ExpressVPN China New Connection Method

Today I’ll be testing ExpressVPN’s App Direct connection in Windows 10. I’ve had a few comments from readers telling me what’s going on, but what’s different about this test is that I’m going to be testing it on all servers in the US via the Automatic connection protocol option. Although I’ve been using ExpressVPN for a while and know that it’s always been available, I don’t think I can get a full understanding of it without testing it.

Follow my Twitter account to get the latest VPN test notifications: 10Beasts_Barry

Local device and network: Macbook/200M/WiFi;
Speedtest Ping: 7ms; Download: 232.04Mbps; Upload: 27.65Mbps;

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 Test Report in China March 20, 2025 - Today's ExpressVPN test was prompted by its recent update for Chinese users, which added several new servers. Previously, there were only five, but now the number has increased to ten. Could this be a sign that ExpressVPN is paying more attention to the Chinese market? Additionally, on March 6, 2025, ExpressVPN released an update for its Windows version (12.97.0). This update introduced Lightway Turbo and OpenVPN DCO to its protocol options. I wanted to test whether these enhancements would improve the VPN's performance for users in mainland China trying to bypass restrictions. Introducing Lightway Turbo – You can now experience even faster VPN speeds with our cutting-edge optimization. Lightway Turbo is on by default if you’re connected to Automatic or Lightway – UDP protocols. To adjust your Lightway Turbo settings: Click  > Options > Protocol. Click Enable Lightway Turbo to toggle it off/on. Enhanced OpenVPN Performance – Our upgraded OpenVPN Data Channel Offload (DCO) module gives you a smoother, faster connection. To…
• BBC iPlayer Unblocking Test Report Using ExpressVPN UK Servers - If you’re outside the UK but want to watch movies, documentaries, or other streaming content on BBC iPlayer, you’ll need a VPN to change your local IP address to a UK IP. While there are hundreds of VPN options available, not all of them offer UK servers, and even fewer can reliably unblock BBC iPlayer. BBC iPlayer Homepage Screenshort BBC iPlayer might still block content if it detects that your IP is coming from a VPN. If you try accessing BBC iPlayer using a UK server and see the message “BBC iPlayer only works in the UK,” it means that the server’s IP has been flagged as a virtual IP by BBC. This flagging process is dynamic and ongoing, meaning more IPs get added to the flagged list over time. To maintain accessibility, VPN providers must continuously add new, unflagged “clean” IPs. In this article, we’ll test all of ExpressVPN’s…
• ExpressVPN Android Test in China Report – 20220524 - May 24, 2022 China VPN test, since the test report on the 10th of this month has been 14 days without ExpressVPN test. During that time Macbook, iPhone, and Windows, the three devices I commonly use, were confirmed to be working properly. Today I will be conducting a connection and speed test of ExpressVPN on my Android device. I hope that this test will give readers a better understanding of how ExpressVPN actually works in mainland China. If you have any questions, please leave a comment (anonymous) to communicate.
• ExpressVPN Windows test in China-20220510 - May 10, 2022 China VPN test, today will be a massive server spot check test of ExpressVPN's Automatic protocol option in Windows devices, the complete process of this test will be recorded via video recording software. The advantage of recording the screen is that it can be more intuitive to show the whole connection process to the reader, so that the reader can feel more intuitive, the VPN in the actual use of the process is a kind of experience. This test was conducted through SpeedTest for speed testing. If you have any questions, you can leave a message (anonymous) to communicate...
• ExpressVPN Win/Mac/iOS Test in China/20220421 - China VPN test on April 21, 2022. A field test of ExpressVPN for mainland China will be conducted today in Windows, Macbook, and iOS (iPhone). The test ExpressVPN has been checked and upgraded to the latest version, the specific version number will be explained in the test below. ExpressVPN is currently the most stable and secure sVPN in China, bar none. Even during the most severe blocking period there was only a brief (24 hours) or so connection difficulties or speed drops. If you have any questions, you can leave an anonymous message to communicate.
• Best 4 VPN in China, OMG, Just only one！ - On March 21, 2022, China VPN test will be conducted on a Windows 10 device today. The test VPNs include ExpressVPN, PureVPN, StrongVPN, and AtlasVPN. If there is enough time, we will test others. Each VPN will indicate its App version number, connection protocol and other information at the beginning before the test. As a result, the number of VPNs tested this time is large, so each VPN will usually randomly check 5-10 servers in different regions. If there are officially recommended servers, it will be explained in the test. If you have any questions, you can leave a message (anonymous) to communicate.

