ExpressVPN 3 Device Test in China-20200909

There will be a test today for Windows 10, Macbook, and IOS. I’ve been worried about a massive upgrade hit to the Great Firewall between late September and early October. That outage last year was really kind of scary, very, very many VPNs and wall-flipping tools were blocked en masse. ExpressVPN was blocked, and just rolled out a new workaround, but was immediately blocked again, and after the block, they were rolling out a new one, and then blocked again. This constant trolling went on for a total of 20+ days before it slowly started to calm back down.

This morning when I turned on my computer and used the IKEv2 protocol on my Macbook to connect to the servers in the US, it went smoothly, with no exceptions. However, I used the Auto protocol on my Windows 10 device to connect to the four officially recommended servers: Hong Kong – 4, Japan – Yokohama, Singapore – Marina Bay, USA – Los Angeles – 5. A quick look at the reader’s comments reveals that there have been 5-6 messages stating that ExpressVPN is currently unable to connect successfully. So today, I’m going to test ExpressVPN on three devices, Macbook, Windows 10, and IOS, using the IKEv2 protocol and the officially recommended “Auto Protocol + 4 Servers”. We’ll let you know how it works so far. I’m sorry, I can’t test the Android because I’ve given my Android away for a while.

The main purpose of today’s test is to see how successful ExpressVPN’s current server connections are, so I’m not going to test too many servers when I’m testing the IKEv2 protocol, but about 5-8.

ExpressVPN Last 6 test reports: [See More]
Checking out multiple test reports can help you understand more effectively how this VPN works in the long run.

• ExpressVPN 3 Protocol Win10 Test in China - On February 5, 2021, a VPN China test will be conducted on Windows 10 for the three protocol options of ExpressVPN (Automatic, IKEv2, and Lightway). servers for testing. Since ExpressVPN's big update on January 18, official news from the official version of Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android already support Lightway, while the official version of Lightway for IOS is under development. We hope that this includes three protocols for testing, which can provide reference for more users in mainland China to use and choose.
• ExpressVPN Lightway achieved 95.2% in China! - Since the ExpressVPN update on the 18th, I've received feedback from several readers that Lightway's connection success rate has improved considerably across servers, and I've felt this way a bit myself in my use. Today I would like to test all servers through the Lightway protocol after the major update to ExpressVPN in Mac to see what kind of server connection success rate it is currently in. This time, I will be mapping out all of its servers again in the default order of ExpressVPN servers. Because of the large number of servers, I will publish the server connection test results directly without speed tests and screenshots of successful connections.
• ExpressVPN New Release 3 Device Test in China - Yesterday ExpressVPN made a series of upgrades to its website and app, using the latest generation of VI. The latest versions of the app also appeared, especially the Windows version, which was updated twice yesterday and today. Today's task is to test ExpressVPN's officially recommended method "Auto+6 servers" on Windows, Macbook and IOS. I have also recently launched the [Micro Test] section, so you can check it out, I will keep updating it, and you can leave me any suggestions. If you have any questions in using it, you can read this article "ExpressVPN can't connect solution (zh)", all connection methods, problems and solutions are updated in this article.
• ExpressVPN Win10 Test in China-20210109 - Nine days have passed since the last test, and this test is considered the first time in 2021 that ExpressVPN has been tested live in mainland China. In 2020 this site's [ExpressVPN Daily Speed Test] has been closely observing and testing it, that although it was a year of many disasters, ExpressVPN provided a very good service for users in mainland China. It has opened the door to the world's free Internet for Internet users in mainland China. Although it is paid, the security, convenience and stability it provides for everyone is not simply something that can be measured in terms of money. I don't want to say something nice for Ex, I just want to tell you the most real test results, objectively and neutrally!
• ExpressVPN Macbook 3 Protocol Test in China - Last time I tested ExpressVPN on Window platform using its latest protocol Lightway - UDP, I tested all the servers and found 9 successful connections in the test. In order to get a more comprehensive understanding of ExpressVPN's connectivity in China, today I will use a Macbook device as the test platform to test its "officially recommended 6 servers + Auto", IKEv2, and the previous one in Windows using Lightway - UDP protocol connection in Windows to create 9 servers to test. Let's see how it performs in the Macbook!
• ExpressVPN Lightway all server test in china - I have been observing ExpressVPN for a long time for testing. Based on the results of previous tests, there are currently two main ways to connect to help users in mainland China to climb the wall. The first is, of course, the "Automatic" protocol option that ExpressVPN officially recommends, and then connect to the officially recommended servers, which are usually 4-6. In addition, the test also found that Windows, Mac and IOS devices can connect to the wall through the IKEv2 protocol, mainly servers in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. You can find out through the [ExpressVPN Daily Test] section...

