Originally Posted by
STS-134
I don't understand this. VPNs are for several purposes:
1) Securing private data from a device in transit to a private network, over a public network
2) For bypassing firewalls
3) For protecting anonymity (from your ISP or from the websites you're visiting)
They are NOT for protecting data that goes over the public internet. If you are transmitting your data in such a way that it can be stolen, all the VPN does is push the point at which the data can be stolen from the coffee shop to after it leaves your VPN provider's network. You should use end-to-end encryption for all of your data that you care about, and in that case, it does not matter whether you are using a VPN.
It is always good to have multiple VPNs whenever you go into China. On my next trip, I will likely have:
1) OpenVPN to home server
2) Shadowsocks to home server
3) SSH tunnel to home server
4) ExpressVPN
5) VPN.ac
6) Psiphon
7) TOR
8) HK SIM card
9) AT&T SIM card
Overkill? Probably. But I'd rather have more VPNs than I need than need more VPNs than I have...
That is complete overkill. One or two VPNs is enough. ExpressVPN and VPN.AC is a good combination. Actually one is enough but two is better if you are looking for the best speed and latency. TOR doesn't work in China unless you are running it through a VPN. VPN+TOR is very slow so not recommended unless you have a specific need for it (dark web). As for SIM cards I recommend the China Unicom "cross border king dual extra". It has reasonably priced data packages.
http://www.cugstore.com/hk_en/prepai...vice-plus.html. I'm not sure about AT&T data roaming rates but probably much more expensive.
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www.tipsforchina.com. There is lots of information as well as promo codes, discounts, etc.