ExpressVPN – Win10 APP Connection test in China:

Starting Time: Dec 2, 2020,  1:29 PM

Automatic+4 Servers (Official Recommend)：

  The officially recommended method is to set the connection protocol to Automatic and then connect to the four servers that are officially optimized for wall-climbing in mainland China: Hong Kong – 4, Japan – Yokohama, Singapore – Marina Bay, USA – Los Angeles – 5.

Auto: Hong Kong – 4: First success. (Time efficiency: 112s)
Speedtest Ping: 182ms; Download: 8.18Mbps; Upload: 2.02Mbps;

Auto: Japan – Yokohama: First success. (Time efficiency: 13s)
Speedtest Ping: 142ms; Download: 63.84Mbps; Upload: 4.32Mbps;

Auto: Singapore – Marina Bay: Second times success. (Time efficiency: 17s)
Speedtest Ping: 211ms; Download: 22.6Mbps; Upload: 1.76Mbps;

Auto: USA – Los Angeles – 5: First success. (Time efficiency: 230s)
Speedtest Ping: 140ms; Download: 15.42Mbps; Upload: 2.64Mbps;

Automatic+USA Servers (Unofficial Recommend)：

I’ve had some comments from people who said that when using the Automatic connection protocol option, in addition to the servers that are officially recommended for connection, some other servers can be connected as well. Today I’m going to run a dry run with “All servers in Auto+ USA” as a test subject, and I’m only going to test one connection per server to see how it works. If it works, great; if it doesn’t, that’s fine too. It’s an extra try.

Translated with http://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Auto: USA – Santa Monica: Failed. (Try once)
Auto: USA – New York: First success. (Time efficiency: 75s)
Speedtest Ping: 212ms; Download: 12.67Mbps; Upload: 1.49Mbps;

Auto: USA – San Francisco: Failed. (Try once)
Auto: USA – Chicago: First success. (Time efficiency: 85s)
Speedtest Ping: 215ms; Download: 2.24Mbps; Upload: 0.41Mbps;

Auto: USA – Washington DC: Failed. (Try once)
Auto: USA – Dallas: First success. (Time efficiency: 41s)
Speedtest Ping: 207ms; Download: 3.26Mbps; Upload: 0.76Mbps;

Auto: USA – Miami: Failed. (Try once)
Auto: USA – Los Angeles – 3: Failed. (Try once)
Auto: USA – New Jersey – 1: Failed. (Try once)
Auto: USA – Los Angeles – 2: Failed. (Try once)
Auto: USA – New Jersey – 3: Failed. (Try once)
Auto: USA – Seattle: Failed. (Try once)
Auto: USA – Miami – 2: Failed. (Try once)
Auto: USA – Denver: Failed. (Try once)
Auto: USA – Salt Lake City: Failed. (Try once)
Auto: USA – Tampa – 1: First success. (Time efficiency: 12s)
Speedtest Ping: 282ms; Download: 53.26Mbps; Upload: 1.29Mbps;

Auto: USA – Los Angeles – 1: Failed. (Try once)
Auto: USA – New York  – 2: Failed. (Try once)
Auto: USA – New Jersey – 2: Failed. (Try once)
Auto: USA – Hollywood: Failed. (Try once)
Auto: USA – Dallas – 2: First success. (Time efficiency: 19s)
Speedtest Ping: 181ms; Download: 1.3Mbps; Upload: 0.3Mbps;

Auto: USA – Los Angeles: Failed. (Try once)
Auto: USA – Atlanta: Failed. (Try once)

IKEv2+Random Servers (Unofficial Recommend)：

When testing the IKEv2 protocol, since the number of servers tested is limited after all, I will avoid US servers that were successfully connected by the Automatic protocol. The main reason for doing this is to see how the same server connects to the wall in both cases.

