Norway was the first non-English speaking country to connect to the internet back in 1971, but even more impressive, is that by 2013, Norwegians already had almost complete 100% internet penetration rate. The country upholds free speech and press, and internet censorship has never been a problem. Citizens have generally enjoyed and very unrestricted access to the World Wide Web.
Since Norway is not part of the European Union, it does not have to follow the EU Data Retention law, which is great news, but the country is not completely detached from joint European governance. Being part of the European Economic Area, the country did pass a 6 month Telecommunications data retention law back in 2011, but was only set to come into effect as of January 1rst, 2015. As of now Norwegians may have personal records and data logged for up to half a year. The new directives have generated a rise in VPN usage to retain better privacy of every day personal life details.
Since 2013, new Copyright Act legislation came into effect to allow rights holders or companies to take individual action against infringement, as well as blocking websites suspected of committing of facilitating copyright infringement.
Picking a VPN Service for Norway
Privacy, speed, and accessibility are all important points to consider when choosing a VPN for any application. I would consider it safe to use an EU based VPN provider, but cannot advise on Norwegian based providers. Being able to access local servers is important to retain the best possible speeds, but having fast routes across the world allows the user to access geo-blocked websites with ease. Below are my top picks for best VPN service providers for Norway.
ExpressVPN – Full Review
Currently covering 78+ countries, including Norway, ExpressVPN has an unmatched 30-day guarantee to put you at easy that they have a top shelf VPN service. The software clients available on all major platforms are bug-free and easy to use. Although a little more expensive, you really do get what you pay for in this case. One account supports simultaneous connections from one desktop or laptop, one mobile device, and one VPN router to handle multiple connections if needed, A streaming console or TV box can also be used.
24/4 support from capable technical agents, reliable encrypted servers, and SmartDNS included for gaming consoles and Apple TV, the VPN experience does not lack in any department. Norway can benefit from a huge presence in Europe, and US servers located coast-to-coast, to provide you the best possible speeds no matter where you travel.
Surfshark – Full Review
Surfshark stands apart from the competition thanks to the fact that it lets you connect as many devices as you want at the same time. You can connect to servers in over 50 countries and one of the locations available is Norway. Surfshark offers advanced features such as Cleanweb, Whitelister and kill switch. All these features add strong protection to your internet traffic and also let you defeat restrictions. Norwegian users can access content that is available in other countries, or can connect to a server in Norway but with higher security. Plus, Surfshark doesn’t keep logs of your internet activities.
Private Internet Access – Full Review
Private Internet Access is a very popular VPN provider thanks to the affordable and efficient service that it delivers. Currently, it has over 3000 servers in 32 countries, including Norway. The plans are available for a reasonable price and they include advanced features like Kill Switch and SOCK5 proxy. If you want to enjoy a fast, secure VPN available for an affordable price, make sure that you give PIA a try. They also offer the chance of use dedicated IPs.
VyprVPN – Full Review
With great coverage across all of Europe, and a local server in Oslo, VyprVPN delivers, speed, features and great looking software that runs without a glitch. The service run on a proprietary OpenVPN chameleon protocol build with over a decade of experience in the field of VPN and encryption. The Golden Frog company that makes Vypr also has encrypted cloud storage available through DumpTruck, and each VPN package offers a certain amount of free space for you to use. The lowest package only allows for 1 user, while the highest allows for 3, and 50Gigs of encrypted cloud space for your backups.
Although not the cheapest VPN, the customer service is hard to beat, and speeds are maintained with over 700 servers spread across over 50 locations in more than 40 countries.
IronSocket – Full Review
IronSocket is serious about your privacy and security, providing all standard and advanced levels of encryption. They do not have proprietary software, but have easy to follow guides on setting up the connections through OpenVPN. The website lists all the servers, as well as which ones to use for P2P. Norway has a server in Oslo, and great coverage of neighboring countries.
The service also offers private DNS proxy servers to unlock geographical regions with ease. This also allows to use the VPN encryption separately if speed is being affected. A 7-day money back guarantee is offered to allow you to test the service risk free. 3 simultaneous connections can be used per account
NordVPN – Full Review
Another solid choice for Norway is NordVPN, sharing a Nordic name, the provider offers some unique servers such as a Tor+VPN and Double VPN server for extra layers of encryption. They mainly cover all of Europe, but some key located eastern North American servers are available for U.S. websites. A local server in Norway is available and never overloaded, ensuring optimal speeds.
Up to 6 simultaneous devices can connect to a single account, but the caveat is that they must each use a different connection protocol, but does allow TCP and UDP over OpenVPN count as two. The rest would need to opt fro L2TP, PPTP.
In Conclusion
Norway has plenty to offer to tourists, but whether you are travelling there, or living there, using a VPN can greatly benefit your privacy, security, and peace of mind. I picked providers that all had at a minimum one server in Norway, and tested it from the U.S. and Canada with relatively good speeds considering the distance. This is actually important for unlocking North American services such as Netflix. I hope this article helps you narrow down your choice for the best VPN to use in Norway.