Local Device and Network: Windows10/200M/WiFi;
Local Device and Network: Macbook/200M/WiFi;
Local Device and Network: iPhone/4G；

Win10 ExpressVPN Connection Test:

Starting Time: Sep 9, 2020, 10:35 AM

This is the official recommended method;
Protocol: Auto

Hong Kong – 4: Failed. (Try two times)
Japan – Yokohama: Failed. (Try two times)
Singapore – Marina Bay: Failed. (Try two times)
USA – Los Angeles – 5: Failed. (Try two times)

This is unofficial recommended method;
Servers: Random;
Protocol: IKEv2;

USA – Santa Monica: First success. (Time efficiency: 23s)
Speedtest Ping: 160ms; Download: 3.43Mbps; Upload: 2.92Mbps;
Netflix Fast: 1.4Mbps;

USA – Washington DC: Failed. (Try once)
USA – Miami: First success. (Time efficiency: 9s)
Speedtest Ping: 225ms; Download: 3.62Mbps; Upload: 1.61Mbps;
Netflix Fast: 74Kbps;

USA – Los Angeles – 3: First success. (Time efficiency: 8s)
Speedtest Ping: 166ms; Download: 12.20Mbps; Upload: 1.08Mbps;
Netflix Fast: 4.5Mbps;

USA – Salt Lake City: Failed. (Try once)
USA – Los Angeles – 1: First success. (Time efficiency: 7s)
Speedtest Ping: 191ms; Download: 17.28Mbps; Upload: 1.56Mbps;
Netflix Fast: 10Mbps;

USA – Dallas – 2: Failed. (Try once)
USA – Atlanta: First success. (Time efficiency: 4s)
Speedtest Ping: 242ms; Download: 17.38Mbps; Upload: 1.33Mbps;
Netflix Fast: 10Mbps;

USA – Los Angeles: First success. (Time efficiency: 30s)
Speedtest Ping: 164ms; Download: 23.17Mbps; Upload: 1.92Mbps;
Netflix Fast: 3.1Mbps;

Windows10 summary: from the above test situation, the officially recommended method: automatic protocol + 4 server method is not available at the moment. But using the IKEv2 protocol is similar to the previous situation, and there is no failure to connect to the wall.

ExpressVPN Windows10 Version：7.12.1(2)；    Protocol：Auto/IKEv2
Today’s Test Score：★ ★ ★

Macbook ExpressVPN Connection Test:

Starting Time: Sep 9, 2020, 1:51 PM

This is the official recommended method;
Protocol: Auto

Hong Kong – 4: Failed. (Try once)
Japan – Yokohama: Failed. (Try once)
Singapore – Marina Bay: Failed. (Try once)
USA – Los Angeles – 5: Failed. (Try once)

This is an unofficial recommended method;
Servers: Random;
Protocol: IKEv2;

USA – Santa Monica: First success. (Time efficiency: 8s)
Speedtest Ping: 166ms; Download: 177Mbps; Upload: 4.8Mbps;
Netflix Fast: 43Mbps;

USA – New York: First success. (Time efficiency: 10s)
Speedtest Ping: 246ms; Download: 35.2Mbps; Upload: 3.27Mbps;
Netflix Fast: 3.3Mbps;

USA – Chicago: First success. (Time efficiency: 65s)
Speedtest Ping: 223ms; Download: 16.8Mbps; Upload: 3.66Mbps;
Netflix Fast: 2.7Mbps;

