TunnelBear is a VPN client that grants you access to location-restricted websites. The main purpose of this tiny app is let you browse the web privately, bypassing restrictions to websites and services that are available only in a few countries, like the US and UK.
What TunnelBear does is create a connection between your device (computer or mobile) and a server in the host country of your choice, masking your real IP, and as a result letting you browse as if you were connected from the selected location. Connections are encrypted with 128-bit encryption so you can rest assured that your information will be safe and private. Besides, what's great about the new version is that the list of locations available has been updated, so now along the US and UK, it also includes Canada, Germany, Japan, and France.
Undoubtedly, one of the best features of TunnelBear is how easy it is to set up and use, compared to other VPN solutions. The control panel consists of an on/off switch button and a dropdown list with the countries you want to appear to be surfing from. Additional settings are also available to adjust the app behavior and set more privacy parameters.
TunnelBear is available in several versions, one of which is free and offers 500MB per month, with the possibility of adding 1GB more if you tweet about the app. Definitely, it's one of the most effective and straightforward VPN solutions around.
This program lets you block pornography, gambling, or specific websites.
Changes your real IP for an anonymous proxy in order to protect your privacy.
Comments (1)
TunnelBear service has added additional countries/locations, now supports USA, UK, Canada, Germany, Japan. Web page shows Australia is available for paid services only.
Free service, Little TunnelBear, has limited total data/month (0.5GB) (There is a promo to twitter about TunnelBear & receive extra 1GB data for a month, for each month you tweet & are verified).
Paid service (Giant or Grizzly) does not have the monthly data limit, and 1 paid account can be used on one laptop and two mobile devices.
Mobile devices supported are with mobile platforms Android Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) (4... & up), and Apple iOS 5 & up. So your device has to be able to support these minimum versions of those mobile platforms to use mobile TunnelBear apps.
(I am not sure why they specify laptop device, & makes it sound like they exclude a desktop computer. For me, I would want any PC or MAC computer to be allowed, with the supported versions of Windows or Mac OSX.)
The service seems good.
The free service data limit is likely not adequate for PC or Mac, and may be adequate to not enough for a mobile device. The free service seems great for at least trying & testing. If you like then the paid service is likely best, unless your monthly data usage fits within the total data limit.
I have other good secure VPN services & apps I prefer, that have free & paid options, and the paid versions are cheaper than TunnelBear. However, Tunnelbear currently has more countries/locations to choose.
Most of the good free VPN services I have tried & use are ad supported, or often eventually become so. They have unlimited total data, but may have less speed than paid version (free speed is still good, paid is faster). TunnelBear free service is not ad supported, but has the total monthly data limit. For me the data allowance is more important, as I am likely to exceed TunnelBear's free limit every month.