As explained in our hands-on NordVPN review, this VPN packs a wealth of advanced features. Among these, specialized servers promise to enhance your online security and delete every trace of your whereabouts. However, what can you do if NordVPN’s “Double VPN” and “Onion over VPN” servers are not showing up?
To understand why NordVPN’s specialized servers don’t appear in some cases, we first need to explain how they work. Next, we will discuss how to re-enable these servers.
NordVPN Specialized Servers Explained – What Can They Do and How Do They Work?
NordVPN offers over 5,000 servers worldwide, many of which are specialized servers. Having said that, let’s first explain what NordVPN servers can do, how they work, and more.
- Regular servers: When it comes to regular servers, they work by encrypting the contents of your VPN tunnel while replacing your IP address. To learn more, read our article on how VPNs work.
- Dual VPN: By connecting VPN servers, you can encrypt your data twice. This is the role of dual VPN servers, ensuring that your privacy is at the highest possible level. However, it is important to remember that dual VPN servers only work with the OpenVPN UDP and OpenVPN TCP protocols.
- Onion over VPN: As its name says, Onion via VPN servers sends encrypted traffic through the Tor network, which in some ways is similar to how dual VPN servers work. However, keep in mind that NordVPN’s “Onion over VPN” servers are not always present, so this feature does not always appear in the VPN interface.
- Dedicated IP servers: If you decide to get a static IP address, NordVPN will offer you two servers from the country of origin of your chosen IP address. As such, this feature may not always be present in NordVPN’s interface.
- Obfuscated servers: Finally, obfuscated servers are for countries where anti-VPN measures are strong, when you need an extra push to mask your web data. Here’s how to enable or disable obfuscated servers in NordVPN.
How do you get NordVPN’s “Double VPN” and “Onion over VPN” servers to show up?
As you can see above, some of the specialized servers in NordVPN depend on the specific VPN protocol. So, if NordVPN’s “Double VPN” or “Onion over VPN” servers don’t show up, you’re probably using NordVPN’s NordLynx protocol. To re-enable these servers, you need to switch to OpenVPN. Select your platform below to learn more.
windows
- select file cogwheel icon in the upper right corner.
- pick or pickAuto Connect‘ On the left hand side.
- disable ‘Choose VPN protocol and server automatically‘ to choose.
- ChooseOpenVPN (UDP)‘ or ‘OpenVPN (TCP)‘ protocol.
- If necessary, restart NordVPN.
Mac
Important: On macOS, the OpenVPN protocol is only available if you download NordVPN from their website. If you download it from the Mac App Store, you will get a version of the VPN app that comes with the IKEv2 protocol only. Therefore, you should use the version from the NordVPN website.
- select file Settings menu in the upper left corner.
- Make sure to choose “public‘ tab.
- Next to “VPN Protocol”, choose “OpenVPN“.
- You may also want to restart NordVPN. That’s it!
linux
- Play file terminal.
- To use OpenVPN TCP use: nordvpn TCP protocol set.
- To use OpenVPN UDP use: nordvpn set udp protocol.
- Return to NordVPN and try using specialized servers.
Android
- Play file Settings Menu from the upper left corner.
- then press “VPN protocol“.
- switch to any of theOpenVPN UDP‘ or ‘OpenVPN (TCP)“.
- Return to the NordVPN home screen.
iOS and iPadOS
- Play file Settings Menu from the upper left corner.
- He chooses ‘VPN protocol“.
- Now, switch to “OpenVPN UDP‘ or ‘OpenVPN TCP“.
- If necessary, restart the NordVPN app.
These will be the steps to re-enable NordVPN’s “Double VPN” and “Onion over VPN” servers. If you have any questions for us, be sure to post your comment below. Finally, thank you for reading!
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