Bypassing the Great Firewall of China

[chncar]

I don't surprise one day GFW blocks all VPN technologies including shadowsocks(r).

But, for some reasons I don't know, they still leave some flaws or holes on the wall at present. That is why I can still enjoy shadowsocks at this moment.

 

[System Error Message]

VPN is the obvious way but you can also use web proxies outside the country that use an encrypted string in their mechanism (doesnt have to be https but the encryption for the link you visit is important).

openVPN uses the same ports as http so it is harder to block but if china is smart they will use L7 to whitelist http and block https or openVPN or everything else.

Another option would be a custom VPN setting or even TOR network if you know an exit node outside china that you trust. TOR is also a type of VPN as VPNs are all to do with networks and routing rather than anonymity (destination still knows who you are), and VPNs have their weaknesses in security when used as an internet but if its to bypass your local ISP filtering, it will do the job.

 

[sfx2000]

I don't surprise one day GFW blocks all VPN technologies including shadowsocks(r).

But, for some reasons I don't know, they still leave some flaws or holes on the wall at present. That is why I can still enjoy shadowsocks at this moment.

If they found a real need to, they would block it - I think they more concerned about content, not tech itself, and they've very advanced on deep packet inspection these days...

 

[RMerlin]

If they found a real need to, they would block it - I think they more concerned about content, not tech itself, and they've very advanced on deep packet inspection these days...

I remember reading that during certain sensitive periods, they tend to tighten the GFW rules a bit, and loosen them once that period is over.

 

[sfx2000]

I remember reading that during certain sensitive periods, they tend to tighten the GFW rules a bit, and loosen them once that period is over.

Yeah, certain party events are a big one, and any time there's something of controversy in or out of the mainland they tend to tighten things up. They also tend to loosen things sometimes during seasonal festivals...

What's interesting - I mentioned DPI - even on relatively "open" access, certain keywords will get the block...

Definitely a hand on the throttle so to speak - and policy changes from minute to minute...

Send someone this image over WeChat, Weibo, or QQ mail, and you'll likely get it blocked these days... that confirms DPI...

 

[Lost Dog]

I was in China a few weeks ago and had a new travel router to play with (GL.iNet GL-AR750S... fantastic router!!!!). I've got OpenVPN and Shadowsocks running on my RT-AC68U and Wireguard running on a server in my network (in the US). The AR750S has clients for all of those so I was able to compare all. The only issue I had was using my DDNS service... That would not work so I had to connect using my home IP address. Fortunately it does not change often and I knew the IP. All three services worked and I was even able to watch Netflix (with a few pauses). I ran some speed comparisons:

OpenVPN: 3.58 Mbs Down / 2.64 Mbs Up
Shadowsocks: 4.73 Mbs Down / 2.31 Mbs Up
Wireguard: 4.74 Mbs Down / 3.00 Mbs Up

OpenVPN always was slower than the other two.

I was in Taiwan the week before and here's results from there:

OpenVPN: 2.9 Mbs down / 7.47 Mbs up
Shadowsocks: 14.1 Mbs down / 6.37 Mbs up
Wireguard: 6.19 Mbs down / 1.59 Mbs up

As for China, I didn't have any issue with the Great Firewall and didn't see my internet speed come to a crawl after a bit of being online. I checked for DNS leaks and did not have any with my setup...

 

[HowIFix]

I already imagine the happiness of the Chinese after bypass the great wall and be able to navigate through the internet and watch "family" pages, also without consequences.