Unblock Facebook in China

Tunneling Through The Great Firewall

Access FB in China

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Why another post on "access FB in China?" Well it seems that the term "Facebook" has been temporarily (or permanently) banned from Google search.  In the past three days I've lost over 400 views on my site.  I went from about 1,000 a day to just over 500 in the span of three days. What a bummer. It could be something else, but I noticed to day that the word Facebook made my Google searches automatically time out and get banned from Google searches.  So now I may have to use the term "access FB in China" or "unblock FB in China", because that seems to not set off any red flags.


Anyway, you can see on the right hand side that I've got some VPN reviews and comparisons there – you can check them out, or read up on the home page about web based proxies VS VPNs

Top Five VPNs in China

Best web based proxy in China

 

previous post

A Facebook proxy server that works

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facebook proxy server that works in ChinaA Breakthrough to the Social Sites Blocked – Finding a Facebook proxy server that works

In the past few years, social networking has drastically changed the lifestyle of many people, especially the youth and young adults of western nations. Facebook as a social networking site has dominated this industry. When I worked in The US, we are allowed to visit Facebook only on lunch time and after job hours. We used a network which blocks some sites and secures others within the internet. I'm sure you've had similar experiences at your jobs.  Almost everyone is aware just how much time you can waste on Facebook. All my friends are on Facebook and if I wanted to chat with  them or check up on them, I had to take a coffee break.  The rules were pretty strict.

Later on however I found out that I could use a Facebook proxy server that works to hide your IP and bypass firewalls at work and school. That way, I was be able to waste time when my boss wasn't around. Most of my workmates in my situation are still using proxies. I've moved to China now, where proxies and virtual private network are also used to evade  firewalls as well.  The security of both can unblock sites in China, just as it did at my workplace.  Trouble is, finding a Facebook proxy server that works in China is pretty tough sometimes.

facebook in chinaFor instance, the internet censorship in China has created so many limits and restrictions to the websites that are supposed to be providing these proxies, it's hard to find where to connect to them. But considering China with the highest number of internet users in the world, it's very likely (and common) that there are still quite a few ways to get a hold of a Facebook proxy server that works in China.  Free proxies were popular back in the day, but too much traffic got them blocked – or that's my theory on it anyway.

The great thing about proxies in China is that you can use them on your phone too. Unlike VPNs which have to be installed, and don't work on phones anyway, you can get one subscription and use the same Facebook proxy server that works here on your phone, laptop, school computer, and anything else really. But even with the Remote Access Service, Pocket Layer Filtering, Single Contact Point and all the other security features of proxies you will still find some limitations – one of these limitations is that you won't be able to access American or UK content like with a virtual IP address through a VPN.

The only Facebook proxy server that works in China (that I know of) is Securitales. I had long given up on proxies until I came across them.  The don't seem to advertise much, unlike a lot of the other VPN services out there, but as I've tried it myself, I can honestly say that it not only works, but it works like magic.  With no installation necessary, you just have to go to the Securitales site and you can get started with your FREE TRIAL in under a minute!

securitales web based proxyGo to www.securitales.com


If you're not up for checking out Securtiales, then you might want to schedule in another hour of research to find something.  Oh yeah, and Securitales is only 6$ a month.  I challenge you to find something cheaper.

 

yesterdays post

Proxy to Access Facebook in China

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unblock blocked sites in chinaThere are a number of countries where social networking sites such as Facebook is blocked.  Moreover, there are many schools, colleges and universities where students do not have access to Facebook.  In China, together with Facebook, a number of other major websites are also blocked and this makes things really difficult for people who love to spend time chatting with friends from all over the world.  As is turns out, all of these sites can be unblocked with a web based proxy.

Some years ago when I first came to China, I discovered that most of the major social networking sites had been blocked.  I really needed a way to unblock Facebook because there had not been a single day when I didn’t post messages to my friend or didn’t play my favorite games on Facebook.

I knew that there were some techniques that could be used to unblock Facebook, but I was not confident about using any.  I knew that there was a proxy to access Facebook in China, but I had forgotten the name that once was mentioned by my friend.  I really didn’t want to risk using any other proxy to access Facebook in China than the one that my friend had recommended.  This is because that particular proxy had been tested by my friend and I was told that it is the best one she had tried

proxy to access facebook in chinaI thought for sometime about this particular proxy to access Facebook in China and finally I remembered that it was Securitales.  I immediately turned on my computer and searched for Securitales.  I was happy to find that this proxy to access Facebook in China came with a money back guarantee (30 days!) and if I was not satisfied with it, I could have my money back.

