Traveling Abroad and Need a VPN? Things to Keep In Mind!

The following is *NOT* a sponsored post.  This post outlines my own personal experiences with multiple Virtual Private Network programs and the issues that arise with choosing the wrong company.


Traveling abroad presents a lot of problems went approaching the topic of internet access on the road.  Various countries around the world block specific sites for a number of reasons, including political and social concerns.  For the Facebook generation, this is incredibly daunting in countries like China and Vietnam where the site is completely blocked.  Other more important services, like Skype and Blogger (where I am hosted) are also blocked in certain regions of the world. 

To get around this, you would either need to use a free proxy, which can be found on any number of sites.  However, many proxies get shut down very quickly after opening, so reliability becomes a problem.  A paid Virtual Private Network (VPN) is the solution.

What is a Virtual Private Network?

A VPN is a paid service in which your internet gets bounced through a country of your choosing.  For example, if you are in China where Blogger and Facebook is completely blocked, you can select a city in the United States or anywhere else in the world as your hosting site.  At that point forward, all actions and webpages you visit will register your location as the USA, and the site is available for your roaming.

The one downside to bouncing off on another side of the planet, is that it slows your connection speed down in the process.  Sometimes even with a good wifi signal at a hostel, connection to websites with a VPN service is impossible.  So it is not a 100% alternative, but is the best possible choice at the moment.

How Much Does it Cost?

VPNs can come in a variety of costs, normally around $10-$12 for one month of service, and around $50-60 for a year of service.  I originally purchased a 3 month package from a site known as Freedur after positive reviews from a friend, which is often the best way to go about getting this type of service, as is the case with most computer services that have limited exposure online.

Why So Disappointed?

Freedur had its issues prior to me purchasing their service, which was unknown to me at the time.  A business partner was rumored to have closed the site and ran off to another country to open a parallel site and steal the original sites users (and potential credit card information).  I must stress that this information has only come from me reading massive comments from many users on google, and is only from second hand sources that I write this, so take it as you will.  In the end, the general consensus was that the original owners of the site were back in charge, however after purchasing the product, I am not so sure.

My own personal experience with the company was buying the service specifically for use in China.  After a long hassle of getting the service activated, the program worked fine while I was in Japan and allowed me to access a few blocked sites along the way.  A few weeks after, I arrived in China, which coincided with a massive server failure on Freedur's side.  A few days without internet is not the type of service you want to pay money for when your websites rely on the service to be updated and operational.  Even after this malfunction was slightly fixed, only one or two locations became available for some time after, resulting in very slow connection speeds and near impossible updates for a reasonable period of time while in the country.

Then the Fight Began

Considering it is important for continual access to my blog and family at home, especially in China, I canceled and was fully looking for a refund due to the fact, only to be told to take off my paypal claim and refund would be given (a red flag to me the terms of online scams).  Since credit card payment for the product was not an option, I stick to the theme of pay through paypal, refund through paypal.  Of course, paypal could not issue a claim as I did not receive a tangible product, and my refund process is in a bit of a stall. 

The only emails that I received were alluding to the fact that I enjoyed their service my first few weeks (when in Japan) and expressing curiosity as to why would I be upset now? This was accompanied by a general ignoring of the fact that their service just plain did not work in China even when some servers were restored.  Instead of returning my purchase, I was only offered credit for lost time due to the server outage, further ignoring my written complaint of lack of good service while in China.

Since, I have not received any positive emails from Freedur alluding to a refund, I expect my $22 will be lost forever.  In fact, recent emails to the extent of requesting a refund have gone ignored for the past few weeks suggesting that my complain has been closed from the other side.

Where to Go Instead?

Shortly after canceling, I purchased a heavily documented VPN service, WiTopia that has options in about 4 or 5 DOZEN cities around the world, unlike Freedurs 4 or 5. So if one network goes out, there are still countless others to choose from, with many in reasonable proximity to any location you could possibly need. 

The best thing about the service in my mind is not only all the options, but one in Hong Kong, which is often the most desirable VPN spot in the Chinese expat and travel community.  The one downside? Service can only be purchased for around $54 per year, and no smaller time increments.  But for steady service, it is worth the money, and I haven't been disappointed in my month and a half of using the product throughout China and Vietnam.

So if you are ever in the market for a trusty VPN service, I recommend passing on Freedur unless you want to worry about shoddy access and poor customer service.  But if you want steady and reliable service, WiTopia has what you may be looking for even if the cost is higher than its competitors.