VPN for China

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midhurst

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#240174 24-Aug-2018 12:58

Hi there: My wife is off to China next week for a month and wondering how best to keep accessing Gmail. I wondered if a VPN would be the way to go. Does anyone have any experience and advice on this topic?

Behodar

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#2078487 24-Aug-2018 13:05

The easiest option would be to use an NZ SIM, although that may not be the cheapest method.

I've never been myself so can't really comment further.

Linux

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#2078520 24-Aug-2018 13:52

If roaming with a NZ SIM card you won't need to do anything

John

Paul1977

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#2078525 24-Aug-2018 13:56

Linux:

If roaming with a NZ SIM card you won't need to do anything

John

But even using an NZ SIM you are connecting to the Internet via a Chinese telco right? So won't she still be subject to China's blocking of Gmail?

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#2078531 24-Aug-2018 14:01

Paul1977:

Linux:

If roaming with a NZ SIM card you won't need to do anything

John

But even using an NZ SIM you are connecting to the Internet via a Chinese telco right? So won't she still be subject to China's blocking of Gmail?

@Paul1977 No I have already advised when using a NZ SIM card you don't need to worry, No Great Firewall of China

John

surfisup1000

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#2078532 24-Aug-2018 14:03

midhurst:

Hi there: My wife is off to China next week for a month and wondering how best to keep accessing Gmail. I wondered if a VPN would be the way to go. Does anyone have any experience and advice on this topic?

Funny you ask this because I was speaking to someone who has just returned from a 1 yr contract in China.

She was saying almost everyone uses vpn. And, she used 'wechat' or something like that to talk to people back home. Which is fine if you don't mind the Chinese government eavesdropping. .

Sometimes the vpn she would use stopped working but would eventually resolve itself. I am guessing the chinese government is playing wack-o-mole with vpn's.

In any case, between the vpn and wechat she didn't have to many issues .

Mattmannz

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#2078569 24-Aug-2018 14:42

An SSL VPN is pretty hard to block or intercept and is what friends have used

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#2078606 24-Aug-2018 15:23

Mattmannz:

An SSL VPN is pretty hard to block or intercept and is what friends have used

Correct, But the Chinese goverment is null routing the IPs of all the major VPN providers, So it's a game of cat & mouse for the general public. If you setup your own it's not really an issue.

Having recently returned from Shanghai I can confirm no issue accessing "blocked websites" when roaming on a NZ sim.

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UHD

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#2079774 27-Aug-2018 15:03

How does roaming on NZ SIM circumvent the firewall?

Behodar

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#2079776 27-Aug-2018 15:04

Technically it's not circumventing it; you're not using a Chinese ISP so the firewall simply isn't involved.

Zeon

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#2079801 27-Aug-2018 16:09

When I was last there last year I used ExpressVPN and it was pretty reliable. They have stated a crackdown on VPNs but haven't heard much about it.

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