Safely Access Viber Anywhere, even in China!

Reading time: 5 min

Rakuten Viber is the kind of digital technology that lends credence to the Internet being a place where everyone is trying to make the world just a little bit better.

Viber best vpns
This instant messenger (IM) and voice-over-IP (VoIP) app are completely free to users who are registered and have their cell phone numbers verified.

As of late 2018, Rakuten Viber had more than 1 billion registered users and also allows users to exchange media files such as images and videos. It also has a paid component for international landline and mobile calling services.

Rakuten Viber has spread across the world with corporate offices in San Francisco, Minsk, Sofia, Moscow, Paris, Singapore, and Manila.

Use Viber in China vpn solution

Unfortunately for Chinese fans of Viber, that much-unmonitored freedom is too much for that country’s government. In late 2014, Viber was blocked in China, joining Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Taptalk, and Google on the country’s list of censored mega-sites.

Note! Non-government-approved VPNs are illegal in China, but there have been no public cases of tourists being penalized by the Chinese government. The protection of a VPN doesn’t give you license to commit illegal acts, so please exercise a basic level of caution when using a VPN while visiting China. Editor’s Note: We value our relationship with our readers, and we strive to earn your trust through transparency and integrity. We are in the same ownership group as some of the industry-leading products reviewed on this site: ExpressVPN, Cyberghost, Private Internet Access, and Intego. However, this does not affect our review process, as we adhere to a strict testing methodology.

Why Does China Block Communication SItes?

China Best VPN
Control is the obvious answer to this question. Sites that allow Chinese citizens to freely connect to other parts of the world also give those citizens the ability to access news sites that have different viewpoints of Chinese policy and politics than those officially mandated by the Chinese government.

A second big reason is money. If an app accessible to all of China’s 1.4 billion citizens offers the equivalent of free international calls via VoIP, those people could stop paying money to China’s traditional telephone companies for the same service from China’s telecommunication companies.

That loss of income would be enormous, and thus not acceptable by the powers that be.

VPN requirements for Use in China

China is not like most countries when it comes to virtual private network (VPN) usage. The Great Firewall of China – the infamous name for its complete control over its Internet infrastructure – is too much for many VPNs to handle. They simply have not invested enough money into security and encryption protocol to evade China’s security that notes unusual activity.

Whenever you consider buying a subscription to a VPN to use while visiting China, you should definitely review it to see if it can handle Chinese security protocol. If it does not specifically say so, make sure the VPN has a free trial period in place so you can test its ability to escape Chinese notice before you commit to paying for it.

Virtual Private Network (VPN)
Beyond that requirement, you want to look for VPNs that have a lot of available servers in countries close to China to cut down on your latency time. Latency refers to how much time it takes the electronic signal to physically travel from your computer to the remote server to the website you want to visit.

With Viber being an interpersonal communication hub, greater latency times will slow down your connection when using VoIP or IM on Rakuten Viber.

Third, an automatic kill switch should be standard practice for the VPN you use while traveling to China. Should your VPN connection drop, you definitely don’t want your true IP address exposed while visiting a website that has been banned for more than four years in China. People get fined, arrested, and deported for issues like that.

Top VPN Choices for Using Viber in China

1Private Internet Access (PIA) VPN

Private Internet Access (PIA) VPN

While it’s based in the United States, Private Internet Access (PIA) VPN gives users lots of security options and server choices, making it a great option for safely accessing Viber while you’re visiting China. 

Private Internet Access’s security is exactly what you want for accessing the internet safely while in China. It supports every major encryption protocol except IKEv2, has built-in DNS leak protection, SOCKS5 compatibility, and the all-important kill switch.

It has a lot of server variety as well, more than 3,000 to choose from, which means there are plenty of choices in countries that border China to lower that latency time.

Get it Now

Editor’s Note: Transparency is one of our core values at WizCase, so you should know we are in the same ownership group as Private Internet Access. However, this does not affect our review process, as we adhere to a strict testing methodology.

2VyprVPN

VyprVPN

VyprVPN comes to you out of Switzerland, which is a big plus as that country has strict Internet user protection rights, basically the anti-China when it comes to online freedom.

It has great security in its standard package including 256-bit AES encryption, zero-knowledge DNS practices, a kill switch, and its own NAT Firewall to keep out large-scale threat.

Get it Now

3PrivateVPN

PrivateVPN

PrivateVPN is another great option celebrating its 10-year anniversary as a company.

It has some of the very best encryption available for a VPN – 2048-bit – and adds an automatic kill switch, built-in leak protection, and a strict no-logs policy to its offering.

Get it Now

We review vendors based on rigorous testing and research, and also take into account your feedback and our affiliate commission with providers. Some providers are owned by our parent company.
John Bennet
Written By John Bennet
John Bennet is an experienced data and communications engineer and cross-platform copy and content writer and editor with a keen interest in cybersecurity. He has been working with and researching, VPNs and other online privacy tools for many years.
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