May 24, 2019, 11:11 am
Last edit by: moondog
If you want to use sites like Google, FB, and Twitter in China, you need a means to bypass government imposed blocks.
Roaming on your home country's network works like a charm, but this can be slow and/or expensive.
Most of us use VPNs or Shadowsocks (the latter requires a bit more legwork because you need to find, and pay for, a good server on your own you want good results).
While this topic is not illegal, we have definitely noticed that over plugging solutions that work well often results in diminished performance (because this makes them targets).
As such, my hope is that we can refrain from using buzzwords or complete company names in this thread. By way of example, "E" is impossible to catch via search, while the company name is easy.
Roaming on your home country's network works like a charm, but this can be slow and/or expensive.
Most of us use VPNs or Shadowsocks (the latter requires a bit more legwork because you need to find, and pay for, a good server on your own you want good results).
While this topic is not illegal, we have definitely noticed that over plugging solutions that work well often results in diminished performance (because this makes them targets).
As such, my hope is that we can refrain from using buzzwords or complete company names in this thread. By way of example, "E" is impossible to catch via search, while the company name is easy.
Best and Fast VPN for China ?
Apr 28, 2019, 8:04 pm
#137
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: SF Bay Area
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Exp seems to be semi okay now, at least in the early mornings. That having been said, there is no way in hell I would advise newcomers to get on board at this point in time (e.g. telling me to connect to a random server in Germany that is definitely slow, and might not work at all, is not cool).
Apr 30, 2019, 12:18 am
#138
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: LON
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 3,916
Why not have a China Unicom HK or China Mobile HK SIM as a backup? You can turn on mobile hotspot and tether to it. And the rates are reasonable, HK $148 for 2 GB for 30 days. Unless you are emailing very large files, that should last you a while. That's what I always use for mobile data when I visit China, and that card (and my US based AT&T SIM) act as my VPN of last resort, in case everything else goes down.
Apr 30, 2019, 4:52 am
#139
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 42,031
Exp is working again for me in the early mornings, and I expect things will improve. That having been said, I greatly dislike being told to try my luck with Wembly or Nuerenberg. While I do hold out hope, I will not make any strong plugs until they get their good servers in good shape again.
Apr 30, 2019, 4:20 pm
#140
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 42,031
This morning, I managed to get on HK3, which is Exp's best server, so I think the situation seems to be improving. That having been said, I would like a reliable backup other than SS (my boss compiled a list of SS usage for all of us, and for some reason, I was at the top by a mile).
James, who runs tipsforchina, suggested Nord and Vpn.ac. Unfortunately, both of these struck out for me. If you do want to try them, I encourage you to use the links on his site because he is providing a valuable service.
I've been considering Astrill. However, in the past, it has sucked.
This is an extremely touchy topic because, while not illegal, any companies who brag about their services are easy for the government to mess with (e.g. claiming that you are the "best VPN in China" pretty much ensures that you will not be for long!).
James, who runs tipsforchina, suggested Nord and Vpn.ac. Unfortunately, both of these struck out for me. If you do want to try them, I encourage you to use the links on his site because he is providing a valuable service.
I've been considering Astrill. However, in the past, it has sucked.
This is an extremely touchy topic because, while not illegal, any companies who brag about their services are easy for the government to mess with (e.g. claiming that you are the "best VPN in China" pretty much ensures that you will not be for long!).
May 1, 2019, 3:05 am
#141
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2010
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I agree, getting a SIM card from HK or another regional country that has a prepaid roaming bundle for China is a very reliable, hassle free and cost effective way for visitors to get unfiltered connectivity as per the GSM standards your data is tunnel back to the home network and breaks out to the internet from there, avoiding the great firewall. Saves messing with local WiFi and VPNs and usually just works - very very occasionally you may need to reboot or flip the data connection off and on if the 4G signal disappears.
I did noticed something strange though. When roaming with a prepaid simcard, I only see 4G icon, but roaming with a Canadian post-paid simcard, I see 4G LTE.
May 1, 2019, 5:52 pm
#142
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: SF Bay Area
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Posts: 6,675
Uh oh we aren't making security through obscurity arguments here are we?
May 8, 2019, 1:44 am
#143
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: LON
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 3,916
Although the mobile industry do like to use 4G and LTE interchangeably there are differences. At a very basic level if the terminology is being correctly used an LTE signal should be better in terms of capability than a 4G one, but that really depends on how the phone is representing the signal received and it's capabilities to you. As you got the LTE on a postpaid contract that would kinda make sense.
May 13, 2019, 2:14 am
#144
Join Date: Apr 2019
Posts: 11
VPN in China
Planning a trip to China next month and I am looking for a VPN that I could use while being there. As I read, sites like Google or Facebook, which I frequently use are banned over there.
This article is supposedly updated every week with VPNs that can pass China’s firewall. Maybe someone has visited China not long ago and can confirm if the article is really up to date?
This article is supposedly updated every week with VPNs that can pass China’s firewall. Maybe someone has visited China not long ago and can confirm if the article is really up to date?
May 13, 2019, 8:03 am
#145
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: China and Canada
Posts: 1,886
I did not click on your link to your article, these are usually click-bait.
Not far below your question is a very long thread about the topic: Best and Fast VPN for China ?
Not far below your question is a very long thread about the topic: Best and Fast VPN for China ?
May 13, 2019, 8:37 am
#146
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: UA MileagePlus (Premier Gold); Hilton HHonors (Gold); Chase Ultimate Rewards; Amex Plat
Posts: 6,675
I use the following every time I go to China, in this order of preference, when I am able to use wifi:
1. ExpressVPN
2. VPN.ac
3. Shadowsocks to personal server
4. China Unicom HK SIM Card
5. SIM card from my home country
The key is to not expect everything to work all the time. Have enough redundancy so that if something fails, you don't effectively get knocked off the internet. In order for me to not be able to get to any site I want to get to, all 5 of those would have to fail simultaneously and that's very unlikely to happen.
1. ExpressVPN
2. VPN.ac
3. Shadowsocks to personal server
4. China Unicom HK SIM Card
5. SIM card from my home country
The key is to not expect everything to work all the time. Have enough redundancy so that if something fails, you don't effectively get knocked off the internet. In order for me to not be able to get to any site I want to get to, all 5 of those would have to fail simultaneously and that's very unlikely to happen.
Jun 1, 2019, 1:15 pm
#148
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 42,031
Exp is currently completely down for me, and they ingored my support email (it's been almost 24 hours). While I get the fact that this coming Tuesday is a hot button, hiding is never a good business strategy.
Jun 2, 2019, 3:05 am
#149
Join Date: Jan 2005
Programs: SQ, QF, UA, CO, DL
Posts: 2,882
Jun 5, 2019, 6:39 pm
#150
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 733
Last month while in Beijing and Guangdong I used my friend's N subscription. It kept disconnecting every few hours or slowing to a halt, and would refuse to reconnect when I tried to change server. On the last few days I played with the settings, forcing TCP connection, and it started working 95% of the time without any issues. Wish I had figured it out sooner!