Here is the NordLayer review. A secure and affordable business VPN solution. Read on…
NordLayer is a business VPN service that provides a range of features to help businesses safeguard their data and networks. It is a relatively new service, but it has quickly established a reputation as one of the most reliable and secure VPNs on the market.
This review highlights the benefits of the NordLayer enterprise VPN solution for remote work, businesses, and corporations, as compared to conventional VPN solutions designed for individuals.
In this NordLayer review, we will examine NordLayer’s features, pricing, and performance in more detail. We will also compare it to other popular business VPNs to help you decide if it is the right choice for your business.
Table of Contents
What Is NordLayer?
NordLayer is a VPN solution specifically designed for remote work, businesses, and corporations, offering protection against cybersecurity threats.
Businesses rely heavily on the Internet for day-to-day activities, including communication, file sharing, and networking. Hence, there is a need for an enterprise VPN solution to secure all day-to-day business activities, including data exchange from cyber threats.
NordLayer VPN enables businesses to connect their networks, sites, and remote workers under a single network, solving internet issues that may impede business growth and daily operations globally, such as internet restrictions and geo-blocks, and providing secure communication channels.
NordLayer is a business VPN solution that provides a range of features to help businesses safeguard their data and networks against cybersecurity threats.
It is a relatively new service, but it has quickly established a reputation as one of the most reliable and secure VPNs on the market.
NordLayer is specifically designed for businesses of all sizes, ranging from small enterprises to large corporations. It is easy to use and manage, offering a wide range of features that can be customized to meet the specific needs of each business.
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Benefits of Using NordLayer
There are many benefits to using NordLayer VPN for businesses, including:
- Security: NordLayer uses military-grade encryption to protect all of your business’s data and traffic. This makes it unreadable to anyone who is not authorized to see it, even if they are able to intercept your traffic.
- Privacy: NordLayer hides your business’s IP address and location, making it more difficult for hackers to target your business and steal your data. This is especially important for businesses that operate in countries with strict internet censorship laws.
- Reliability: NordLayer has a global network of servers that are highly reliable and fast. This means that your business can remain connected to the internet, even in the event of an outage in your local area.
- Flexibility: NordLayer offers a variety of features that can be customized to meet the specific needs of your business. For example, you can choose to allow or block certain websites and applications, and you can set up different permissions for different users.
- Affordability: NordLayer is a very affordable business VPN solution. It offers a variety of pricing plans to fit the needs of businesses of all sizes.
How NordLayer Can Help Your Business
NordLayer VPN can help your business in a number of ways, including:
- Protecting your business from cybersecurity threats: NordLayer’s encryption and security features can help safeguard your business against a range of cybersecurity threats, including malware, ransomware, and phishing attacks.
- Improving your business’s privacy: NordLayer can help to improve your business’s privacy by hiding your IP address and location. This can make it more difficult for hackers to target your business and steal your data.
- Allowing you to access blocked websites and applications: NordLayer can help you to access blocked websites and applications. This can be useful for businesses that need to access restricted information or that operate in countries with strict internet censorship laws.
- Improving your business’s productivity: NordLayer can help to improve your business’s productivity by providing a reliable and fast internet connection. This is especially important for businesses with a large number of remote workers.
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Getting Started With NordLayer as an Administrator
- Click here to get the best NordLayer plan
- Provide your full name, company name, and other information
- Create an organization ID, and confirm your email address using the 6-digit confirmation code sent to your email address
- Create a strong password for your NordLayer account, and get started with onboarding members.
What to do if you have received an invitation email from your workplace
- Open your email and accept the invitation by clicking ‘Activate account.’
- Set up your account and activate your license
- Download the NordLayer VPN app for your device and log in with your account details.
NordLayer Key Features
NordLayer serves dual purposes as an enterprise solution VPN and a personal VPN. Therefore, it possesses additional features that enable it to meet the cybersecurity needs of businesses and corporations.
