Tag Archives: Virtual Private Network

#Ivacy VPN 2017

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 →

Tags: Asia, Astrill, Ivacy, Ivacy VPN, Life Abroad, Teaching Abroad, Travel, Virtual Private Network, VPN, Vypr

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Categories Computer Issues, Life, Teaching, Travel

#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.

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 →

Tags: Asia, Astrill, Life Abroad, Teaching Abroad, TESL, Travel, Virtual Private Network, VPN, Vypr

Comments 3 Comments
Categories Computer Issues, Life, Teaching, Travel

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 →