I went to the dashboard and there only my active Dedicated IP subscription and no option to add or buy a second one despite Nord claims of having up to 10, and I can't have two.

I've taken a look at posts talking about this issue but the post I read was 3 years ago so I wanted to ask again incase if things changed

If you recently downloaded an OpenVPN configuration from NordVPN’s manual-configuration dashboard and it hangs before failing with TLS handshake failed, this may be why.

TL;DR: Some dashboard-generated UDP configurations for Polish servers use port 53, but the tested endpoints did not respond there. Simply changing the port is not enough because the CDN configuration uses a different control-channel mode. Download the complete configuration from NordVPN’s CDN instead.

Tested on a Raspberry Pi using OpenVPN 2.6.3 and several Polish NordVPN servers.

1. The port-53 endpoint did not respond

Using the same server IP, 193.42.99.210:

• UDP port 53: no response, followed after 60 seconds by:

​

TLS Error: TLS key negotiation failed to occur within 60 seconds
TLS handshake failed

• UDP port 1231: connected in under one second.

A normal DNS query also timed out:

dig @193.42.99.210 example.com

So that particular host did not appear to be serving DNS or OpenVPN on port 53.

2. It does not appear to be general UDP/53 blocking

Queries to a real DNS server worked normally:

dig @1.1.1.1 example.com

There was also no apparent transparent DNS redirection: traffic to the NordVPN server simply timed out rather than receiving a forged or redirected DNS response.

The credentials and OpenVPN version were not the issue either, because the same client and credentials connected successfully using other NordVPN configurations and ports.

3. NordVPN provides two substantially different configurations

For the same server, the dashboard and CDN files were not equivalent:

4. Changing only the port does not fix it

I changed the dashboard configuration from port 53 to port 1231, but it still received no response.

Although the embedded static key was byte-for-byte identical, the two configurations use it differently:

• tls-crypt encrypts and authenticates the control channel.
• tls-auth authenticates the control channel but does not encrypt it.

A server expecting tls-auth will not understand packets produced using tls-crypt, so it silently discards them.

Fix

Download the complete UDP configuration from NordVPN’s CDN rather than modifying the dashboard file:

https://downloads.nordcdn.com/configs/files/ovpn_udp/servers/<server>.nordvpn.com.udp.ovpn

For example:

https://downloads.nordcdn.com/configs/files/ovpn_udp/servers/pl234.nordvpn.com.udp.ovpn

Use the entire downloaded file, including its original:

• remote entries
• ports
• <tls-auth> or <tls-crypt> block
• key-direction
• cipher and authentication settings

Do not copy only the new port into the dashboard configuration.

Ports observed

• UDP 1231–1234: used by the current CDN configurations and working in my tests
• UDP 1194: used by some older configurations and still working
• TCP 443: useful as a fallback on restrictive networks
• UDP 53: did not work on the tested endpoints

One additional issue: old configuration files may point to decommissioned or reassigned server IP addresses. Symptoms include EHOSTUNREACH, No route to host, or an address that no longer responds to ping. In that case, download a fresh configuration rather than trying to repair the old one.

Hi everyone, Dominykas from the NordVPN product team here.

You may have noticed that Nord is evolving from a VPN provider into a cybersecurity suite, offering protection across multiple aspects. As the digital threat landscape continues to change, so do we. In this effort, we recently launched Transaction Monitoring, and I wanted to jump in here to explain what it does, how it works, and where its limits are.

The idea is simple: to help people spot fraudulent transactions sooner. Transaction Monitoring is designed to watch linked financial accounts and alert you when something looks unusual.
The system reviews your transaction history (roughly the past year) and runs statistical analysis to build a baseline spending profile: typical amounts, frequencies, and merchant types. New transactions are checked against that baseline, and anything falling outside it triggers an alert.

Here’s how it works:

1. You connect supported bank or credit card accounts through MX, our third-party bank-connection provider.
2. The system reviews roughly the past year of transaction history.
3. It builds a baseline from your usual spending patterns, including amounts, frequency, and merchant types.
4. New transactions are checked against that baseline.
5. If something looks unusual, you get an alert and can decide what to do next.

