Do you actually need a VPN in Mongolia?
Legally, nothing stops you. VPNs are legal in Mongolia, there is no licensing or registration requirement, and the apps are in the local app stores. Freedom House scored it 84/100 (Free) in 2024 and kept the Free rating in 2025. Blocking of websites is not a feature of daily life, and VoIP calls on WhatsApp, FaceTime and Messenger work on Unitel, Mobicom and Skytel.
The legal picture is not spotless. Parliament passed a Law on Protecting Human Rights on Social Media in January 2023 within three days of its introduction. It would have given the minister of internal affairs the power to restrict online services and set up a unit to police content that denigrates state symbols. The president vetoed it, but Freedom House also records the editor of the news site zarig.mn being detained in October 2023 for spreading false information in social media comments about the justice system. The lesson for a visitor is the same as anywhere: a VPN hides your traffic from the network, not your public posts from the courts.
The practical reason is shared Wi-Fi. Hostels in Ulaanbaatar, ger camps and cafes run open networks, often on a single mobile connection, and your banking and work logins should be encrypted on them. If the app misbehaves while you are three time zones from your IT department, 24/7 live chat from NordVPN or Surfshark is the fastest fix.
What a VPN does and does not do in Mongolia
A VPN encrypts the link between your phone or laptop and the VPN server, so a guesthouse router, a tour operator's hotspot or the mobile carrier sees only encrypted traffic. It also lets you pick your apparent location. Connect to a UK server and your bank, BBC iPlayer and your home Netflix library behave as if you were in London. Connect to a Mongolia location and local services treat you as domestic.
It does not create signal where there is none, and it cannot speed up a ger camp's Wi-Fi that is shared by thirty guests. On a weak 4G link, encryption adds a little overhead, so switch it off for the odd upload if you must and back on for anything with a password. Some streaming platforms block known VPN addresses whatever the provider. Both of our picks have a 30-day money-back guarantee, so test them from Ulaanbaatar before committing: NordVPN for a shorter trip, Surfshark if you are staying for a season.
Recommended VPNs for Mongolia
NordVPN, best for short trips and month-by-month plans
It is the one for you if you are covering yourself, or you and a partner, and want something simple to run and easy to forget about. One plan covers 10 devices, and the apps are quick to install and easy to switch off and on as you need. Plans run by the month, the year or over two years, all with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Surfshark, best for long stays and unlimited devices
It is the one for you if one subscription needs to cover everyone. Connections are unlimited, so every phone, laptop and tablet you travel with, and anyone you share a place with, runs on the same plan at once. That suits a stay that stretches to months rather than weeks. It sells the same three terms and adds bonus months on the longer two, with the same 30-day money-back guarantee.
Server networks and speeds for Mongolia
Both of our picks list a Mongolia location. NordVPN's is an Ulaanbaatar virtual location added in December 2025 and hosted on hardware in Singapore, which gives you a Mongolian IP address but with Singapore latency. Surfshark lists Mongolia in its Asia region and does not state whether the servers are physical. For raw speed from Ulaanbaatar, a physical server in South Korea, Japan or Hong Kong is usually the better choice; for a Mongolian IP, use the Mongolia location.
Local networks are modest by regional standards. Unitel has the broadest coverage including most tour destinations, Mobicom tends to be fastest, and both run 5G only in the capital. Outside the cities, expect 4G that drops to 3G or nothing, and plan downloads around it.
How to choose between them
The differences that matter fit in one table, and the last two rows are there to name two promises you should not believe from anyone, us included.
| Feature | NordVPN | Surfshark |
|---|
| 1 month | $14.99 | $16.45 |
| 1 year plan, total upfront | $65.88 (12 months billed) | $50.85 (15 months billed) |
| 2 year plan, total upfront | $94.23 (27 months billed) | $67.23 (27 months billed) |
| Devices per plan | 10 | Unlimited |
| Kill switch and auto-connect | Yes | Yes |
| Independently audited no-log policy | Yes (2025) | Yes (2025) |
| Money-back guarantee | 30 days | 30 days |
| Guarantees access to any blocked site, anywhere | No | No |
| Makes slow Wi-Fi faster | No | No |
On a single month NordVPN is cheaper. Over a year or two Surfshark is. On everything else the choice is about shape rather than money: 10 devices and a simple setup on one side, unlimited devices on the other.
Setting up before you travel
Do the setup at home, on Wi-Fi you trust, before the airport. Install NordVPN or Surfshark on each device, sign in, and connect once to confirm everything works. Then turn on two settings both apps include: the kill switch, which stops your traffic travelling unprotected if the VPN drops, and auto-connect, which brings the VPN back up when your connection returns.
Install and log in before you fly: Ulaanbaatar's Chinggis Khaan airport has decent coverage, but you do not want to be downloading a 100 MB app over a ger camp hotspot. Buy a Unitel or Mobicom SIM or eSIM on arrival (Unitel has the widest coverage outside the capital), turn on the kill switch so a dropped 4G signal does not leak traffic, and pick a protocol that reconnects quickly, since the connection will drop often on the road.
Final recommendation
Mongolia is an easy country for VPN use: legal, unfiltered, with a small but real risk on shared Wi-Fi and a lot of patchy signal. For a two or three week trip through the Gobi and the north, NordVPN is the pick. Ten device slots cover a couple's phones, a laptop and a tablet, and its physical servers in Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong are the closest fast options.
If you are moving to Ulaanbaatar for work, teaching or a mining contract, Surfshark is the better value. Unlimited devices covers a household plus the TV, and the Mongolia location is useful when a local service wants a domestic IP address.
