Over the last few years, a small team has been working on NymVPN, a so-called mixnet which the company claims could solve many of the issues with VPNs. I interviewed members of the team and also tried NymVPN out to see how it performed.
What Is NymVPN?
NymVPN is two things: on the one hand it’s Nym, a decentralized network that can reroute traffic around the world or anywhere there’s a node. On the other, it’s NymVPN, a program or app that makes it easier for regular people to access this network.
In this case, a node is a server or computer that can either route a connection forward or serve as its terminus—if you’ve ever seen a network laid out schematically in the movies, the dots are nodes.
With access to the network, you can spoof your location to be anywhere: do you need to appear like you’re in the UK to watch BBC iPlayer? Use a node in Birmingham or London. Want to access a US bank account from Asia? Connect to a node in New York City. At first glance it serves much the same purpose as a regular VPN.
Nym nodes are run by volunteers, who contribute their devices to be used by the Nym network. They can be a small server, or even just a laptop that’s idling. The network doesn’t take up too much in the way of resources. For their trouble, volunteers are rewarded with tokens, which can be sold, though currently they’re not worth much.
NymVPN vs. Tor and Other Decentralized Networks
So far, you may be thinking that Nym sounds an awful lot like the Tor network, or even decentralized VPNs, both network architectures that feature user-operated nodes which, in the case of dVPNs, reward you with tokens. In a conversation with Harry Halpin, the CEO of NymVPN, and security consultant Chelsea Manning, they acknowledge this, but also point out some important differences between their network and that of Tor.
The biggest is that Nym redistributes each packet rather than sending them directly. If you’re using Tor or even a regular VPN, you’re sending your packets—little bundles of bits and bytes that make up your data—in a synchronous stream. Whatever you send is encrypted, broken up, and received in the same way it was sent.
NymVPN doesn’t do this. Instead, it uses asynchronous routing and breaks up packets, scrambling their order and even adding “noise” (nonsense data), as well as encrypting traffic. All this makes it hard to figure out what’s going on for anybody listening.
NymVPN as a Mixnet
The name NymVPN has given to this type of network is “mixnet”, which refers to the way data is mixed up in transit. This makes it safe, but should also make Nym a much more private alternative to existing networks, at least on paper.
The issue is that in the case of VPNs, you need to trust your VPN service. Essentially, you’re believing that when they say that they don’t track you, they’re speaking the truth. In the case of Tor, trust is less of an issue, but there’s a strong likelihood you could be tracked through the network—I discuss this at greater length in my article comparing VPNs vs. Tor.
A mixnet could solve these issues. Without centralized VPN servers, you’re reducing the options for a service to log your activity. Mixing up the packets the way NymVPN does, by re-randomizing them after every hop between nodes, also makes it so neither the node’s operator can see what you’re up to. On top of that, tracking through the network is a lot harder, too.
NymVPN isn’t just asking you to take its word for all this, either. The code is open source and the company goes into quite a bit of detail on its website. The team isn’t just about the big names, either, and it’s clear everybody involved knows their stuff. For me, it was all the more reason to try out NymVPN and see how it works.
Using NymVPN
Installing NymVPN was easy and no different from any other VPN. Currently, when you sign up you get to use it for 30 days for free. Signup is anonymous, requiring nothing more than a private key, which I like.
However, once I opened the app, a few things were very different from most VPNs. For one, you can choose between two modes. One uses WireGuard and is like any other VPN or Tor connection. It’s fast, but privacy isn’t guaranteed. The other option is the mixnet, which is what I went for. You can also choose where your entry and exit nodes connect from, which is cool, though currently there’s no way to set up multi-hop, which would add an extra layer of privacy.
Actually using NymVPN was a challenge, though. The WireGuard mode was fine, albeit slow—my 300 Mbps connection was reduced to 100 Mbps, which is hardly the best VPN material—but the mixnet mode was pretty rough. I tried multiple combinations of connections several times and was overjoyed to get a connection of 5 Mbps, if it connected at all.
Should You Try NymVPN?
On the one hand, my not-so-great experience with NymVPN should turn me off, and if it was a commercial VPN (like some of the dogs I reviewed over the years—read my AtlasVPN review for one example) I would be telling you to steer clear. NymVPN is very much in a league of its own, though.
This is because its stated goal isn’t to help you unblock Netflix or help you access your bank account from overseas, though it can do that, too. Instead, the team has as goal to make the web a more private place, using limited resources and a small team.
Looking at the progress it has made, and the quality of the stuff that does work (the app, for example, works a lot better than even commercial-grade VPNs), plus the sheer potential of the technology, I will be watching NymVPN avidly to see how it progresses.
If you’re as enthusiastic as I am, I recommend visiting the NymVPN website and checking it out for yourself. Though it’s far from perfect now, something tells me Nym may be the way forward for anybody who wants a more private internet.
