How to Use Dropbox in China 2018?

Hello. I would like to know if Dropbox works in China because I will have to stay both sides between China and America in the future. It would be inconvenience for me to open and use the links to open my files in Dropbox there if it’s blocked. If it is blocked, how can I unblock it? Most of my files for work are stored on it and I use them almost every day. Any suggestion?

Can’t Use Dropbox in China?

Dropbox is one of the most well-known cloud services. It provides smart but simple solutions to file management, including the sync folder copied by most of the competition today. This service stays relevant with fast and reliable sync capabilities, integrates with Microsoft Office Online and has a nice notes app. It is basically an online file hosting service that allows users to store their files in the “cloud”. It brings your files together and organizes them in one central place. With it, you can access your files from any location over a range of devices without any hassle. You don’t have to store all your files on computer or external disk that occupy much space. Most users who usually go on a business trip particularly need it. They can travel around the world along with all of important and work from anywhere.

However, if your destination of business trip is China, you may need extra to use it. It is because this service is banned in this country. In China, you will not be able to access to the files and photos stored on Dropbox. You can’t send or receive large files via this service. It is one of the blocked services in China. The government works with the ISPs and many related companies to prevent their citizens from accessing those services they consider as bad.

Why is Dropbox Blocked in China?

If you live in China, you may notice that there are many Internet restrictions there. The government is strict on censoring users’ online activities. If you try to visit website they banned, the firewall will block your connection immediately. Why does the Chinese government block foreign websites? It is because they consider those services as a threat to their country. In the past, several riots were caused by uncontrolled statement on the Internet that brought big trouble and bad influence on the government. Besides, a developing country had been destroyed by the rumors that were spread out of control on the Internet. Therefore, the government realized how powerful the Internet is, how a single thought could be instantly disseminated with one click, how information could ignite political or social catastrophe. Dropbox is not the only service that is banned in China. In fact, most of the western or popular websites and services based outside China are not available in this country. The authority gave a reason for blocking some social media platforms and search engine, stating those services can trigger the social misbehavior among the Chinese society. However, they do not explain why Dropbox is blocked. Some users think the government blocks this service to allow local internet cloud to hold a good position in the market. Without the competition from foreign companies, the local companies have a good chance to spread in the domestic market. The Chinese ISPs also help the government to stop you from using your personal Internet cloud in their country.

China had blocked Dropbox since 2010. After four years, Dropbox started to use the HTTPS protocol for secure communication. HTTPS is a protocol for secure communication and is the type of system you would usually see employed at your bank or other information sensitive sites which encrypts user data from your browser to the other end. It helps Dropbox to avoid China’s attempted censorship by disguising the type of internet traffic. With this protocol, this cloud service had the uninterrupted availability throughout the country. It was reported that personal cloud-syncing and public file-sharing features functioned well in 2014. Unfortunately, the Chinese authorities have been reacting by blocking access to the service’s HTTPS addresses. All of its related servers were banned. That results in a total ban on all Dropbox services. The block extends to both their app and web service. How can they achieve this purpose? The Chinese government has built a sophisticated system called the Great Firewall of China in 2003 to censor every sensitive information or contents about their politics laws and more aspects. The firewall is a state-of-the-art project that inhibits the people of China from accessing websites that the government doesn’t want them to access. Over the years, this country has tightened its grip on Internet censorship. You may need to either leave the Chinese border or avail Dropbox with the different servers while staying in China. We can tell you that you don’t have to leave this country or give your cloud service. A VPN will help you access Dropbox in China.

How to Use Dropbox in China?

