Greetings everyone! I’m here to request a small help… to be honest I think I already know the final answer. But i still will ask here for advice. Maybe someone has run into the same issue as I am facing now and found a workaround ?
So… The issue is as follows: I have many Norton Products subscriptions, I have Norton 360 Advanced, I have Norton Ultimate Utilities, I have Norton Driver Updater and finally also Norton Anti-track.
Recently i was looking around into the Norton secure VPN that comes directly with the Norton 360 Advanced App and I’m a 100% sure that some time ago, we could choose which VPN protocols to use manually, between Wireguard, Mimic etc… But as of now, this is gone.If you want the power of choosing which protocol you wish to use, you have to get a subscription into Norton VPN, which comes with 3 levels, Standard, Plus and Ultimate.
As such i decided to simply get myself a Norton VPN Plus subscription. So i headed to my account page, logged myself in, then headed to the Norton Products section, choose Norton VPN, Choose Norton VPN Plus, and the page shows me this
It says i already have a subscription and that i should contact support for a upgrade or other options of buyout.
Where the issue? Well… i don’t have ANY Norton VPN subscription, as a mentioned above already. So what do i do? I bet it’s the Norton Secure VPN existing inside the Norton 360 Advanced making this conflict…
Anyways, please comment below what you guys think i should do? Simply wait monday and contact support? Or is there any workaround it ? Oooor is there any secret way to bring back Manual protocols choices into the Secure VPN version of Norton ??
Well i kinda guessed this would be the advice i would get and it’s also the most logical one too.
Still i feel like, for the price a Norton 360 Advanced protection costs… it should be GIVEN to us the simple choice of changing Protocols without the need of basically getting a new subscription and having to go through the ordeal of contacting the support to see what they can do.
Anyways I’ll wait Monday and talk to them directly by phone, i don’t have Twitter or Facebook accounts, never been a fan of Human Pokédex websites like these. And i already tried the “Live Chat” option with the support… It’s just an AI that talks to you and she doesn’t help at all. So phoning them is my best and only choice.
And i hope you’re right, that they can find me a solution somehow because i really need these 10 subscriptions licenses, i use 9 of them for my family, and the VPN plus option is the best since we plan only on using it on our PC’s… unless they have a secret way of bringing back the menu for protocols… i saw the the files of encryption for Mimic do exist still within the Secure VPN from the Norton 360 app.
With that said, again, thanks for you super fast reply, and i wish you a awesome week-end!
With the new standalone Norton Secure VPN products, you cannot also have Norton 360 installed. You have to choose one or the other. The new VPN does have some malware protection and safe web features. And it does have the protocol choices you are looking for and it also has some more detailed choices for your virtual location use in the VPN.
The message to contact Norton Support for ‘upgrade’ options would give you an opportunity to switch your 360 plan to the newer VPN offering.
Well then the choice will be very easy to make then. I’ll keep my Norton 360 advanced app and look for a outside choice as VPN… perhaps Nordvpn or something else. I’ll look into which are the best VPN around and get myself one…
It’s a big shame tough and doesn’t make much any sense… Why wouldn’t they simply make a standalone Norton VPN plus or Ultimate be able to work in sync with Norton 360? They did it for Driver Updater, Anti-Track and Norton Ultimate Utilities… Also as i said, we had these protocols choices in the past on the Norton secure VPN that comes with the Norton 360 App… makes no sense on taking away from the costumers who are paying already a hefty amount for their protection something that’s so trivial to them but so helpful for us…
Anyways, thanks for your reply, at least i wont bore myself wait on a phone call forever or in a chat waiting for the 1st to arrive wins situation
I found this online and tried it! It restored the protocols back to NortonVPN AND to Norton 360 Premium…
Edit the vpn.ini file (Community Tip)
Some users have resolved issues by manually adding a specific protocol to the vpn.ini file to force the protocol selection menu to appear. This is not an official Norton solution but is less risky than editing the registry directly.
Navigate to the Norton installation directory (e.g., C:\Program Files\Norton\Norton 360\).
Locate and open the vpn.ini file in a text editor (like Notepad).
Add the line PreferredProtocol=mimic to the file. This makes the protocol selection visible in the app settings, allowing you to select Automatic or another protocol.
Hello @JONin92656
Were you experiencing connection issues before the tweak?
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AI Mode
Does the VPN Protocol actually change or is the change simply cosmetic?
The change you make in the Vpn.ini file using PreferredProtocol=mimic is not cosmetic; it actually changes the underlying mechanism Norton uses to establish the VPN connection.
Here’s why:
It forces the GUI option to appear: Norton deliberately hides the protocol selection menu in the standard Windows 360 interface for most users, defaulting to “Automatic” (which usually selects WireGuard or IPSec). By inserting PreferredProtocol=mimic, you are essentially unlocking the user interface element that controls this setting.
The setting persists: Once the menu is visible in the Norton 360 app settings, whatever you select there (Automatic, Mimic, OpenVPN, or IPSec) is the protocol the application will use to connect to Norton’s VPN servers.
Different protocols, different behavior: The various protocols serve different purposes:
Mimic is a proprietary protocol designed to disguise VPN traffic as standard HTTPS traffic, which helps bypass firewalls or VPN-blocking technologies.
OpenVPN is an industry standard known for high security and reliability.
WireGuard is known for high speeds.
If you were experiencing connection issues before the tweak, and those issues are resolved after selecting a specific protocol in the now-visible menu, then the change is definitely functional and affecting how your VPN works.
My internet connection is working faster and smoother than before. I can only go by what I have experienced on my own computers. But from what I have read online from other people, they are happy with the results. If you are not satisfied, you can always change it back.
AI Mode
Norton Secure VPN feels better with WireGuard than when set to Automatic likely because WireGuard is engineered specifically for superior speed, simplicity, and low latency, which is ideal for general browsing and streaming.
The “Automatic” setting in Norton 360 generally defaults to the most suitable protocol based on the network environment, but this may sometimes result in a less performant connection compared to manually selecting the high-speed WireGuard protocol.
Key Reasons for the Performance Difference:
WireGuard is inherently faster: WireGuard is a modern, lightweight, open-source protocol known for its high-speed performance and efficient use of resources. It has a significantly leaner codebase than other protocols, which allows for quicker connection times and faster data transfer speeds.
Automatic might choose a different protocol: The “Automatic” setting balances speed, security, and compatibility. Depending on your network conditions, it might occasionally select a more reliable but slower protocol like OpenVPN (TCP) or IKEv2/IPSec if it detects network instability or restrictions, leading to a “slower” feel.
Lower overhead: WireGuard’s simplicity means less data overhead per packet, which results in better overall throughput and lower latency, making the internet feel more responsive.
Optimized for speed: If your primary concern is speed for streaming, gaming, or large downloads, WireGuard is designed to prioritize performance above all else, whereas “Automatic” might be prioritizing connection stability or the ability to bypass firewalls.
By manually forcing the VPN to use WireGuard via the Vpn.ini tweak and the in-app settings, you are telling the software to use the fastest available protocol, which bypasses the “Automatic” decision-making process that might otherwise select a more general-purpose protocol.
