Tuxler VPN Review
Tuxler’s free version makes you vulnerable and at the mercy of other people’s activities. You’ll never know the activities of other users while they’re using your IP address, network, and other resources.
Tuxler VPN Review Summary
Tuxler prides itself as the first, community-powered, free residential VPN. What this means is that it is a P2P network—users within the network can use other users’ resources (like bandwidth and IP address). While it lets you bypass VPN blockers (as your connection and IP address will appear normal), there are trade-offs, like:
- Security risks: You are more exposed to security risks since anyone within the network can use your IP address. You run the risk of other people using your resources in suspicious or even criminal activities.
- Speed issues: Since you are sharing your resources with an undetermined number of people, your connection speed will suffer. There are even reports of the user’s computer system crashing every time they connect to Tuxler.
The network of Tuxler’s paying customers will not become a server, so these issues do not apply to them. Tuxler is only available on desktop computers (Windows and Mac) and as a browser extension on Chrome and Firefox. We do not highly recommend them, and think that there are much more high-quality providers on our website.
Tuxler VPN Features
Unlike other VPN providers that advertise their encryption and VPN protocol, Tuxler does not provide any information about either of these. The provider also doesn’t have additional security features, such as a kill switch or IP leak prevention.
As advertised on Tuxler’s website, these are the features available to both free and paid Tuxler plans:
- Unlimited bandwidth: Most free VPN providers cap user’s bandwidth, but Tuxler does not. However, you will be using another person’s bandwidth and not Tuxler’s direct resources.
- Secure connections: Tuxler only disclosed on its website that it uses end-to-end encryption, but it didn’t specify what encryption standard it uses.
- Location changes: To turn on the VPN, all you have to do is toggle the IP changing button. You will then be able to select a server location. You can also change the location by clicking on the “Reload to next nearby location.”
- 70,000 fresh IPs every month: This number represents how many users are on Tuxler’s free version. Because it’s free, a lot of people are naturally attracted to the service. However, most of these people are not aware that they are allowing other users to use their bandwidth and IP address in exchange for free service.
Tuxler claims that paying customers experience speed that is four times faster than those on the free version. This could be true since those on the paid version do not become servers. Free users will also have limited access to server locations and can only change their locations a few times a day.
Tuxler SERVERS & COUNTRIES
Tuxler has a large network, with 64 server locations. It claims to have millions of random IP addresses to choose from. You can have the app automatically select a server by selecting “Any country” and “Any city.” You may also select a specific country and city, and you’ll get an IP address from that exact location.
Remember that when you install Tuxler’s free app, your device will become a server, and anyone on the Tuxler network can route their traffic through your resources.
Reliability & Speed Tests
When we tested Tuxler, we connected to different server locations, clicked on different buttons and settings available on the app, and just experimented based on what we saw. After turning on Tuxler’s IP changing setting, we initially let the app automatically select the location. After a few minutes, we browsed through the country dropdown and selected a different location, but the app crashed. It just went all white:
We waited for a few seconds, but nothing happened. The exit button was still clickable though, so we closed the app then relaunched it so that we could do a speed test. Here is our speed test result before connecting to Tuxler:
Here is the speed test result after connecting to a Tuxler server:
As you can see, download speed went down to 3.3 Mbps from 29 Mbps, and latency was very high. This is one of the worst showings we’ve seen from a VPN provider’s speed. Streaming and downloading speed will be impacted, we recommend choosing a VPN for streaming to get better speeds.
Pricing and Payments
Aside from Tuxler’s free tier, the only other plan is the premium version, which costs $7.99 per month, billed monthly. Tuxler doesn’t have an annual or semi-annual plan, and the monthly plan’s price is way cheaper than that of other VPN providers. The low price is due to the fact that Tuxler does not incur too many overhead expenses since the users’ devices are the ones used as servers.
Support
The only way to contact the Tuxler’s customer support department is by filling out the contact form. The details you need to provide are:
- Your name
- Your email address
- Subject
- Your message
There’s no response time indicated, even on the automated email that we received after submitting the form.
This is, obviously, a very poor showing of customer support.
POLICIES & LOGGING
The provider’s logging policy is quite clear:
Tuxler logs your IP address and other personally identifiable information. These are some of the main things you might want to hide when using a VPN. The company may even share such information with third parties, including advertising companies, your ISP, and government authorities. If you find this at all bothersome, you’d likely be more interested in a No-Log VPN that we’ve reviewed well.
Expert Recommendation
Tuxler’s free version makes you vulnerable and at the mercy of other people’s activities. You’ll never know the activities of other users while they’re using your IP address, network, and other resources. Speed is also not very encouraging; it won’t let you do any decent streaming or downloading.
We would have recommended Tuxler’s premium or paid version if not for the fact that the provider logs and shares personally identifiable user information. We can even go as far as saying that Tuxler is a VPN in the truest sense of the word, as we don’t know its level of encryption and the VPN protocol. It doesn’t even have basic VPN features, like the kill switch and IP leak prevention.
More notably, Tuxler logs and may even share IP addresses of users, which goes against the very thing that most VPN providers are fighting for: online privacy. We encourage you to look at our Top 10 VPN providers right now to find a better option.
Tuxler User Reviews
Tuxler makes YOU the VPN and will let OTHERS use YOUR IP ADDRESS!
Tuxler is a free VPN that offers residential IP addresses… But if you use the computer version and not the addon, Tuxler will use your IP and bandwidth to offer it to its users.
This way, it doesn’t look too bad… Except that malicious users use these IPs for all sorts of mischief on the Internet. In my case, my IP was used for carding and sharing child pornography in July 2020.
I was raided at home, they confiscated all my electronic devices without me knowing why. After a few hours in custody, they explained to me that my IP address was involved in credit card theft and aggravated criminal activity. After 2 months of investigation, they concluded that I had not done anything and that the VPN was involved. So I uninstalled everything.
But it’s not over yet, because the day before yesterday, I was visited by the police again, this time for an investigation on child pornography exchange.
All of this generates a lot of stress, so don’t install this crap and pay for a VPN, otherwise what happened to me could happen to you.
And again, I don’t know what else will happen to me.
AVOID TUXLER!
Nothing is free, and this “free” vpn just proved that statement to be true in this case. Tuxler VPN makes your computer, internet, IP address, and online identity into the PRODUCT they sell. You BECOME the VPN and all of the risk and dangers that a VPN is suppose to shelter you FUNNELED DIRECTLY TO YOU. Someone downloads a movie with Tuxler through your IP Address — now you’re getting a letter in the mail. Someone download something they shouldn’t have through your IP address? The cops will be busting down YOUR DOOR. Tuxler VPN is dangerous and at the price of “FREE” — it’s WAY TOO EXPENSIVE. You couldn’t pay me $100 a month to use it. F%$& that!
Love it for the price! 😀
Tuxler is a great free VPN! They give you a real IP address and real ISP. No one ever will know that you are using a VPN.
Tuxler VPN is where its at!
It works great and its free!!!