Modern technology defies oceans, time, space, and every other form of restriction. We can send video and books from one continent to another in mere seconds, talk to people halfway around the world as if they were right next door, and view marketing reports and sales charts as they happen in real time. Unfortunately, living in China means having a lot of those collaborative tools disrupted or disable because of the country’s strict Internet censorship policy. Anything associated with Google, Facebook, or Twitter is blocked in China, and even seemingly harmless collaborative tools like Dropbox have been shut down. While it might sound far-fetched to some, terrorists have taken advantage of collaboration tools to mastermind attacks in the past.
Alternatives to Dropbox in China
With Dropbox completely blocked in China, users who need it for work or personal use can seek out alternatives. The difficult part is finding those that are not also banned by being partners or products of things like Google that have an overarching view. If you cannot get Dropbox in your office in China, here are some alternatives to consider:
VPNs to Access Dropbox in China
If Dropbox is the only game in town for you and your company, than a VPN must be employed to get access. Here are three of the better choices:
1Trust.Zone VPN
Trust.Zone VPN is great for novice users and those who need a simple solution to a complex problem. Trust.Zone has a no-logs policy to keep you out of harm’s way and supports OpenVPN encryption, which is the current champion for most VPN users. You get unlimited bandwidth with Trust.Zone, which is always helpful when you’re using Dropbox, which generally devours a lot of space. While they are both limited to 1G, you also get a free trial and ad a 10-day money-back guarantee.
2IPVanish VPN
IPVanish VPN can’t break through the Great Firewall of China going out, but it has no problems emulating it from the inside. Celebrating its second full decade in business, IPVanish has a strict no-logs policy, 256-bit AES encryption, a kill switch, and both IP and DNS leak protection. Although it debuted as a Windows app, it also works for Kodi, Fire TV, Linux, Android, iOS, and macOS.
3PrivateVPN
PrivateVPN haisl from Sweden and can take out anything except the US version of Netflix. It leads the pack in encryption with 2,048-bit encryption that comes standard along with an automatic kill switch and built-in leak protection. It’s quite diverse, taking up to six connections at once and is great for torrenting thanks to its port forwarding and P2P functionality.
