TunnelBear review
Our Verdict
TunnelBear might not exist the most advanced VPN in the world, but information technology's a elementary, speedy option for inexperienced users. Its articulate no-logging and privacy policies instil confidence, and its systems and security are independently audited every yr. Nonetheless, information technology's permit downwardly by poor streaming back up and an imperfect support system.
For
- Super simple to use
- Annual contained privacy audits
- Intuitive UI
- Great connection speeds
Confronting
- Relatively few servers
- As well basic for advanced users
- No U.s. Netflix, BBC iPlayer or Disney+ unblocking
Tom'southward Guide Verdict
TunnelBear might not be the near advanced VPN in the world, but information technology's a simple, speedy pick for inexperienced users. Its clear no-logging and privacy policies instil confidence, and its systems and security are independently audited every year. However, information technology'southward let down by poor streaming support and an imperfect support system.
Pros
- +
Super simple to use
- +
Almanac contained privacy audits
- +
Intuitive UI
- +
Great connexion speeds
Cons
- -
Relatively few servers
- -
Too bones for avant-garde users
- -
No US Netflix, BBC iPlayer or Disney+ unblocking
TunnelBear is a VPN which makes everything unproblematic and welcoming. In a digital surface area that can sometimes exist inexplainable, with protocols and encryption numbers, this lays it out clearly for everyone, platonic for those new to the world of VPNs.
The service is McAfee-owned and as such gets a security audit annually, which makes it a practiced pick for privacy that you can trust. Plus, in that location'southward a gratis VPN version allowing you to try information technology out to come across if this is going to serve your needs.
With around 1,000 servers dotted around 46 countries, it might not offer the latitude of coverage some of the competition does, and its streaming unblocking leaves a lot to be desired. That said, it's super secure, offers fast speeds and is well priced – all of which make it one of the best VPN options available today.
So if you want a starter VPN that but works, read on to find out all you demand to know in this TunnelBear review.
- Click to head directly through to the TunnelBear website
Latest updates
TunnelBear has added a fair few new servers and locations since our concluding review, including Peru, South korea, Republic of cyprus, Portugal, Moldova, Republic of colombia, Chile – and P2P is supported in every location.
Streaming unblocking has been a big gripe in this round of testing, with almost everything unavailable to watch.
TunnelBear on paper
Supported platforms: Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux (express)
Supported protocols: OpenVPN, IKEv2 (not user selectable)
No. of servers: one,000+
No. of countries: 46
State of registration: Canada
Payment options: Credit card, PayPal, Bitcoin
Real proper name necessary? No
Encryption protocol: AES-256
Data usage: Unlimited
Bandwidth usage: Unlimited
Max. no. of simultaneously connected devices: Five
Customer support: Email
Privacy policy: No logging
Plans and pricing
At that place are 3 versions of TunnelBear available. You can get a basic costless-forever selection, an Unlimited plan that starts at $3.33 per month, and a Teams subscription that costs from $5.75 per month.
The gratis plan is very limited. It includes all the features found in the full version, simply is capped at 500MB of information per month. To put that into perspective, that's really only enough to test the program out, as information technology equates to roughly six hours of browsing or around half an hour of standard-definition video streaming. In its free course it'southward certainly not a bully torrenting VPN.
Fortunately, you tin upgrade to an Unlimited plan for only $3.33 per month with a three-year subscription. An annual plan will up the price to $4.99 a calendar month, while if you choose to truly pay monthly, it'll be $9.99 a month. Equally suggested by the name, this plan includes unlimited information, along with priority support.
Those signing upward to the three-year plan used to get the RememBear password managing director thrown in for free, but sadly that promo is no more. You'll have to beat out out some other $two.50 a month to use it.
If y'all're looking for a VPN for your small business concern, the Teams program costs $5.57 per user, per month (with a minimum of two users). It comes with a range of VPN direction tools, including an integrated management dashboard and centralized billing.
Information technology's worth noting that there's no money-back guarantee, so we'd recommend trialling TunnelBear'due south complimentary plan before committing to a paid plan. However, TunnelBear'south FAQ has a note on refunds, saying they may be offered on a case-by-case basis. We reckon that if you lot asked very nicely, did it sooner rather than later and had a good reason, the 'friendly support bears' might have pity and offer you a refund – merely neither we nor TunnelBear make whatsoever promises.
Finally, for those that want to pay anonymously, Bitcoin payments are available with annual subscriptions.
- More: Salvage your coin with the best cheap VPN
How private is TunnelBear?
There'southward plenty to similar well-nigh TunnelBear when it comes to privacy, and on-site in that location'due south a whole host of info on what data it collects from its users and what it doesn't – right downwardly to the cookies used on the website.
TunnelBear does not collect the IP addresses of users visiting the site, whatever DNS data while users are continued, or whatsoever other identifying info. It does collect 'operational data', but at that place'south zippo here that could place any user.
What'south more than, TunnelBear has independent experts Cure53 undertake an annual audit of many of its systems. We really appreciate these audits as they put companies nether immense scrutiny, and aren't afraid of flagging up issues if any ascend.
