TunnelBear

When you visit a website, that website can track your actions and can block access to content. You could get a message saying something like “video not available in your country" for example. TunnelBear, a VPN application that is available for multiple platforms, addresses both these situations. It encrypts your traffic, makes websites think you’re from another country, and blocks website trackers. Access to the application’s functionality is provided via a vintage looking and user friendly interface.

As mentioned above, TunnelBear is available for multiple platforms. And to be more precise, it is available for Windows, Mac OS X, iOS, and Android.
PC users will have no problems installing TunnelBear on their Windows-powered machines. Once the installation process is over, they will be invited to create an account and they will be presented with a “Meet your TunnelBear” welcome prompt that provides useful information about the VPN application.

TunnelBear has a great vintage feel. The interface reminds me of my grandma’s old radio – and I love the sound it plays when I turn on the application. Not only is the interface a treat from a visual point of view, it is a treat from an ease of use point of view as well. It’s so fantastically easy to use, even a complete newbie will have absolutely no problem getting started with TunnelBear.

From a dropdown menu, you can choose one of several countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan. Say you’re from France and you choose United States from this dropdown menu. When you activate TunnelBear, it will encrypt your traffic and fool websites into thinking you’re from the US. Your real IP address will be hidden away by TunnelBear – the websites you visit will be presented with an IP which they will detect as being from the US.

And speaking about detection, trackers have the annoying habit of monitoring your online activities. TunnelBear blocks website trackers for you.

As mentioned above, once the setup wizard is done with the installation process, you will be invited to create a TunnelBear account. A free account gets you 500MB of traffic per month. You can get an extra 1GB of traffic for free if you spread the word via TunnelBear. With a simple tweet you can boost your traffic limit to 1.5GB.

TunnelBear genuinely impressed me and earned a permanent spot on my PC!