Proxy or VPN to access Facebook or Twitter while in China

[munitalP]

Hey everyone. Does anyone know the best method of accessing the forbidden internet sites while in China? I made a mistake of not setting something up on my MBA before leaving = PITA.

Im using a hotel internet connection and cannot access anything with PROXY or VPN via google or the likes. Darn, a reason why I should have bought my work laptop over my personal MBA - at least I would have a VPN!

Look forward to your replies!


Xei Xie

munitalP

 

[Fantic125]

Merry Christmas!

I've tried a number of times when there but even through VPN I haven't been able to access "forbidden" sites like Facebook!
Hopefully someone else may have an answer though!

(Thankfully AFF is ok!)

 

[TonyHancock]

I have a couple of methods, but I'm not sure either will be much help for you on this trip.

1. I leave my home PC on and log into it via VNC.
2. I lease a server in Europe and log on to it via Remote Desktop.

Neither are particularly ideal, and can be slow, but do work.

 

[Simo]

IMHO probably not possible because they Chinese IT people would block the IP addresses that are attached to those programs.

The only way you might be able to do it is is via a program that will let you see the screen of a computer.

I was overseas and trying to use a work web site which was only available from my static IP at the office so we used team viewer and it fixed the problem.

PITA as it is very slow and you have to have a computer on at the other end because you are viewing that screen.

 

[markis10]

Try the free trial of securitales!

https://www.securitales.com

 

[kpc]

Interesting....when I stayed at the GH Shanghai 10 days ago, I did not seem to be restricted in internet access including Facebook.

 

[munitalP]

Try the free trial of securitales!

https://www.securitales.com

that worked

now to read t&c and see if i can get a short contract

 

[one9]

munitalP,

I sent you a PM with two reasonably priced VPNs that are currently working in China....

If you are staying in China a long time and willing to pay a bit more, the best solution is to rent a VPS (about $10 per month for US server or $30 per month for Aussie server) and then pay someone around $50-$100 to setup a VPN on the server. This way it is dedicated to you and unlikely to get blocked in the future unlike many of the cheaper VPN services that get problems when they become too popular.

 

[risky]

Everything in China goes through "the great firewall of China". I'm not sure if the policies that are applied are specifically published somewhere (doubtful for an official version), and no doubt they are "updated" regularly too.

Sitting in the hotel in Beijing one evening, I connected via the normal hotel internet. Everything I wanted to get to worked (including exchange email, via HTTPS). However, the moment I typed "tiananmen square" (and spelling variants) into a search engine, the whole site was blocked. tried this with Google.com.au, Google.com, Google.com.hk. [By way of context, the very first image for that search is the guy with the shopping bags stopping the tanks from moving...]

When I connected to the VPN at work, and made sure all traffic went via the work proxy servers, those searches worked fine. So VPN access outside China will solve the problem - next time take your work notebook! (Or get the work VPN going on your personal device.) I have heard that all traffic that cannot be directly inspected (eg VPNs) is heavily throttled, but I didn't notice any real speed reductions on the work VPN which is not the fastest anyway.