Okay so with all the good reviews surrounding Astrill, I decided to get it before coming to China. To be fair, it did work well the first week I came. However, afterwards, things just spiral. I don’t know what is happening with them right now, but I have gone from using OpenWeb protocol to StealthVPN which is VERY slow to connect and disconnect. And those who says that you don’t have to connect or disconnect because there is a Smart mode, I think you would have noticed a difference between browsing Chinese apps, like Taobao, with the VPN and without the VPN. It is just much slower.
At this point, I am honestly disappointed with the VPN. The customer support did not help much either as I have indeed followed their suggestion to use StealthVPN instead, but it is NOT working well right now. I always have to disconnect and reconnect to new servers so often that it is making me consider getting a new VPN. Honestly, maybe I should not have been that prepared. I know some of my friends who got a pretty VPN here for MUCH cheaper prices. So my advice for people coming to China, just get to know the local first and ask what they are using. They know best.
Again, I would like to reiterate. As of now, this VPN feels like a scam to me. Especially with the no-refund policy. You know, just to rant on reddit where I am seeing all these good reviews, I literally spent 20 minutes trying to get it connected :).
For those who may comment that I am using it wrong. I would very much welcome any suggestions because I have literally used all my brain cells on this and the thoughts of wasting $180 does not sit well with me.
Edit: I am sharing a VPN with my friend right now (tbh, I am not sure what it is, but high chance is that it is a private IP) and it’s been working really well. I think it is pretty cheap as well (about 400 rmb for a whole year subscription, but since I am sharing it with my friend, it’s cheaper). A good tip for anyone looking for VPN is look for your Chinese friends first. They know best about what to do.