Tag Archives: Astrill

#Ivacy VPN 2017

7 Aug

Ivacy VPN

If you pay any attention to my blog, you’ll know that for the last 3 years I have been living abroad and traveling to many countries including China, Korea, Japan, US.  All truly beautiful countries, you should try reading some of my other posts to see my adventures!

As always, I want to start by saying I do NOT support using a VPN to avoid legal blocks (like the Great Firewall), accomplish illegal or illicit activities, or do anything that the government would not approve of.  Those things are illegal – if you don’t want to follow their local laws, find a different country to live or travel in. 

So if you aren’t looking to break firewalls and get into sites you shouldn’t be getting into, why would you want a VPN?  You can find my list of the pros and cons of a VPN here. In general, I like the security a VPN provides to me, whether at home or abroad. I still use my VPNs in the US, especially if at a public location to avoid the same hacks, viruses, and trojans I worry about while traveling.  A VPN can help keep you fast and safe. Sometimes. Depending on which VPN you choose.  Also, it sometimes helps me bypass technical issues in the system. For example, my university uses Blackboard, but it does have random glitches that drop it a lot.  About 25% of the time, it only works if the teachers use a VPN.   When other teachers are down and out, those with a VPN can still get on.

To be honest, I actually go back and forth between several VPNs right now including Astrill and VyprVPN.  You can read my reviews for them here and here.  But I recently  Ivacy offered me the chance to test them out – kind of a new VPN on the shelf. Here’s my experience so far!
Continue reading →

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Life Abroad ~ #VPN Apk

13 Jun

I’ve found in my experience that most VPNs are a pain in the neck to download in certain places.  If the websites are blocked, down, not responding (ehhm Astrill ehhm not naming names), it’s frustrating trying to figure out how to download it. Or WORSE! The new updated version crashes and you need to go backwards to an old edition but the website dropped it.  

ANNOYING!

So I’m providing links to the APKs here for the three I am familiar with Astrill, Ivacy, and Vypr.  Please note that I am NOT a computer wizard — I just let you know what worked for me.  So I cannot vouch for the security of any of these websites. I used them all on my phone to download the APKs and nothing died or crashed. That’s the best I can give you for advice on how secure these links are. 🙂   All of these websites are accessible in most locations where the VPN sites are blocked – for now. 

  • Astrill 1 | Astrill 2

  • Vypr 1 | Vypr 2

    • Still has that issue where you need access to the website to install the file.  For example, in China you need a vpn on in order to install Vypr. You can borrow a friends VPN wifi, but just know this is a problem. 

  • Ivacy 1 | Ivacy 2 

    • Very nice in that I have NEVER had problems with their website, VPN on or not. 🙂  So you could try going to their website
    • Minor problem for phone downloads – If you choose “download for android” it sends you to Google Play (which may or may not be available in your region).

For those of you who are unfamiliar with APKs, here is a short explanation 🙂 

Normally when you start using a software program (like Microsoft Office, VPNs, Facebook apps), you follow a process. 

  1. You go to the APP store or the Staples store and buy the software.
  2. You click the file and say “download.” That puts the file (software) on your device (computer, phone, etc). 
  3. Once you have the file on your device, you “install it” (make it run).  You click yes to a lot of buttons, agree to follow terms and conditions, and watch it load.
  4. After installing, it asks “do you want to open this software” and off you go using your new tool. 

But what happens when the app isn’t on the app store. Or it isn’t available in Staples. Or the website is broken?  How do you get that file downloaded to your device? 

This is where APKs come in — APK are just the download “file” you need for step 2.  Only instead of getting it from an APP store or the website, you went to a 3rd party online and downloaded it.  

So here’s the new process. . . 

  1. Go to the APK website above or your own link
  2. Download the file they offer.
  3. Do steps 3 and 4 as usual!

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Life in China ~ #Ivacy #VPN

5 Jun

Image result for Ivacy

Hey guys!  I’m about to test out a new VPN called Ivacy.  I’m curious to see how it works. I’m downloading it today, and I’ll put it through it’s paces. Then I’ll let you all know how it goes!  Can’t wait to see how it compares to Vypr and Astrill!  I’ll also be posting a 2017 update on Vypr in the next couple weeks! 

