TunnelBear VPN Review

TunnelBear is a well-liked VPN service owned by McAfee safety firm and based mostly in Toronto, Canada. It’s been round for some time now and has all the time stood out because of its distinctive and kitschy bear-themed interface.

The service has tried laborious in recent times so as to add extra options similar to limitless gadget connections with a view to stay related in an more and more aggressive VPN market.

Definitely, there are ursine puns aplenty to be loved right here, however is the VPN service simply best for you? I took it for a stroll within the woods to search out out.

TunnelBear briefly

• P2P allowed: Sure
• Limitless gadget connections: Sure
• Enterprise location: Canada
• Variety of servers: 5000+
• Variety of nation areas: 47+
• Free plan: Sure
• Limitless plan: $9.99 monthly with 1- and 3-year choices

Options & Companies?

Once you first open TunnelBear you’ll be able to’t assist however discover how a lot work the designers have put in to it. The primary interface is a world map geographically dotted with the accessible servers. As you scroll throughout the map, even the bushes change based mostly on the continent or area you’re viewing (palm bushes within the Center East, Umbrella Thorns in Africa). Your precise location is signified on the map with a sheep, however when you connect with the VPN it turns right into a bear.

Every server location has an empty tunnel icon on it. To attach, simply choose the server icon you need. Along with choosing the server from a map, there’s additionally a drop-down checklist on the prime with the entire servers as nicely. One way or the other within the TunnelBear universe sheeps turning into bears and bears digging by way of tunnels is sensible, however the logic is misplaced on us. Nonetheless, it’s a enjoyable and distinctive design aspect.

On the entire, TunnelBear is an easy service with out a variety of frills, however it does present some attention-grabbing key options price testing. Underneath Settings > Safety, TunnelBear has its personal model of a kill swap characteristic known as “VigilantBear.” It really works somewhat in a different way than a traditional kill swap in that as an alternative of disconnecting your web within the occasion of a VPN disconnection, it simply blocks all incoming and outgoing site visitors till the connection is re-established. 

Moreover, TunnelBear presents a characteristic known as “GhostBear” that makes your encrypted information much less detectable. It does this by masking your VPN site visitors and disguising it as HTTPS site visitors, which is mostly much less more likely to be blocked by censors. This may work nicely for those who discover that your connection is being blocked by streaming providers similar to Netflix. By turning on the GhostBear characteristic, there’s a increased chance that your connection will have the ability to entry these restrictive websites. Be warned, although, turning on GhostBear will seemingly decelerate your connection even additional.

One other characteristic to notice is “SplitBear” or TunnelBear’s model of split-tunneling, which lets you management which apps or web sites may have entry to the VPN connection. Sadly, TunnelBear lacks many superior options that opponents supply similar to multi-hop and devoted servers particular to sure actions—streaming, torrenting, and so forth. In truth, previously, TunnelBear blocked entry to P2P downloads however has since begun permitting them. Nonetheless, it isn’t one thing that it overtly encourages with its service and for that purpose different VPN suppliers similar to ProtonVPN and Mullvad VPN are higher fitted to torrenting.

Sam Singleton

TunnelBear presents desktop applications and cellular apps for quite a lot of programs similar to Mac, Home windows, Android, and iOS, amongst others. There are additionally proxy browser extensions for Chrome and Opera. And only in the near past TunnelBear has switched to permit for limitless simultaneous gadget connections with its premium plans.

TunnelBear does supply a free service that comes with the complete desktop app however a 500MB-per-month information restrict. It’s an effective way to check out the service to see for those who prefer it, however the low information restrict isn’t more likely to be sufficient to make use of it frequently—you received’t even have the ability to stream an HD (1080p) video for greater than 10 or so minutes.

Efficiency

Throughout my testing I rated speeds throughout TunnelBear’s servers in 5 totally different nations all around the globe after which in contrast them to our baseline web pace. TunnelBear server speeds, truthfully, weren’t nice. Throughout all areas examined, the speeds averaged a mere 33 p.c of the bottom obtain pace and a moderately poor 20 p.c of the bottom add pace. Not solely do these numbers not impress, however it fell manner wanting the providers in our prime 5 quickest VPNs.

Nonetheless, on-line speeds can fluctuate wildly in pure Mbps assessments from everyday and even hour to hour. It’s greatest to take any and all pace assessments with a grain of salt. Your expertise with TunnelBear might differ from these within the assessments for this assessment.

