Dealing with internet restrictions in China

[pushbrk 13,101]

I'm leaving for a fairly long (for me) trip to China and need full internet access. I've worked out a solution that works for me. I'll be using gotomypc.com to connect to a desktop we'll leave up and running while we're away. I've already verified with their tech support that it will work from within China.

What initially prompted this is our daughter couldn't access our bank's website from inside China so needed to have me check her balance from time to time. I'll need more bank access than that, so this was critical for me.

[YuAndDan 153]

Yep, I did same only since I am a MSCE, and a computer geek, I simply set a static address on my windows XP Pro PC, configured my router to forward RDP port to that PC, and used Dyn-DNS to keep a fix on my router's external public IP address, and have an updater service running on the PC to report and IP address change to Dyn-DNS.

All I need to do is enter an URL into remote desktop which is pre-installed on any computer running windows XP, Vista, SERVER etc.

The roundabout way to remote a PC using the existing tools, no special service needed.

Can also use VNC to do this if using Windows XP-Home (Without Remote capabilities)

[pushbrk 13,101]

Yep, I did same only since I am a MSCE, and a computer geek, I simply set a static address on my windows XP Pro PC, configured my router to forward RDP port to that PC, and used Dyn-DNS to keep a fix on my router's external public IP address, and have an updater service running on the PC to report and IP address change to Dyn-DNS.

All I need to do is enter an URL into remote desktop which is pre-installed on any computer running windows XP, Vista, SERVER etc.

The roundabout way to remote a PC using the existing tools, no special service needed.

Can also use VNC to do this if using Windows XP-Home (Without Remote capabilities)

Too geeky for me.

[Ana&D 0]

LogMeIn is a great program too... Kinda works like GoToMyPC. We've used it to access my fiance's desktop from Jamaica, Ukraine and France. Even their free package allows access, as long as your home desktop is running.

[pushbrk 13,101]

LogMeIn is a great program too... Kinda works like GoToMyPC. We've used it to access my fiance's desktop from Jamaica, Ukraine and France. Even their free package allows access, as long as your home desktop is running.

Do those countries have restricted internet access too?

[Ana&D 0]

LogMeIn is a great program too... Kinda works like GoToMyPC. We've used it to access my fiance's desktop from Jamaica, Ukraine and France. Even their free package allows access, as long as your home desktop is running.

Do those countries have restricted internet access too?

No, not all of them. Only the place in Jamaica did. I just mentioned it as another option that will let you surf from China through your home PC. Works exactly like GoToMyPC except you can use it for free.

[Queeya 0]

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Do those countries have restricted internet access too?

Are you connecting from a hotel computer in China? The Chinese are notorious for spying on Internet traffic of all kinds. Just something to keep in mind if your bank account number is going to be floating around.

Q.

[pushbrk 13,101]

I'd be using my laptop but my bank account number doesn't appear on the bank's website anyway. It does appear, however on any check I write, so it's hardly confidential information anybody can do anything with.

[Melrose Plant 1]

We use log me in so that my nephew can help my wife (and, uh, me too) with computer learning issues. He lives in Vietnam. I'm pretty sure Vietnam does not have any government restrictions on the internet like you find in China, but the program does seem to work well. I have also used GotomyPC in the past. It worked well enough, I guess.

On a side note, the actual, physical internet system in China seems to work much better than the internet in Vietnam (at least in Guangzhou).

Have a wonderful trip to China, pushbrk.

[justashooter 430]

could be as simple as a browser setting. have her open her tools menue, internet options, advanced tab, and select the restore default button. should work in this configuration.

chinese hotels do have spy programs, and do monitor internet traffic. i know the guy who watches mine. i live on a residential floor of a tourist hotel in luoyang most of the year.

[pushbrk 13,101]

could be as simple as a browser setting. have her open her tools menue, internet options, advanced tab, and select the restore default button. should work in this configuration.

chinese hotels do have spy programs, and do monitor internet traffic. i know the guy who watches mine. i live on a residential floor of a tourist hotel in luoyang most of the year.

I'm not worried about spy programs. I'm protected for that. I'm doing this to have full internet access which is not available to public users of the internet in China. Sounds like there are other viable options besides gotomypc that are free but for this trip, I'm using the free trial anyway.

[justashooter 430]

could be as simple as a browser setting. have her open her tools menue, internet options, advanced tab, and select the restore default button. should work in this configuration.

chinese hotels do have spy programs, and do monitor internet traffic. i know the guy who watches mine. i live on a residential floor of a tourist hotel in luoyang most of the year.

I'm not worried about spy programs. I'm protected for that. I'm doing this to have full internet access which is not available to public users of the internet in China. Sounds like there are other viable options besides gotomypc that are free but for this trip, I'm using the free trial anyway.

the internet access in china is less restricted than people think. i find very few sites that will not open in luoyang. travelers should be careful, though, with use of desktop computers in hotel rooms. many have keystroke recording programs, and will save passwords into sites you visit in this way.

your laptop may also be hacked if you leave it in a hotel room or business place, but this kind of "special service" is usually reserved for black passport visitors (diplomatics - you would be suprised how many there are), and those having access to sensitive technology which may be of value to chinese business.

when i first came to china, i had a minder who literally tracked my every move. a year later, when a chinese girl i was dating moved in with me, the $hit hit the fan. when she bought a dog and he moved in with us, things really got interesting. after we got married in the US, we had a banquet here, at which there were 150 invited guests, and a few uninvited guests.

my laptop has been hacked 3-4 times, but contains only the technology we have already placed with vendors in china. the code/timer fob that would open data banks in the US is never out of my sight. not even the room safe is safe enough.

IPR and tech theft by state owned enterprises remains the most significant problem in US/Sino relations. chinese think that anything they can get away with is fair game. fair play in business is a foreign concept to chinese.

the only foreigners i know who have experienced loss from american bank accounts through unauthorised withdrawls were a couple of danish and American fellows working parrallel to me who were a little too hot for the local professional talent, which is always abundant. they drank heavily when engaging in such escapades. too much risk on both counts, much less in combination.

their debit and credit cards were maxed for significant loss. could have been the cash machine in the hotel they lived in was hacked. i think more likely the professional poon they were smacking borrowed their cards sometime after they passed out, having watched them key in the passcode earlier in the night.

[EZgoing378 0]

Nobody is ever safe from spying when you are operating in a place where the government controls the ISP's. Fortunately they only thing they are looking for are security related issues.

[pushbrk 13,101]

Nobody is ever safe from spying when you are operating in a place where the government controls the ISP's. Fortunately they only thing they are looking for are security related issues.

My computer is protected from being damaged by such programs. I'm not worried about hiding which websites I'm visiting.

[endoftheroad 1]

I listened to Air America http://www.airamerica.com/listen daily while I was in china and never had a problem.