So much going on in the VPN department!  Exciting! 

*yes, I am a nerd – these things excite me 😛

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#Astrill VPN 2017

4 May

Astrill VPN

If you pay any attention to my blog, you’ll know that for the last 3 years I have been living abroad. The world has many wonderful aspects to it (the mountains are GORGEOUS!), but stable and safe internet service is not one of those. My friend recently took her computer back to the States after a trip abroad to be repaired and the tech guy said she had more than 200 viruses on her system.  

So if you aren’t looking to break firewalls and get into sites you shouldn’t be getting into, why would you want a VPN?  You can find my list of the pros and cons of a VPN here. In general, I like the security a VPN provides to me, whether at home or abroad. I still use my VPNs in the US, especially if at a public location to avoid the same hacks, viruses, and trojans I worry about while traveling.  A VPN can help keep you fast and safe. Sometimes. Depending on which VPN you choose.  Also, it sometimes helps me bypass technical issues in the system. For example, my university uses Blackboard, but it does have random glitches that drop it a lot.  About 25% of the time, it only works if the teachers use a VPN.   When other teachers are down and out, those with a VPN can still get on.

To be honest, I actually go back and forth between Astrill and VyprVPN which runs at about $80/year for 1 device or $100/year for 2 device. Another one recommended to be was ExpressVPN which runs at about $100/year for 1 device and 1 phone/ipad (I’ve never tried them so I have nothing to give you for Express).   

After more than 3 years as an Astrill user, I thought I would offer you a report on how it’s going.  Continue reading →

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The #Tech Life ~ #VPN Pros and Cons

26 Apr

As always, I’m actually a supporter of people using VPNs to protect themselves when on the internet.  Although a VPN is never completely anonymous, it does go a long way towards protecting your identity and computer from people who want to hack and steal your data.  For those of you interested in how a VPN can help you or hurt you, I thought I’d compile a list of benefits and problems I’ve run into with my 3 years of VPN experience 🙂

Continue reading →

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Astrill Problems & an Alternative

19 Jan

Hello!

Just a quick note, the Astrill VPN has been having a lot of problems the last couple of weeks.  Some of the complaints I’ve been hearing:

  • It won’t log in.
  • It won’t connect.
  • It connects, but there is no internet service.
  • It works sporadically – some webpages are not connecting but others are.

While I usually like Astrill, I know that it sometimes comes and goes.  If you are looking for an alternative, here are a couple I can recommend.  

VYPR VPN

VYPR is a pretty strong VPN , it’s been more stable recently than Astrill. I use it quite a bit, and it’s been fine these past few weeks. You can read my review here.  It costs money, but to me being safe on the internet is so worth the price.  It’s nice not to get viruses on your computer when you’re looking in to WeChat from a local cafe or something. 

Psiphon 3

Psiphon is a free VPN which can be helpful in times of emergency.  I never have had much luck with it on my computer, but I do sometimes use it on my phone.  To be honest, the service is sketchy, I’m not confident about the safety, and it doesn’t let me upload things due to slow speed. But if I need a quick check on Google Mail or something, it has pulled me through some rough patches!

There are of course other alternatives, but I haven’t tested them out. So I can’t really recommend them.  

 

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Astrill Update

5 Feb

Yay! Astrill is semi-working on Apple again! And it actually seems a little better than before.  🙂  It started about 2-3 days ago and has been going on so far.  It drops every so often, but then it picks up again.  I haven’t tried visiting any blocked sites (I know some people who said those still threw them off), but it is helping keep my computer safe while I visit the allowed ones like my Outlook email again.  I’m happy!

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VPN Update in Asia

26 Jan

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So, reports have been out recently that the VPNs in Asia aren’t working as well as normal.  The reports are definitely true.  Actually the internet in general isn’t working that strongly right now, but that could just be my specific place.  O_o

But in general, Astrill has been causing a lot of problems recently, as have ExpressVPN and VyprVPN.  Astrill is completely uncommunicative on Apple products, which is a bite to a lot of people here at my institution.  I’m not so sure about the others working on Apple, but I know that a lot of PCs and Androids are also having problems.  So far, Astrill is working just fine on my PC, but not all the time on my Samsung DuoS phone and not at all on my IPad.

