Suggestions for working around the Great Firewall, 2017

July 25, 2017 4:55 PM

Might be traveling on business to China very soon and looking for the best way to stay online, could use any suggestions (VPNs, etc)

I just received word today that I might have to make a very last-minute trip to China (specifically Beijing) next week for work - won't know for sure until the last minute so I'm trying to prepare now. Never been there and not sure how to stay online (my employer is pretty terrible about helping out with these sort of things, so I'm probably on my own here).

Usually when I travel I take my Windows 10 laptop, Android tablet and phone and stay connected with family back home using a combination of WhatsApp, Skype, Facebook and email. I also use Witopia when needed - I know it's fallen out of favor in certain circles but I've had very good luck with it, the connections are fast and it's easy to set up. My plan was to just add some Witopia servers to my mobile devices in case certain servers are blocked or slow. Not sure if I'll bring the laptop, but will definitely bring the tablet and phone.

So questions:
1. Is WhatsApp texting still being blocked in China? I've seen mixed reports online. My wife and I use it almost constantly when I travel so being able to use it is a very high priority for me.
2. Will Witopia work in China? If not, what service should i use? Ease of setup/use and reliability is most important for me as I'm really not an IT guy, nor do I have time to learn. If I have to pay more money for a second VPN service so be it.
3. Anything else I need to know to get online? My Internet usage when traveling is pretty boring - when I'm not working Facebook/Skype/WhatsApp is really about it (maybe Netflix if the connection is good enough, and of course MeFi). Thanks!

posted by photo guy to Computers & Internet (9 answers total)

Best answer: I used VyprVPN when I was in China back in December. It worked well, although sometimes I found that one endpoint would suddenly stop working and I'd have to switch to another. I've heard recently that China is cracking down on VPN use, so they may be less effective now.

If you want to solve the chat program outside of a VPN, you and your wife could both install WeChat. It's what everyone in China uses and it works just fine chatting between China and the rest of the world.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 5:47 PM on July 25, 2017

Best answer: Can only answer one small part of this- a client and family travels to Beijing and we communicate and work via Skype which works just fine for our needs.
posted by stagewhisper at 5:53 PM on July 25, 2017

Response by poster: qxntpqbbbqxl - thanks, VyprVPN looks promising, I'll look into it. Might be a good backup opton if Witopia doesn't work. I hate to ask, but is there a dumbed down instruction set for Android? I have no clue what I should be installing (PPTP, IPSEC, etc) and haven't had time to research it.

stagewhisper - thanks. I mostly just use it for Skype Out to call my wife's cell phone, so as long as that works I should be good.

OK I'll stop thread sitting now :)
posted by photo guy at 6:03 PM on July 25, 2017

Netflix is off the table. Even if you have a strong connection through your VPN, Netflix will block you about half the time.

VPNs sometimes don't work, or work very poorly. When the One Belt, One Road summit was going on, they basically didn't work at all. So make sure you can do everything you need to without it.

If you use gmail, make sure you can access all of your essential information elsewhere!
posted by Trifling at 6:34 PM on July 25, 2017

Here is a somewhat unrelated article about cyber espionage. It's not new but it's been my guide since 2011. Seriously, don't take with you and don't use whilst there any piece of electronic equipment which contains data you are not happy to share with your business partners or with others. Buy a paper book and enjoy time off the interwebs.
posted by Parsnip at 10:36 PM on July 25, 2017

Best answer: If you are staying in a reasonably expensive hotel that caters to Western travellers, they will quite possibly have a VPN for their wifi network for guests. Also, if you are using a roaming data plan on your US phone number, then you will be connecting to everything through the AT&T (or whatever) servers and should be able to bypass the firewall that way, although it might cost you in roaming fees.
posted by the agents of KAOS at 12:06 AM on July 26, 2017

When I was in China for 2016, I used PrivateVPN without any problems, not sure if that's the case now but I would also look up expat forums and see what their latest recommendations are.
posted by yueliang at 3:17 AM on July 26, 2017

Best answer: How are you getting online? If you're using wifi hotspots, then you're going to be behind the firewall. If you're using a T-Mobile One Plus with free unlimited international data plan like I did a couple months ago thru my phone, your internet will work just as normal as always and not be subjected to the firewall. I believe the same would hold true for any cellular data plan from the US (so if you pay extra for Verizon international data or something?). But you should check with your carrier.
posted by Grither at 5:35 AM on July 26, 2017

Response by poster: Grither - hotel WiFi mostly (not sure which hotel yet, but likely something higher-end). I do sometimes use Verizon TravelPass as well in countries that support it, which it looks like includes China.
posted by photo guy at 11:38 AM on July 26, 2017