Everything you need to know about TunnelBear

With privacy an ongoing concern, finding ways to safeguard your data and obscure your web browsing should be easy. Virtual Private Networks (VPN) have a long history among safety-minded internet users. Generally, the trade-off is you need some technical know-how and be able to settle for lower internet speeds for the sake of security, but that’s becoming less true every day.

TunnelBear is just one of many VPN services looking to stake a claim as the VPN for the masses. With an intuitive interface, lightweight design, and relatively fast browsing speeds, TunnelBear is worth your attention.

A year after Mashable’s first tests, TunnelBear continues to be an incredibly user-friendly and accessible VPN. The VPN service offers plenty of great features, decent speed, and versatility. If you’re looking for a good VPN that’s reliable and easy to use, this is it.

Is TunnelBear easy to use?

Downloading the TunnelBear app for Android was a breeze. A quick registration followed by an email verification and we were ready to hop from tunnel to tunnel.

Whenever you access the internet, you need to do so through an Internet Service Provider (ISP). The thing is, everything you do online is in some way recorded by your ISP, even if that data isn’t readily accessible. By contrast, a VPN masks your internet and activity and IP address by routing it through the VPN provider’s servers rather than your ISP’s.

The app is super responsive and intuitive. A vibrant map greets you with your home tunnel and available tunnels across the world. Your bear serves as a friendly guide to your current VPN location. You may physically be in Brooklyn, but your bear and IP address are in the UK. We were told to click on the button and we were now on a VPN.

The TunnelBear UI on Android.
Credit: CHARLES POLADIAN

Free users have a monthly data limit of 500MB. At first, that seems fine, maybe even more than enough. However, mindless web surfing can quickly sap you of that precious data. TunnelBear offers a yearly membership for £44.21, which adds up to a 50% discount on a monthly plan. If you want to remain a free user, there are ways to get a gig of data by downloading TunnelBear on your computer, referring a friend, or by tweeting about TunnelBear.

If you never interact with the options found within the TunnelBear app, you’ll still have a great experience, but you’ll be missing out on some great security features. Within the app you can toggle sounds, vibrations, or add some fluffy clouds to the map. That last feature is purely cosmetic, but it does add a level of zen to the app. The best features involve a series of bear variants that add additional layers of security.

GhostBear turns encrypted data into something that resembles normal internet data. While this feature is not available on iOS due to design restrictions, GhostBear is generally useful because it makes it harder to figure out if you’re using a VPN. ISPs could use a tool that identifies VPN traffic to throttle speeds and limit its use on its service, according to TunnelBear. The explanation gets pretty technical, but GhostBear is great for countries with restrictive internet laws.

VigilantBear halts all traffic if your connection is disrupted. This helps mask your internet activity in the event the VPN is cut off. But again, it’s only available on MacOS, Windows, and Android — not iOS.

SplitBear lets you select apps that are exempt from TunnelBear. This would be good for any apps that don’t use an internet connection or if you’re trying to save some data by exempting bandwidth-heavy apps. Though, this feature only works on Android devices.

How do you connect to TunnelBear?

The TunnelBear app was ideal for a first-time VPN experience. We had it on in the background, surfed the web, and never noticed its presence. However, it was a bit of a battery hog if it was working in the background, but you can easily disable background activity to solve that problem.

TunnelBear acts as a proxy for Chrome browsers and ChromeOS. Just download it as an extension, select your server location from a drop-down menu, and you’ll be in business. Same map of bears tunneling from location to location, same level of security.

How TunnelBear makes itself known on macOS.
Credit: mashable

Ditto for the TunnelBear experience on a MacBook Air. Just download TunnelBear, toggle it on, and start browsing on a VPN. We experienced similar browsing speeds and no quirks across all devices.

Does TunnelBear impact connection speed?

A VPN is only as great as its speed, or rather, by how little it slows down your internet experience. Functionality and convenience matter, and it’s important that a new-to-you technology nails that experience. VPNs may still be labeled as a “useful, but not necessary” piece of technology.