Astrill says it is attempting to update an app for use in Asia, but we’ll see how it goes. To be honest, I don’t know a lot of VPNS that work well on IOS systems at any time.

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Life In #China: Astrill VPN

5 Jan

Astrill VPN

Life abroad has many, many benefits for foreigners to reap – great food, cheaper cost of living, easy travel.  It also comes with slow internet speed in many places (just too many people online at once), and lots of online threats (the sheer technological ability of the people even in my student body is mind-boggling.) This is why I always work with a VPN (virtual private network), in fact I use one in the US too.

I like the security a VPN offers from those with bad intentions towards my laptop.

A VPN can satisfy the need for speed and security for me- the internet system here at my university is A. slow as heck (yes my VPN makes my laptop faster here for some reason) and B. filled with hackers and viruses waiting for me to seek them out.  A VPN can help keep you fast and safe. Sometimes. Depending on which VPN you choose.

I just hate the feeling that I’m that at risk to viruses, and I’d been using a VPN in the States to help combat malware and data theft.  I didn’t want to travel abroad and leave myself at risk to scams or bad people sneaking into my computer.   I’ve heard good things about VyperVPN which runs at about $80/year for 1 device or $100/year for 2 device. Another one recommended to be was ExpressVPN which runs at about $100/year for 1 device and 1 phone/ipad.  However, after some consideration, I decided to run with Astrill, recommended to me for its price and easy usability.

After more than 5 months as an Astrill user, I thought I would offer you a report on how it’s going.

Price: $70/year + $60/year for use on 5 devices (covers my whole family, phones, laptops, iPad, and more).

Review: The price was one of the lower ends of the group, especially if you want a family plan.  Honestly, I’m still paying a surprising amount, but it isn’t too terrible.  I get StealthVPN (a safer option) free if I tweet an ad for Astrill every month, which is nice.  One problem I ran into is that I attempted to pay Astrill in August, only to find out in October that despite having a confirmation number, the bill was unpaid.  I tried a second time only to find out the same again.  Their payment system kid of sucks. Conversely, they didn’t shut off my program for any of the mess though, so that was a plus.

Installation: Easy (sort of)

Review: Installation is pretty easy. You set up an account with username and password and then download the program.  It’s all fairly straightforward. There was a problem with my first installation because it screwed up the Proxy Settings on my computer so that NOTHING worked. I took it to the resident tech expert and he fixed it in about a second.  Something about DNS servers not responding. Not ashamed to admit I don’t know what went wrong, just that it was easily fixed.  

Use: Easy

The program is extremely easy to use as long as it is working. It automatically signs you in, you pick your server from a drop down list, and it connects you right up.  If you want to see what server is the fastest, go to Help-> Test Speed and just test all the servers.  I recommend using a server from the USA if you want to access all US websites. Remember that if you want to use websites not available in the US like Youku or Tudou you need to use a Chinese server.

Access: Scattered and Bumpy

The technology is easy to use but works sporadically and is highly unreliable.  Unfortunately, they failed to tell me until after I paid that Astrill rarely works on Apple Products right now. Something about IOS 7 and IOS 8 not being compatible. Astrill keeps dropping off on my iPad and often fails to work at all.  On my laptop, it is often extremely slow, even if I use multiple different servers or if the speed test says it is fast. I have had repeated days when it simply didn’t work at all.  I also got a pretty snotty email about a week ago on CHRISTMAS EVE!?! telling me that they “detected suspicious movement” and were freezing my account. Given that this was my only way to contact my family in America (one of the reasons I had Astrill), I was not impressed.  Upon responding to them, I was told that I was changing servers too many times. 0_0 well duh! I purchased a product that now rarely works and only then if I test out several different servers.  I wasn’t amused. That said, when it works it does pretty good. I don’t really have any trouble accessing Facebook or Youtube videos when it is working. It helps if you have a fast internet connection cause Astrill can slow you down. My mom’s internet connection is pretty week and Astrill OFTEN stops working at all for her regardless of the server chosen. Continue reading →

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