Roaming with a VPN

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corksta

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#231849 16-Mar-2018 10:39

I'm going to China shortly where I'll need to use a VPN if I want to keep up with Twitter, YouTube, etc. From what I can tell it should be ok, but does using a VPN affect roaming in any way? As in, will I still be charged normal data usage when I flick the VPN on?

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#1978488 16-Mar-2018 10:40

Why would you need a VPN when roaming to use twitter , Youtube ETC.... ? Using a VPN would change nothing around data rates / charging as a VPN is still just data

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Dairyxox

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#1978492 16-Mar-2018 10:46

Linux:

Why would you need a VPN when roaming to use twitter , Youtube ETC.... ? Using a VPN would change nothing around data rates / charging as a VPN is still just data

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I don't think he's worried about data rates etc. Hes looking to circumvent the great firewall.

For that purpose I'm not sure. A lot of obvious VPN's will get blocked so something you're setting up here might not work anyway.

Ideally you'd talk to locals or expats in China, to find out what they do...

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#1978496 16-Mar-2018 10:47

You can’t use Facebook, Twitter, Google, Dropbox and many other services in China.

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#1978497 16-Mar-2018 10:50

corksta: You can’t use Facebook, Twitter, Google, Dropbox and many other services in China.

But you will be using a New Zealand SIM card in China correct? So the data comes from New Zealand so no great firewall of China to block it

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#1978500 16-Mar-2018 10:52

Dairyxox:

Linux:

Why would you need a VPN when roaming to use twitter , Youtube ETC.... ? Using a VPN would change nothing around data rates / charging as a VPN is still just data

Linux

I don't think he's worried about data rates etc. Hes looking to circumvent the great firewall.

For that purpose I'm not sure. A lot of obvious VPN's will get blocked so something you're setting up here might not work anyway.

Ideally you'd talk to locals or expats in China, to find out what they do...

The main point here is ' Roaming ' so they must be using a SIM card from another country, The great firewall of China rules don't apply to roaming traffic

Not sure how talking to locals that use local SIM cards will help

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corksta

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#1978502 16-Mar-2018 10:57

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corksta: You can’t use Facebook, Twitter, Google, Dropbox and many other services in China.

But you will be using a New Zealand SIM card in China correct? So the data comes from New Zealand so no great firewall of China to block it

Linux

Correct. I’m with Spark and I’ll be using their roaming packs. The last time I was there eight years ago I wasn’t able to access services but I think that was while connected to hotel wifi. Obviously roaming is a much more affordable option now but I was under the impression I’d still need a VPN to get around the blocking.

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#1978506 16-Mar-2018 11:00

corksta:
Linux:

corksta: You can’t use Facebook, Twitter, Google, Dropbox and many other services in China.

But you will be using a New Zealand SIM card in China correct? So the data comes from New Zealand so no great firewall of China to block it

Linux

Correct. I’m with Spark and I’ll be using their roaming packs. The last time I was there eight years ago I wasn’t able to access services but I think that was while connected to hotel wifi. Obviously roaming is a much more affordable option now but I was under the impression I’d still need a VPN to get around the blocking.

When roaming and using mobile data it's handled very different than the local China internet traffic that would go thru the Great wall of China Firewall

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corksta

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#1978509 16-Mar-2018 11:02

Ok so for roaming and using mobile data I should be fine but will need a VPN if I want to access stuff while connected to wifi, does that pretty much sum it up?

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#1978511 16-Mar-2018 11:03

corksta: Ok so for roaming and using mobile data I should be fine but will need a VPN if I want to access stuff while connected to wifi, does that pretty much sum it up?

You got it

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#1978548 16-Mar-2018 11:41

corksta: Ok so for roaming and using mobile data I should be fine but will need a VPN if I want to access stuff while connected to wifi, does that pretty much sum it up?

Yes that was my son's experience when he was there for several months recently.

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#1978556 16-Mar-2018 11:52

allan:

corksta: Ok so for roaming and using mobile data I should be fine but will need a VPN if I want to access stuff while connected to wifi, does that pretty much sum it up?

Yes that was my son's experience when he was there for several months recently.

I had the opposite experience, I couldn't use mobile data (Vodafone) for facebook and google etc until I turned on a VPN connection, the moment i passed from Hong Kong to Shenzhen I lost access to anything. I used ExpressVPN which was great.

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#1978561 16-Mar-2018 11:59

ResponseMediaNZ:

allan:

corksta: Ok so for roaming and using mobile data I should be fine but will need a VPN if I want to access stuff while connected to wifi, does that pretty much sum it up?

Yes that was my son's experience when he was there for several months recently.

I had the opposite experience, I couldn't use mobile data (Vodafone) for facebook and google etc until I turned on a VPN connection, the moment i passed from Hong Kong to Shenzhen I lost access to anything. I used ExpressVPN which was great.

The Apps should work the same way as in your home country (same as using mobile data in NZ)

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dt

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#1978562 16-Mar-2018 12:02

You most certainly need a VPN to access those sites in China on any connection type

If it goes out over the internet in china, it hits their great firewall.

I used Torguard last time I was there and it worked well

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#1978565 16-Mar-2018 12:03

dt:

You most certainly need a VPN to access those sites in China on any connection type

If it goes out over the internet in china, it hits their great firewall.

I used Torguard last time I was there and it worked well

When roaming you should not need a VPN as the data is coming from the home network GGSN

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#1978567 16-Mar-2018 12:05

dt:

You most certainly need a VPN to access those sites in China on any connection type

If it goes out over the internet in china, it hits their great firewall.

I used Torguard last time I was there and it worked well

You don't on a mobile while roaming, due to the way roaming works. When you're roaming your mobile data is tunneled back to your home mobile provider and into their GGSN and egresses to the Internet in New Zealand so doesn't go anywhere near the great firewall of China.

If you are using a WiFi connection or a Chinese SIM you will definitely need a VPN to bypass the great firewall. Just be aware of the clampdowns on these that have occured.

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