Mobile Internet access in China
Discussion
Hi folks,
I'm working in China for a week next month, and with a small child at home I am keen to be able to video call, preferably via google hangouts.
I have no idea if my hotels will have wifi - if they do I would imagine I will have to pay - so what is the best option for cheap access. I have a Nexus 7 tablet with a micro SIM slot and use a 3 PAYG data SIM here, and a Nexus 5 phone on Orange.
Options seem to be:
- Call Orange and find how much they will ream me for data out there - no tethering though so will all have to be on phone screen rather than tablet
- Is there such a thing in China as I have in the UK - a prepaid SIM card that gives me (say) 1GB of data and lasts for a month?
Any other ideas? Given my grasp of the native language I don't much fancy asking for wifi at the front desk (esp. as I may be in 4 different hotels).
If it makes any difference I will be in Wuhan, Beijing, Shanghai, & Guangzhou.
I'm working in China for a week next month, and with a small child at home I am keen to be able to video call, preferably via google hangouts.
I have no idea if my hotels will have wifi - if they do I would imagine I will have to pay - so what is the best option for cheap access. I have a Nexus 7 tablet with a micro SIM slot and use a 3 PAYG data SIM here, and a Nexus 5 phone on Orange.
Options seem to be:
- Call Orange and find how much they will ream me for data out there - no tethering though so will all have to be on phone screen rather than tablet
- Is there such a thing in China as I have in the UK - a prepaid SIM card that gives me (say) 1GB of data and lasts for a month?
Any other ideas? Given my grasp of the native language I don't much fancy asking for wifi at the front desk (esp. as I may be in 4 different hotels).
If it makes any difference I will be in Wuhan, Beijing, Shanghai, & Guangzhou.
When I went over in 2010 I travelled around a bit and wifi was available in all the hotels.
I was skyping with my nephew and niece the other week (they live in China), generally it's ok but that time the connection was pretty poor and kept dropping and what I could see was fuzzy. However, it can be like that over here...
Edited to add - wifi in my hotels was free.
I was skyping with my nephew and niece the other week (they live in China), generally it's ok but that time the connection was pretty poor and kept dropping and what I could see was fuzzy. However, it can be like that over here...
Edited to add - wifi in my hotels was free.
no idea about Google Hangout but Gmail and Google Docs (and other google office stuff) gets blocked unless you use a proxy blocker which will kill bandwidth.
You can get pre pay sims, will just need to show your passport.
Most popular mobile chat / call / video app in Asia these days is LINE, which works well out here so that may be an option too.
You can get pre pay sims, will just need to show your passport.
Most popular mobile chat / call / video app in Asia these days is LINE, which works well out here so that may be an option too.
NiceCupOfTea said:
Hi folks,
I'm working in China for a week next month, and with a small child at home I am keen to be able to video call, preferably via google hangouts.
I have no idea if my hotels will have wifi - if they do I would imagine I will have to pay - so what is the best option for cheap access. I have a Nexus 7 tablet with a micro SIM slot and use a 3 PAYG data SIM here, and a Nexus 5 phone on Orange.
Options seem to be:
- Call Orange and find how much they will ream me for data out there - no tethering though so will all have to be on phone screen rather than tablet
- Is there such a thing in China as I have in the UK - a prepaid SIM card that gives me (say) 1GB of data and lasts for a month?
Any other ideas? Given my grasp of the native language I don't much fancy asking for wifi at the front desk (esp. as I may be in 4 different hotels).
If it makes any difference I will be in Wuhan, Beijing, Shanghai, & Guangzhou.
You can easily buy precredited "data only" SIM cards for tablets etc. Just need to go to a China Mobile Store (recommmended as they are the only 4G provider currently). Or alternatively a "pay as you go" SIM with the same provider, for calls and data.I'm working in China for a week next month, and with a small child at home I am keen to be able to video call, preferably via google hangouts.
I have no idea if my hotels will have wifi - if they do I would imagine I will have to pay - so what is the best option for cheap access. I have a Nexus 7 tablet with a micro SIM slot and use a 3 PAYG data SIM here, and a Nexus 5 phone on Orange.
Options seem to be:
- Call Orange and find how much they will ream me for data out there - no tethering though so will all have to be on phone screen rather than tablet
- Is there such a thing in China as I have in the UK - a prepaid SIM card that gives me (say) 1GB of data and lasts for a month?
Any other ideas? Given my grasp of the native language I don't much fancy asking for wifi at the front desk (esp. as I may be in 4 different hotels).
If it makes any difference I will be in Wuhan, Beijing, Shanghai, & Guangzhou.
Easiest in SH or BJ, I guess but certainly not impossible anywhere.
When I say store - I mean a proper retail outlet, not a stall or kiosk vendor who just happens to have a China Mobile sticker on their kiosk.
