Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/08/12/you-can-get-a-great-deal-on-wi.html
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Can I use this in China?
You can’t count on any one VPN for any length of time in China, the state is engaged in a running game of whack-a-mole with such services so what works one day may not work the next. If you’re planning on using a VPN in China you’re probably best to wait until you get there then ask around for a working service. If you can get over the language barrier it shouldn’t take long to find someone who knows what’s up.
What I’ve found to be 100% reliable across multiple trips to China is to create an SSH tunnel through to a virtual private server that I rent in the US. I guess there are too many legitimate uses for this kind of secure connection for them to be banned on sight, but once you’ve got your tunnel you can run what you like through it. It’s reliable for voice calls and conferences, but video calls are iffy. I’ve found that if you try to transfer too much data (downloading large files or torrents for e.g.) they are liable to rate-limit you down to dialup speeds.
It might be a bit harder to set up than your average consumer VPN, but if you know how to Linux then sshuttle will do all the hard stuff for you. I imagine it’s more expensive for the amount of bandwidth you get than a VPN subscription, although you can get some pretty good deals on a VPS if you shop around. Anything you can SSH to will do the job so if you have a fixed IP address you could even set yourself up with an endpoint at home or at a friend’s place, but dynamic DNS services like No-IP are blocked so unless I’m missing a trick it’s fixed IP or nothing.
If you absolutely must have a dependable hole in the Great Firewall then it’s the best option I’m aware of.
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FWIW, Windscribe has been discussed over at Wilders, and it appears to be one of the better ones.
Can this be run at the router level, and if so what high speed router would you suggest? I would ideally prefer a hardware firewall that can run a good VPN service. Also, I notice it has a lifetime service option. Is there data caps on that? and while it’s great to be private from an ISP, what is their privacy policy? How much information do they collect and store and for how long? I’d totally buy it if it meets my needs.
Running a VPN eats a lot of CPU cycles, most routers can get bogged down very quickly. The quad-core models from Asus can just about handle it, and their software interface (a souped up DD-WRT) makes it easy to add VPN capability to them.
As for Windscribe, I think they are too new for there to be complete certainty about their policies, but their CEO participates on some security forums and seems legit.
Is the processing required for decryption only? Or is there another reason? Are there any other companies, or even specific routers, that you can recommend? and how would I go about installing whatever software is required onto a router?
I generally avoid ASUS products after an extremely bad experience with an ASUS Skype Video phone. To summarize, the battery started to fail within warranty. I paid the shipping cost to have it repaired, and they sent it back exactly the same. I did that 3 more times, pushing beyond the warranty, and the last time I got it back the condition was even worse than the 1st time and I ended up paying more in shipping than if I just bought a replacement unit. Essentially, they never did any quality control for any warranty repairs. If they did anything at all, they probably say that the battery worked and didn’t bother to wait the 60 seconds required to see it fail, but even that I doubt because the last time they sent it back the battery was down to 5 seconds. Knowing how bad they handle warranties makes me go out of my way to purchase more expensive products from other companies over their products because you get what you pay for. I might consider purchasing ASUS in the future, but only if I was purchasing items in sufficient volume to justify the lack of proper warranty and only if it was sufficiently cheaper than competition to justify buying a complete replacement.
This is similar to what Apple implemented in their new safari web browser. They could possibly edit things until they release it in the new software but so far everything seems awesome. No more following google ads !!
Encryption and decryption both. Hard core types say that for very high speeds you should build your own router out of a PC. My internet isn’t fast enough to have made that necessary yet.
I’ve only had Asus and Linksys/Cisco routers and have had nothing but good experience with the Asus so they’re the ones I would normally recommend. Also, you don’t need to install special software for the VPN on these routers, just your VPN’s information. On other routers you might need to install open firmware (DD-WRT, Tomato, etc) to get the same functionality.
You can get better advice on routers here:
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