Which connection method fits which scenario

• One phone, travelling: Cisco or Hiddify. Cisco connects from the official app with just an address and is the steadiest; Hiddify imports by QR code and is faster on lossy links. Fallback: private network.
• Your own computer (Windows, Mac): Hiddify or private network. Hiddify is fast with split routing built in; the private network logs in once and stays online. Fallback: Cisco.
• A company laptop without admin rights: web proxy. Just a browser extension — no admin rights, no changes to the company's network settings.
• iPhone and older devices: Cisco. The system or official client connects without importing anything; best compatibility.
• NAS (Synology, QNAP) and Linux servers: OpenVPN. Import one .ovpn file and it connects at boot; most such devices ship a client.
• TVs, boxes, consoles, grandparents' phones: router. Join the Wi‑Fi and it just works; nothing to install on the device. Any account tier.
• A whole household or office: router, set up once for everything; add the private network if you also want to reach the home NAS from outside.

• Dormitory or office network that throttles UDP: Cisco. It runs over TLS like any HTTPS site and is steadiest on restricted networks; Hiddify, private network and OpenVPN all use UDP and will slow down or drop.
• Broadband that keeps dropping, weak Wi‑Fi: web proxy. It works request by request with no long-lived connection, so there is nothing to drop.
• Old-building broadband or mobile data with heavy packet loss: Hiddify. Its protocol is built to resist loss and is fastest on such links.
• A corporate VPN already running on the computer: web proxy. Two device-wide VPNs fight over network settings; the web proxy only covers the browser and stays out of the way.
• Other carriers (China Mobile, Great Wall) or unstable cross-border links: any method with the China entry region. The client connects only to a domestic address and we handle the cross-border leg.

• Watching Chinese video from abroad: any device-wide method (Cisco, Hiddify, private network, OpenVPN, router) with the China region; use the router for the TV. Avoid the web proxy for video — it cannot control the device's own network paths, so video sites may still see you abroad.
• Gaming, voice and video calls: Hiddify, private network or router, with the lowest-latency region. The web proxy covers only the browser, so games and calling apps bypass it.
• Office research in the browser only: the web proxy is simplest; if you must reach internal company systems, check whether the company VPN can run alongside ours — if not, use the web proxy.
• Servers, scripts, command line: OpenVPN; Linux desktops can also use the private network or Hiddify.
• Reaching your home NAS or cameras from outside: private network. Devices on one account reach each other with no ports opened on the router.

• Router — best for: households, offices and devices that cannot run a client; built-in split routing and auto-updates. Not for: a single device or someone mostly on the move (you still need a client outside).
• OpenVPN — best for: NAS, Linux servers, OpenWrt routers; one file, connects at boot. Not for: everyday phone and laptop use, where Cisco and Hiddify are handier; UDP-restricted networks.
• Cisco (AnyConnect) — best for: restricted networks, work laptops, iPhones, old devices; best compatibility. Not for: users inside China who don't want everything routed (needs the separate split-routing script).
• Hiddify — best for: speed and lossy networks; QR import, one app on five platforms, split routing built in. Not for: UDP-restricted networks.
• Web proxy — best for: no admin rights, a corporate VPN already on, broadband that keeps dropping. Not for: video apps, games and calls — browser only.
• Private network (Tailscale) — best for: many devices, log in once and forget, reaching home devices from outside. Not for: UDP-restricted networks (relays only, slow) or running alongside another VPN.

The same method can differ several-fold in speed between regions because of your carrier's exit to that region, not the server. Northern China Unicom: try Japan and Korea first; southern China Telecom: Southeast Asia (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia) or Australia; other carriers (Mobile, Great Wall): the China entry region.

The red/yellow/green light on the region list shows each region's live load; among several Japan servers, take the green one. Everyone is slow at the 8–11 pm national peak, and changing region then helps more than reconnecting.

Only users inside mainland China need split routing; users abroad should use full mode, since splitting sends some sites the long way round. Hiddify switches to "auto split" in the client, the web proxy in the extension, router firmware splits by default; Cisco and OpenVPN route everything after connecting and need the split-routing script from the Cisco section.

If a site fails in split mode, test in full mode first: if it opens, it is not on the list; if it still fails, the site itself is the problem.

1. Change region first. If another region connects, that one server is temporarily unreachable.
2. Change network. If broadband fails, try mobile data and vice versa; interference differs between carriers.
3. Then change method. If the UDP methods (Hiddify, private network, OpenVPN) fail, switch to Cisco over TLS; if device-wide methods keep dropping, switch to the web proxy. Blocking of the different protocols is independent.
4. Failing that, see the troubleshooting guide or ask in a support group with the method, region, error text and time.