r/IVPN Rules
That way, people who just want an extra layer of privacy on Google aren’t hogging speed from people who are torrenting. Unique features like a special Linux app and IPV5 support and DNS, IP, and WebRTC leak prevention also help users get what they want out of the service. Reddit users are constantly linking to VPN comparisons done on thatoneprivacysite.net, which ranks nearly 20 pages of VPNs on nine criteria. Mullvad is one of the only VPNs to score an almost-perfect “good” ranking (labeled by the color green), while most others only land green in two or three categories.
Folks new to VPNs may really want to consider CyberGhost. Instead of all servers getting used for all tasks, it has different servers dedicated to general web surfing, P2P, and more.
Some VPNs offer great service or pricing but little to no insight into who exactly is handling them. We decided we’d rather give up other positives—such as faster speed or extra convenience features—if it meant knowing who led or owned the company providing our connections.
WireGuard is now available on all IVPN servers
Like all the services we seriously considered, TunnelBear uses the OpenVPN standard on Windows, Mac, and Android, and it uses IPsec on iOS devices. And unlike some of its competitors, TunnelBear does not use the outdated PPTP VPN protocol, which has been fundamentally insecure for years. TunnelBear exceeded our expectations for trust and transparency, the most important factors to consider when you’re choosing the best VPN service. In addition to publishing the results of multiple outside security audits, the company posts regular transparency reports and has a clear, easy-to-understand privacy policy. Taking all those factors together, we trust that TunnelBear isn’t logging customer traffic and collects only limited operational data on customers.
When it comes to data collection, TunnelBear clearly states that it does not log IP addresses or monitor, collect, analyze, or store information about its apps, its services, or the websites people visit while connected to its services. This policy is on a par with those of major competitors Mullvad and IVPN. TunnelBear says it does not store and cannot provide a customer’s name, address, phone, data of birth, IP address, connection logs, or activity logs.
TunnelBear employs 30 engineers, and its teams seem committed to improving its service. Over the past year, it has moved away from virtual private servers, or VPS, in favor of bare-metal servers due to the privacy and security concerns of having virtualization layers outside of its control. The company hopes not to use any virtual private servers by the end of the year, a move that competitor IVPN has already made.
Its co-founder, Daniel Kaldor, architects the tunnels and focuses explicitly on security, and the company has also issued bug bounties to reward security researchers for finding vulnerabilities. CEO and co-founder Ryan Dochuk answered all of our questions about the company’s security practices, audits, transparency reports, completed improvements, and plans for the future. Knowing who is behind your VPN is a big step toward trusting them.
- TunnelBear says it does not store and cannot provide a customer’s name, address, phone, data of birth, IP address, connection logs, or activity logs.
- When it comes to data collection, TunnelBear clearly states that it does not log IP addresses or monitor, collect, analyze, or store information about its apps, its services, or the websites people visit while connected to its services.
r/IVPN
The VigilantBear feature acts as a kill switch to prevent data leakage if you have connection problems. GhostBear is intended to disguise VPN traffic to connect on otherwise censored or restricted networks.In terms of the security and connection standards TunnelBear uses, it’s competitive with the other VPN services we found to be trustworthy.
They have a one-tap button you can put in the pull down settings menu, tons of servers, good speeds, a proven privacy record, and a good price. It’s US based though, which some people really don’t like, but since they’ve satisfactorily proven to Federal investigators several times that they don’t have any logs to turn over for criminal investigations, I’m okay with it. IVPN and VyprVPN are others I like too, and they’re outside the 14 eyes countires (Vypr is Swiss and IVPN is in Gibraltar, which is a UK territory but has independent privacy laws).
We found the apps easy to set up and use on Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS. We spent more than 65 hours researching 53 VPN services, testing five, interviewing the leadership of three, and consulting information security experts. VPNs aren’t necessary for everyone, but for protecting your information on public Wi-Fi (and in some other cases), TunnelBear is the most transparent and trustworthy provider offering fast, secure connections and easy setup. It was hard for us to ignore Mullvad because, across dozens of mentions, we could hardly find any negative comments.
How to setup IVPN WireGuard® on the pcWRT router
Gibraltar-based IVPN has a small network of servers, but good speeds, and a solid privacy policy. It’s pricier than other VPN services, but for those who want a solid set of privacy features it’s a good choice. TunnelBear makes all of this especially easy to do, with just a few clicks directly on the website.
A kill switch, no-log policy, and ownership of its own servers make it really stand out. Plus, you don’t even need an email address to sign up — Mullvad only knows you as a randomly-generated account number. Unlike most VPNs, where a lot of what you’re paying for is data allowances, ProtonVPN doesn’t put a limit on bandwidth usage (though you are limited to only one device at a time).
Those who mentioned it loved it, although the service is much smaller than the big three (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, and Private Internet Access) mentioned on our list, with far fewer servers and server locations. Personally I really like Private Internet Access on Android.
Just as surprisingly, speed is decent despite only having access to servers in the US, Netherlands, and Japan. Luckily, it’s all system-wide — not just in-browser like Tor. This was reason enough for Reddit user pcmasterrace to start a whole thread on why it’s one of the best free VPNs. The service has some of the best speeds we’ve tested for U.S and UK connections. The U.S. connection was 55 percent of the base speed, while the UK connection was 74 percent.
Most other VPNs have fast speeds out of Germany, but IVPNs at the time of our testing was the second slowest. Hong Kong was pretty good at nearly 20Mbps, and Iceland (standing in for the lack of an Australian server) was lethargic, not even breaking 3Mbps in our test.