Disclaimer: The below review is my opinion, which I will try to provide as many examples for and as much evidence as possible to support. Readers can learn more about how I conduct my reviews, my methodology, etc – here. More information on review badges here.

This review’s roll was #129 (at the time of the roll, Tunnelr)

Last Updated Nov 20, 2016

Signing up for the service: Tunnelr was easy to sign up for. After providing an email address, the service starts you out right away on free trial. This was appreciated and saved me time having to submit any payment before having tried the service. Downloads were easy to find, but a little clunky to download and store in the same place. A pseudo file generator allows you to choose server location and VPN protocol, but misses features like specific ports and TCP/UDP. You can manually change these things in the config files, but it’s so much more user friendly when you can use a generator tool to do it for you.



Configuring the service: The downloaded config files had pros and cons. The pros were that the config included paths to the cert and key files, so when I imported the main ovpn file, the others were automatically put into place. This saved a lot of time setting up the configurations. The cons are that I suspect the encryption was weak, but can’t confirm because the type being used wasn’t exposed in the config file.

Config files seemed a bit rough. They did not work in Android right away, but instead returned a “could not import” error. I tried copying and pasting certs and key blocks in-line, but this still did not work. I contacted support regarding this. (Response below). As the generator tool did not provide many options, I’m tempted to give Tunnelr a “Basic” demerit, but since several more advanced features can be tweaked in the ovpn files manually, I’ll spare it this time.



Speed & Stability tests: Speeds appeared fast at the start, however as mentioned, config files do not expose the level of encryption being used. I suspected that encryption is quite week and later confirmed this in the FAQ section, where it’s revealed Blowfish is being used (I would suspect Blowfish-64 based on peak speeds, but can’t prove that). Either way, I don’t feel comfortable using even Blowfish-128 for security purposes of any kind. Speeds were also varied for every server tested. Don’t let these speeds fool you!



Speed Tests – Tunnelr – Desktop Latency Download Upload No VPN Trial 1 23 ms 95.65 mbps 12.76 mbps Trial 2 20 ms 96.98 mbps 12.05 mbps Trial 3 21 ms 93.90 mbps 12.20 mbps Average 21 ms 95.51 mbps 12.34 mbps USA Trial 1 68 ms 91.01 mbps 10.11 mbps Trial 2 73 ms 71.09 mbps 9.92 mbps Trial 3 68 ms 85.00 mbps 10.56 mbps Average 70 ms 82.37 mbps 10.20 mbps Comp to Bench +48 ms 86.24% 82.65% UK Trial 1 287 ms 16.94 mbps 5.14 mbps Trial 2 292 ms 21.64 mbps 2.53 mbps Trial 3 287 ms 45.41 mbps 4.50 mbps Average 289 ms 28.00 mbps 4.06 mbps Comp to Bench +267 ms 29.31% 32.88% Switzerland Trial 1 290 ms 27.63 mbps 4.20 mbps Trial 2 303 ms 16.36 mbps 2.23 mbps Trial 3 299 ms 9.42 mbps 2.68 mbps Average 297 ms 17.80 mbps 3.04 mbps Comp to Bench +276 ms 18.64% 24.61% Singapore Trial 1 412 ms 15.65 mbps 1.75 mbps Trial 2 412 ms 8.88 mbps 1.49 mbps Trial 3 412 ms 15.37 mbps 1.87 mbps Average 412 ms 13.30 mbps 1.70 mbps Comp to Bench +391 ms 13.93% 13.81%

(Android Speed Test Results Unavailable – See Below)

Getting support: I contacted support regarding the issues mentioned above (configuring the service in Android). Support responded by the next day with some additional questions (fair ones). I provided some additional data and they said they’d get back to me again later. I requested an extension on my free trial, which they happily granted for several more days which was very good. Unfortunately, after several days of waiting, I didn’t hear anything back, so I was never able to connect via Android.



Getting a refund: As a free trial is granted immediately upon signup, I did not need to request a refund for Tunnelr service. A point in Tunnelr’s favor.



Concerns in Terms & Conditions / Privacy Policy: Tunnelr’s policies were broken up into a few different FAQ sections. These sections contained a lot of technical details which was nice to see (things like port lists, protocol comparisons, etc). Surprisingly, no terms in this section seemed too abhorrent. As a result, this section will be short, which is rare. Had Tunnerlr’s privacy policy and terms of service been clearly broken out, the service might have gotten the “Elegant” badge. As is, these terms are a little tricky to find and are blended in with other information. Not a bad thing, just not as removed from other content as I’d expect. Only one thing I noticed, which has already been mentioned:



OpenVPN uses blowfish

I do not care for the the Blowfish encryption standard (specifically Blowfish-128), I think it is too weak for security/privacy purposes.

Final thoughts: Tunnelr is an interesting bag. The FAQs section and support responses really make it seem like there are competent technical minds at work in the company – while on the other hand, the lack of prepackaged inline config files and a light config file generator make the experience feel a bit more rough. Same goes for the inconsistent speeds and non transparent encryption being used. Support showed promise at first with a responsive, seemingly knowledgeable representative, but I quickly felt forgotten. Long story short – I’ve seen worse, but I’ve also seen better. If it existed, Tunnelr would earn the “Meh” badge.

FROM THE VPN COMPARISON CHART CATEGORY VPN SERVICE Tunnelr JURISDICTION Based In (Country) USA Fourteen Eyes? Five Enemy of the Internet Yes LOGGING Logs Traffic No Logs DNS Requests Logs Timestamps Logs Bandwidth Logs IP Address ACTIVISM Anonymous Payment Method Email Accepts Bitcoin No PGP Key Available No Meets PrivacyTools IO Criteria No LEAK PROTECTION 1st Party DNS Servers No IPv6 Supported / Blocked No Offers OpenVPN Yes OBFUSCATION Supports Multihop Supports TCP Port 443 Supports Obfsproxy Supports SOCKS Yes Supports SSL Tunnel Supports SSH Tunnel Other Proprietary Protocols PORT BLOCKING Auth SMTP No P2P SPEEDS US Server Average % 86.24 Int’l Server Average % 20.63 SERVERS Dedicated or Virtual SECURITY Default Data Encryption Blowfish-128 Strongest Data Encryption AES-256 Weakest Handshake Encryption Strongest Handshake Encryption AVAILABILITY # of Connections 5 # of Countries 9 # of Servers 15 Linux Support (Manual) Yes WEBSITE # of Persistent Cookies 1 # of External Trackers 0 # of Proprietary APIs 4 Server SSL Rating A SSL Cert issued to Self PRICING $ / Month (Annual Pricing) 5 $ / Connection / Month 1 Free Trial Yes Refund Period (Days) 3 ETHICS Contradictory Logging Policies Falsely Claims 100% Effective Incentivizes Social Media Spam POLICIES Forbids Spam Requires Ethical Copy Requires Full Disclosure AFFILIATES Practice Ethical Copy Give Full Disclosure

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