So far, we’ve experienced no performance setbacks while using TunnelBear. Sites we frequently visit load as expected. There is, at times, an incredibly minor hitch before a new site loads, but we’ve experienced much longer delays for no apparent reason using a regular browser and WiFi. Overall, it’s a smooth experience.

After enjoying the speed and convenience of the default server, we decided to go international with TunnelBear. The first stop was Canada, or Toronto to be more specific. Again, there may have been a hitch once or twice when first loading a site, but nothing that was incredibly distracting or made browsing a burden.

Internet speed without a VPN.
Credit: CHARLES POLADIAN

TunnelBear does slow down your connection.
Credit: CHARLES POLADIAN

Going even further, we tunnelled to Brazil. Again, the speed was relatively fine for the TunnelBear app. The delay was a little more noticeable on this server, but it was something you could quickly forget once you start browsing.

However, TunnelBear isn’t the fastest VPN around. Running online speed tests for a regular connection compared to a U.S. server and a German server reveals a 20Mbps dip in download and upload speeds. We could stream allowed Netflix content without any real buffering issues, but you may have to pause and allow some time for buffering if your speed drops. Speed remains an issue, according to the latest tests from PCMag. More and more competitors have updated their protocols, leading to faster speeds, while TunnelBear has not.

Internet speed using TunnelBear’s German server.
Credit: Charles Poladian

Does TunnelBear work with Netflix?

Privacy and security is great and all, but sometimes you just want to watch Netflix while travelling and have access to the same library of content you have at home. However, the streaming service has been actively blocking VPN and proxy activity since 2016 to protect regional licensing agreements.

TunnelBear is affected by this. You’re out of luck if you want to see your home Netflix selection while you’re in another country.

At first we thought we encountered no issues with Netflix across devices. We tested the default server on my Chrome browser and were able to binge content without an issue. So far, so good.

Tunnelling to Germany seemed to pose no problems. Same great Netflix experience, now with distinctly German titles populating the Action and Comedy sections. But once we clicked on that foreign content, Netflix stopped my activity and asked me to turn off my VPN. We were busted. Looks like we won’t do any Netflix and TunnelBear-ing any time soon. Access to Netflix remains inconsistent, according to Tom’s Guide. But, TunnelBear can get around BBC’s vaunted security measures and Amazon Prime.

TunnelBear won’t help if you’re trying to access your Netflix library abroad.
Credit: netflix

TunnelBear once had a strict no torrenting policy, but that seems to have changed. At the time of review, there were some conflicting reports about TunnelBear’s torrenting policy. You can now torrent and use P2P file-sharing services with TunnelBear.

How safe is your data with TunnelBear?

Any VPN can promise private browsing, but there could be leaks that will quickly eliminate that veil of security. Luckily, there is a quick way to ensure nothing is escaping your secure connection. All you have to do is search for a DNS leak test.

A domain network service (DNS) leak occurs when any traffic escapes the secure network. If you visit a website and that site’s request for your IP address is sent to your ISP’s server and not your VPN, you have a DNS leak. A DNS leak is a major security flaw that could reveal your location or what you’re viewing on the web.

Finding a DNS leak test requires a quick Google search. Plug in the term and click on as many tests as you like. If a simple or extended test reveal just one server, you have a secure connection. We tested for DNS leaks and found none.

Turning off the advanced security features on TunnelBear did not lead to leaks. That’s comforting to know that, even if you’re using the vanilla version of TunnelBear, you’ll be secure.

On the privacy side, TunnelBear says it logs a small amount of user data. For example, it does collect email addresses when you register for an account, but it claims to not log the IP address when you initially connect to a server. You can read the full privacy policy to understand what data TunnelBear collects, but know that it’s not enough to identify you or your habits.

Should you invest in TunnelBear?

TunnelBear is a great introduction to VPNs. There were no technical hurdles to prevent you from getting online, and you can use it across multiple devices. It’s what you want from an everyday VPN even if download speeds could be better. If you’re curious about browsing securely, give TunnelBear a shot. You won’t be able to stream your personal Netflix abroad, but you can surf the web with ease and peace of mind.

Credit: TunnelBear