Tunnelbear

With reference to streaming, I did discover that TunnelBear wasn’t capable of persistently unblock websites similar to Netflix and Amazon Prime. It was profitable more often than not however the odd server appeared to have hassle or was actively being blocked.

After I turned on the GhostBear characteristic it appeared to unravel most of those unblocking points. Sadly, with GhostBear turned on, I seen that my connection speeds plummeted and I wasn’t capable of stream HQ video as a result of it was too gradual. So GhostBear appears to work, however it wasn’t actually a viable answer.

Due to this fact, I personally wouldn’t advocate TunnelBear as a dependable VPN for streaming. That doesn’t imply it might’t be used to stream, however I consider there are higher choices accessible similar to NordVPN, which works flawlessly with Netflix, or CyberGhost VPN, which has a ton of areas to select from and optimized servers for streaming.

Safety & Privateness

TunnelBear comes along with your industry-standard AES-256 encryption, which is the strongest presently accessible and it means you’ll be able to relaxation assured your connection might be safe. The Home windows app additionally helps WireGuard, IKEv2, and OpenVPN protocols. I want OpenVPN at any time when potential because it’s some of the safe and versatile protocols accessible because of its open-source nature. However, for those who’re uncertain, you’ll be able to simply choose the Auto possibility in TunnelBear’s settings and the app will select what it believes is one of the best protocol in your connection.

Additionally, with a view to affirm that my precise IP handle is obfuscated accurately, I used a DNS leak check. It confirmed that there have been no points with unintentional leaks of my IP handle when related to TunnelBear’s servers. 

Sam Singleton

In response to its privacy policy, TunnelBear doesn’t acquire any DNS queries, IP addresses of customers, timestamps, or different private identifiable data. Nevertheless, it does acquire what it deems “operational information” similar to person help and troubleshooting queries, complete information used monthly, and a few gross sales information. It says that none of this data might establish customers and are “not associated to the time and exercise of VPN utilization.” 

Moreover, upon sign-up, TunnelBear requires customers to enter of their e mail handle and cost data. Cost choices embrace bank cards, PayPal, and Bitcoin.

Actually, I used to be impressed with TunnelBear’s complete and forthright privateness coverage. Not all VPN firms present the identical detailed or thorough details about what information it particularly collects. Additionally, TunnelBear continues to conduct common third-party audits by Cure53, a reliable and dependable Massive 4 auditing agency. It has efficiently handed each audit for the final 5 years. That’s spectacular and a giant promoting level for privacy-conscious customers.

TunnelBear itself is positioned in Toronto, Canada, which signifies that all private data is dealt with in line with Canadian regulation. Canada doesn’t presently have any necessary information retention legal guidelines both.

Pricing & Plans

Many individuals will know of TunnelBear due to its free providing. Few VPN providers have a very free plan, however right here as you’ll discover elsewhere, you don’t get very a lot with out paying for the service.

The primary limitation is information: you’ll be able to solely use 2GB of knowledge monthly on a free account. Which may be nice for those who’re solely intending to make use of a VPN on open public Wi-Fi networks, however it isn’t sufficient for on a regular basis shopping and definitely not for streaming video.

For limitless information, the month-to-month plan is $9.99 and the yearly plan works out at $4.99 monthly (billed as a single $59.88 cost). There’s additionally a three-year plan at $3.33 monthly (billed in a single $120 cost). That’s middle-of-the-pack territory: not the costliest, however not the most cost effective both.

Ought to I purchase TunnelBear VPN?

TunnelBear is a VPN that sticks to the fundamentals. It’s an gratifying service chock-full of bear puns which can be enjoyable and lighthearted. It’s additionally extraordinarily straightforward to make use of—it doesn’t overwhelm with too many options or nation choices. And whereas this may be splendid for the typical person, energy customers who wish to tweak and optimize their VPN connections will really feel that the service doesn’t supply sufficient.

The speeds are satisfactory, however not nice—you may say they lumber a bit. Additionally, I did encounter some unlucky points with servers being unable to unblock streaming platforms—notably Netflix. General, this approachable and cheerful service is an efficient possibility for customers who’re simply getting began with VPNs or may not be probably the most tech-savvy. In any other case, there are different providers similar to these in our best VPNs that might be better for more advanced users.