OT: Best Setups? Advice Needed for Streaming Content & VOD Content in China via VPN Services/Browser Extensions
Anyone out there in the MGoCommunity with work or personal experience here? I'm brand new to the topic.
Due to China's censorship of sites like YouTube, I'm trying to find the top ways to give Chinese customers access to streaming content & VOD content via VPN services/browser extensions.
Searching online has helped somewhat but there's tons of differing information out there.
Hoping some of you might have experience, and be willing to lend sage advice and expertise on your favorite setups options.
Aaaand, thanks in advance- even if all this gets me is negs- happy Monday all!
Not falling for this one, Comrade.
/s kinda
As much as it may sound like I'm asking a creatively constructed question to get a creative answer, I'm not. But I get it- for that kind of thing, keep the secrets secret!
Don't see why anyone would neg you, but then again there are some "sensitive" users on this site. Just don't describe yourself as a "three star" and you'll be fine.
This guide, though general, seemed pretty good and aligned with the minimal amount of stuff I know from my very, very legal use of piracy websites. It specifies different kinds of users, which should help.
Definitely helps- thanks!
I'm only a "three star" on paper. Much more of a "three to four star" on the field. Still, I know that's really not good enough around these parts.
Don't see why anyone would neg you
I didn't neg becuase I'm not WD, but I understand why people are negging it. Because this post is an incredibly naïve, ill-conceived, and reckless post.
Moreover, people are replying with google-able stuff about how VPNs work -- how they work everywhere in the world except for China that is.
This is just a shit show waiting to happen if the OP thinks they can simply use a VPN to bypass the Great Firewall of China -- and for a commercial venture no less.
SMDH.
I've had a good experience with NordVPN. I got a VPN because I wanted to access Italian TV and you need to have an Italian IP address to do that. I originally went with another VPN service and it worked initially but then the Italian IP address stopped working after a couple of weeks. I've had NordVPN for about 5 months now and have never had problems.
From my research it seems that VPN companies are very secretive about their business and the ownership. That can make it kind of scary since you are entrusting them with your security.
Here is a link to a PC Word review of different VPN services:
https://www.pcworld.com/article/3198369/best-vpn-services-apps-reviews-buying-advice.html
Thanks. This is one of the biggest concerns I had researching everything. With so little experience and understanding on the technical side, it seemed like a little direct advice would go a long way toward helping me minimize potentially massive risks.
With so little experience and understanding on the technical side, it seemed like a little direct advice
The next sentence is the direct advice you are seeking...
The legal answer is do not use a non-state sponsored/approved VPN inside of China.
The reality is do things like Nord work every now and again in China? Absolutely, yes!
The problem is you're on borrowed time. China knows you're using a VPN *and* they reserve the capability to block connecting it. They do it on mobile devices trying to connect to VPNs all the time. Who cares about snooping when you cannot use it in the first place.
China has gone after foreign entities (such as Apple and Google) selling VPN access in China. They've thrown foreigners in jail for peddling VPN access to bypass content filtering... which is exactly what you are proposing.
Hi, I'll tell you what my experience with streaming has been living in Thailand, though I don't know how helpful that will be as I'm assuming China's got more things blocked even with VPNs.
Over the last few years I've pretty much signed up with every streaming service at some point. If my memory serves me correct the only two that worked with a VPN were DirecTV and FuboTV (I use Private Internet Explorer for my VPN, so maybe another VPN would give you more options). YouTubeTV (which seemed like the best option of channels) didn't work, Hulu didn't work, none of the other ones which I can't remember the names of worked.
This past year I did FuboTV which I liked cause it had a DVR service (awesome as I thought that I would be able to record UM football games that all happen between 11pm-6am my time) that worked well upon my free trial. However, when I actually paid for the service it pretty much stopped working. The quality was also not great watching live as you get a lot pauses when the action is happening. The other problem is it doesn't have ESPN. It had Fox and BTN which covered most M games last year, but you don't get the ABC/ESPN games, which sucks.
I did DirecTV two years ago, and that worked pretty well. It had better streaming quality than Fubo. It had ESPN and I think Fox too, but it didn't have the main networks like NBC, ABC and CBS, so that caused problems with the Notre Dame game and all the ABC games. Also, I'm not sure if DirecTV even has streaming anymore.
In the past year I purchased a FireStick to connect with my TV. It works great for Netflix, but unfortunately the ESPN and CBS apps won't work internationally with that.
So, to summarize, none of the streaming services I've found to be a great service for watching M football over here. The one thing that has worked well for me was joining the MGoStream group on Discord, and a user named MGoArchive streams all the games on Twitch and sends the link out there. Those work almost flawlessly in terms of quality, the only problem is there is no DVR so you have to stay up until the middle of the night to watch games live. He posts to the message board here before every game with an invite to the Discord group, so look out for those during the season. Also, be sure to drop him a bit of cash for that on PayPal if you partake. I think I gave him $20 last year to watch the whole of the season, while I paid about $120+ for 3 months of Fubo that rarely worked, so it works out to a good deal.
Sorry to not provide you with any great streaming options, it seems like a market that is there for the taking, and hopefully we get some better options in the coming years.
Thanks. This is much more on the consumer side than the provider side I'm on, but I appreciate it nonetheless!
Oh wow, I really misread your original post. Thanks for the appreciation for my pointless post though!
If you are trying to start a business around getting around Chinese censorship, I would advise you to give up. The Chinese government is far more motivated and have almost limitless resources compared to you. You are proposing to swim up a waterfall.
The only viable way Chinese citizens get their hands on banned content is through torrent, which is much harder to stop since it is so distributed. There are torrent aggregate sites that lists these torrents but those sites basically have to move constantly since they get shutdown regularly.
Trying to do this using for something like YouTube or Netflix is a losing battle.
November 10th, 2020 at 4:08 PM ^
I was wondering how people in China live without normal Internet access! My advice: the first thing you have to do after arriving in China is downloading a VPN service. You can use dark web vpn. I started using it in China and I still do. I feel safer while I have a VPN app turned on.