I decided to get it and since it does not require any installation, it was easy to use and it was quick as well.  In no time, I was able to connect with my friends outside of China using this secure and trusted web based proxy called Securitales.  Later on I found out that even if the site goes down in the future, the proxy will still be usable.  This makes it a worthwhile investment because unlike VPN connections and other Facebook unblock software, the Securitales proxy can be used in the future if the website gets blocked by the internet service providers or the government.  So if you are looking for a proxy to access Facebook in China, get Securitales. Did I mention there's a free trial?

 

facebook in china proxy

 

 

yesterday's post



Access Facebook in China on iPad

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ipad in chinaI've got to write a follow up article on some of the recent posts I've been making, because I suddenly became aware a few days ago that it's still possible to access Facebook in China on iPad.  I know, I know, after all my posts talking about how L2TP and PPTP VPNs were blocked because of the stuff that was going on in Egypt, and after all the stuff I wrote about how mobile devices like iPad couldn't access blocked sites without jailbreaking the iPad and messing up your warranty, I've got to go back and change what I said.  It is completely possible to access Facebook in China on iPad – all you need is a web based service to help you bypass Internet censorship.

I got an email from a company called Securitales the other day.  I had seen their advertisements around, and to be honest, they never really caught my eye.  I didn't really know what they were, but I was happy with my VPN, so I didn't look into it so much.

However, when they contacted me about featuring them on the site, it came to my attention that their service was a bit different from other services I had tried.  They're a web based service.  This is now the second time I've used this term – and it's exactly what it sounds like.  It's called a web based service because their method of unblocking sites in China does not involve downloading or installing anything on your computer.  It is accessible through any device that can connect to the Internet because there are no changes made to the device that you're using. It's just like accessing a website, or using a special browser window.  This is why you can even access Facebook in China on iPad.

facebook in chinaUnlike PPTP and L2TP VPN protocols which are blocked and don't work in most of China, Securitales will send you a secure link to your inbox, which means you can access their secure browser anywhere, anytime, even if their site is blocked.  They've even got a FREE TRIAL, (if you click the link, the free trial option is right below the sign-up form) which is amazing these days – most VPNs don't even offer that.  Once you access the link, type in your username and password, and type the URL of the blocked site into the secure browser area.  You'll notice that it's using HTTPS, not HTTP.

I was pleasantly surprised at the speed of Securitales.  Like I said, I had seen their service advertised around before and didn't think much of it.  But don't let their lack of flash and strange name (sounds like the name of a Pixar/Disney movie doesn't it?) fool you.  They're pretty much on par with most VPN companies.

A disadvantage of using a web based service is that you've got to type the URL you want to visit into the designated area in order for the site to be unblocked. I'm still getting used to it and I frequently switch back to my normal browser only to be blocked from the site, and then I've got to go back and retype the URL. Not a big deal, but slightly inconvenient.  For users that want to access Facebook in China on iPad however, you haven't really got a choice, and something is better than nothing.  This is probably just one of those things that you get used to.

Securitales will also work on your iPhone and Android devices.  In a nutshell, for mobile users in China, its a very cool service to have.

Securitales Website

Remember, they've got a FREE TRIAL

 

 

last weeks post

China in The Philippinies

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Here's an interesting article on China's recent (and future) activities in The Philippines, and how Filipino Americans are reacting.


China in The Philippines

SwitchVPN in China Review

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switchvpn in china

SwitchVPN in China

SwitchVPN is a lesser known VPN, but still worth checking out. I have not tried this VPN so cannot vouch for it's reliability or speed. But there are a few things I can see from checking out their site.

1. Not a lot of choice. +1 -1

This is good, and bad. For one, it makes things simple. Lots of sites like to have EVERYTHING available which is a lot to take in for new users. Considering users in China can't use PPTP or L2TP this makes things much easier. You can ignore pretty much all of their plans but the SSL plan which is 12 dollars a month.

2. Live Support +1

3. Unlimited Bandwidth +1

3. Downloading Torrents OK +1 (some sites don't allow this)

4. Windows/Mac/Linux +1

5. 48 hour Money Back Guarantee -1

There are plenty of services out there that offer 7 day money back guarantees.

6. Site Design +1

I used to Knock their site for bad design and presentation. They've recently improved it, and it looks much better – more like a service I can trust.

7. Price +0

Not the cheapest, Not the most expensive.

