Which Connection Method to Choose

• Private network (Tailscale): log in once and stay online, switch region from the menu, devices on one account reach each other (a home NAS). Cost: runs on UDP, so it falls back to relays on UDP-throttled campus networks, and it fights another VPN over DNS. Best for many devices and set-once-and-forget.
• Cisco AnyConnect: TLS, indistinguishable from an HTTPS visit, best compatibility and steadiest on restricted networks; official or built-in client, no configuration import. Cost: all traffic takes the route, so inside China you run the split-routing script separately. Best for work laptops, iPhones, old devices and UDP-restricted networks.
• OpenVPN: one .ovpn file, import and connect; nearly every OS, router firmware and NAS has a client, and it can start at boot. Cost: UDP; on phones and laptops it is less convenient than the two above. Best for OpenWrt routers, Synology/QNAP NAS and Linux servers.
• Web proxy: only the browser takes the route, request by request with no long-lived connection, so it never drops; no client, no admin rights. Cost: browser only — video apps, games and system DNS bypass it. Best for work laptops, machines already on a corporate VPN, and unstable broadband.
• Hiddify: the hysteria2 protocol resists packet loss and is fastest on lossy networks; QR-code import, one app on all five platforms, split routing built in. Cost: UDP, so it fails on UDP-restricted networks, and Windows antivirus often flags it, needing an exclusion. Best for speed and lossy broadband.
• Router: the whole LAN takes the route; TVs, boxes, consoles and grandparents’ phones install nothing; the firmware has split routing and auto-updates. Cost: a flashable router or a pre-installed unit, and router access needs a premium account. Best for households, offices and devices that cannot run a client.

The same method can differ several-fold in speed between regions because of your carrier’s exit to that region, not the server. Northern China Unicom: try Japan and Korea first; southern China Telecom: Southeast Asia (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia) or Australia; other carriers (Mobile, Great Wall): the China entry — the client connects only to a domestic address and we handle the cross-border leg, so cross-border interference does not reach you.

The red/yellow/green light on the region list shows each region’s live load; among several Japan servers, take the green one. Everyone is slow at the 8–11 pm national peak, and changing region then helps more than reconnecting.

• One phone, travelling: Cisco or Hiddify — scan a code or enter an address and go.
• A company laptop with no admin rights: the web proxy; also the web proxy if you can install clients but a corporate VPN is already running.
• Dormitory or office network that throttles UDP: Cisco. Hiddify, Tailscale and OpenVPN all use UDP and will be slow or drop.
• Broadband that keeps dropping, poor Wi‑Fi: the web proxy — there is no connection to drop.
• Speed on lossy broadband (old buildings, mobile data): Hiddify.
• Many devices, configure once, a home NAS to reach from outside: the private network.
• Whole household, TVs, boxes, grandparents’ devices, an office: the router (premium account).
• A router that cannot be flashed but a NAS or Linux box at home: put the OpenVPN profile on that device.
• Watching Chinese video from abroad: any method with the China region; the three device-wide methods block IPv6 on the route side, while the web proxy cannot control IPv6 and is unsuitable for video.

Only users inside mainland China need split routing; users abroad should use full mode, since splitting sends some sites the long way round. Hiddify switches to “auto split” in the client, the web proxy in the extension, router firmware splits by default; Cisco and OpenVPN route everything after connecting and need the split-routing script from the Cisco section.

If a site fails in split mode, test in full mode first: if it opens, it is not on the list; if it still fails, the site itself is the problem.

1. Change region first. If another region connects, that one server is temporarily unreachable.
2. Change network. If broadband fails, try mobile data and vice versa; interference differs between carriers.
3. Then change method. If the UDP methods (Hiddify, private network, OpenVPN) fail, switch to Cisco over TLS; if device-wide methods keep dropping, switch to the web proxy. Blocking of the three protocols is independent.
4. Failing that, see the troubleshooting guide or ask in a support group with the method, region, error text and time.