opinions on NortonLifelock VPN

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philb2

[H]ard|Gawd
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I've never set up a personal VPN, but I'm feeling more and more that I should for phones and laptops. My subscription to NortonLifelock includes VPN for up to five devices, enough to cover my needs. I'm focusing on using the VPN only in the US for now. Access to programming accessible in other countries but not in the US is not a major consideration for me.

Has anyone done an analysis of this VPN service? Are there some potential negatives or showstoppers that I need to check out?
 
hity645 said:
Negatives - It's Norton.
Didn't they get in trouble for installing crypto mining software unaware to the user?
Norton is still around?
Why do you pay for Norton?
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I pay for Norton because it's top-rated for PC security. Also the consequences of a security breach far, far, far outweigh the costs of that software. No shade intended on Windows Defender or any other paid alternatives. I also use the paid version of MalwareBytes. Years ago I had to get rid of an early form of ransomware on my aldult daughter's system. It took me all day. My daughter is an average PC user, and pretty careful about the websites she visits.

Norton consumer software is now part of Lifelock. The business side is still nowned by Symantec. To be clear, I don't like Norton's high-pressure marketing to constantly upgrade. It is tacky. But as long as the software is good, I'll just click through all the semi-spam.
 
Unless maybe you're on sketchy WiFi hotspots, trying to fool NetFlix to stream shows outside your region (which works less well than it used to AFAICT), or hiding pirate downloads from your ISP, you probably don't need a commercial VPN.
 
BlueLineSwinger said:
Unless maybe you're on sketchy WiFi hotspots,
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You never know when you do public WiFi.

BlueLineSwinger said:
trying to fool NetFlix to stream shows outside your region (which works less well than it used to AFAICT),
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I don't even subscribe to NetFlix.
BlueLineSwinger said:
or hiding pirate downloads from your ISP,
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I'm not that crazy. Putting aside ethical considerations, that's a great way to get malware on your system,
BlueLineSwinger said:
you probably don't need a commercial VPN.
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Norton VPN is free to me.
 
VPN to access your home network and protect you from sketchy wifi et al? Absolutely, but never pay for that, other than the cost of a proper home router that supports a VPN server.

VPN to support masking internet activity, ok, but Norton isn't at the top of any list in my book. And remember now the VPN service is the one with your internet activity records.

A commercial VPN only changes who you trust, your ISP or the VPN provider.
 
It's funny they still throw around poor Peter Norton's name. It doesn't exactly inspire confidence anymore.
 
philb2 said:
Peter Norton sold his company to Symantec in 1990. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Norton

As a "brand" based on an individual, there is a limit to the shelf life. How many millenials know who he was.
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Yeah I know...but I meant his name has been dragged through countless bad Symantec products since then. I'm surprised they still want to latch onto that since "Norton" now has bad reputation. Norton Utilities for DOS was fantastic. Norton A/V hasn't been good since those days either.
 
philb2 said:
Peter Norton sold his company to Symantec in 1990. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Norton

As a "brand" based on an individual, there is a limit to the shelf life. How many millenials know who he was.
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Just like McAfee. What a ride that guys life was.

Papa Johns didn't change their name either, brand recognition wins out.

I wouldn't recommend Norton anything to anyone. Nor McAfee. A vpn is smart...
 
Yeah, same but different. Peter Norton was always a good guy, but Symantec makes bad products. John McAfee is a bad guy, but the company is still decent. Funny.
 
Valnar said:
John McAfee is a bad guy, but the company is still decent. Funny.
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John was a guy. A good or bad guy is a matter of opinion.

Commercial VPNs outside a very few use cases, none of which involve security, are a joke.
 
Guys,

As the OP I am a bit surprised at how much people are hating on Norton. Of course, it's a free country and you can vote with your wallet.

Can I get some recommendations for good VPNs. I travel a fair amount for business, so I end up using hotspots at airports, hotels, cafes and restaurants, and conference rooms, and sometimes even on planes.
 
Valnar said:
John McAfee is a bad guy, but the company is still decent. Funny.
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UGH! Maybe now, but back around 20+ years ago (well before the Intel purchase) McAfee (or at least the AV group up in Portland OR that my company was working with on a product) were a bunch of chucklefucks:

"Hey, before we roll this out to customers, can we get documentation on currently-known issues so our support people are prepared and have resources to resolve any tickets that arise?"
"Uhhh.... we don't have any known issues, or at least that's something we're not tracking."
Dafuq!?

