Guides
Problems we hit running the network, written up as steps you can follow.
Tencent Video or iQIYI Blocked Abroad? Fix It in 5 Steps
Connected to a China VPN but Tencent Video, iQIYI or Bilibili still shows a copyright/region error? Almost always IPv6 or DNS leaking around the tunnel. A five-step check, plus how our mainland routes handle it.
Updated 2026-09-05
How to Choose a China VPN
For overseas Chinese and students: what to check in a VPN that gives you a mainland China IP — a real mainland exit, IPv6 and DNS handling, standard clients vs a proprietary app, and why free nodes keep disconnecting. With a 5-minute self-test.
Updated 2026-09-05
Does Cisco AnyConnect Work in China?
Whether Cisco AnyConnect (now Cisco Secure Client) works in mainland China, why it survives blocking better than proprietary VPN apps, the order to troubleshoot a failed connection, and how to update the client or use it on a phone.
Updated 2026-09-05
Choosing a VPN Router
One router in the tunnel means the TV, game console and every phone at home need no setup. When a router is the right choice, flashing firmware vs buying a pre-flashed unit, how to pick between four models, the four-step flash, and common faults.
Updated 2026-09-05
How to Import a Hiddify Subscription
What a Hiddify subscription link is, how it differs from a Clash subscription, and why you do not need a “subscription converter”. Importing into Hiddify by QR code on a phone, by pasting the config URL on Windows / macOS / Linux, using the share link in NekoBox / Shadowrocket / Stash, and troubleshooting when it will not connect.
Updated 2026-09-05
China VPN for Students Abroad
Scenario by scenario for Chinese students overseas: what streaming needs, how to use banking and 12306 without triggering risk checks, how to get around campus-network IPv6 and UDP limits, and how the same account works in reverse during holidays at home. With a ten-minute pre-term checklist.
Updated 2026-09-05
What a Web Proxy Is and When to Use One
A web proxy routes only the browser, leaving every other program untouched: no client to install, no admin rights, no dropped connections. When it is the right tool, when you need a VPN instead, a two-step setup with a browser extension, and common problems.
Updated 2026-09-05
Free or Paid China VPN?
The cost structure behind free China VPNs: mainland exit bandwidth is metered, so free options survive by overcrowding, capping, or selling your data. When free is enough, when to pay, what a month should cost, and how to use pay-per-day and the free trial.
Updated 2026-09-05
What the Private Network (Tailscale) Is
The private-network section runs on Tailscale: log in once and stay online, switch exit region from the client menu with no reconfiguration, and let phones, laptops and a home NAS on one account reach each other directly. How it differs from a VPN, who it suits, login on each platform, expiry and device limits, and when not to use it.
Updated 2026-09-05
How to Use OpenVPN and When to Choose It
The OpenVPN section: log in, click a region flag to download its .ovpn profile, import it into a client and connect — credentials included. When it beats AnyConnect and Hiddify, which client on each platform, importing on routers and NAS, split routing inside China, and what to check when it will not connect.
Updated 2026-09-05
What the Router Firmware Does
Using a router on this site’s firmware: log in and everything connects; when to use full, split or direct mode; the one-account-one-router binding rule and how to replace a router; component auto-updates with no reflash; Wi‑Fi country code following your location; and connecting TVs, boxes and grandparents’ phones.
Updated 2026-09-05
How to Reach Us and Never Lose Contact
The pros and cons of the QQ, Telegram and Discord support groups and how to join each, what the 24-hour AI agent can answer, when to ask a human, the four things to include in a question, and a stay-in-touch checklist: the mirror-domain order, email, clients and the GitHub knowledge repos.
Updated 2026-09-05
How We Differ from Other VPNs
VPNs fall into three groups — global brands, Chinese “airports”, and free apps. A point-by-point comparison of routes, protocols, clients, account rules and support, with our strengths and our trade-offs stated plainly, so you know what you are paying for.
Updated 2026-09-05
How to Recognise a Risky VPN App
Whether a VPN app “works” is not the question — what it takes from you is. Ten signals to judge whether a VPN app is safe to install: origin, permissions, certificates, identity checks, protocol, revenue, company details; what to do if you already installed one; a three-minute self-check.
Updated 2026-09-05
Which Connection Method to Choose
Six connection methods — private network, Cisco, OpenVPN, web proxy, Hiddify, router — compared on strengths, trade-offs and best use; recommendations by your broadband carrier and by device (phone, work laptop, campus network, NAS, whole home); switch any time on one account.
