Back to blog
Business

Opening an Office in China: The Internet and IT Checklist (2026)

A week-by-week checklist for a new office in China: business broadband, router and Wi-Fi, guest access, staff devices, IT policy, backups and an evening test.

Updated October 2026.

The short answer

Order business broadband the week you sign the lease, because the line is the one step you can't rush. Then buy a router, plan Wi-Fi for every room, decide which tools stay local and which go through a VPN router, write a one-page IT policy, and test calls at 8 pm before everyone moves in.

Table of contents

What is the timeline from lease to move-in?

This is the order we suggest for a 5 to 50 person office. Installation dates vary by city, building and carrier, so if your carrier gives a later date, move the later rows with it.

WhenWhat to doDone when
Week 1: lease signedAsk the landlord which carriers serve the building, whether you can order your own line, and where the line and network cabinet are. Contact at least two carriers.You know who can install and where
Week 2Order a business line. Send the documents. Get the installation date and the installer's contact in writing.Order confirmed with a date
Week 3Plan Wi-Fi on the floor plan. Buy the router, any extra access points and cables. Choose your Throughwire plan.Equipment and plan bought
Week 4List the tools the team will use. Write the one-page IT policy. Prepare laptops, phones and accounts.Policy written, accounts ready
Installation weekThe carrier installs the line. Plug in and set up the router, name the Wi-Fi, connect printers and meeting rooms.Every room has signal and the router is online
Move-in weekRun the tests below, including a video call at 8 pm. Fix what fails before the whole team depends on it.All tests pass

How do you choose a broadband provider for a China office?

Three carriers sell business lines in mainland China: China Telecom, China Unicom and China Mobile. In our support experience, full speed is expected on all three for home and office lines.

For context, among our customers' connections in the 30 days to 19 October 2026, 47% were on China Telecom, 27% on China Mobile and 18% on China Unicom. That is a share of connections, not a ranking. Our guide to China Telecom, Unicom and Mobile goes further.

Two things matter more than the carrier's name:

  • Your own line, not a shared building network. Some buildings route tenants through a shared network or limit which carriers can install. In our support experience, company and campus networks can block outbound connections, which can stop VPN routers and apps from working. Ask the landlord before you sign, if you can.
  • Upload speed. Video calls, screen sharing and sending files all depend on upload. Ask for the upload figure, not just download.

A business line usually needs company paperwork, typically your business licence (营业执照) and the ID of the legal representative or an authorised person with a signed authorisation letter. Ask the carrier for its exact list before your first visit.

Ask the carrier for these, in writing:

  • Download and upload speed
  • Monthly price, contract length and any installation fee
  • The installation date and what they need on site (access, cabinet space, power)
  • Whether a fixed public IP address is included or available, if headquarters needs to allowlist your office
  • Who to call for faults, and how quickly they respond
  • A spare network port on the modem they install, for your own router

We don't quote carrier prices or lead times here, because they vary by city and building and change often.

What router and Wi-Fi does a new office need?

One good router covers most small offices. Put it somewhere central and open, and run cables to desks near it where that's easy.

  • GL.iNet Flint 2 (GL-MT6000) is our first choice for offices, tested by us.
  • GL.iNet Beryl 7 (GL-MT3600BE) suits very small offices and serviced apartments, also tested by us.
  • Buying in China is fine. Units from JD.com, Tmall or Taobao work. China-market units hide GL.iNet's own VPN menu, but Throughwire doesn't use it.
  • Avoid older, smaller models: anything with 16 MB of flash, such as the Mango (GL-MT300N-V2), and the original Beryl (GL-MT1300).

For several rooms or floors, add Wi-Fi access points connected to the main router by cable. They extend the signal while the main router handles the routing, so you still set up only one.

Setting up the Throughwire router takes a few minutes:

  1. Plug the router into the modem or router the carrier installed.
  2. Join the router's Wi-Fi, open 192.168.8.1 and finish GL.iNet's first-time setup, choosing an admin password.
  3. In your Throughwire account, create a one-time router code.
  4. From a laptop on the router's Wi-Fi, run the one command shown for Mac (Terminal) or Windows (PowerShell). Enter the code and the admin password.
  5. Near the end, choose a route. Los Angeles (High Speed) is recommended and preselected; Osaka or Singapore (Ultra) count at 2.5 times the data and suit remote desktop and real-time work. The setup shows the latency measured from your router, then tests itself before it finishes.

After that, the router installs signed updates, refreshes its China lists and comes back by itself after power cuts.

Should guests use the same Wi-Fi?

Decide this before move-in, not when the first visitor asks.