Overall, this is first-class, and while minor issues have been flagged every time, that means anybody at TunnelBear now knows of whatsoever vulnerabilities, and there's scope for fixing them. Likewise, multiple audits are great to see, and means we don't take to have any claims made on good faith.
How fast is TunnelBear?
We tested TunnelBear's speeds on a 1Gbps lines in the United kingdom and US, using a number of speed testing tools including SpeedTest'south site and control line app, and nPerf.
In the UK, OpenVPN speeds reached 230-280Mbps, which is in a higher place average and 1 of the best results nosotros've seen from whatever provider. In the U.s.a. speeds were even more than impressive at 330-350Mbps.
Unfortunately, though, TunnelBear has not implemented any next-gen protocol like WireGuard yet, meaning that information technology simply can't compete with the incredible speeds we saw from the likes of NordVPN, which hit over 800Mbps easily.
It's worth noting, though, that this all depends on the base speed of your connexion. If you've just got 75Mbps to play with, yous won't be able to get more than that, no matter which VPN you use.
- More: Want to stream in safety? Read our all-time Netflix VPN list
How expert is TunnelBear for streaming and torrenting
Beyond staying private and secure online, one a VPN's biggest selling points the ability to unblock geo-restricted streaming services like Netflix and BBC iPlayer.
TunnelBear's streaming VPN performance this time circular was a step back from our last circular of testing, which is a shame as that had been a footstep upward from the examination preceding that. However, information technology's worth keeping in mind that these tests tin modify quite quickly.
The bad news was that TunnelBear failed to unblock the BBC iPlayer when tested from iii different UK locations.
The same happened for Usa Netflix, which was totally blocked and refused to give us any video admission.
Disney+ was besides a fail for usa equally we couldn't get access to this no matter how many locations nosotros tried.
The good news came for Amazon Prime Video fans as this worked just fine every time we tested the service.
How skilful are the TunnelBear apps?
TunnelBear is aimed at those with express tech knowledge, and its user interface reflects this. Information technology'southward uncomplicated, intuitive, and available on Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS devices. Firefox, Chrome, and Opera extensions are too available, and there's also documentation to help yous install it on Linux devices.
Yet, TunnelBear only offers 'limited support' for Linux, and does not support Kindle/eReaders, Windows mobile devices, Apple/Android TV, gaming systems, or routers and modems. While the majority of people won't be using a VPN with their Xbox, it's a piddling disappointing to run across this lack of back up for niche systems – especially when many other VPNs tin can be used to protect pretty much every device you own.
The desktop interface shows a world map highlighting the available VPN servers – simply yous can also view these as a list, which for usability is probably a better bet. To connect, only select the location you desire to use and click the On button. The Android and iOS interfaces are very like to the desktop app, so in one case you've got used to 1, you'll be able to become going on all of them.
TunnelBear supports OpenVPN and IKEv2 – but y'all won't get to choose which. The app does this for yous, and if, for instance, you had told it to use UDP rather than TCP OpenVPN connections, when it connects using IKEv2 your settings will mean nil.
GhostBear is a nifty tool that can make your traffic look less VPN-like, which volition be useful in areas like China which attempt to detect and block VPN usage entirely.
Now we come to the kill switch – called VigilantBear. Should your connexion ever fail, a impale switch is designed to stop any and all traffic from leaving your figurer until your secure connection is restored.
In our testing with OpenVPN, nosotros force-closed the connections and VigilantBear cut our traffic immediately – no leaks of our true IP. Yet, when the client was using an IKEv2 connection (again, there's no fashion to select this yourself), when we closed the connexion traffic continued to period freely. The VPN was restored in a matter of seconds, just no affair how short the leak was, the kill switch did fail to protect us.
Finally, the iii browser extensions offer a fast, simple way to protect your data and internet browsing activity. However, these are limited, and basically only include a list of locations and an on/off switch. Annotation, also, that they simply protect browser traffic, unlike the desktop and mobile apps.
Overall, TunnelBear is very easy to utilise, and the lack of options does make information technology incredibly plug-and-play. Withal, there's enough to exist improved upon – particularly the kill switch – and for anyone beyond an absolute beginner, the lack of features could prove restrictive.
How skillful is TunnelBear's back up?
TunnelBear users have access to email support and a beginner-oriented self-help knowledge base. For starters, yous tin reach out to the back up team via the Contact page on the provider website. In full general, the team replies inside hours and provides uncomplicated, authentic responses, but we'd really like to meet live chat – almost all the top providers offer excellent 24/7 support, and we'd beloved to see TunnelBear follow suit.
If you have a more than general issue or need assist setting your TunnelBear account up, at that place's plenty of information in the cognition base of operations. Resources include articles answering common questions like 'does TunnelBear keep logs?', quick-start guides, and links to the company's Twitter business relationship, where maintenance and system outage information is posted.
Final verdict
TunnelBear certainly isn't the near powerful VPN in the globe, but it'due south a great pick for beginners and those with limited tech knowledge. It's well-known for its transparent independent security audits and is backed by a practiced range of advanced features. However, it's let down past its disability to access geo-blocked streaming services, and its support is lackluster compared to the very all-time.
All things considered, though, for users but looking for a simple, easy-to-utilise and secure VPN, the no-frills TunnelBear is certainly a viable pick.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/tunnelbear-review
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