VPN recommendations?

Posted in: Forums > Living in Chengdu • 24 posts • Newest

• • Timothy
    August 27, 2011
    20 posts
  • Has anyone been using a VPN service for a year or more (in China) who has actually been able to reliably/consistently go online (through the VPN)? I've used two VPN services for many months and neither one has provided a reliable internet connection. There have been periods where they worked and LONG periods where they didn't. Recently, my VPN service was unable to connect for weeks! Even now, connecting to the VPN is far from guaranteed. I have to try multiple location options. Sometimes I get lucky and sometimes I don't.

    -Timothy

• • pptakashi
    August 27, 2011
    2 posts
  • Strongvpn is the best.
    I always use it and it always works. I've been in China for more then 6 years.... so are experienced with those vpns ;)

    Just check out their website for more information.

    Cheers

• • merior
    August 28, 2011
    66 posts
  • I agree strognvpn has a very good reputation. I am occasionally (no more than once every couple of months) unable to connect to Strongvpn for a short time but I suspect that could be the distant server rather than targetted blocking at this end. If you have problems then you can always switch to a different server (I've never felt the need to) depending on the terms of your package. Connection speed is generally pretty good and they even offer a typically higher level of encription than I've seen offered by other VPNs depending on the package you've opted for.

• • sonyfaye
    August 29, 2011
    2 posts
  • Atrill, try it

• • Ivan the terrible
    August 30, 2011
    5 posts
  • Anyone know any free VPN's, BTW check out the classified for sale Moster sale, I know him he is my friend, i am even having the keys to his GF's place to show his stuff while hes all over the country getting ready to leave.
    Anyway back to VPN i don't want to use my credit card and such, any free one actually though i have tried 100s,

    Check out sale 47inch plasma 3000 yuan for sale and xbox 5 games 1300, sorry guys need the help, really moving out of country possibly back to the pit.....SO much more for sale check the classifieds.

• • HopBacker
    August 31, 2011
    6 posts
  • UnblockVPN has worked great for me for the last year or so. $4.99 a month with unlimited use. They have about a dozen gateways in Europe and the USA, so if one is down, it's easy to switch. I tried various free services before choosing UnblockVPN, all of them pretty useless here. But these guys provide a consistent service, and actually reply to support e-mail requests.

• • HopBacker
    August 31, 2011
    6 posts
  • BTW, one of the problems with these generic VPN connections in China is that with an internet connection that has less than 4Mb bandwidth (that's a joke in itself in China, but another story...) is likely to be too slow to maintain a strong connection with the VPN server. The main reason for this seems to be that most ISPs don't have dedicated international pipes, and simply rent a slice that they have to share (and therefore so do you). I was running for a while with a 2Mb internet connection with China Telecom, and it was damn' near impossible to keep a reliable VPN. I switched to Unicom at 4Mb and it was fine.

    So don't blame it all on the VPN service - check out exactly what kind of internet connection you have and its practical bandwidth capacity with international traffic before choosing.

• • invisible
    November 2, 2011
    830 posts
  • astrill seems ok

• • Xirosiro
    November 3, 2011
    1 post
  • Try using http://overplay.net/r.php?i=4284684319.

    I've been using Overplay for about a year now and, compared to other VPNs, it provides the most consistent service and is fast. The best part is their customer service. They're very fast and try to help you as much as possible so that your experience is the best it can be. For all the games I've tried thus far, you can get past their IP block using it.

    If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

• • MinaLC
    November 14, 2011
    14 posts
  • Pretty happy with Astrill so far...

• • invisible
    April 5, 2012
    830 posts
  • you could (if you are not too lazy like me) set up your own VPN via Amazon web services

    First year for free
    http://aws.amazon.com/free/

    here is a DIY tutorial
    http://www.expedienttech.net/?p=68

• • piglet44
    April 20, 2012
    21 posts
  • Astrill support is good

• • ps_striker
    August 22, 2012
    4 posts
  • PURE VPN has always worked for me. Also their online customer service is very good.

