep your data private and secure.
Norton Setup & User Interface
The Website
Being a product of Symantec under the brand Norton, Norton WiFi Privacy is one of the many Norton products. You would therefore expect the VPN to share the Norton Website. All the information is provided on just a single page, and there are not many technical details.
To know things like the encryption standards, you need to contact support, and that is not ideal.
Getting Started with Norton WiFi Privacy
Signing up for the product is quite easy, though you might need to take some time to grasp their pricing structures.
You can then select the plan you need and hit “Subscribe Now.”
This should take you to a page where you can create an account.
After creating an account, you can then proceed to make payments. Unfortunately, Norton will ask for too many details especially if you decide to use your credit card.
The PayPal option will also require you to enter a phone number, though a fake one should work.
After payment is complete, you can now download the VPN client.
Installation is quite simple. It will take approximately 2 minutes.
The Desktop Client
The Norton WiFi Privacy client runs on the bottom right side of the screen, and it can’t be moved or resized. On minimizing it, it disappears into the task tray.
After launching the app for the first time, you will be required to sign in.
The app will then immediately connect you to the nearest server.
The app is quite straightforward and easy to use. To navigate, you can use the three tabs on the upper side. The first one shows your connection status while the second one can be used to change your virtual location. Unfortunately, you can’t select a specific server or city, just the country.
The other tab can be used to activate/ deactivate ad-blocker, while also showing the tool’s stats.
Customization options
Under settings, there isn’t much that can be done. The only customization options here are “Launch at startup” and “Autoconnect.”
The Smartphone Client
Though not really identical, the Android client looks much like the Windows one. Navigation is done almost the same way.
To change a server, you don’t need to disconnect the VPN, which is quite good.
Compatibility
Netflix
Norton WiFi Privacy behaved in a peculiar manner when we tried watching Netflix. The VPN’s US servers could not even open the Netflix website. Servers in other countries opened the website, meaning that you can’t stream Netflix US with the Norton VPN.
BBC iPlayer
Norton WiFi Privacy doesn’t work with BBC iPlayer either. We tried streaming a random show on the website, and all we could get was an error. See these bbc iplayer VPN choices instead if this is your main priority in a VPN.
This means that if you like streaming and you are looking for a VPN, you should steer away from Norton WiFi Privacy. Not only can’t the VPN work with the major streaming sites, but you can’t download torrents either. See our other choices for VPNs that allow torrenting.
China
Norton WiFi Privacy doesn’t have any obfuscation features, and therefore can’t be used in highly censored countries like Iran and China.
Devices
- iOS
- Android
- Windows Mobile
- Windows
- Mac
Browsers
Others
- Android Boxes
- DDWRT Router
Customer support
Norton WiFi Privacy has a 24/7 live chat support. However, you need to fill in a form in order to get access.
This support is for all Norton products (which are quite many), something that makes the support availability limited. We tested the system and we were able to chat with an agent almost immediately. However, we were able to point out these agents are not very knowledgeable regarding the VPN service. Our agent couldn’t even understand what a logging policy is.
The support team also offers to call you back to answer any difficulties that you are having with the product, but this can be inconvenient if you are busy, as you don’t know when they’ll call. You can also call them directly if you’d like to get quick support.
Norton also has an email system for support. Unfortunately, you’ll have to go to the live chat system and request that they send you an email. From here you, can then reply and ask your questions. For our email, we got a response in 6 hours.
You can also request for remote assistance to be scheduled if you are having trouble with your client. There are also a few troubleshooting guides and FAQs that you can seek answers from.
Conclusion
Being from a reputable company, we had higher hopes for Norton WiFi Privacy. According to our testing though, its VPN just hasn’t lived up to those expectations. Norton WiFi Privacy isn’t super-fast, doesn’t work with the major streaming sites and doesn’t even support P2P. We can establish that this Norton VPN is meant for light-weight users who just need a VPN to keep their data and communications secure while connected to public hotspots. However if you are looking for a fully-featured VPN service, it might not be the right choice.
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Performance
Privacy
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