bobbytables

just noticed I wrote China Telecom twice in my post above - it’s China Mobile that uses TDD-LTE, I’ve fixed the post above. China Mobile do also have normal (FD) LTE in Beijing and Shanghai, maybe more by now. China Unicom has standard LTE everywhere. As with your Pixel, many of the more expensive phones, as well as cheaper phones made for sale in China, have TDD support. TDD-LTE will likely be phased out eventually but it may take many years.

BuildingMyBento

I bought an HK SIM card - actually, two, from two different companies - and google worked on neither in the mainland.

bobbytables

Did mobile internet work in general for you while there? It’s possible you didn’t have roaming and a data package set up on the HK SIM so you just couldn’t roam at all?

The fact that roaming (not just on a HK SIM) bypasses the great firewall is very well known and tested (I ran my whole apartment internet through a HK SIM for two years when I was living in China, I regularly send people to China with HK and other foreign SIMs, and I used one there myself yesterday) so it’s most likely that there’s some other complicating factor with your experience.

tentseller

Did you followed the activation instructions for ROAMING in CHINA?

Some of the SIM that you buy in HK requires special activation or setup (APN) to have data service available. Some SIM requires the activation and signup for China roaming while in HK to have your data routed through the HK server.

STS-134

Now that I have a phone that supports all of China Mobile's LTE bands (including TDD-LTE), I can run a coverage test on China Mobile vs. China Unicom in Mainland China. Anyone know where I can order a CMHK prepaid SIM and get it shipped to the US? Specifically this one https://www.hk.chinamobile.com/en/co...-and-data.html which is rechargeable to extend the validity period. If you go to the "Online Shop" on this website and select this card, it'll tell you that the only options are pickup in the New Territories or Kowloon. Which is highly annoying because I don't actually plan to visit HK first. Amazon does have CMHK prepaid SIM cards, but only the one that expires 10 days after activation and isn't rechargeable or extendable. Are there other resellers that anyone uses that will ship to the US?

JPDM

Did you check on Amazon or eBay? Just make sure that they send you the right one.

Loren Pechtel

I very much doubt it's DNS poisoning--if the VPN dropped Google would die.

STS-134

Yes, I checked Amazon. They only seem to sell the 10-day SIM cards. Ebay is selling a 365-day SIM and a bunch of other SIM cards but they're all ones that cannot be recharged.

Zoltar

Wow it never occurred to me that HK (or any other) Sim's could be purchased on Amazon, but that is great. Can you register them outside the home network (i.e. HK Sim registered in China or US)?

Is there one that you recommend? I found one that says "mewfi Hongkong Prepaid SIM Card 7 Days Unlimited 4G Data HK Local Voice Travel Sim Card" Total cost is $5.99 which is significantly better than the $10 per phone I was planning on spending. Would this provider allow for access to sites like Google, Instagram, What'sApp, etc.?

JPDM

The thing with buying a HK or any SIM online and having it delivered to you is that the customer support is iffy.

bobbytables

HK doesn’t filter the Internet, so no websites will be blocked when accessing the Internet via a HK SIM. This applies regardless of where you are when you are using the SIM.

tauphi

Sounds like the free tier at Sprint has a special end-point setup for roaming. There are other cases where a telco offers roaming where the tunnel does not terminate back in the home country. For example, China Mobile (from China) has a special deal for roaming in Hong Kong such that the Internet is not filtered as usual. This is probably done by changing the tunnel end-point.

Oh and the special deal with China Mobile is a lot cheaper than the usual roaming that you get.