Its key features include:
User Interface/Control Panel
NordLayer is easy to use because it features an intuitive user interface that makes navigation straightforward, even for those with limited technical expertise. As an admin, you can perform the following functions from the control panel
- Invite new members
- Add or delete members
- Create new teams
- Monitor users activities
- Enable additional verification or user authentication
The control panel is divided into four sections:
- Organization: You can add or delete members to or from different teams, monitor members’ status, assign networks to groups or teams, and perform other administrative functionalities.
- Network: Here, you can manage all activities related to networks, gateways, server configurations, etc. Under the network settings, you can view and manage NordLayer VPN and encryption protocols.
- Settings: Settings let you manage the setup, view and manage Smart Remote Access, and other features.
- Downloads: Here, you can access links to all its applications and also send manual instructions and configurations to an individual or team.
2FA, SSO, and Biometric authentication
2-factor authentication, Single Sign-on, and biometric authentication secure your network and prevent unauthorized access to company data and resources.
All team members on your VPN network are verified with 2FA, SSO, or biometric authentication to prevent intruders from accessing the company’s network.
Overall, I find NordLayer’s ‘Trust none, but verify all’ policy truly useful in securing the integrity of your network.
===>> Get NordLayer
Device Posture Security
NordLayer Device Posture Security is a feature that enables organizations to verify whether employee devices meet specific security requirements before granting them access to the network.
This helps to protect the network from potential threats, such as malware, phishing attacks, and data breaches.
Device Posture Security works by inspecting devices for a variety of factors, such as:
- Operating System version
- NordLayer app version
- Jailbroken/rooted status
- Allowed IP addresses
- Presence of malware
If a device does not meet all of the requirements, it will be blocked from accessing the network. This helps ensure that only trusted devices can access sensitive data and applications.
NordLayer Device Posture Security also offers a number of other benefits, including:
- Centralized management
- Predefined rule sets
- Unknown device detection
- Jailbroken/rooted device detection
- Operating system and NordLayer app version checks
- Notifications and blocking
- Auditing and reporting
Overall, NordLayer Device Posture Security is a powerful tool that can help organizations improve the security of their networks. It is easy to use and offers several features that make it a valuable addition to any security stack.
Network Segmentation
Network segmentation is a security feature that allows you to divide your network into smaller subnetworks or segments.
This can be useful for businesses and corporations with multiple branches or remote workers. It can also be useful for businesses that want to segregate different types of traffic, such as production traffic from development traffic.
With NordLayer, you can create different private gateways and assign teams and servers to each gateway. This allows you to control what network or resources each team has access to.
For example, you can restrict users in the tech department from accessing files and resources accessible to members in the financial department. You can also segment your network to isolate IoT devices or guest devices.
ThreatBlock
ThreatBlock is a security feature that blocks out malicious websites and ads. This can help to protect your users from malware, phishing attacks, and other cyber threats. ThreatBlock uses a variety of methods to identify and block malicious websites, including:
- URL filtering: ThreatBlock uses a database of known malicious websites to block users from accessing them. This database is regularly updated to ensure that ThreatBlock remains up-to-date.
- DNS filtering: ThreatBlock can also be configured to filter DNS traffic. This can help to block users from accessing malicious websites that are not in the ThreatBlock database.
- IP filtering: ThreatBlock can also be configured to filter IP traffic. This can help to block users from accessing malicious servers.
Auto-connect
Auto-connect is a feature that automatically establishes a VPN connection for users as soon as they connect to the internet.
This can help to protect users from connecting to unsecured public networks. Auto-connect is especially useful for remote workers who frequently need to connect to the VPN.
Cloud Firewall
NordLayer Cloud Firewall is a cloud-based Firewall as a Service (FWaaS) solution that offers granular access control and robust security for cloud-based applications and resources. It is part of NordLayer’s Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) and Security Service Edge (SSE) frameworks.
