When we're reviewing the best VPN services, privacy always comes first – staying protected online is the bread and butter of any virtual private network worth its salt. However, long gone are the days when this was all a VPN could do for you.
Spoofing your location so you can access different websites and services is nothing new either, but streaming sites like Netflix and Disney+ are well aware of this practice. In fact, almost every streaming service worldwide has some kind of protection against people using VPNs to access geo-blocked content – and now, very few providers can tap into regional libraries around the world.
Testing this takes up a lot of our time when we review VPNs, and in my most recent NordVPN review – published September 20 – the big-name provider proved once again that it's the best VPN for streaming available right now. But why is that? Well, that's what we're going to look at here.
1. A clean sweep in our testing
This one's easy – NordVPN unblocked every single streaming service I tried, on the first time, every time. That includes Netflix in five locations, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, UK services BBC iPlayer and Channel 4, Australian streamers 9Now and 10 Play, and more.
You can't do better than that, but it's worth noting that NordVPN isn't the only VPN capable of this. In fact, a few other VPNs like Surfshark, Private Internet Access and Proton VPN performed equally as well – but almost every other VPN I've reviewed fails at least one of these tests.
2. Superfast connection speeds
We test the connection speeds of every VPN we review, and we have a dedicated guide to choosing the fastest VPN. We use a seriously quick 1 Gbps line, but NordVPN was still able to go faster than we could accurately measure, maxing out our connection in a number of tests.
Again, this isn't unique to Nord – Surfshark and Proton VPN also did this – and there's no denying that between the top few, there's not a huge amount between them. In truth, if you're just concerned about unblocking streaming sites, picking from any of the providers that have full access and great speeds will serve you well.
However, there are a few things that set NordVPN apart if you want the very best.
3. Excellent customer support
In my half-decade of writing about VPNs, I've seen a lot of things change, and the reliability of VPNs working with streaming services is one of them. Just a couple of years ago it was much more hit-and-hope, and while performance today is plain sailing, I'm well aware that tomorrow could be a different story.
That's why we focus a lot on customer support when we review VPNs. If something goes wrong, it can often be tricky to work out a solution – especially if you're not incredibly techy. Having quality support agents on-hand 24/7 is a must if you want to resolve issues quickly.
If you're having problems unblocking a certain streaming site, you should be able to go straight to customer support and tell them what you want to watch, and get an exact server that will work in response.
When contacting Nord's support team, this is just the treatment I have had, and from speaking to the developers directly, I know that they have lists of servers to pull from in this situation.
4. A history of streaming reliability
Carrying on the theme of VPNs not always being as reliable as they are now, NordVPN has just about the best history when it comes to unblocking streaming sites.
For example, in 2021, Netflix started to block residential IPs to combat VPN access. In the article I wrote on the subject, ExpressVPN and NordVPN were the frontrunners in combating this issue – with ExpressVPN performing marginally better.
However, in the years since then, we've seen ExpressVPN's streaming performance waver at points. In contrast, not once have I had an error when streaming with NordVPN since that event.
5. A whole suite of extra features
Just because you're mostly using your VPN for streaming doesn't mean that you don't appreciate the extra privacy that comes along with using one. NordVPN is one of the most secure VPNs, but it also has a bunch of neat add-ons that add value.
If you sign up to the slightly more expensive Plus tier, for example, you'll get Threat Protection Pro. This is a nifty tool that protects you from malware and phishing websites, even when the VPN is off.
Regular subscribers will get access to Meshnet – a clever peer-to-peer network-building tool – and special privacy-focused modes Double VPN and Onion over VPN. Granted, they might be overkill for the regular user, but they're very nice to have available.
Bottom line
Having reviewed NordVPN again very recently, it's clear that as a package, it's quite simply the best choice if you're looking to stream content online with a VPN – not to mention our #1 choice overall.
There are other options that will fare you very well – Proton VPN, ExpressVPN and Surfshark run NordVPN the closest – but Team Blue edges them out thanks to its well-rounded performance in every area.
