Introduction

After the massive success of the OpenVPN project in 2002, co-founders Francis Dinha and James Yonan created OpenVPN Technologies Inc to enhance the development of OpenVPN. Private Tunnel is more of an online privacy initiative than a VPN provider given it is a brainchild of OpenVPN Technologies Incorporated, creators of the OpenVPN technology. The team behind PrivateTunnel enriched the award winning OpenVPN protocol, combining the cutting edge technology with enhanced networking & software.

Based in Pleasanton, California (same as OpenVPN Inc.), PrivateTunnel was designed to provide optimized security, reliable connectivity and protected communication services. Our Private Tunnel review will outline how the brand goes beyond from being an antiquated VPN service and addresses future technologies including:

1. SDN(Software Defined Network)
2. Remote Access to Private Cloud & Networks
3. Tunneling to UTM (Unified Threat Management Cloud & Gateways)
4. Tunneling to DDoS Clouds &Gateways for malicious attack protection

In my 2017 Private Tunnel review that follows, I put the corporation’s entire offering to the test. We will go over each of the aspects of the provider’s service bundle and present an objective verdict for Private Tunnel apps, pricing, server coverage, privacy policy, customer support and much more.

PrivateTunnel Review VPN – Unique Features

Possibly the most unique feature that we discovered during this Private Tunnel review is that it is a brainchild of the same team that created the OpenVPN technology. The competency, knowledge and innovation that the creators of OpenVPN bring to PrivateTunnel is second not even to artificial intelligence.

Association with the OpenVPN Inc brings reliability & trust to Private Tunnel’s excellent service bundle. Let’s take an in depth look and review Private Tunnel’s feature bundle to determine where it ranks amongst leading VPN providers.

Private Tunnel Packages & Pricing Review

PrivateTunnel VPN offers four subscription plans which are differentiated by data usage. The Plans are as follows:

1. 200 MB Subscription –Free
2. 20 GB Subscription – $9.99/month
3. 100 GB Subscription – $19.99/month
4. Unlimited Data Subscription – $29.99/month

All Private Tunnel Subscriptions are limited by the data you can use, but come with the provider’s complete feature bundle including:

1. 12 Private Tunnel Servers across 9 countries (all self-managed)
2. Leading edge 128-bit AES-GCM encryption standard
3. Unlimited Server Switching
4. Unlimited Speed
5. Absolutely Zero Logging
6. A great referral program for free version users

Private Tunnel Review of Servers

Private Tunnel offers 13 servers, laid across 9 strategic locations namely:

1. USA(5 Servers in New York, Chicago, San Jose and Miami)
2. UK(1 Server in London)
3. Sweden (1 Server in Stockholm)
4. Germany (1 Server in Frankfurt)
5. Japan (1 Server in Tokyo)
6. Netherlands (1 Server in Amsterdam)
7. Hong Kong (1 Server in Hong Kong)
8. Switzerland (1 Server in Zurich)
9. Canada (1 Server in Montreal)

All Private Tunnel servers support P2P & Torrents providing you unlimited speed downloads no matter where you are in the world. During this PrivateTunnel review I also discovered that the provider “does not block OBJECTIONABLE CONTENT” (whatever that maybe) while you are connected to their service.

Private Tunnel VPN also offers instant unblocking & connectivity to geo-restricted entertainment services in the regions it caters. These include Netflix, BBC iPlayer, HULU, HBO Now, Spotify, SkyTV and many other services blocked outside their host countries.

Private Tunnel Customer Support Review

Powered by a fairly new support section, Private Tunnel VPN currently only provides support through the website Knowledge base and the Ticket System (email). There is no live chat available yet on the website which we are hoping should come up with time. Support is available via email Monday – Friday 09:00 AM – 5:00 PM Pacific Time (United States) and usually takes them 24-48 hours to respond to your queries& issues.

Since PrivateTunnel VPN is an OpenVPN based service and operated by the creators of the technology, you have a massive community of experts, developers and professionals who can help you instantly any time during the day, anywhere in the world. Check out these amazing OpenVPN forums for help in case you cannot reach PrivateTunnel VPN support:

1. OpenVPN Official Forum
2. OpenVPN Community Wiki
3. OpenVPN Support on pfSense Forums
4. OpenVPN EU Forum (German)

Private Tunnel Payment Methods Review

Private Tunnel VPN currently accepts payments through six globally accepted merchants, namely:

1. Debit &Credit Cards (MasterCard, VISA, Discover, American Express)
2. PayPal
3. Bitcoin
4. Apple GiftCards – only through the iOS app
5. AliPay E-Payments
6. Bank Account Transfer

Users’ who pay with credit maybe required to present their Credit Card statement for additional verification in some regions. The Privacy Policy also informs that PrivateTunnel does not offer services in Nigeria, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.

Private Tunnel VPN Compatibility Review

PrivateTunnel is currently available on the five major operating systems used across the world including Windows, Android,iOS, Mac, and Linux. PrivateTunnel’s compatibility review also identified that the service is available to use over OpenWRT & DDWRT routers.

Tests run during this Private Tunnel compatibility review identified that with the free, 20GB and 100GB plans you can use the service over unlimited number of devices, while the unlimited plan only offers connectivity on up to 10 devices simultaneously. The following devices are said to have limited support for OpenVPN and hence are not compatible with Private Tunnel:

1. USB TV sticks
2. Set-top TV boxes
3. Specialty tablets
4. BlackBerry
5. Windows Phone , and
6. Symbian

Private Tunnel Apps Review

Private Tunnel offers modified OpenVPN apps for Windows, Mac, iOS & Android while manual configuration for routers and Linux OS is possible.