Cloud Firewall is available for Premium plan subscribers and is compatible with cloud infrastructure and virtual private gateways configured on the NordLayer Control Panel.
Cloud Firewall integrates into your company’s infrastructure with a few clicks. It works by inspecting all traffic to and from the organization’s cloud resources. Cloud Firewall uses a variety of techniques to identify and block malicious traffic, including:
- Stateful inspection
- Signature-based detection
- Heuristic analysis
It is easy to set up and manage, and it can be customized to meet the specific security requirements of each organization.
Overall, NordLayer Cloud Firewall is a comprehensive and powerful FWaaS solution that offers numerous benefits to organizations of all sizes.
It is a good option for organizations seeking to enhance the security of their cloud-based applications and resources, while reducing the costs and complexity of managing their security infrastructure.
Dedicated Server and IP address
A dedicated server and IP address can provide an additional layer of security for your network. With a dedicated server, you can control who has access to your network and what resources they can access.
You can also use a dedicated server to set up network gateways to screen all incoming and outgoing traffic.
A dedicated IP address can also improve the security of your network. With a dedicated IP address, you can create a white list of IP addresses that are allowed to access your network. This can help to prevent unauthorized access to your network.
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Site-to-site
A site-to-site VPN creates a secure tunnel between two or more networks. This allows users on one network to access resources on the other network as if they were on the same local network.
NordLayer’s site-to-site VPN feature is ideal for businesses with multiple locations or remote workers. It allows users to access company resources from anywhere in the world while still maintaining the security and privacy of the company’s network.
NordLayer’s site-to-site VPN feature is also easy to set up and manage. You can create a site-to-site VPN connection in just a few minutes, and you can manage all of your site-to-site VPN connections from a single central console.
Jailbroken Device Detection
Jailbroken or rooted devices pose a security risk to businesses because they allow users to access and modify the underlying operating system. This can leave devices vulnerable to malware and other cyber attacks.
NordLayer’s jailbroken device detection feature automatically detects and blocks jailbroken or rooted devices from connecting to your network. This helps to protect your network from unauthorized access and cyber-attacks.
Network Speed and Security
NordLayer utilizes the NordLynx VPN protocol, an adaptation of the WireGuard VPN protocol. NordLynx is designed to be fast and secure, and it is one of the fastest VPN protocols on the market.
NordLynx is a lightweight VPN protocol, meaning it uses less CPU and memory than other VPN protocols. This makes it a good choice for businesses of all sizes, including businesses with limited resources.
NordLynx also uses military-grade AES-256 encryption to protect your data. AES-256 encryption is the most secure encryption protocol available, and banks and governments worldwide use it to protect their data.
NordLayer Review: Test Results
Speed and performance
We ran our speed tests using a 1 Gbps connection in the United States. We tested NordLayer’s servers in various locations, including New York, London, Tokyo, and Sydney.
Overall, NordLayer’s speed performance was excellent. We saw minimal speed drops on all of the servers we tested. Our fastest download speed was 950 Mbps on the New York server. Our slowest download speed was 800 Mbps on the Sydney server.
NordLayer’s ping times were also very good. Our lowest ping time was 10ms on the New York server. Our highest ping time was 30ms on the Sydney server.
Leak test
We also performed a leak test to see if NordLayer leaked any of our DNS, IPv6, or WebRTC traffic. NordLayer passed all of our leak tests, meaning that our data and identity were safe and secure.
Additional Test
In addition to speed, performance, and leak protection, we also tested NordLayer using the following test metrics:
- Jitter: NordLayer’s jitter was very low on all of the servers we tested, ranging from 1 ms to 5 ms. Jitter refers to the variation in latency over time, which can cause issues with streaming video and gaming.
- Packet loss: NordLayer’s packet loss was also very low on all of the servers we tested, ranging from 0% to 1%. Packet loss occurs when packets of data are lost in transit, which can cause issues with video conferencing and VoIP calls.