To Access Dropbox, you need to go through the powerful firewall first. The best way to bypass the firewall is to hide the websites you access from the servers in China. That means you need to encrypt all your Internet traffic from the very start. That’s how a VPN helps. VPN stands for Virtual Private Network which is a great tool to enhance the Internet by keeping your connection private, encrypted and anonymous. The VPNs secure your online traffic thru a tunnel, connecting you to the Internet privately and anonymously. Besides, the VPNs also mask your IP address to trick the firewall and ISPs. They hide your IP address effectively with a new one from different country. VPNs basically reroute your connection using another server located in a different country, making it appear that you’re accessing Dropbox as if you’re located in that particular country. In addition, they utilize various advanced technology to distinguish the type of traffic passing through the encrypted connection as the firewall blocks VPNs as well. In this way, the firewall and ISPs can’t tell you are accessing sites that are usually restricted due to the server you connected to being the one accessing the site and passing the information back to you in encrypted form. VPNs are powerful enough to bypass the Great Firewall of China. You may think they are very complicated and only users who have comprehensive knowledge can deal with it. In fact, using a VPN does not require complicated computer knowledge. The process is essentially seamless in the sense. To enjoy lets it help you use Dropbox in China, you only need to get a VPN. It will take care of everything for you. You don’t generally notice any difference than if accessing via your normal Internet connection as long as you have a stable and reliable internet connection to start with. The guides to use Dropbox with VPN in China are listed as the following.

1. First of all the user is required to find the suitable VPN in China and then register on the website. The most famous and most stable VPN is ExpressVPN that is used in China, but there are many other options as well.
2. Once registered the person will have to buy the subscription so that he can avail the possible services.
3. After it either the person will download the application or directly choose the server that is outside China. This is the most crucial part to do because this server will be the place room where you will get access to all your blocked sites.
4. What VPN does is connecting you with the server by mapping your IP address to the IP address of the country where the server is established. This mapping will make you look like as if you are requesting not form but from the other country, and hence you will get all your results.
5. If the person has not downloaded the application, then he will have to add the VPN setting to the device he is using.
6. In case the application has been downloaded then the person will choose the server next and then open the Dropbox. You will be able to not only sync the Dropbox but also share and store the content in the cloud.

Tips to Pick a Right VPN

As we mentioned, the Chinese government have started to crack down on VPN services by inspecting the data transferred to the nth degree and marking it as VPN traffic. You need to pick the right VPNs so as to unblock Dropbox in China successfully. To pick the right one, there are several considerations. First of all, the more server locations and IP addresses the provider offers, the better. You will have more choices to connect to servers that support Dropbox. More servers come with less crowded network. Secondly, it would be great if it provides unlimited bandwidth and its uptime should be high. When sharing big size of files via cloud account, it consumes much data usage. If you use the cloud service frequently, bandwidth is very important. When the uptime is high, it always works for you and you can use your files anytime you want. Thirdly, the encryption ought to be high and protocols are supposed to be able to circumvent the VPN block. How do you know if a VPN works in China? As the firewall constantly has been updated to stop the VPNs from operating in this country, we would like to stay vigilant and frequently test the VPNs. We will display the VPNs that still are able to bypass the Great Firewall of China.

Besides, you may be struggling between free and paid VPNs. It is recommended to use a paid service. The paid services invest more money in developing and improving their services. They would like to spend money on upgrading encryption standard and expanding server location. Some even develop special protocols and tunnels to bypass the Great Firewall of China. Some VPN providers have servers that are optimized for China. As the firewall keeps working on cracking down VPN services, some paid VPNs even are blocked, let alone the free ones. You may face different issues when using a free one. As a large number of people use the free ones, the firewall can find them easily. They are highly likely to get blocked. And, some free services are hard to trust. When connected to a VPN, your data goes through VPN’s servers. The provider can see and read what you are doing. It will be too bad if they use this for evil purposes. The reliable VPN provider offers zero traffic log policy to ensure the safety of your privacy.

With the right VPN, there is something you should keep in mind to get perfect experience with Dropbox in mainland China.
1. Choose the best VPN servers for China.

Most VPN services offer a number of VPN server locations for their subscribers to select. When using a VPN in China, you are suggested to choose those VPN servers that are close to China in order to get the fastest speed. For example, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong all are good options. If you need to connect to a VPN server in the U.S. for special purpose, pick the one from the west coast such as Los Angeles and San Francisco as they are closer to China.

2. Choose the best VPN protocols for China.

The Great Firewall of China has been updated with sophisticated technology to detect and block VPN traffic in China. The right protocol is the key to escape from the block because some VPN protocols are easier to get detected while others are more difficult. According to security experts, OpenVPN works better than PPTP. It will be great if your VPN provider offers special protocols like StealthVPN which is designed specifically to bypass VPN blocking. You should always choose it.