• • DoubleD
    August 22, 2012
    2 posts
  • FREE is maybe my favorite English word with DISCOUNT coming in as a close second. I have an American IT friend in Shenzhen who has been in China for eight years. He recently recommended using the FREE BASIC VPN service (300 kbps) provided by proXPN. He said he's been using it for about four years and had nothing but good to say.

    I took his advice and recently downloaded. You can set it for auto-log-in or only use when you need. If you use QQ voice a lot, using it can cause delays, since without using a VPN, QQ does not need to pass through the "Great Firewall".

    Their website is http://proxpn.com/. The download process is very simple and easy and within minutes, you can create a simple account with any active email address you choose and your password. They will then send you a verification message to your registered email address. After I downloaded, I then did a McAfee virus scan and no issues were detected.

    I am not a Gamer or downloading movies and music, so maybe this bandwidth will not suit some people who may need to pay. Their Free Basic version allows me to do the simple things I personally need to do. Furthermore, if you pay for larger bandwidth, maybe your ISP still has a small bandwidth making it useless to pay.
    
    One word of advice is always ignore their upgrading pop-ups or prompts to pay for Premium. It is not needed, especially when registering since this is one of the first windows you see and can be confusing. Just click past this for the Free Basic.

    Good luck!

• • invisible
    September 29, 2012
    830 posts
  • another way to get a free vpn

    http://mrjetlee.com/facebook-from-china/

• • alex38
    October 25, 2012
    1 post
  • I use encrypted tunnel of http://pirateray.com/proxy to access any website,fb or Skype whenever I travel. Works good with any browser on wireless connections as well. Very easy to install and free to try 1 week.
    Just $ 4.99/month via paypal.

• • crissagreem
    October 25, 2012
    4 posts
  • I use StrongVPN for more than a year. It can be installed in your router so full vpn for whole house. And can be installed in cellphone, IPAD, and other Tablet Computer.

    More Expensive Package of StrongVPN also can bypass website blocked by your School, office. So you can watch porn in school, play game in office.

• • foxlinkinc
    December 17, 2012
    3 posts
  • If it's free you're after try http://download.cnet.com/[...] it's completely free, can be run from a USB stick and if you access the website they have VPN for IOS (iPhone/iPad) and android

• • foxlinkinc
    December 17, 2012
    3 posts
  • If it's free you're after try http://download.cnet.com/[...] it's completely free, can be run from a USB stick and if you access the website they have VPN for IOS (iPhone/iPad) and android

• • Bride
    December 17, 2012
    1 post
  • Hello friends,
    first i want share this link for a big news about GreatFirewall:

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/[...]

    FREE VPN SERVICE
    http://www.dit-inc.us/freegate
    http://cloudnymous.com
    http://www.kepard.com (only 30minutes every day)

    VPN SERVICE that I SUGGEST
    http://vpn-hk1.reliablehosting.com/strongvpn
    http://www.overplay.net
    http://www.usessh001.com
    http://vpn.hidemyass.com/vpncontrol/signin

    VPN SERVICE AVAILABLE
    http://www.vpning.com/index.php
    http://billing.julyrush.com/index.php
    http://www.ibvpn.com

    I'm checking for SSH tunneling because maybe it's a way for jump Great Firewall in China...
    See you!

• • invisible
    December 20, 2012
    830 posts
  • cyberghost seems to be another free option but i haven't tried it yet.

• • invisible
    January 27, 2013
    830 posts
  • anyone tried hola? it's proxy as a browser extension for hulu and netflix, but it doesn't seem to work for me

    http://hola.org/unblocker.html

• • Aireline
    January 28, 2013
    37 posts
  • Astrill, once I signed up I had to ask myself "Why was I being such a cheapskate before?" 400 rmb for a year, that's just over 1 rmb per day!
    No limits, very fast, no hassles.

• • invisible
    March 13, 2013
    830 posts
  • a list of free vpn servers

    http://www.vpngate.net/en/#LIST

• My House in China
• Sichuan Quake Relief
• Leman International School - Chengdu
• Sultan
• Lan Guy Paris
• MandarinCorner
• GoChengdoo Mobile
• Chinese Corner