Unblock Facebook in China

Tunneling Through the Great Firewall

Access Youtube From China

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youtube in ChinaJuly 2011 – You'll notice a lot of links that aren't working here on the site.  It seems that in recent weeks, The Great Firewall has had some serious updates, and many of the VPNs featured/reviewed are blocked (at least the sites are). This may not be for the entire country, but at least here in Fujian, many have been blocked.

Securitales is a Web Based Service that is not blocked.  A web based service is different from a VPN, but can also unblock sites in China.  The advantage of a Web based service over a VPN is that you don't have to download anything onto your computer. It works on iPhone, iPad and other smart phones as well as laptop and desktop operating systems like Mac, Windows, and Linux.

The most important thing right now is that it's NOT BLOCKED.

Check out Securitales at www.securitales.com.

I do a lot of talking about Facebook here at Unblock Facebook, but today I though I'd make a featured post for Youtube.  Yes, you can access Youtube from China with a VPN, just like any other site.  Lots of people forget about Youtube, because we have Youku here in China, but there's lots to be had you Youtube that can't be found on Youku.  Ok, mostly the anti-china stuff, but I think in general, Youtube has more stuff than Youku, and it's in English, so it's easier to find. Youku is good for watching free movies, but that's about it. I just don't get Chinese meme – I saw a video of some guy washing his laundry the other day that was supposed to be funny.

This is why we need to access Youtube from China.

I find that video from Youtube is a bit slow with a VPN, but there's nothing you can do about it. It's slow video, or no video.

Actually, when I tried StrongVPN a while back, I was able to access Youtube from China and stream video at a pretty good speed. That's why I always talk about StrongVPN being the fastest VPN I've used. At that time I was using the lite service from 12VPN, back when it was available, and there was a clear difference in speed.

Problem is however, that StrongVPN has been blocked recently. Well, at least I've been unable to access my account for the past week here in Fujian.  Try the link and see what happens.  If not, I'd suggest Astrill or 12VPN.

Access Youtube From China (top 2)

strongvpn in vietnam12vpn in Vietnam

Hide My Ass in China

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hide my ass in reviewHide My Ass in China

Hide my Ass is a really cool service. They're not expensive, and their VPN is very user friendly. They've got a clean design to their site which makes it easy to navigate. One thing I hate about VPN sites like Black Logic and Secure VPN is that it's hard to find out what's going on in there. How much is the VPN? Can I use it on my Mac? Is it compatible with Windows 7? Should I use PPTP or L2TP on my iPhone? There are so many questions for a new user, especially for someone who hasn't used a VPN before.

This is why Hide My Ass is cool. It's up there with my favorites (12vpn, Astrill, and iVPN) as far as user compatibility goes.

One big problem though – they're blocked.

Ok, not all the time, but a lot of the time. They've got the SSL/OpenVPN needed by users in China, but you can't get to it if the site is blocked.

What would I suggest?

I think Hide My Ass is a cool VPN service.  If you're planning on coming to China, get your VPN set up with them before you go. If you're hear and on the off-chance they're not blocked for a while, you can check them out. Hide My Ass won't do you wrong.

But if HMA continues to be blocked, there are lots of other services featured at the site that aren't blocked – Astrill, 12vpn, iVPN

 

Hide My Ass Official Site

 

 

or check out or VyprVPN Review

VyprVPN Review in China

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This is an updated version of my previous VyprVPN in China Review.

Just a few weeks ago I put up a review of VyprVPN and how it worked for me in China.  Much further back, maybe about six months ago, I had a chance to try out VyprVPN.

To tell you the truth, it didn't work that well the first time around.  And my review reflected that.

Well, I was soon contacted by VyprVPN.  They seemed genuinely surprised that it didn't work out for me, and I gave VyprVPN another shot.

I couldn't believe how fast it was the second time around.  Now talking about VPNs, speed isn't everything.  But as far as speed goes, it's not just one of the fastest I've used – it may be the fastest out of over ten VPNs I've tried over the course of five years in China.

Connecting to the VPN was fast. Streaming video was fast.  Browsing the Internet was fast.

Is speed enough? Get VyprVPN here.

vpn serverThere are some things that might turn you off to VyprVPN though, so pay attention.

hulu in chinaOne is that it's a bit more difficult to install.  On my first time around I almost gave up. I'm a real idiot when it comes to computers and as soon as they asked me to create folders and unzip files into them I set it aside for a day before I came back to it.  I also didn't have a file unzipper which I had to find and download.  My second time around I had an idea of what to do and paid closer attention to the instructions the provided(they have everything laid out pretty clearly).  It wasn't so bad, but compared to 12VPN which it just "click, click, finished", some people may have trouble with it.

Server locations is another thing which you may or may not care about. They've got the most important locations down, which would be The US and The UK, which means that you'll have access to Hulu, Netflix, and BBC iPlayer.  Unlike web based browsers like Securitales, you'll be able to access IP restricted sites like these.  TV and movie streaming sites are some of the most popular IP restricted site which you can get access to by changing your IP with a VPN.  This is good.

bbc iplaye rin chinaBut they've only got 5 sever locations, which when compared to services like Hide My Ass and 12VPN which have upwards of 10 or 20 locations, 5 is a pretty small number.  HOWEVER, most of the time this doesn't matter for users in China.  We're trying to get OUT OF CHINA, not get into anywhere else.  1 VPN server is enough to do that, so what do you need 20 for?  Do you really need to browse the Internet from a server in Siberia? No.
 
