A VPN protocol is a series of technical rules that govern how your device can securely reach the VPN servers, validate your access to the requests you make online, and encrypt your browsing traffic so that only you can see what you are doing on the web.
Essentially, it controls your entire VPN connection. That's a pretty serious responsibility.
VPN Protocol selection
Even if you were unaware, you've always used a VPN protocol. Whenever you connect TunnelBear, your Bear is busy working in the background - deciding which protocol is best for the network and device you are using. While the Bears are happy to continue doing this for you, we've realized that as time goes on, more and more users are becoming comfortable with managing their own VPN connection.
- To manage your VPN Protocol on desktop, open your TunnelBear Settings and select the Connections tab. The feature will be listed here.
- To manage your VPN Protocol on mobile devices, you need only open your TunnelBear Settings. The feature will be listed in the Settings menu.
Which protocols do we support?
Depending on the device you use, we currently support 3 VPN protocols in TunnelBear; WireGuard, OpenVPN, and IKEv2. We also support an Auto option, which just means you prefer to let your Bear decide which protocol you should use (this is the default selection for TunnelBear).
For a full breakdown of which VPN protocols we currently support:
| Auto (default) | WireGuard | OpenVPN | IKEv2 | |
| Windows | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| macOS | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| iOS | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Android | ✓ | Coming soon! | ✓ | N/A |
Note: VPN Protocol selection is currently only available for Windows and iOS. macOS and Android support coming soon.