Shanghai Tech WriterTechnical Writing, Technology, Web2.0, Google, Shanghai, China

There’s a lot of news coverage lately about Google’s recent announcement to stop censoring search results on google.cn. I’ve received a lot of inquiries from family, friends, and readers about what’s happening, what’s going to happen, whether Google China offices are closing, and whether I still have my job. If you’re here to read or ask about my thoughts, opinions, or response to the whole ordeal, you’ll be disappointed. Though I work for Google Shanghai, this blog is just my own personal blog sharing about my interest in technology, technical writing, living in Shanghai, and yes, life at Google. While we’re all eager to see how everything unfolds in the coming weeks, I’m not going to comment on the situation at hand.

This post is about a somewhat similar topic though. One common concern that many people have regarding the news is whether Google services like Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, and Google Maps will be accessible in China in the future. I’d be concerned too since I rely on many of Google’s products and services to manage my life — email, calendar, documents, directions, photos, shopping, search, work, finance, news, etc…  But Google.cn and Google.com, if these sites are ever blocked in China, won’t be the first or the last to be added to the Great Firewall of China. Many bricks sites are being added to (and occasionally removed from) the list everyday. For a long time, Wikipedia was blocked, but now, Wikipedia works while YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook are blocked. There’s even a website dedicated to listing popular sites blocked in China!

I wrote a post a long time ago about subscribing to Witopia personal VPN service to bypass the Great Firewall of China. There are many other VPN services out there. Some are free (but slow/inconsistent) and some you have to pay a subscription fee. I needed fast and consistent access, so I decided to pay $40-60USD/year for Witopia’s VPN service. It’s a small amount to pay for Internet freedom. Recently, I subscribed to a new VPN service called 12VPN. Now I have both Witopia and 12VPN!

Why do I need two VPN services? Witopia alone would have been fine except when I renewed my subscription a few months ago, I paid for just the openVPN/SSL option, which is about $60/year. I got an Apple iPhone a few weeks later and SSL connection doesn’t work on the iPhone. I needed PPTP or L2TP VPN connection. The SSL/PPTP combo plan via Witopia costs $70/year while stand-alone PPTP connection costs $40/year. Since I already renewed my SSL subscription, I couldn’t just add another $10 for the combo option. I needed to pay $40 for the PPTP connection! Then I read on Shanghai Halfpat about 12VPN and saw that the 12VPN lite plan (10GB/month data limit) costs $25/month and it includes SSL, Cisco, PPTP, and L2TP options! So I went ahead to subscribe to 12VPN and am very pleased with it. 12VPN works on my iphone and my computer! On the iPhone, I use the L2TP connection while on the computer, I use the openVPN/SSL connection. I can even have both the computer and iPhone connected to VPN simultaneously!

Some differences and comparison between Witopia and 12VPN:

• Witopia offers connections to servers in the US, UK, and Hong Kong. 12VPN has servers in the US and UK. I find that for access to websites that do not need a US IP address, HK connection is much faster so I prefer using Witopia to connect to the HK server.
• Witopia plans allow unlimited data transfer while 12VPN lite plan ($25) is limited to 10GB of data transfer. 12VPN offers an unlimited data plan for $70/year, which is the same price as Witopia’s SSL/PPTP combo plan. So if you only need SSL ($60) or PPTP ($40), Witopia is cheaper for the unlimited data plan.
• I’ve been having trouble accessing Hulu.com using Witopia lately since Hulu is taking great measures to block anonymous proxies. With 12VPN, I’ve been able to watch videos on Hulu, but who knows for how much longer.
• 12VPN plans include all the VPN connections (SSL, Cisco, PPTP, L2TP). With Witopia, you choose/pay for the connection you want to use.

Both VPN services have their own pros and cons. I can’t decided which one is better, but since I already paid for both services, I switch back and forth between the two connections depending on my Internet needs. However, when both subscriptions expire, I’ll probably renew just one. When the time comes, I’ll have to decide which one I’m going to keep… unless of course, I find another cheaper and more attractive VPN service/plan!