Server Locations

  • US x2
  • UK x1
  • Europe x1
  • Hong Kong x1


facebook like in chinaThe biggest deciding point for most people is the cost.  Their cost plan is pretty straightforward, especially for users in China. Because PPTP and L2TP are blocked in most places, that means that there's only the monthly SSL/OpenVPN plan available.  At 20 dollars a month, it's a bit more expensive than others, not by much, but it is.  For any decent VPN service you can expect to pay 10 to 20 dollars a month, but 20 is pretty much the top of the scale.

Here's what you should consider though.

1. You get what you pay for most of the time – If you've got the cash, VyprVPN is DEFINITELY worth the extra money.  What's an extra 5 bucks (30 RMB) a month worth to you?  This could cut your video buffering down a lot, saving you time and frustration.

2. They are not blocked. I can write all day about cheaper VPN servers, but the thing is that most of them are blocked.  As of July 2011, 12VPN and StrongVPN are blocked in Fujian (near Xiamen) – and possible in other parts of the country.  I can't really recommend other VPN services.

One last thing – VyprVPN has a stellar support team.  You might not think much of this, but to me, it's a big deal.  After years of dealing with VPNs that I can't install, or times when the VPN just won't connect in China, having a friendly support team around to figure things out is worth a lot.  ESPECIALLY for users in China, who will find that VPN sites and VPNs themselves frequently run into problems, having a fast and friendly support team is important.

Summary

vyprvpn in chinaWho should use VyprVPN

1. Watches lots of video online (hates buffering)
2. Downloads big files
3. Wants to access Hulu, Netflix, BBC iPlayer, etc
4. Has basic computer skills to navigate installation
5. Doesn't mind spending a bit more for quality

Who shouldn't use VyprVPN

1. Just using VPN for basic Internet browsing
2. Using the VPN on iPhone, iPad, or other phones that need PPTP/L2TP
3. Doesn't want to deal with installation process
4. Wants to save some cash
5. Located at work or school where you can't install stuff on the computer

VyprVPN official site Personal, private and secure VPN

For users in China who think VyprVPN isn't for you, I'd suggest Securitales. No installation, 16 dollars for two months, and can be used on iPhone and other mobile devices as well as at work and school.

www.securitales.com

StrongVPN Blocked in China…Again

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strongVPN in ChinaI haven't been able to connect to the StrongVPN site for the past week.  I'm living in Fujian – I don't know what the rest of the country is like. I contacted StrongVPN and they maintain that "some areas are having connectivity issues", but I'd like to know how you guys are doing. Of course, if you've already got the VPN downloaded, you shouldn't have any problems.  The problem is that the main site is blocked – so you'll find that the links here to the StrongVPN site aren't working.

Of course, we'll see what happens in the weeks to come. 12VPN and Astrill are still online, no problems here.

Last time I wrote and article called "StrongVPN blocked in China" they sent me an email telling me it wasn't.

So I'll leave it as, in Fujian, Longyan, StrongVPN is blocked. As far as other places go, I don't know.

 

Get it? StrongVPN! haha

You can try the StrongVPN link here

or check out 12VPN and Astrill.

Access Facebook in Vietnam

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access facebook in vietnamLearn How To Access Facebook in Vietnam

It seems that the dust has kind of settled in China recently, and the battle between VPN companies and Chinese Internet censors has come to a standstill for now. You can bet that stuff will continue in the future, but for now, I'd like to help out buds out in Vietnam.

Yes, it seems Internet censorship has hit Vietnam as well. It, for the time being, is nowhere as censored as China, but they're slowly working their way there.  There are many similarity to censorship in China. For example, you can't access Facebook in Vietnam.

Some of the other blocked sites include Youtube, Twitter, blogging sites, Catholic sites, and Anti-communist sites.  With the communist party in power, the seem to be heading the way of China, looking for full control of the Internet.  While in the past, not being able to access Facebook in Vietnam was only for periods deemed "dangerous" or "high-alert", Internet service providers starting at the beginning of this year have been working hard to make it a permanent block.

Also, which it was possible in the past to use different DNS servers to access the site, in recent months it's turned to a full block.  Facebook blocked in Vietnam in the past was achieved by a simple DNS block, or DNS change which means that they just mess up the domain name servers for Facebook.  You used to be able to replace get the right DNS with a few Google tools and free proxies, but again, these are slowly being blocked in China.

unblock facebook vietnamFrom the site I've found on how to access Facebook in Vietnam, I've collected the best three VPN to unblock Facebook in Vietnam.  Check them out – much of the information on prices and usability are the same for China, so you can also check out the site here to compare VPN services.

Again, VPN's are the only real reliable tool to unblock sites anywhere.  Free proxies are always going to get blocked, and unless you're technically skilled at this computer stuff, you're going to have to spend hours trying to figure out what all these blog posts are talking about.  This is a post from 2009 when Facebook was first blocked in Vietnam. Do you have any idea what he's talking about?

"If you have Facebook blocked at work, it could just be a simple cheap DNS block, where the administrator has replaced the DNS entry for facebook.com on your local DNS server.

Unfortunately, changing the DNS server that your local machine uses, may not always be the easiest way around it, as the local DNS server might have entries that are required for local access to intranet etc to work.

Below is a host file modification that will override the modified DNS server, and allow Facebook to work"

I didn't paste the code because

  • 1. It doesn't work now
  • 2. I'm just making a point of how confusing it can be

Normal people need normal solutions. Get the easy fix, and you can be set up to access Facebook in Vietnam in about ten minutes.

facebook vietnam


12VPN
12vpn vietnam
StrongVPN
strongvpn vietnam