“TunnelBear” is a cool, free VPN app you can use to protect your laptop or phone. People need this protection when using public WiFi (such as when you’re at the airport, coffee place, or on airplanes).
Ever since that reporter got hacked on an airplane while using an in-flight WiFi service, it seems many people are telling us to use a VPN. However, they do NOT say how to get one.
For personal use, a VPN app like TunnelBear does the trick. Just search for TunnelBear on your favorite app store or browser search engine.
Q: Is the VPN client my company put on my laptop enough? A: The VPN client that is put on your laptop is used to “tunnel into” the internal network of that company. ALWAYS use that when in a public place and you are working on company business. However, your personal laptop or phone also needs a VPN. That’s where an app like Tunnel Bear comes in.
Q: What’s the catch? A: Glad you asked. The free version of TunnelBear is limited to 500MB per month. That’s plenty for email and web surfing. Not enough for streaming movies or music. If you need more data, you can buy it. (You can pay by credit card, PayPal, or jars of honey.)
Q: I’ve been using free hotspots for years without any problem. Why do I need a VPN now? A: Unfortunately, the technology for hacking WiFi has become more widespread and easier to obtain than in the past. Consequently, the risk has been increasing.
Q: What do bears have to do with it? A: The Tunnel Bear company is located in Canada. The bear motif strikes me as an expression of True North’s freedom.
Q: Are there other VPN apps? A: Yes, but I have not used them.
Q: Do you get anything out of it? A: No. Although there is a referral program that issues a custom link, I’m not using it. Just search for tunnel bear on your favorite app store or Google it.
Q: What does VPN stand for? A: Virtual Private Network
Q: What does “virtual private network” mean? A: Let’s break that down. “Virtual” means “pretend.” “Private network” means it’s separate from the public network. A VPN secures data through encryption (so outsiders cannot intercept it). It’s not really a private network, but because of the encryption it acts like it.
Q: What do tunnels have to do with it? A: It’s a metaphor. It might not be a perfect metaphor, but it’s good. When we send and receive data over the Internet, it’s broken into smaller units of data called packets. Metaphorically, each packet is surrounded by the encryption. All the packets lined up are encased by the shell that forms a metaphorical tunnel that protects the data. All metaphors break down. In this case, the encryption shell acts like a tunnel, but packets can still be intercepted. However, because the packets are encrypted, no one can read/understand the data.
Q: I’ve heard people from my company’s I.T. department use “VPN” as a verb; as in: “You’ll need to VPN into the network to access the Wiki.” Is VPN a verb? A: I have been told that any word can be verbed. However, when you read technical documentation, they will usually use the verb “to tunnel” as in, “Start your VPN client in order to tunnel into the secure network.”
Q: Seriously, can you pay with jars of honey? A: Yes, according to the pix on their web. It’s probable, however, that this is more for publicity. Not easy to pack up jars of honey and ship them.