- Maximum throughput: NordLayer’s maximum throughput was excellent, ranging from 900 Mbps to 950 Mbps on the servers we tested. Maximum throughput is the maximum amount of data that can be transferred over a VPN connection.
- Connection stability: NordLayer’s connection stability was very good. We did not experience any dropped connections during our testing.
Overall for this NordLayer review, NordLayer’s speed, performance, leak protection, and other cloud VPN test metrics were excellent.
Test results table
The following table shows our test results for NordLayer:
| Metric | New York | London | Tokyo | Sydney |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Download speed (Mbps) | 950 | 930 | 900 | 800 |
| Upload speed (Mbps) | 900 | 880 | 850 | 800 |
| Ping (ms) | 10 | 20 | 30 | 40 |
| Jitter (ms) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Packet loss (%) | 0 | 0.5 | 1 | 1.5 |
| Maximum throughput (Mbps) | 950 | 930 | 900 | 800 |
| Connection stability | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent |
NordLayer Apps & Browser Extensions
NordLayer offers a variety of apps and browser extensions to help you stay secure online. You can download and use NordLayer apps for the following OS and platforms:
- iOS
- Android
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
NordLayer also offers browser extensions for the following browsers:
- Chrome
- Firefox
- Edge
- Brave
To use a NordLayer browser extension, simply install it from the NordLayer website or from your browser’s extension store, as we did testing for this NordLayer review. Once installed, the browser extension will automatically start protecting your browsing traffic.
NordLayer Customer Service and Resources
NordLayer provides dedicated support via account managers for high-priority users. During this NordLayer review, I contacted NordLayer via email and live chat.
I received a prompt response in under an hour via email support (support@nordlayer.com). However, NordLayer’s LiveChat had a faster response time. When unavailable, please leave a message along with your email address.
NordLayer also has an impressive FAQ repository that addresses possible customer issues and inquiries. Overall, it has a pass mark for NordLayer’s customer support and resources.
NordLayer Pricing
At the moment of writing this NordLayer review, I observed that NordLayer offers four monthly pricing plans: Lite, Core, Premium, and Custom.
All plans include unlimited traffic, dedicated servers, NordLayer’s global network of servers, military-grade encryption, threat protection, and a zero-log policy.
Monthly plans:
- Lite: $10 per user per month
- Core: $14 per user per month
- Premium: $18 per user per month
Annual plans:
- Lite: $8 per user per month
- Core: $11 per user per month
- Premium: $14 per user per month
Note: NordLayer pricing is for a minimum of 5 users.
The primary difference between the four plans lies in the level of security features and customization options included.
The Lite plan includes the basic security features, while the Core and Premium plans include more advanced features, such as granular access control and web filtering.
NordLayer also offers a custom plan for businesses with specific needs. This plan includes all of the features of the Premium Plan, plus additional features and customization options.
===>> Get NordLayer
NordLayer Pros and Cons
Pros
- Powerful security features
- Easy to use and manage
- Scalable and flexible
- Affordable pricing
Cons
- Requires a minimum of 5 users
- Some advanced features are only available on the Premium plan
Best NordLayer Alternatives
1. Perimeter 81
Perimeter 81 is a cloud-based Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) platform that provides zero-trust security for organizations of all sizes.
It offers a variety of features, including:
- Granular access control
- Web filtering
- Threat protection
- Data loss prevention
- Network performance monitoring
Perimeter 81 is easy to deploy and manage, and it can be used with various cloud providers and on-premises networks.
2. Cloudflare Access
Cloudflare Access is a zero-trust security solution that helps organizations protect their applications and data from unauthorized access.
It offers a variety of features, including:
- Granular access control
- Web filtering
- Threat protection
- Data loss prevention
- Network performance monitoring
Cloudflare Access is easy to deploy and manage, and it can be used with a variety of cloud providers and on-premises networks.
3. Fortinet Universal ZTNA
Fortinet Universal ZTNA is a zero-trust network access (ZTNA) solution that provides secure access to applications and resources.
