I begin the review with some information about TunnelBear. The company launched in 2011 and is located in Toronto, Canada. After covering the service over the years, I can tell you they are serious about user privacy. They can have fun when it comes to present the brand TunnelBear but when it comes down to it they are all about protecting your privacy. As you'll see in a moment TunnelBear the team has developed a number of features to help along the way.
Prices and Specials
TunnelBear offers both a free level of service and the VPN access premium. The small plane (free) comes with 500 MB of free data per month. The giant plan includes unlimited data on up to five devices (including mobile) for $ 6.99 per month. Grizzly plan is an annual billing option that helps you save money with a $ 49.99 per year, which corresponds to only $ 4.16 per month .
In addition to the tariff plans listed on the site TunnelBear, the service also offers accounts for those who just need secure VPN on their mobile devices. You can download their iOS and Android applications. Each offers VPN access for $ 3.99 to $ 6.99 per month depending on the amount of data that you plan to send through their network. Remember the giant plans include Grizzly and mobile access with custom clients for Windows and Mac.
TunnelBear accepts a variety of payment options. You can pay for the service using PayPal, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Bitcoin. They also list honeypots. You must appreciate their sense of humor. I prefer to use PayPal for online services because it gives you the ability to manage your subscription. Those who are more conscious of privacy also have the option to use Bitcoin to pay for the service.
Risk Free Trial Period
TunnelBear does not offer a free trial account with unlimited use. However, they have little plan that includes 500MB of free access per month. You can also earn an additional 1 GB of data each month helping to promote the service on Twitter. Search Twitter promotion within the TunnelBear client.
I would also like to include their refund policy under consideration. Here is the cancellation policy and refund taken directly from TunnelBear Terms of Service page:
A Giant TunnelBear account can be canceled at any time absolutely. TunnelBear does not offer partial refunds for cancellations that take place in mid-month. Although the team will TunnelBear to exceptional lengths to satisfy users who experience suboptimal performance or occasional failure, TunnelBear does not offer financial reimbursement because of these problems. All accessories billing issues will be addressed and resolved within 5-7 working days.
Network and Server Locations
TunnelBear started with servers in the US and UK. They have since added server locations in key locations worldwide. Let's look at the countries that TunnelBear hosts VPN servers in
- Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States
some VPN providers will limit the amount of data you use in some countries. TunnelBear has no limits on paying customers. The only limit they place on their network in Australia. You will need to have a premium account (or Grizzly Giant) to access their servers in Australia.
Privacy and Security
TunnelBear clear on their website that they meet members privacy. Whether you subscribe to a paid account or use the 500 MB free service, their privacy policy is the same. Here is a paragraph of their privacy policy that pretty much sums up their stance on the privacy of the user:
TunnelBear does not store users from IP addresses when connected to our service and therefore can not identify users when provided the IP addresses of our servers. In addition, we can not disclose information about the applications, services or websites of our users consume all connected to our services; as TunnelBear does not store this information.
When you examine the service TunnelBear you also want to see how they secure your data. This is true for any VPN. We are happy to share this TunnelBear uses OpenVPN to secure your connection while using their custom client for Windows, Mac and Android. They use IPSec to secure your iOS connections. You can visit their encryption page for a complete overview of the protocols, encryption, authentication and service methods of outreach used to secure your data.
Hands-On Testing
When considering whether or not to consider a service that I often look at their software. You can normally tell pretty quickly how much thought was put into VPN service based on the user interface offered in their client. This is a big positive for TunnelBear. They have some of the best software for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android devices.
Connect from Windows
TunnelBear trying to make their client software as easy to use as possible. They have a very simple user interface design. It lacks some features like the ability to change the ports and protocols. In return, you get a very clean design with an on / off switch to connect. Let's take a look more closely at the software.
As you can see the client TunnelBear has an appearance similar to a car radio. You can see whether or not you are connected and the plan being used. In the case of "Little" plan that tops out at 500 MB per month, you can see your remaining usage. From there, you have a menu that lets you select a server location. To connect simply switch the dial to ON. To disconnect just switch back to OFF. That's all there is to using their VPN.
As I mentioned earlier in the review, the team TunnelBear takes your privacy seriously. The client interface is easy to use, but that does not mean they missed the important privacy settings. Blog TunnelBear give you an introduction to their more advanced features like Vigilant and IntelliBear.
Connect with the Mac customer
TunnelBear team put a lot of time and effort into their software. This includes a nice client for Mac users. The TunnelBear client supports MAC OS X 10.6.8 or later. You can expect the same look and feel as specified in the Windows image above. Mac users also have access to their advanced features to help protect against leaks and DNS hijacking. The application is updated frequently so you can expect more features to come.
Connect iPhone or iPad
The application iOS TunnelBear differs from its desktop counterparts. It is much more visual with a map view of their server locations. You can connect anywhere and easily switch between servers without installing additional profiles for each server. The application makes it easy to connect and disconnect with a few simple taps.
The mobile application TunnelBear is designed for iPhone and iPad. The app is available for iOS 7 or later. It is optimized for iPhone 5, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. TunnelBear includes no manual configuration guides so you will need to download the application from the Apple App Store.
Connect from the Android App
Again the Android mobile application looks very similar to the iOS client. The user interface is easy to use and very intuitive. You will be able to easily select a server location and connect. This will encrypt your connection and help you access blocked sites worldwide.
The mobile application TunnelBear requires Android 4.0 or higher. You can run the application on your Android phone or tablet. TunnelBear lacks the manual configuration guides for Android so you want to download the latest version of the Google Play application to access the TunnelBear service.
TunnelBear Speed Test
TunnelBear n 't fair so well in our speed test. The speed of the server in New York was minimal. I suggest you test the performance of their service to see if the results match. I tested it with their Windows client using OpenVPN.
As you can see, there was a difference of about 52% of the speed between the connection directly to my ISP and the connection to their server in New York . You can expect some loss of connection speed for the extra security provided by you encrypt data. However, the results do not meet our expectations. Although with a speed of over 31 Mbps, the service is still plenty fast enough to stream content
TunnelBear Review :. Conclusion
TunnelBear many things for them. We enjoyed watching their team has grown in response to the popularity of the service. They continue to expand the network of TunnelBear and add advanced features to help protect the privacy of their users. I found their prices to be quite fair. Both the $ 6.99 per month and $ 49.99 a year price is a good value considering the quality of TunnelBear service and ease of use their software offers new VPN
what I liked most about the service :.
- Easy to use Windows and Mac clients
- Well thought iOS and Android apps
- encryption OpenVPN and IPSec
- Discount Grizzly billing (annual) terms
ideas to improve service:
- speed improvement for some server locations
- Continue to add to other network locations
- Consider adding a dedicated IP option
it will only take a few seconds on their site to achieve TunnelBear team loves what they do . It shows throughout their website marketing and design software. It's great to see a privacy company that combines the ease of use and a high level of security. I feel comfortable recommending the service. The questions is whether or not their network covers your needs. Otherwise I suggest reading some of our other reviews. If their network has you covered then by all means do TunnelBear a try.
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