Could someone advise me on the VPN with best results in Shanghai, also the best value for money?

i want to know too...

i hear you can buy some which are about $60/year which are pretty good...

http://www.witopia.net is the $60/year one. This has been discussed so often, I'd really like to suggest to the mods to combine and STICKY these threads. It would help make things easier for people to find this information.

Witopia has a couple choices. The 59 per year install for Windows does the best for connecting well (use the TCP connection options and config your DNS settings ). For $10 more, you get that plus the VPN login ( works with smartphones ). Both have been useful to me.

I have been using Witopia for a year now, and I am very happy with it. Use it both on my PC's and my iPhone.

how about the best free vpn? googling them is like fishing in a sea of mud when you consider the crippling speed of chinese internet. wouldn't a vpn make that even worse i wonder...

What about StrongVPN? Has anyone tried that?

hillerm wrote:What about StrongVPN? Has anyone tried that?

Excellent. I switched from Witopia to StrongVPN about 3 months ago. I used witopia for nearly 1 year. Sometimes the speeds were good, other times it was quite slow, unresponsive customer service, etc.

StrongVPN has hundreds of servers and has been exceptionally fast for 3 months. Customer service is online 24/7 and I have never had to wait longer than 1 minute for a chat. I use it for my phone, my work computer and my home computer (2 accounts).

Can anyone else comment on StrongVPN? I've read a few reviews and am seriously considering taking it over Witopia.

domingoes wrote:

hillerm wrote:What about StrongVPN? Has anyone tried that?

Excellent. I switched from Witopia to StrongVPN about 3 months ago. I used witopia for nearly 1 year. Sometimes the speeds were good, other times it was quite slow, unresponsive customer service, etc.

Really, I've had nothing but good and quick customer service from WiTopia.

Just renewed with WiTopia and before they only had 4-5 link up options. Now they have 41 configurations from 23 different cities around the world...including several 128 bit and 256 bit encryption options.

MoonOverMiami wrote:

domingoes wrote:

hillerm wrote:What about StrongVPN? Has anyone tried that?

Excellent. I switched from Witopia to StrongVPN about 3 months ago. I used witopia for nearly 1 year. Sometimes the speeds were good, other times it was quite slow, unresponsive customer service, etc.

Really, I've had nothing but good and quick customer service from WiTopia.

Just renewed with WiTopia and before they only had 4-5 link up options. Now they have 41 configurations from 23 different cities around the world...including several 128 bit and 256 bit encryption options.

I second that

hillerm wrote:Can anyone else comment on StrongVPN? I've read a few reviews and am seriously considering taking it over Witopia.

Am also intrested in StrongVPN. Any other opinions? Considering changing over from witopia.

Odd that there's such a wide variety of comments on Witopia, some find it works perfectly others struggle.

I use StrongVpn and cant say I have had trouble with it. Customer service is topnotch and the speed is good. You get extra server changes in the first week so you can find one that you get the best connection with and then after that I think its 2 server changes a week depending on what package you go for.

With stromg vpn is it PPTP or Lite open that you are using. Is it easy to configure? Im not sure which to select. Strong vpn or Witopia

chingiskhan wrote:Odd that there's such a wide variety of comments on Witopia, some find it works perfectly others struggle.

I reckon that some people are just not using it properly.

masamune wrote:With stromg vpn is it PPTP or Lite open that you are using. Is it easy to configure? Im not sure which to select. Strong vpn or Witopia

I have a Lite Open for my work connection and a PPTP for iphone/home computer connection. The setup is incredibly easy- they send you a step by step email and it takes @ 5 minutes. IF you are technologically retarded, the IT support can take over your system online and set it up for you in 5 minutes. IT help is online 24/7 with no queue.

In 3 months I have not had to change servers once with StrongVPN. With witopia, I constantly had to keep tweaking my settings, looking for a better, faster server. Maybe I just had bad luck.

I've used them both. Both are fast and both have excellent 24x7x365 live support. both have easy setups, but i don't recall strong having a real installer beyond standard openvpn installer then you having to import your own files. may have changed since i used them months ago.

Witopia is better choice in my opinion because for $70 they give you both openVPN (superior to PPTP) and PPTP with unlimited access to all cities and countries. with witopia, they are pre-loaded into their installer so there is no "switching" nonsense like i encountered with strongvpn. I also got really turned off with strongvpn because they charge way more, but then offer you little "bribes" to post positive comments about them...which is rather cheesy and unethical imho. both have moneyback guarantees though..witopia's is 30 days i believe and i think strong has a 7 day. both are solid companies though overall so you can't really go wrong. i was just insulted by the "hey..post something good about us and we'll knock 10 bucks off garbage..

I have Voip and I hope they would work too. Theres a $39 plan with witopia, would that be sufficient? I am torn between strong and wi.

12VPN, I use for home PC and also for my android phone. I think it cost approx $30 per year, and been the best I've used so far. It's got both US & UK options.

Mhhh, just renewed with witopia, they have had good service and speeds for the time I've been using them, so certainly worth the money

guinness wrote:12VPN, I use for home PC and also for my android phone. I think it cost approx $30 per year, and been the best I've used so far. It's got both US & UK options.

Yeah 12VPN is only $30/year for the Lite version, and I've got a discount code on my site.

Try http://www.orientalvpn.com. Server based in HK, a lot faster for user in China than a US/Europe based VPN.

I'm tempted to try the orientalvpn but theres no money back guarantee if it doesn't work.

My 2 cents - which of the VPNs you mention work with linux or bsd?

Any of the OpenVPN ones would work with Linux. Witopia or StrongVPN would both be ok.

voipguy wrote:I also got really turned off with strongvpn because they charge way more, but then offer you little "bribes" to post positive comments about them...which is rather cheesy and unethical imho.

That's interesting. I've noticed a lot of comments about them here recently. Are these the kinds of comments you mean?

Witopia is better choice in my opinion because for $70 they give you both openVPN (superior to PPTP) and PPTP with unlimited access to all cities and countries.

Correct. Much better deal than with strong where you can only switch a few times a month between a few cities. I also like Witopias support better than strongvpn.

Just found this and I think I'll give it a try:
http://www.echinacities.com/main/ExpatC ... spx?n=5732

voipguy wrote:I also got really turned off with strongvpn because they charge way more, but then offer you little "bribes" to post positive comments about them...which is rather cheesy and unethical imho...

Yes, right. Very unethical not to give little bribes.

In almost every thread about VPN here on ShEx, we all clearly can see who get/got the (little) bribes.

I use Freedur and it works fine. They currently have a giveaway on http://fb.cityweekend.com.cn and it might be a good opportunity to try it and get a free account for a year (FlashBuy as well is a pretty cool thing to try).

Check both of them out

Witopia is terrible, it is SO slow... I find it to be the worst out of the OpenVPN offers.
StrongVPN is by far the most reliable OpenVPN offer, IMHO.