8. Not Affected by March 2011 VPN crisis in china +2

9. Still Not Blocked in China +2

10, Site connection speed +1

11. Servers in Multiple Locations +1 (US, UK, Netherlands, Germany, Canada, Switzerland, Malaysia)

12. Free Server Switching +1

All in all, it looks like a decent VPN service.  One thing that really impresses me about SwitchVPN in China is that I've never had issues connecting to their site. Even some of my favorite VPN sites like StrongVPN and 12VPN have from time to time been inaccessible or a couple days. If you find that some of the links on my site get timed out, SwitchVPN is a cool service to check out.

SwitchVPN Official Site

 

 

Or check out my PureVPN in China Review

Chinese Hackers, Gmail, Whitehouse, Baidu, Password, Google

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Yes, a long crazy title – there's alot to cover. I haven't got much to say, but these are some interesting articles you might enjoy about possible Chinese hackers trying to get into the White House, Google blaming China, Baidu profiting from it (and denying it), and of course Gmail being a less and less safe form of email as it comes under frequent attacks

 

FBI investigates Gmail attacks

Gmail hackers go after White House

Baidu does well after Gmail attacks

China hacking, and lying

Can’t access Gmail

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July 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 don't know about you guys, but I can't access Gmail, or Google for that matter!  I'm not going to say that the whole of China can't access Gmail, but I've got two internet access points here, one at the office, and one at home.  Either both are on the fritz or China's at it again.  I'm using Firefox at home, and anything I type into the Google search bar gets shot down with a "the server request is taking too long"..but this may be a problem with my personal computer – I've got more viruses than the average person.  The school computer is generally virus free but I think they restored it from the 90's so that's nothing to get excited about either.  Regardless, I'm SOOOOO glad that I have a vpn, because without it i'd have to start using Yahoo for searching.

That's the funny thing, is that I can't access my Gmail account, but Yahoo and Yahoo mail is not  a problem. I started using it to search the other day, and didn't realize how slow Google actually was.  Have you heard about "throttling"?  It's where they limit bandwidth of an internet connection, in this case to make the site slow on purpose.  China does this when they can't block a site completely, but want to discourage users from using the site.  They used to do this with Wikipedia a few years ago, and they do this with Google and Google pages now.  As a webmaster, I use things like Google Webmaster Tools and Google Analytics.  All blocked in China. Or slow to the point of being useless.

Chinese Hackers, Internet Safety

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Hey I just found this article about the Night Dragon – Chinese hackers getting into Western Oil companies computer systems and stealing gigabytes of sensitive info. Scary stuff.

How is Astrill vpn workin out for you guys?

 

Gmail is f*ed as ever.  I'm to the point where I never turn my vpn off at all.  Any time I  update the site or check my mail China's got something to say.

Here's another very interesting article on censorring phone conversations.  The guy says "protest" twice and got cut off. Ridiculous.  Sorry, it's on Blogger so I'll paste the good parts here.

From Reality Lenses

 

You thought that the tension between China and Google couldn't be higher? Think again. Google is still fighting for freedom and transparency, while China is doing the exact opposite:

(Ars Technica) — Google has awarded $1 million to Georgia Tech researchers so that they can develop simple tools to detect Internet throttling, government censorship, and other "transparency" problems.

That money will cover two years of work at Georgia Tech, with an additional $500,000 extension possible if Google wants an extra year of development. At the end of the project, the Georgia Tech team hopes to provide "a suite of Web-based, Internet-scale measurement tools that any user around the world could access for free. With the help of these tools, users could determine whether their ISPs are providing the kind of service customers are paying for, and whether the data they send and receive over their network connections is being tampered with by governments and/or ISPs."

(NYT) — If anyone wonders whether the Chinese government has tightened its grip on electronic communications since protests began engulfing the Arab world, Shakespeare may prove instructive.

A Beijing entrepreneur, discussing restaurant choices with his fiancée over their cellphones last week, quoted Queen Gertrude’s response to Hamlet: “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” The second time he said the word “protest,” her phone cut off.

He spoke English, but another caller, repeating the same phrase on Monday in Chinese over a different phone, was also cut off in midsentence.

A host of evidence over the past several weeks shows that Chinese authorities are more determined than ever to police cellphone calls, electronic messages, e-mail and access to the Internet in order to smother any hint of antigovernment sentiment. In the cat-and-mouse game that characterizes electronic communications here, analysts suggest that the cat is getting bigger, especially since revolts began to ricochet through the Middle East and North Africa, and homegrown efforts to organize protests in China began to circulate on the Internet about a month ago.

 

Enjoy