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Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
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Posts: 100,413
I was just in Shanghai and didn't notice such a problem when using an aging computer in my hotel's business center. The hotel had a mix of Chinese and Western guests, although the computer was observable by staff members. I found the internet service to be somewhat slow, but I didn't notice much difference between FT, CNN, and foreign airline websites. However, I didn't try to enter the OMNI or Asia forums.
I can imagine that one would experience the problem described by the OP in places such as internet cafes or private homes. As I didn't bring my laptop, I didn't try the service in my hotel room.