Updated 2026-09-05
Which Region Is Fastest from Inside China
The same service can differ several-fold in speed between regions, because of your carrier’s exit to that region. Where to try first on China Unicom, Telecom, Mobile and other broadband; how to read the load lights; what to do at evening peak; matching the protocol; a five-minute test.
Updated 2026-09-05
For the TV and the Grandparents at Home
Grandparents who only switch on the TV for Chinese series, a streaming box that cannot install anything, and you on the phone giving remote support — the router option: configure the route once on the router, and the TV, box and tablets simply join the Wi‑Fi; local sites stay direct. Two ways to do it, what the elderly experience, and what to do after a power cut.
Updated 2026-09-05
Watching Home Cameras and a NAS in China from Abroad
How to reach the cameras, recorder and NAS at home from overseas: for vendor-cloud cameras, switch to a Chinese IP and use the Chinese edition of the app; for devices reachable only on the home LAN, use the private network to put one home device and your phone in the same private network and access it as if you were home; for mismatched accounts, install the Chinese edition. With privacy notes.
Updated 2026-09-05
What to Do When iOS Cannot Install an App
The App Store cannot find Telegram, Hiddify or Tailscale, or says the item is not available in your country or region: the store is split by Apple ID region — not the app’s fault. Register a new non-China Apple ID (the trick to choose “None” as payment), avoid changing your existing account’s region, and never use a shared account.
Updated 2026-09-05
Cannot Connect, Slow, or Dropping: What to Check
The checklist to run before contacting support: six steps for “cannot connect” (expiry, clock, region, method, security software, modem restart), four for “slow” (local baseline, region by carrier, avoid the peak, protocol), three for “dropping” (battery saver, network handoff, switch to the web proxy). Ends with the three things to bring to support.
Updated 2026-09-05
Setting Up for Business Trips and Travel
For a short trip abroad or back to China, one client on the phone is enough: install and test before leaving, use it straight away on a local SIM or roaming, get past hotel Wi‑Fi login portals and UDP limits, choose the China region for Chinese content and a nearby overseas region for Google, and log in to banking on the China route then disconnect.
Updated 2026-09-05
On a Company Laptop: No Admin Rights, Corporate VPN Already On
A company laptop that cannot install clients, has no admin rights, or is already on the corporate VPN — use the web proxy: a browser extension set up in two steps routes only that browser, leaving the corporate VPN and intranet untouched. What it can and cannot do, and how to stay within IT policy.
Updated 2026-09-05
Many Devices, One Setup, No Redo on a New Phone
Phone, laptop, tablet and the NAS at home each log in to the private network once and stay online; every device chooses its own exit region; devices reach each other; a new phone just logs in and the old one steps aside. How the 5-device limit works, what happens at expiry, and which devices belong in the network.
Updated 2026-09-05
Routing a Synology or QNAP NAS
A NAS cannot run Hiddify but has an OpenVPN client built in: import the .ovpn from the OpenVPN section and Download Station, Docker image pulls, Cloud Sync to overseas drives and Plex metadata all take the route. What the “use default gateway” option changes, what to do after a password change, and why remote access to the NAS is a job for the private network, not OpenVPN.
Updated 2026-09-05
Routing a Linux Server and Command-Line Tools
A dev box, a Linux machine at home or a cloud server pulling from GitHub, Docker Hub, pip or npm: route the whole machine with an OpenVPN profile in /etc/openvpn/client/ started at boot; route only certain commands with the web proxy address in http_proxy; on desktop Linux import through the network manager. Configuration, the credentials file and how to verify.
Updated 2026-09-05
When Antivirus Flags the Client, or macOS Says It Is Damaged
Windows Security calls the VPN client a trojan, deletes it after install, or SmartScreen shows an unknown publisher. It is a false positive. This page states plainly why it happens, how to verify the installer yourself, and the exact steps to add a Windows Security exclusion — plus three vendor-signed connection methods that are never flagged.
Updated 2026-09-06
RustDesk says the certificate cannot be verified
The code-signing certificate for free RustDesk builds was revoked by its certificate authority in December 2025, so Windows warns that the publisher cannot be verified to a trusted root authority, SmartScreen shows an unknown publisher, and some antivirus products flag it. This guide explains what happened, separates “signature no longer trusted” from “file was tampered with”, gives the two checks to run before installing, the steps to allow it on Windows and macOS, and when to use different software instead.
Updated 2026-09-07