Basically what a VPN does is provide you with a temporary new IP address, which makes the blocked service think you are living in a country where it's allowed to view the content you are trying to access. We can't stress enough that using a VPN is perfectly legal, so you don't have to worry about the cops kicking your front door down with an arrest warrant just for having this software (unless of course you're using the VPN service for something illegal). But a lot of VPN's are not good enough to fool services like iPlayer and Hulu, so to a certain extent, their usefulness is limited. Plus VPN's come and go so fast, it's hard to keep track of them all.
TunnelBear is one of the exceptions. This lightweight software app is able to access both US and UK websites with literally the flick of a button and so far, there doesn't seem to be a website it can't handle. There is no lag, it's very fast and it is extremely simple to use. There's zero set-up required which means even the most tech-ignorant user can handle it with ease.
For those who like their software goodies free, TunnelBear provides everyone with 500MB free every month (and an additional 1GB per month free if you tweet about them on Twitter). But regular usage of the app means that this 1.5GB is soon gone. Which means that if you intend to use TunnelBear for more than listening to some songs or watching a couple of TV programs every month, you will have to look at upgrading to the unlimited plan which costs a mere $5 a month. For the high-quality app you're taking advantage of, $5 a month is a great deal.
What's even better is that paid customers can use TunnelBear on the iPad and iPhone. So wherever you have an Internet connection, you can set up a VPN connection with the setup details provided by the developer and you can sit on your couch or lie in bed and listen to Pandora or watch a TV program on BBC iPlayer.
VPN services come and go all the time, but two of TunnelBear's competitors at the moment include BTGuard and . Price-wise though, TunnelBear wipes the floor with them.