VPNs for Social Networking in China
Friday, November 13th, 2009While living in China is a cultural treat, it can be also become a huge headache particularly if you’re going to use the internet there. Unfortunately, the country doesn’t only have practically every social networking and video sharing site in the English language blocked, the blank rectangles on virtually every website you try to visit is like a mocking reminder that a photo or video has hit the Great Firewall. You’re not getting the complete internet experience – just the heavily-edited bits of it. It’s like trying to enjoy a lukewarm coffee.
A paid VPN or virtual private network poses the best solution for those who are in countries that implement serious web filtering such as Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and China, of course. But there are actually 18 of these countries and states that have web police on 24/7 rounds on the internet. Free VPNs might work but they can still get easily blocked by the internet police and you have next to no customer support option to help you.
VPNs offer a great solution to sidestepping net censorship but if you’re going with a paid service, you might as well be more particular on how long the provider can actually get around the web police. All VPNs attempt this by routing the internet connection through their dedicated linux servers which are based in other countries. The servers are usually located in the US, Europe and probably in freer parts of Southeast Asia. These virtual private networks are ideally backed by sufficient customer service which probably explains why you have to pay for them.