Preview of Private Tunnel for Android –Download the Private Tunnel APK

You can try out Private Tunnel for a review by downloading the Private Tunnel apk from the Google Play Store on Android, headover to review the Private Tunnel iOS app on iTunes Apps Store. The Windows & Mac apps are available to download free from the Private Tunnel website.

Private Tunnel Tutorials Review

PrivateTunnel VPN does not offer any tutorials or guides currently. This is primarily due to the fact that the service is OpenVPN based, resources for which are widely available across the internet for free. The OpenVPN project itself has millions of guides and support manual available on their official website.

Sinceboth OpenVPN & Private Tunnel are one and the same,it is advisable to take help from the original OpenVPN project website. Have a look at these brilliant guides & tutorials on the official OpenVPN project website:

1. OpenVPN HOWTO’s
2. OpenVPN FAQs
3. OpenVPN Solutions Page

Openvpn Private Tunnel Review – Protocols & Encryption

Private Tunnel is solely based on the OpenVPN Tunneling Technology (TCP & UDP). To summarize the project quickly, OpenVPN comprises of the following features:

1. Uses SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) &TLS (Transport Layer Security) for key exchange
2. Bypasses NAT & Firewalls
3. Can use all ciphers in the OpenSSL Library for encryption
4. Authenticates peers through pre-shared keys, certificates,and Username & Password combinations for enhanced network security
5. Can be run over User Datagram Protocol (UDP)&Transport Control Protocol (TCP)
6. Can create both Layer 2 & Layer 3tunnels

The OpenSSL Library allows OpenVPN users to cipher data using either 128 bit or 256 bit encryption.The OpenSSL library allows encryption using a huge list of ciphers including AES, Blowfish, Camellia, SEED, CAST-128, DES, IDEA, RC2, RC4, RC5, Triple DES, and GOST 28147-89.

Private Tunnel Review of Logging & Privacy Policies

Private Tunnel has an absolutely gem of a privacy policy which is elaborate,clear, simple, and jargon free.Private Tunnel does not ask for personal information, instead they collect information voluntarily submitted while registering on the website, placing an order, responding to a survey or filling out a form.The information that Private Tunnel collects includes:

1. Name
2. Address
3. Email
4. Credit Card Number
5. Phone number

Information collected is only used:

• To improve Private Tunnel’s website
• To improve customer service
• To process subscriptions &transactions
• To send periodic marketing & special offer emails

Private Tunnel VPN Free Trial

Yes, Private Tunnel VPN offers a limited version free trial that can be used over unlimited devices, but, you can only use 200 MB of data on it. However, PrivateTunnel’s excellent referral program allows you to get 200MB of data for every friend you refer to the service.

Private Tunnel Crack – Not Working Or Not Connecting Issue

To kick off this section, do not use the Private Tunnel Crack!

Primarily, every time a crack will come up Private Tunnel will immediately patch the bug and make the crack redundant for everyone. There is also a chance that the crack for Private Tunnel has been modified to steal your personal data and spy on your online activities. In case you experience the Private Tunnel crack not working error simply uninstall the cracked version of the app.

Private Tunnel VPN Reviews on Reddit

PrivateTunnel VPN has been routinely reviewed and discussed on Reddit for the past 2 years. Discussions usually involve PrivateTunnel’s association with OpenVPN and if it is worth trying. To answer many prospect users’, yes, Private Tunnel is a venture of the OpenVPN project and is a must try for anyone who likes to VoD online streaming & torrents.

Another important Private Tunnel review on Reddit discussed how the service was really helpful in bypassing the university firewall to game online. Since OpenVPN is a very effective protocol to bypass firewalls, Private Tunnel is an ideal premium OpenVPN mod if you wish to use it for gaming online. Consider the user below who unblocked the University firewall to play League of Legends and Wildstar.

After a detailed review & testing we can safely assume that Private Tunnel does not keep activity logs since I have been downloading copyright torrents with their service for the past 5 days. It is also good for streaming but speeds suffer during the night.

Reviewer’s Verdict

I hope you enjoyed reading through all of Private Tunnel VPN’s reviewed features. Since this was my first review of Private Tunnel, there are certain aspects that were not addressed and will be added in routine updates.

Our editor’s verdict for this Private Tunnel review is a superb 3.5 out of 5, based on the following observations. PrivateTunnel VPN offers a very simple, yet attractive website & navigation. The association of OpenVPN and PrivateTunnel gives the brand a solid base to build on while giving it a strong brand identity.

PrivateTunnel does not offer too many sever locations but the ones that are available are 13 of the most popular locations of the world. All their servers allow P2P and torrents while the provider does not discriminate against ANY website or online service.

I tested the Windows, Android and iOS apps. The Windows app was a bit of a disappointment as it failed to install the first time and failed to connect the first time when it was properly installed. The Android app is simply brilliant, low on device resources and has great connectivity even on mobile 3G/4G networks. The iOS app like the Android app has great performance and connectivity likes its Android cousin.

Customer support is a poor disappointment, even though there area large number of forums & communities available for OpenVPN support. PrivateTunnel should at least consider a live support service to assist customers with service issues & troubleshooting.

Private Tunnel VPN offers decent pricing plans given the unlimited data plan is only $30 for the year. You can always buy additional data with the other plans which is a brilliant offer for mobile & tablets users who are travelling or using VPN on the go.

The one unconvincing aspect of PrivateTunnel was their privacy policy and the fact that the company is based in the USA. If you know about online privacy then you definitely know about the NSA and its cronies spying on citizens all over the world. We cannot be assured that the provider does not retain data and has not been compromised already.