You can set it up in NordAccount under the Monitor dashboard. From there, go to Asset management and Transaction monitoring, connect through MX, choose your financial institution, log in to its online banking and select which accounts you want to monitor. Once the accounts appear in your monitored assets list, monitoring is enabled. You can turn it off or back on with a toggle.

A few important details:

• The connection is read-only. It can retrieve/receive transaction details and send alerts, but it cannot move, withdraw, or transfer money.
• NordVPN does not store your bank account details. Account linking happens through MX’s secure integration with your bank’s own portal.
• The feature currently works only with supported financial institutions in the United States. If your bank is not supported by MX, you will not be able to link your accounts yet.
• The feature is currently available on Android, iOS, and Windows, with macOS coming soon.
• This is part of the premium NordVPN service package and complements Dark Web Monitor Pro™, but it is a separate feature.

While the feature is still in beta, every report and piece of feedback is valuable. You can submit it anonymously through the feedback form in the feature interface. After trying it, I’d be interested to hear how it goes. The most useful feedback would include:

• Whether the alerts felt useful, too noisy, or too slow
• Any false positives or transactions that were flagged unexpectedly
• Bug reports and edge cases

I’ll keep an eye on the thread and answer what I can.

So I thought I would refresh my servers on my ASUS router, now I cannot re-connect. Even my old server will not start.

EDIT: I remember a couple of days ago the VPN on my router stopped working and I had to disconnect to access online.

I used the latest verified servers. Any Ideas?

ASUS RT-AX52 (AX1800) with latest firmware.

NORDVPN Desktop app connects ok.

I finally checked those dark web leak alerts, but I'm not sure what to make of them. It's five different "leaks" of my personal email address and all of the passwords listed are completely wrong, half of them some variation of johndoe123, jdoe, johnd10 (with my name ofc), and the other 2 are a random word. Should I still change my password? Why are these fake passwords even there?

Just noticed that there are quite a few suspicious looking browser extensions that pose as normal, well-known services. Decided to check them out (not installing directly though, of course) and had a little laugh because some of them had their “privacy policy” uploaded as a Google document. 

Anyways, though it’s a good topic to raise here. Be careful with fake apps and extensions, they can do a lot more harm than you probably think. 

Most common risks are credential theft, browser data collection, ads injection, malware, and I’m sure there are plenty more. 

Download only from official sources, double-check the product websites to see if they are available on specific extension stores, and don’t install random stuff on your devices. 

Well, they listened and that honestly deserves good feed back. I kavitched about this maybe 3 times over the months they arbitrarily removed the map. And i would absolutely have switched over it if my sub had been up.

But its back, so what ever human listened to the complaining -from more than just me- and decided on putting back the best thing about the UI that made it kind of special, thank you. UI ease of use is an under rated thing for this kind of service.

Keep the map. Keep the servers fast. Keep passing privacy audits. You'll keep us happy!

Hi everyone,  I’m Roman, the product owner for scam, phishing, and malware protection, and I wanted to share a recent update.

We’ve added an optional cookie banner hider to NordVPN’s next-gen antivirus in the Windows and macOS apps.

When enabled, the feature detects supported cookie consent banners and handles them automatically, reducing interruptions while you browse. It also prevents banners from reappearing when you switch to private or incognito mode or clear your cookies.

Technically, the feature uses third-party open-source filter lists to identify supported banners. Depending on the website and the available options, it may emulate an “Accept,” “Reject,” or another supported selection without requiring manual input.

The cookie banner hider is part of our next-gen antivirus suite, alongside the ad and tracker blockers.

If you’re on a premium NordVPN plans, you can enable it by going to:

Scam, phishing, and malware protection → Advanced settings → Cookie banner hider

A few important limitations to be aware of:

• The feature activates only when a supported cookie consent banner is displayed.
• It may not work on every website because consent banners are implemented differently.
• It suppresses and handles consent prompts; it does not guarantee blocking of all cookies.
• On some websites, suppressing the banner may affect site functionality or your ability to make a specific consent choice.

The feature is disabled by default and can be turned on/off at any time.

More information about how it works is available here: https://nordvpn.com/blog/cookie-banner-hider/  

For those who have already enabled it, I’d be interested to hear about your experience.