Its China not Mars - you'll have no problems getting wifi connection in hotels. Unless you're staying in a very local hotel in a 3rd tier city - (which you're not - at least the cities you have listed. And I am also guessing that you will be staying at international chain hotels... )you will not have any communication problem at all... Having spend some time working in a number of cities in the US recently, I honestly found this type of thing much easier and more advanced in China than the good ol' US of A....
I've got 6 years living in and travelling all over China, with very limited Mandarin capabilities, things sometimes take longer and a little more explaining, some creative thinking and some more patience than usual, but you can always get there in the end...
Skype usually works fine, although all traffic is subject to the Great Firewall of China, which has severely limited datarates recently, however still easily doable. Not tried google hangouts, however, China is a little bit sensitive to google and currently I've found at least, I need to use my VPN to access Gmail. So could also have issues with Hangouts. If you're addicted to Facebook, plan on using youtube, twitter and the like, or feel the need to access BBC iPlayer to catch up on Eastenders whilst you're away, then you'll need to get yourself VPN access. Many providers, easy and cheap... Just make sure that you get access to a UK based server if you want iPlayer or Sky Go access for example.
Any questions, feel free to ask...
NiceCupOfTea said:
mikial said:
Tunnelbear works fine for me in the Philippines but I have subscribed .
Apparently blocked in China 
I think most of the free ones are. VyprVPN seems well thought of.I travel to china every week, so far Psiphon has worked 90% of the times.
Use at own risk.
It's free, and free things are not really free these days.
So use at own risk is all I can say, I don't use these free VPN on my phone which is used for work emails and personal stuff, so I use my second phone which have nothing in it to 'break free' from china firewall.
I've used Psiphon for ages, nothing seems to have happened so far, I use it even when I am back in HK, because some games/apps in playstore are country limited.
For reference, everyone that I know who travels to china every week have used Psiphon one way or another, some will even have a few different VPN apps in their phone in case one fails, and no one seems to have problems with it so far.
So use at own risk is all I can say, I don't use these free VPN on my phone which is used for work emails and personal stuff, so I use my second phone which have nothing in it to 'break free' from china firewall.
I've used Psiphon for ages, nothing seems to have happened so far, I use it even when I am back in HK, because some games/apps in playstore are country limited.
For reference, everyone that I know who travels to china every week have used Psiphon one way or another, some will even have a few different VPN apps in their phone in case one fails, and no one seems to have problems with it so far.
Psiphon looks good, Amy other free ones that work in China? Don't fancy paying when I'm only there for a week and there's no guarantee any will work!
Just want a bit of redundancy so I can get my gmail.
Signed up to wemail and line, both look decent but annoyingly my wife's Samsung tablet seems to have some sort of bug with screen orientation. Ok on her phone though...
Just want a bit of redundancy so I can get my gmail.
Signed up to wemail and line, both look decent but annoyingly my wife's Samsung tablet seems to have some sort of bug with screen orientation. Ok on her phone though...
Dammit, I missed this thread. I've got a micro sim for my iPad that has about 6gb left on it, doesn't expire for another year, as well as a nano sim for an iphone that's got a smidge of credit on it too.
Topping up can be difficult yourself (unless you have a Chinese bank account), but usefully, a Chinese person can easily top up your mobile number which I've done a couple of times.
Nothing is impossible in China. It's just very, very difficult.
Topping up can be difficult yourself (unless you have a Chinese bank account), but usefully, a Chinese person can easily top up your mobile number which I've done a couple of times.
Nothing is impossible in China. It's just very, very difficult.
Planet Claire said:
XJSJohn said:
Most popular mobile chat / call / video app in Asia these days is LINE, which works well out here so that may be an option too.
We use WeChat, which works on Android and Apple - chat, pics, voice messages and video too..
Bit of an old topic, but here is some good info.
WeChat or QQ international
Both very good
QQ does the same as Skype, only better.
We never needed passport or anything to get a pre-paid sim.
Most places like Walmart have a kiosk, where you can top-up
Of course, you can simply go to China Unicom, they will sort out a pre-pay sim.
Also, there are ofton folk sitting outside the likes of China Unicome, with little tables, that sell pre-paid sims, cheaper than you can get form inside Unicome themselves.
I would head along the route of 2 x sims.
use one for your calls, and the other set up as data.
The prices we paid was 110 yuan, for 3 gig, lasting one month.
vette
mikial said:
Hi NCOT, I'm sure your destination is fine , yesterday I watched CNN weather report in China , torrential rain and blizzards but that's way up south . 
Stunning !
Have a great time .!
Way up NORTH !!!Stunning !
Have a great time .!
This is Harbin (Haerbin)
Annual Ice and Snow festival
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Also don't forget the Tiger park.
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Enjoy
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