We eventually got a MySQL DB file out of them with no notes, schema, or other info on how it was put together. Once we finally deciphered it we found ~20 entries, many of which were nonsense.
 
philb2 said:
That_Sound_Guy OK, I can accept your statement but can you give me a reason.
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it misses a LOT of malware, I would put windows defender ahead of it, consumes a lot of resources, I *believe* but might be misremembering that it is basically spyware too. Need more?

malwarebytes, eset, bitdefender are/were some good ones.

If you're wanting VPN, most routers support L2TP or IPSEC. If you want to look like you're in another country get a paid VPN - most use openguard or similar. Cyberghost was popular, shark something too...
 
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rhkcommander959 said:
it misses a LOT of malware, I would put windows defender ahead of it, consumes a lot of resources, I *believe* but might be misremembering that it is basically spyware too. Need more?
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No.
rhkcommander959 said:
malwarebytes, eset, bitdefender are/were some good ones.

If you're wanting VPN, most routers support L2TP or IPSEC. If you want to look like you're in another country get a paid VPN
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Notr an issue for me. I'm concerned only about use outside of the house, but only in the US.


rhkcommander959 said:
- most use openguard or similar. Cyberghost was popular, shark something too...
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Norton products get a bad reputation for being resource hogs and generally being unreliable. I've seen that dogshit software grenade OS installs for decades. It doesn't work as intended, it slows down your machine, it doesn't catch a lot of viruses or malware and it's fairly expensive for what it is.
 
philb2 said:
No.

Notr an issue for me. I'm concerned only about use outside of the house, but only in the US.
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Like what you will. Some people like Macs, some people like Norton. You do you. I tried to help with some suggestions but it seems like you just wanted people to like Norton too?

Their VPN probably works, but I won't try it. What else do you need to know at this point?
 
Seriously run you own VPN if US only. I have traveled all over the US with my phone and pad always on VPN to home. Home internet is midrange. I use full tunnel. Over 5g no noticeable speed issues. Over wifi maybe same because most wifi, hotel et al is dogshit speed to begin with.

Typing this right now on my VPN from mechanics wifi. Speed from their wifi 5/5 with VPN on 5/2, see dogshit.


Why give another company control?
 
rhkcommander959 said:
Like what you will. Some people like Macs, some people like Norton. You do you. I tried to help with some suggestions but it seems like you just wanted people to like Norton too?

Their VPN probably works, but I won't try it. What else do you need to know at this point?
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Not only that, I googled Norton VPN and found several articles as to why it sucks. The first one I read gave me enough info to not want to use it.
 
OK. As the OP, I hereby withdraw this thread.:notworthy::cry::censored::dead:
 
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That_Sound_Guy said:
Only responding because you tagged me. However given your post above we proved our point. Good luck in whatever you choose.

For what it's worth, I work in E911 and McAfee/Norton are declared spyware/illegal for use. Also - https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/7/22869528/norton-crypto-miner-security-software-reaction
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Thanks for this article.

I've given up on the idea of using Norton VPN.

Just want to point out that PC Mag Lab reviews are constantly pushing the idea that everyone NEEDS a VPN, NOW.
 
philb2 said:
Just want to point out that PC Mag Lab reviews are constantly pushing the idea that everyone NEEDS a VPN, NOW.
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LMAO ... Much the same as cooking magazines push gas over induction. That's what they are paid to do. In today's world where almost all, if not all, communication are encrypted a commercial VPN serves no purpose beyond altering your location.There is zero privacy protection and zero security benefit. Further given the shady nature of some providers one could argue the opposite. If you feel the need for a VPN don't outsource it. Roll your own
 
philb2 said:
Just want to point out that PC Mag Lab reviews are constantly pushing the idea that everyone NEEDS a VPN, NOW.
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Yeah, like Nicklebon said, look into who's sponsoring them. I'd bet Nord and/or some other major VPN operators are in that mix. The walls between content and ad sales in journalism fell apart long ago.

Almost all web traffic is already encrypted via HTTPS. DNS lookups are encrypted by default by many browsers using DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH) or DNS-over-TLS (DoT) (and can be set up for mobile and desktop OSes with a little work). Most other protocols you may use, like those for e-mail, remote access, etc., have an encrypted option if not default.
 
Anything with Nortron in the name = auto no buy/use for me....free or otherwise !

Been there, done that, never, ever again....
 
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