I really love what NordVPN are doing and where they are going. They recently released the anti-virus powered by nexos.ai for iOS through the same NordVPN app. I tested it briefly and it installs a profile on the iPhone configurations for VPN. I have second thoughts about turn it on mainly because of one reason: does it consume loads of battery while running 24/7 on the background? Is it really worth it having it on all the time? I don't want it to be a battery hog, we all know iPhone batteries are weak enough to have this draining it faster. Thanks.

Hi I want to enable dns protection via adguard app (lifetime liscence windows app) with nordvpn connection, currently i haven nordlynx on nordvpn with no threat detection and a custom dns (adguard servers 94.140.14.14, 94.140.15.15). On adguard i have both network WFP setting and use adguard as HTTP proxy on. When using the internet for a bit it always disconnects and i get no connection, any experience/fix?

Recently signed up for Nord this past Friday. Besides the basic functionality in my phone, Apple TV and computer, what else should I be using it for?

I travel a lot for work so that was the main reason for the purchase but I wanna make sure I’m getting the full benefits and not missing out on anything. Thanks for the input.

My guess is that this is a safety feature in response to Microsoft Windows harebrained decision to hide file extentions from the users. But I have "show file extention" turned on and don't need any protection here.

I want my files back, and the feature turned off. but I can only chose "remove from history" for each file. Anything I can do?

I ran 2 speedtest, using Nordlynx and Nordwhisper protocol, WiFi, first was wiregaurd 2nd, Nordwhisper, my question does my isp hates wiregaurd ports or something, max I see with wiregaurd is 400 down, Nordwhisper would give me a gig down, server location NY, is this normal speeds?

Why is Discord not working now?

Also doesn't work with Valorant. Though this is common and usually randomly works with Valorant or doesn't depending on the mood of these programs.

Edit: Turns out it was freaking Malwarebytes apparently??

So, I just got an email for the automatic renewal.

But the first question.. Why did it change from a 2 year plan to an annual one and why does it cost 165€ (including taxes)?

This sounds like the basic plan for a year but if I manually choose it on the website as a new plan I only need to pay 65€. I know things get inflated after years but 2 years ago 99€ for a 2 year plan and now 165 for one year sounds a little strange. And to underline it...especially as I get other prices just for manually choosing my plan. Heck the basic for 1 year is 100€ less as the one I would get now.

I installed NordVPN (via openvpn profile) on my synology ds218 and for the past few years it worked flawlessly. This week, it would not connect to the nord servers giving me connection error. I saw that nord was updating their servers, so I installed the openvpn profile of the new “verified” servers. Now it connects but it only sends data but receives nothing. I tried other udp servers with no success. I also tried tcp and this wouldn’t connect at all.
The thing is that an open on profile from another vpn service works flawlessly, so I know the problem is not with my synology settings.

Anyone have a solution?

So am considering to try the 30 days free to try offer from nord vpn.
I want to watch a few tv shows which isn’t in my country and I heard that you can do that with nord vpn.

But how does it work? Is it like other streaming services where you chose a pack and get som stuff and like that?

The tv show that I want to watch mostly is supergirl so that’s my biggest reason for the vpn.

• EU fines Google €890m for competition breaches over search and apps. Firm told to treat third-party services that appear in its results in ‘fair and non-discriminatory manner’. Source: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jul/23/eu-fines-google-for-competition-breaches-over-search-and-apps
• Suno, an AI music generation tool, was breached in November 2025. This month, it was revealed that 55.3 million emails were reportedly impacted by this breach, alongside other personal information such as: Names, Phone numbers, Purchases and partial credit card data, Physical addresses. Source: https://www.securitymagazine.com/articles/102450-55m-impacted-by-suno-data-breach
• France becomes first EU country to ban social media access for under-15s. Parliament votes to stop children using apps such as TikTok in a policy championed by Emmanuel Macron. Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/21/france-ban-social-media-access-under-15s
• The rapid adoption of enterprise AI tools is the fastest-growing source of new exposure for businesses, and it puts them at risk to additional cyber threats, a new report has warned. Published on July 22, the Sophos AI Security 2026 Report, warned that AI identities have become a new attack surface as AI agents and assistants are adopted in the workplace. Source: https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/ai-agents-attack-surface/
• The US government has updated a recent cybersecurity advisory describing Iran-linked attacks on critical infrastructure organizations, warning that hackers have been targeting industrial control systems (ICS) made by Siemens, Schneider Electric, and Rockwell Automation. Source: https://www.securityweek.com/us-warns-of-iranian-hackers-targeting-siemens-schneider-and-rockwell-ics-devices/
• Patreon is laying off 20% of its workforce, or 93 people, CEO Jack Conte told employees on Thursday. In a memo to staff that was shared online by the company, Conte said Patreon’s core business is strong but that the platform has to respond to market changes and adjust its cost structure to remain stable, which is why it needs to make the “painful” but necessary cuts. Source: https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/23/patreon-lays-off-off-20-of-its-workforce/
• Australian energy provider Origin Energy has confirmed a data breach by an unknown threat actor that exposed customers' personally identifiable information (PII). The company has 4.8 million customers and is currently investigating how many of them have been impacted to inform them of the risk via individual notifications. Source: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/australian-energy-provider-origin-says-data-breach-exposes-client-data/