USA – Chicago: Failed. (Try once)
USA – Los Angeles – 3: First success. (Time efficiency: 55s)
Speedtest Ping: 164ms; Download: 13.1Mbps; Upload: 3.51Mbps;
Netflix Fast: 1.4Mbps;

USA – Denver: Failed. (Try once)
USA – Atlanta: First success. (Time efficiency: 5s)
Speedtest Ping: 218ms; Download: 12.2Mbps; Upload: 2.92Mbps;
Netflix Fast: 6.5Mbps;

USA – Los Angeles: First success. (Time efficiency: 4s)
Speedtest Ping: 183ms; Download: 28.5Mbps; Upload: 3.75Mbps;
Netflix Fast: 5Mbps;

Canada – Toronto – 2: First success. (Time efficiency: 7s)
Speedtest Ping: 245ms; Download: 13.3Mbps; Upload: 2.71Mbps;
Netflix Fast: 6.5Mbps;

Macbook Summary: From the above wall-climbing tests in mainland China, the officially recommended method of using ExpressVPN in Mac is temporarily unavailable. However, the IKEv2 protocol can be used to connect, and its effect is still very good.

ExpressVPN Macbook Version：7.11.3 (2)；    Protocol：Auto/IKEv2
Today’s Test Score：★ ★ ★ ☆

IOS ExpressVPN Connection Test:

Starting Time: Sep 9, 2020, 3:37 PM

This is the official recommended method;
Protocol: Auto

Hong Kong – 4: Failed. (Try once)
Japan – Yokohama: Failed. (Try once)
Singapore – Marina Bay: Failed. (Try once)
USA – Los Angeles – 5: Failed. (Try once)

This is an unofficial recommended method;
Servers: Random;
Protocol: IKEv2;

USA – Santa Monica: First success. (Time efficiency: 7s)
Speedtest Ping: 238ms; Download: 52.8Mbps; Upload: 4.02Mbps;

USA – New York: First success. (Time efficiency: 7s)
Speedtest Ping: 323ms; Download: 5.11Mbps; Upload: 4.58Mbps;

USA – San Francisco: First success. (Time efficiency: 13s)
Speedtest Ping: 225ms; Download: 11.7Mbps; Upload: 2.98Mbps;

USA – Miami: First success. (Time efficiency: 67s)
Speedtest Ping: 353ms; Download: 6.73Mbps; Upload: 4.24Mbps;

Note: The above two server tests had a problem with that time web page when I passed it to my computer’s Word to take a screenshot, the time of this web page will be stuttered/time stopped, but you can see the exact time in ExpressVPN and SpeedTest at the top of the time. So after that I will use that previous web page for expressing the time.

USA – Hollywood: Failed. (Try once)
USA – Tampa – 1: First success. (Time efficiency: 20s)
Speedtest Ping: 298ms; Download: 52.2Mbps; Upload: 4.71Mbps;

Canada – Toronto: First success. (Time efficiency: 8s)
Speedtest Ping: 287ms; Download: 69.7Mbps; Upload: 4.94Mbps;

Japan – Tokyo – 2: First success. (Time efficiency: 43s)
Speedtest Ping: 179ms; Download: 2.19Mbps; Upload: 5.85Mbps;

IOS Summary: The above test is to wall over ExpressVPN in iPhone, similar to Win10 and Macbook, you can’t connect and wall over through the official method. However, it is possible to do wall-climbing via the IKEv2 protocol.

ExpressVPN iPhone Version：8.3.0 (12474)；    Protocol：Auto/IKEv2
Today’s Test Score：★ ★ ★ ☆

Finally I would also like to talk about the wall over situation for Android devices. I have some feedback from some users and I can’t get the Bate version of ExpressVPN to go over the wall with the new protocol, lightway, and there is no IKEv2 protocol in Android. I don’t have an Android device in my hand, so I can’t test the actual situation, but I think it’s possible to manually configure OpenVPN Gui to do the wall-climbing, but you may need to try a few more servers. Between ExpressVPN’s past credit history and recovery time record, it’s usually alleviated within 24 hours, after which they’ll tell you about alternate solutions.

    Do you all think I need to get an Android machine to test it? Leave a comment and let me know! Thank you.