Benefit of Using a VPN

A VPN enables us to access blocked websites in China, but more than that, it also protects users from the dangers of the Internet like hackers & DDoS. It keeps your traffic data private and safe from hackers and other dangers of the Internet. Your banking detail, social media accounts and more valuable information are protected by the military-grade encryption. It allows you to hide your geolocation and keep anonymous by using a different server located somewhere else. It enables you to bypass government censorship and give you full unrestricted access to Dropbox, Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, and other blocked websites. And, it gives you better Internet access. The country’s connection speeds to overseas servers are extremely sluggish, which make foreign web services a pain to use. When your ISP enforces traffic management and restricts the speed of your connection, you lose half of your internet speed. You need a VPN to avoid the strict Internet censorship and poor connection.

Guide to Set Up VPN on Android

1. Unblock the device screen. Tap the Settings icon and select “More” under Wireless & Networks.

2. Select the VPN option on the Wireless & Networks screen.

3. Tap the “+” button and enter the VPN’s details. Give a name to help you remember which VPN is which into the Name field. Then, select the type of VPN server you’re connecting to, and enter the VPN server’s address.

4. Tap the VPN to connect once you finish the setup. You are allowed to choose from the multiple VPN servers configured and switch between them from the VPN screen.

It requires your VPN username and password to login when you connect. If you think it’s inconvenient to enter detail every time, you can save this account information for next time. While connected to a VPN, you will see a persistent “VPN activated” notification in your notifications drawer. To disconnect, tap the notification and tap Disconnect. In this way, you can access Dropbox in China on Android freely.

Best VPNs for China or Other Prohibited Countries

Detail of Some VPNs

ExpressVPN:

ExpressVPN is one of the most trusted, secure brands in the virtual private network industry, and that’s for good reason. It has has Android, iOS, Mac, and Windows applications. It’s superfast and extremely safe, boasting an SSL-secured network with 256-bit encryption and, get this, unlimited bandwidth and speed. All its plans are fully refundable and covered by 30 days money-back guarantee. No questions asked.

Get ExpressVPN Special Deal: 12 Months + 3 Months FREE (Save 49% OFF)

Get ExpressVPN 49% OFF

PureVPN:

PureVPN is a one-stop solution for online security, anonymity and privacy that guarantees the fastest VPN speed and highest level of security worldwide by providing you with 750+ servers in 140+ countries across the globe. You can enjoy complete web freedom with the industry leading encrypted e-privacy and e-security.

Get 2 Years of PureVPN For The Price of 1 (Save 75% OFF)

Get PureVPN 75% OFF Now!

NordVPN:

NordVPN has a strict zero log policy and uses two security protocols: OpenVPN with 2048-bit SSL encryption and the 3072-bit IKEv2/IPsec that is currently the most secure protocol available in the market. Additional security features, such as DNS leak protection and double data encryption, are also available. Its IP addresses and wide VPN servers enable you to avoid government censorship and geo-restriction. What’s more, the NordVPN service is based in Panama, which has no data retention laws, meaning that none of your data is recorded, stored or passed to anyone.

Get NordVPN unlimited VPN service for only $3.29 per/month! (Save up to 72% OFF)

Get NordVPN 72% off Now!

Conclusion

It is difficult for users in mainland China to use Dropbox due to the nationwide Internet censorship. No ill-effect of these services on the society of the Chinese people is found, but the Chinese government shows its will to block this service. There is no sign that it will be removed off the list of the firewall. To use Dropbox in China, a VPN is required. It will reroute your Internet activities via a remote encrypted server. Your Internet request is encrypted from the moment you start. The firewall can’t cut your access to the websites you want to visit. The server can completely mask your IP and make it appear as if you are located in a different location. It is a great tool to hide your true online identity. The firewall and ISPs can’t detect where and who you are. Seeing the IP address you show them, they believe that you are from US, UK or Canada that are out of their jurisdiction. They won’t monitor or censor your online activities. You can use Dropbox, Google, Instagram, YouTube and many more services that are unavailable in China. Get a VPN to connect yourself with the outside servers secretly for Internet freedom now.

Submitted by Josh M. Grove April 27, 2018