IKEv2: USA – Los Angeles: First success. (Time efficiency: 14s)
Speedtest Ping: 166ms; Download: 23.33Mbps; Upload: 2.42Mbps;

IKEv2: USA – Atlanta: Failed. (Try once)
IKEv2: USA – Los Angeles – 1: First success. (Time efficiency: 13s)
Speedtest Ping: 289ms; Download: 3.25Mbps; Upload: 1.01Mbps;

IKEv2: USA – New York  – 2: First success. (Time efficiency: 12s)
Speedtest Ping: 263ms; Download: 11.9Mbps; Upload: 2.18Mbps;

IKEv2: USA – New Jersey – 2: Failed. (Try once)
IKEv2: USA – Seattle: First success. (Time efficiency: 6s)
Speedtest Ping: 211ms; Download: 9.12Mbps; Upload: 1.6Mbps;

IKEv2: USA – Miami – 2: First success. (Time efficiency: 4s)
Speedtest Ping: 290ms; Download: 130.95Mbps; Upload: 1.29Mbps;

IKEv2: USA – Denver: First success. (Time efficiency: 36s)
Speedtest Ping: 189ms; Download: 6.66Mbps; Upload: 1.34Mbps;

IKEv2: Canada – Toronto – 2: First success. (Time efficiency: 14s)
Speedtest Ping: 219ms; Download: 16.63Mbps; Upload: 1.63Mbps;

IKEv2: Canada – Toronto: First success. (Time efficiency: 11s)
Speedtest Ping: 239ms; Download: 11.43Mbps; Upload: 1.62Mbps;

IKEv2: Canada – Vancouver: Failed. (Try once)
IKEv2: Canada – Montreal: Failed. (Try once)
IKEv2: South – Korea – 2: Failed. (Try once)
IKEv2: Hong Kong – 2: Failed. (Try once)
IKEv2: Hong Kong – 1: Failed. (Try once)
IKEv2: Thailand: Failed. (Try once)
IKEv2: Taiwan – 3: Failed. (Try once)
IKEv2: UK – Wembley: First success. (Time efficiency: 14s)
Speedtest Ping: 227ms; Download: 1.92Mbps; Upload: 1.51Mbps;

IKEv2: UK – East London: First success. (Time efficiency: 10s)
Speedtest Ping: 214ms; Download: 14.41Mbps; Upload: 1.39Mbps;

IKEv2: UK – London: First success. (Time efficiency: 6s)
Speedtest Ping: 222ms; Download: 13.43Mbps; Upload: 1.37Mbps;

IKEv2: UK – Docklands: First success. (Time efficiency: 8s)
Speedtest Ping: 249ms; Download: 4.26Mbps; Upload: 0.97Mbps;

Conclusion: Today I tested ExpressVPN’s Automatic connection protocol option and IKEv2 protocol in Windows 10. There are no official recommended connection methods. IKEv2 was tested on AutoFailed servers in the U.S., and most of them connected successfully. Although the results of this test are not significant, they at least provide readers with a new connection idea. If you have any questions, please leave a comment.

    The above test methods can be extrapolated to IOS, Mac, and Android devices. For Android devices without IKEv2 protocol, it would be nice to be able to connect to more servers via the Auto Connection Protocol option.

ExpressVPN Windows10 Version：9.2.0 (58)；Protocol：Auto/IKEv2
Today’s Test Score：★ ★ ★ ★ ☆