When you see the Rate Limited or 429 error, it means that you, or someone sharing a network with you, has tried to make too many requests to our service. This could mean anything from trying to enter the wrong password too many time to making an abnormal number of connection attempts.
Error 429: Rate Limited: Windows
What is happening in the background
When this happens, we limit these kinds of requests temporarily, meaning that you won't be allowed to log in or connect for a short period of time. This allows us to protect both you and ourselves from malicious attacks.
For example: In the case of someone entering the wrong password multiple times, this stops someone who might be trying to hack into your TunnelBear account from proceeding with trying different passwords over and over again until they find the right one. In the case of an abnormal number of connections, this could be an attack on our network, such as a DDoS attack, so we need to stop traffic from this address to protect ourselves.
Why you might see this error
If you’re connecting from a shared network, such as a public network, university campus, or a region of the world where internet infrastructure is less developed (where IP addresses are scarce), this can increase your likelihood of seeing this error. This is because we don’t just have to account for your personal traffic to our network, but also the traffic from many other users. We do our best to make sure legitimate traffic gets through, but sometimes you may be caught by accident in this net.
How to fix the issue
In this situation, the best thing to do is wait a little bit and try again. The limit on traffic from your network is generally temporary and should resolve within 20 minutes or so. If you attempt to connect while you’re still limited, or if you’re connecting from one of those shared networks where other people are also trying to connect, this can unfortunately extend the period of time for which your traffic is blocked.
If you have waited patiently for some time and you still can’t connect, please get in touch with our friendly Support Bears and they’ll try to resolve the issue.