Tunneling

Tunneling means wrapping packets of one protocol inside another so they can travel across a network that would not otherwise carry them, or so they can be protected on the way. An encrypted tunnel is the foundation of every VPN: your ordinary traffic is encapsulated and encrypted, sent to a remote server, then unwrapped and forwarded to its destination. The tunnel hides both the contents and the true endpoints from anyone watching the path in between, which is what gives a VPN its privacy.

A tunnel has two ends that agree on how to encapsulate and, usually, encrypt traffic. Your device wraps each packet, sends it to the server, which unwraps it and relays it onward; replies return the same way. Protocols like WireGuard and OpenVPN are tunneling protocols with strong encryption. Because everything rides inside the tunnel, the destination sees the server's exit IP, not your origin, and local observers see only encrypted packets. Tunnels may need MTU tuning to avoid fragmentation.

s4m supports WireGuard and OpenVPN profiles. The issued profile and client routing determine the exit and which traffic follows the tunnel. s4m has selectable public exit configurations. Use the endpoint or profile issued for the protocol and location selected in your account. Consult the published privacy policy and technical descriptions for their scope; IP assignment alone does not establish a no-logs or anonymity guarantee. Related topics: VPN, WireGuard, OpenVPN, no-logs, RAM-first, proxy.