Virtual private networks (vpns) allow users to securely connect to another computer, server or home PC, that acts as a proxy for all of their communications. The websites and services that you connect to communicate only with the vpn server and not with your computer. They in fact do not even know that your computer is involved.
Businesses and organizations use vpn servers to secure data transfer. This can be useful in countries where services or websites are blocked, or data transfers are likely monitored.
Home users can benefit from vpn connections as well. They can use it to protect their connection on a public network or to access services that they would not otherwise be able to access.
Users from outside the United States, or US citizens abroad, can use vpn servers to connect to sites such as Pandora, Hulu and many other services that are limited to users from the United States.
All they need for that is a VPN that is located in the United States. We have covered several vpn services that offer free limited accounts for users from all over the world. This includes the popular Hotspot Shield, Ultra VPN or Vypr VNP which is free for Giganews Diamond account owners.
TunnelBear is a vpn service that is offering easy to install and use clients for Windows and Macintosh PCs. Users need to register an account before they can make use of the vpn. A free account limits the monthly data transfer to 500 Megabytes, a commercial account allows unlimited transfers. Free accounts are protected with a 128-bit algorithm, while paid accounts make use of 256-bit data encryption.
New users can setup an account right in the software during installation (please note that you need to confirm the email to log in). The program will handle all the heave lifting on its own, including the installation of a new network connection that is used to connect to the VPN.
The core application interface has only two switches. One to connect to the virtual private network, and the other to select a US or UK server to connect to.
The interface displays the current connection status and the remaining bandwidth for the month.
TunnelBear offers one of the most comfortable experiences when it comes to setting up and using vpn servers. The 500 Megabyte limit should be enough for users who do not access a lot of media in a month. Those users may consider paying the reasonable price of $40 per year for unlimited data transfers. The company is currently running a Twitter promo that offers 1 Gigabyte of additional data transfer when completed.
TunnelBear can be downloaded from the developer website. The software is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Windows operating system, and for systems running Apple Mac OSX 10.6 or greater.
© Martin Brinkmann for gHacks Technology News | Latest Tech News, Software And Tutorials, 2011. | Permalink |
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Post tags: mac software, virtual private network, vpn, windows software
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