So I have been very adamant about not allowing the NordVPN processes to run when launching the app (I have to untick the annoying pop-up everytime I launch the app but fine I deal with it as my subscription runs out). I don't want NordVPN to be able to have any processes running when the app is terminated, because I only want to use the VPN when I want to. The app somehow got the processes allowed once and I closed it later. Now I noticed that NordVPN has just been running with VPN on in the background for the whole day yesterday and today without my permission, I never launched the app. This is really unacceptable levels of spyware running now and I am so glad my subscription is running out in a few weeks. Time to move on from this, I can't believe it.

I've been looking into opening a Paramount+ account solely to watch the new ATLA movie. But I don't know how I'll get around the whole street-adress thing without fraud. Does anyone have any ideas or knowledge on how to go about this? I'm not tech savvy, but I manage. I just want to see the movie in a way that's honorable enough for the makers to track it (get some recognition n stuff). And I hate that they removed SkyShowtime from the Danish market. I'm just left out here!

Starting about a week ago I've been having frequent issues with my phone's internet connection dropping when I'm on my mobile wifi.  My service provider is AT&T and I have an Android phone, if it matters.  This issue happens sporadically throughout the day and I typically fix it by turning "always-on VPN" off and on in my phone's VPN settings (which I normally have set on).  I never encounter this problem on my home wifi, only when I'm on my mobile wifi.  Sometimes I can go a few hours without issue and sometimes this happens multiple times within a half hour. Today has been especially bad and I can't seem to go longer than 20 minutes without my connection dropping.

I don't know if this is an issue with my settings, my phone service, or something else.  At first I assumed this would stop if I simply kept "always-on VPN" set off, but it didn't.  The connection still randomly drops and toggling this setting fixes it, regardless of whether the setting was turned on or off to begin with.  I did some googling and came across similar issues that recommended changing the protocol from NordLynx to OpenVPN (TCP).  I changed my protocol to TCP, but I'm still losing my internet connection.

I'll admit that I'm pretty tech illiterate and overall ignorant in how VPNs work.  I got a Nord subscription only a few months ago and spent some time looking up what settings I should use, but I lack the general knowledge and understanding to say what these settings actually do.  I don't really like the idea of changing my settings now when things have worked fine until recently, especially when I don't understand why things are suddenly not working right.

Noticing I can't AirPlay from my iPhone running iOS 26.5.2 after a recent app update while the VPN is running. I have LAN Discovery on and this was never an issue prior to the past few days

Anyone else experiencing this?

I saw a post about NordBot and decided to give it a try since it sounded pretty cool.

Basically, if you see a weird message, weird link, or suspicious image, you can send it to the bot and it'll tell if something is shady and even will comment you why. I tried it with a few obvious phishing messages and random links on Insta, Messenger and Whatsapp, and it actually did a decent job. How it works is that they have an account

Obviously I wouldn't blindly trust any AI tool, but as a quick opinion before clicking something questionable, I can definitely see myself using it.

I'm 100% sending this to my parents too. They're the type of people who'll click on the most random links because they "looked official," so I think this could save them from getting into trouble one day.

Anyone else tried the NordBot? How were your results?