hotmail access in china

[onebir]

Admin note: For info on the June 2009 block, see here

i've been having a lot of trouble getting access to my hotmail. only the link from MSN messenger 7.5 seems to work - so if the internet cafe happens to have this, it's ok.

but this link from msn doesn't...

anybody else have this problem? and or solutions?

Edited June 3, 2009 at 01:50 AM by roddy

[jukebox]

Many MSN services, including Spaces, Hotmail, are now "temporarily" unavailable in China.

Try to log in with proxy or enter "torpark" in google for a search

[liuzhou]

Hotmail is not blocked in China. I can access it freely, and a quick check with friends around China confirms this.

What you are probably experiencing is a simple case of overload. 99% of people on the planet have Hotmail accounts (or thereabouts!) Of course, the system can't always cope.

There are many small email providers who provide reliable service. Try http://www. yellowgrape.com, for example.

(BTW, I do maintain a Hotmail address in order to access MSN Messenger. Certainly never use it for email!)

[NateM]

"The Great Firewall of China", as it is sometimes known, isn't enforced uniformly throughout the PRC. It depends on what firewall software the ISP is running as well as individual security measures in place at whatever workplace, internet cafe, etc, you may be at.

I have most certainly had times when hotmail was blocked in China, not simply overloaded. There have also been times when it was freely accessible. I've even had one experience where I was in one cafe where it was blocked, and walked to another one in the same building and it wasn't: this situation reversed itself abouta month later!

Overall, of the "Big Three" Western Internet companies, yahoo is probably the most reliable and least likely to be blocked. Given their track record of helping to catch dissidents, I can't say that I'm too surprised. That said, there are, as has already been mentioned, plenty of smaller companies that will be able to give you reliable email service withough you having to worry about being blocked, and thats probably what you are best off with.

[mrtoga]

I have also been having trouble here in Beijing over the last week. I am blocked most of the time, but am getting occasional access. It is certainly irritating.

I am being rerouted to a URL that contains the name of a company in Shanghai when I type in www.hotmail.com - can't remember this happening before.

Maybe Bill Gates also insulted Hu Jintao in the US a few weeks ago and this is his retribution

[roddy]

Anyone who's being directed to some other URL, rather than getting a standard 'could not be reached' message, has probably picked up some spyware of one kind of another.

[pandaxiongmao]

I know a lot of people here in Kunming that cannot access Hotmail. However, I know people in other provinces that do not have trouble.

Other services like MSN Spaces work fine here. You might need to login at login.live.com and then go to your MSN Space, but it is possible to load it.

[Crivens200]

I'm having problems here in Jiangsu province as well. This is definitely being blocked by someone at the moment - nothing to do with overload. I can get in on a proxy server OK, but what a pain in the butt.

[mrtoga]

I am using an internet cafe for my hotmail account these few days - no luck accessing it. This is in Beijing. I am surprised so few others are having trouble

[badr]

I find Gmail to be quite a bit more reliable than any of the other two. The consensus so far seems that the best way to access hotmail is by first logging on to your msn messenger; when you do that, a little box pops up telling you how many new messages you have; click on it.

[mrtoga]

I have been trying that for several days on several different computers in Beijing as well badr. Nothing. I can open my messenger but it will not connect to my hotmail.

Also I am finding all the free proxies I have located are also blocked. Most irritating.

[gato]

Ever since Microsoft rolled out a week or so ago its "Windows Live" web service (http://login.live.com/), I've been having trouble logging into hotmail. login.live.com seems to be the central login server for all msn-related sites, but for some reason it is not accessible from China (or at least it's often inaccessible). hotmail.com itself is accessible, but since you are redirected to log in at login.live.com, hotmail.com is not useable at the moment.

[pandaxiongmao]

https://login.live.com is accessible in Kunming - the Great Firewall blocks it if I get to that page from hotmail.com, but works just fine if I go there first, then access any other services that require a MSN passport. Firefox says the connection is reset when I try logging in from hotmail.com first. So I don't think it is a problem on Microsoft's side.

In any case, if you have another way to access hotmail (such as through Outlook on the PC or Entourage on the Mac), you can read your hotmail just fine. It is only the web access that is blocked.

[mrtoga]

Amazingly just after posting above I just got access through MSN for the first time this week.....

[badr]

since you got access, i suggest setting up a forward on your hotmail so that all received email can go to another account (gmail is not a bad choice) and make your life (and the transition) easier.

[gato]

Panda's solution works:

(1) log in to https://login.live.com first (this is the new MSN log in)

(2) then go to http://hotmail.com

This should work. For some reason, http://login.live.com (http without the 's') seems to timeout when hotmail is redirected to live.com for password checking, so you need to go there directly to log in.

Or you can try logging in through live.com here:

https://login.live.com/login.srf?id=2&svc=mail&cbid=24325&msppjph=1&tw=0&fs=1&fsa=1&fsat=1296000&lc=2052&_lang=CN

[Guili]

It is ooo000oold post,but is it blocked again?I can't log in,does anybody has the same problem?

[liuzhou]

It's fine here.

[Guili]

I have just asked a friend of mine she can't log in as well,it is in Shanghai for over 3 days now....

[Don_Horhe]

I have no problems logging in.