VPN

[lakesandrivers]

Surprisingly, I did a search on the forum for "VPN" and nothing came up? Is the topic banned specifically, or no one here needs Gmail/FB/etc at all?

 

Which product are you using (is this okay to share here?)? I intend to purchase and setup before entering China.

 

TLDR: Astrill worked wonders for me and three friends. No a speck of problem for a year to date. Do go Astrill if you are in China. USD 99.90 for five devices is very affordable if you share with five trusted friends or classmates. You really need only one device. And trust is critical to avoid multiple logins on multiple devices.

Edited September 8, 2019 at 01:27 AM by lakesandrivers

[889]

Look manually. For some technical reason search here doesn't work on small search terms like "VPN." Sometimes a search on Google restricted to this forum will work.

[DavyJonesLocker]

 I think it might have something to do with the search string needing to be more than 3 characters, so try search for "VPNs" 

[DavyJonesLocker]

3 hours ago, lakesandrivers said:

Which product are you using (is this okay to share here?)? I intend to purchase and setup before entering China.

 

 

I really recommend ExpressVPN, I have used  pile of different ones and ExpressVPN stands out as the best in my book. You also have the feature that you can use the VPN on an application specific only basis which is great as if all internet traffic goes through a VPN it can be a problem for Chinese based APP's and websites (like banking ones) which can check to see if you are inside China. 

 

Also some of the cheaper ones can't handle things like Google Drive etc

 

 

 

 

[mungouk]

Google will find it, using a search like this: 

site:www.chinese-forums.com VPN

[roddy]

That's the best way to look for stuff, mungouk. Never used it myself, but ExpressVPN gets mentioned so often on here I was thinking I should set up an affiliate account. 

[lakesandrivers]

Nothing reaffirms as much as a trusted forum affirming what trusted websites (oh, well, the ones one has frequented a long time) confirms.

ExpressVPN I shall purchase and setup.

 

Thank you y'all!

[mungouk]

FWIW I've been using ibVPN for 5-6 years and quite happy with it.  They have clients for phone as well as desktop.

 

Although I've never tried it inside PRC, apart from servers world-wide they also have "double VPN" options connecting China to Netherlands and China to USA, which are allegedly harder to scupper.  

 

In my case I mostly use it to watch UK TV (BBC iPlayer etc) from outside the UK.  

[lakesandrivers]

I can keep ibVPN on my mind.

 

Would you know if they can install from within the GFC?

 

L

[mungouk]

1 hour ago, lakesandrivers said:

Would you know if they can install from within the GFC?

 

I don't know what GFC is (name for People's Republic of China in your country?), but for the desktop clients you create an account (first, I think—it's changed since 5 years back) then download the installer.

For iOS and Android you can install from the app stores, or download APKs to install.

 

According to this site that apparently just replaced greatfirewallofchina.org, www.ibvpn.com is blocked in PRC though.  And presumably after the recent purge the phone apps won't be accessible in the Chinese app stores either.

 

If you're outside PRC I guess the best bet is to grab several VPNs, or at least their installers, before you go there.  

[mungouk]

Ah, Great Firewall of China!  *slaps forehead* 

It's been a long day and I've just come out of a Zoom lesson with my teacher, mutter mutter... 

[lakesandrivers]

Hehe thank y'all!

[地球人]

Anyone knows which FREE vpn works in China as of July-August 2018? Last year I was there and I made the huge mistake of paying for an expressVPN subscription for 6 months- it never worked. I got scammed! It did work for only two days and then BAM I got blocked. I followed the instructions expressVPN gave me, still to no avail. Seriously, if an app gets so much marketing, they just want your money, and then don't care if you get the service or not! After that, I started using some free VPN apps that I had just in case. And while I was there I had no problem using the free monsterVPN app. But since it's been like 7 months, it probably doesn't work anymore.

[刘二航]

It is recommended to use vultrvps to build VPN

[Luscious]

All the three times I have been to China including almost the whole of last year, I was using Psiphon. Works well, in my book of course.  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.psiphon3

[SXU95]

Express VPN is the most reliable that I have found.  The connection is pretty solid if you have a good internet connection.  This is not a free VPN.

Edited August 10, 2018 at 01:27 AM by imron
Please don't include your own referral links. Thanks.

[lakesandrivers]

Okay the time has come for me to buy a VPN, prior to entry. Does ExpressVPN still work for folks here, in the forum as of now? 地球人，which VPN are you using now?

[mungouk]

19 minutes ago, lakesandrivers said:

Does ExpressVPN still work

Worked fine for me about 4 weeks ago.  From China they recommend the servers in Santa Monica, LA 3, Tokyo 1 or Hong Kong 4, or so the app is saying right now.

 

 

[Tomsima]

I use Lantern VPN, overly simple, but does the job. automatically selects server from Japan/HK/Singapore and you're good to go. Has zero features, does nothing except quickly connect you to the web outside China.

[mungouk]

If you're going to be there some time, it would be worth installing a few VPNs just to make sure you have something functional, because it will be much harder once you're behind the firewall.  When I was there I did find times when Express wasn't connecting, so I used ibVPN, and vice versa.

 

You can always cancel subscriptions if you find you installed more than you need once you've been there for a while.