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Web Hosting that is not blocked in China? NEED YOUR HELP!

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  1. #1

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    Oct 2005
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    Web Hosting that is not blocked in China? NEED YOUR HELP!

    Hi,

    We have been using Fatcow as a web host for the last few years for our small business (Asia wide clients incl. China) and have been quite happy overall. However I recently discovered that our website is not accessible from China. Not sure how long has this been going on but it definitely is not accessible anymore (I tested via various services). This is obviously very bad for our business and we need to fix this ASAP.

    After doing research I believe the issue is that we share an IP address with other domains and that one of these domains is blocked -> hence we are blocked, too.
    I believe a dedicated IP address could solve the problem (not sure).

    Unfortunately Fatcow does not provide a dedicated IP (only a dedicated server which starts at USD 130 p.m. which is too expensive as we do not need a server).

    So I believe we need to switch to another web host. Obviously the biggest providers are US-based (e.g., Godaddy, hostgator or MediaTemple). I do like the Fatcow-interface for managing emails etc. I don't want to lose this functionality.

    Godaddy offers a dedicated IP for less than USD 10 p.m. extra (not sure where this is based, somewhere I read Singapore but others wrote that there might not be a guarantee where the IP is based, not sure if this matters). However I am already dreading the hassle of moving to another web host so I am worried if I move to another US-host I might run into the same problem later.

    Can anyone advise what we should do? I don’t mind paying a little bit more (up to USD 200 p.a. I guess?) for a website that is accessible in China again.

    Go with a Hong Kong based host (e.g. Tigahost, hosting.com.hk or Kowloon Hosting)?
    How about China-based hosts (e.g., sinohosting or ZhuJi91)? I want to avoid having to register with ICP but these providers say ICP registration is not necessary.

    Additional info: we are currently using Typo3 but I don’t like the interface (not intuitive). Hence we are thinking about switching to Wordpress (as it seems to be the easiest and our website is not fancy, only requirement is RSS).
    Also looking for a (ideally Hong Kong based) web designer as we don’t have the design skills inhouse.

    I would really appreciate any guidance for this as this is extremely critical for us.
    Thanks so much in advance!!


  2. #2

    Join Date
    Jul 2010
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    Newtek. They have cheap dedicated servers too. If you don't use a dedicated server, as soon as some Falungong Group or otherwise makes a website with your hosting company, China black their IP's.....its inevitable.

    SalseroHK likes this.

  3. #3

    Join Date
    Nov 2011
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    626

    If you're a smarty pants you could set up a cheap dedicated server for around 110HKD~ or more, and or a VPS for say 50~HKD+ a month with a dedicated IP.

    If you just want a dedicated IP you should be able to get one off basically any decent hosting provider, because even having an SSL certificate on your site (for financial transactions or just for safety) require having one. You always risk the chance of that IP being already black listed, but I am assuming that there is not a super high risk.

    If most of your clients are in China then I recommend HK, TW, SG, USA in terms of speed.. In terms of my VPN's that I use the European ones are generally a bit slower than the USA ones. I'm not sure of any examples of decent hosts within Hong Kong, but you could try webhostingtalk (google it) and search around there.. there is an INSANE amount of resources on there.

    SalseroHK likes this.

  4. #4

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    Mar 2013
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    I use tigahost.com for years. Their servers are in Hong Kong. The access speed in China is reasonable fast. They can provide dedicated IP with shared based web hosting.

    SalseroHK likes this.

  5. #5

    Join Date
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    to answer your design question... take a look at themeforest.net .. you'll find dozens of very easy to implement templates which may be appropriate for your niche.

    SalseroHK likes this.

  6. #6

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    Deleted User:
    yes that was the opposite of my question. I was talking about webhosting, not internet access. But thanks anyway


  7. #7

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    Mar 2012
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    Er, apposite is different from opposite. And yes GC's reply was apposite, but I guess the OP isn't smart enough to work it out.


  8. #8

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    Sorry if I have offended anyone, English is not my first language and I thought 'apposite' was a typo.
    I learned a new word now.
    But still, while I certainly appreciate Deleted User's effort in replying, his/ her comment doesn't address my webhosting problem (at least that's my technical understanding, happy to be corrected if I am wrong).


  9. #9

    Join Date
    Mar 2012
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    I think GC's implied suggestion is that you could simply run your own webserver in your Hong Kong premises on the end of an iCable connection, which apparently comes with a dedicated static IP address.


  10. #10

    Join Date
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    Ok thanks for clarifying. I am obviously not an IT expert (I think that should be clear by now) and we do not have/ cannot afford a full-time IT person.
    So I am afraid that running our own server is unfortunately not a good option for us.
    Again, thanks for the advice.


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