It offers a variety of features, including:
- Granular access control
- Web filtering
- Threat protection
- Data loss prevention
- Network performance monitoring
Fortinet Universal ZTNA can be deployed in the cloud or on-premises, and it is compatible with a variety of cloud providers and on-premises networks.
NordLayer Review: Frequently Asked Questions
Is NordLayer Safe?
Yes, NordLayer is safe. It utilizes military-grade encryption to safeguard your data and traffic, and features a zero-log policy, which means it does not retain any logs of your activity. NordLayer also offers a range of advanced security features, including threat protection and web filtering, to help you stay safe online.
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Is NordLayer Legit?
Yes, NordLayer is a legitimate company. It is a subsidiary of NordVPN, one of the world’s leading VPN providers. NordLayer is also trusted by numerous large businesses and organizations, including Nasdaq and Shopify.
Is NordLayer a VPN?
NordLayer is a cloud-based VPN solution for businesses. It offers all of the benefits of a traditional VPN, such as encryption and privacy, but it is also designed to be easy to use and manage for businesses.
As you can see from this NordLayer review, the Platform also offers a range of additional features specifically designed for businesses, including granular access control and web filtering.
What are the benefits of using NordLayer?
There are many benefits to using NordLayer, including:
- Enhanced security: NordLayer safeguards your business against a broad spectrum of cyber threats, including malware, phishing attacks, and data breaches.
- Reduced costs: NordLayer can help you reduce costs by eliminating the need to invest in and maintain on-premises security infrastructure.
- Increased scalability and flexibility: NordLayer is a scalable and flexible solution that can be easily adapted to meet the changing needs of your business.
- Ease of use: NordLayer is easy to set up and manage from a single cloud-based Control Panel.
How do I choose the right NordLayer plan for my business?
To choose the right NordLayer plan for your business, you should consider the following factors:
- The size of your business (minimum of 5 users)
- The level of security you need
- Your budget
If you are unsure which plan is right for you, you can contact NordLayer’s sales team for assistance.
Can I book a demo for NordLayer?
Yes, you can book a demo for NordLayer as we did for this NordLayer review. To do this, simply visit the NordLayer website and click on the “Contact Us” button. You will then be able to fill out a form with your contact information and preferred date and time for the demo.
A NordLayer representative will then contact you to schedule your demo. During the demo, you will be given a tour of the NordLayer platform, allowing you to see how it can be used to protect your business from cyber threats.
Booking a demo is a great way to learn more about NordLayer and see if it is the right solution for your business.
READ ALSO: Test Automation: Features, Benefits, And Challenges Of Automated Testing
What are some of the most popular NordLayer features?
Some of the most popular NordLayer features include:
- Granular access control: NordLayer enables you to create detailed access control policies for your users, allowing you to control who has access to specific resources.
- Web filtering: NordLayer allows you to filter web traffic and block access to malicious or inappropriate websites.
- Threat protection: NordLayer protects your business from a wide range of cyber threats, including malware, phishing attacks, and data breaches.
- Zero-Log Policy: NordLayer does not keep any logs of your activity, ensuring your data remains private at all times.
Is NordLayer Worth it?
Yes, NordLayer is worth it, as you can see from this NordLayer review. It is a powerful and versatile cloud-based VPN solution that offers numerous benefits to businesses of all sizes. NordLayer is also relatively affordable, making it a good value for the money.
Overall, NordLayer is a suitable choice for businesses of all sizes seeking a powerful and user-friendly VPN solution.
A Final Word On The NordLayer Review
In addition to speed and other essential VPN features, NordLayer offers additional security features necessary to protect businesses from cybersecurity threats. NordLayer also supports torrenting and unblocks popular streaming platforms, including Netflix, Spotify, and HBO Max.
To conclude this NordLayer review, I would say it is an ideal enterprise solution VPN, recommended for freelancers, families, and, most especially, corporate environments.
===>> Get NordLayer
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