  • Guests on the Throughwire Wi-Fi. Visitors can use Gmail, Zoom and LinkedIn with nothing to install. Their international traffic counts towards your data allowance.
  • Guests on the carrier's Wi-Fi. Keep the Wi-Fi on the carrier's own router for visitors. It costs no Throughwire data, but international services won't work there.

Either way, give guests a different password from staff, change it from time to time, and never share the router's admin password.

Which tools will the team use, and where does each one go?

Agree the tools before day one: what the team uses with headquarters, and what it uses with Chinese customers and suppliers. A Throughwire router then decides the route for every connection automatically (routing directory, catalog version 2026.10):

Stays on your China line (no Throughwire data)Goes through Throughwire
WeChat and WeComGoogle Search, Gmail and Workspace
DingTalkMicrosoft 365 and Teams
Alipay and UnionPayZoom and Slack
Taobao, Tmall and JD.comGitHub and Dropbox
Baidu and AmapChatGPT and Claude
Ctrip and Trip.com, DidiLinkedIn and WhatsApp
Apple servicesYouTube

Anything not identified as China-local goes through Throughwire, so a new international tool works without changing settings. Chinese partners will usually expect WeChat or WeCom, so plan for both worlds.

What about staff laptops and phones?

  • Laptops on the office Wi-Fi need nothing installed. The router covers them.
  • Outside the office, staff use the free Hiddify app on team seats: sign in, copy the subscription link, paste it into the app and connect. A Team plan includes 50 seats on one bill.
  • Phones. A local China Telecom, China Mobile or China Unicom SIM gives the best results. In our support experience, foreign eSIMs and Hong Kong networks route through Hong Kong and are slower.
  • Company devices. Turn on automatic updates, a password manager and disk encryption before handing laptops out.

How do printers and meeting rooms fit in?

  • Printers. Connect them to the office router's network so everyone can print. Traffic between devices inside the office stays local.
  • Meeting rooms. Screens and conference systems usually can't run VPN apps, which is exactly what an office router is for. Use a cable where you can.
  • Test with the room's own equipment. Run a Zoom, Teams or Google Meet call from the meeting-room system itself, not just a laptop.

What goes in a written IT policy?

One page is enough for a small office. Cover:

  • Who holds the router admin password and the Throughwire account (two named people)
  • Which tools are approved for chat, files and calls, local and international
  • Where company files live and who approves new apps
  • What to do when something is slow: try another site, restart the device, then contact the named person
  • Guest Wi-Fi rules and how often the guest password changes
  • What happens when someone leaves: remove their seat and accounts, change shared passwords
  • Never post passwords or router codes in chats or emails

How should a small office back up its data?

  • Know where the backups go. Backups to Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive go through Throughwire and count towards your data allowance. Backups to Alibaba Cloud go direct and don't.
  • Plan the big first upload. A first full backup can use a lot of data. Add a top-up mid-month if you need one, and start large uploads earlier in the day rather than in the evening peak.
  • Keep a local copy too, on an external drive or a network storage box in the office.
  • Back up access. Store the router admin password and account logins in the company password manager, so the office isn't stuck if one person is away.

What should you test before everyone moves in?

Run these on the office Wi-Fi in move-in week:

  • Open Google and Baidu on a laptop and a phone
  • Send a WeChat message and make a small Alipay payment; they should feel as before
  • Upload a large file to Google Drive or Dropbox and note the time
  • Make a video call at 10 am and again at 8 pm China time, inside the evening peak
  • Join a call from the meeting room
  • Print from two laptops
  • Switch the router off for a minute and check it comes back by itself
  • After a few days, check data use in your account and adjust your allowance

Why 8 pm: evenings are when international links in China are busiest. In our network data for the 30 days to 19 October 2026, median working speed on our High Speed route in the evening peak (19:00 to 23:59) was 98% of the rest of the day, while the best bursts were lower (median top speed 50 Mbps in the evening against 80 Mbps at other times). Everyday work held steady; peak bursts dipped. See our network stats.

If the setup shows an error code, send us the code and we'll help.

When Throughwire isn't the right choice

  • Compliance requires a licensed carrier line. Order a cross-border leased line from China Telecom, China Unicom or China Mobile. Our office internet options guide compares the choices.
  • The building network blocks outbound connections and you can't get your own line. No VPN router can fix that; ask the landlord for a direct carrier line.
  • Your team only uses Chinese apps. A normal business line is enough.
  • You need a website for customers in China. That needs local hosting and an ICP filing, which we don't provide.

Common questions

How early should we order broadband?

The week you sign the lease. Installation depends on the city, the building and the carrier, so ask for the date in writing and plan the rest around it.

Which carrier should a new office choose?

Any of the three can work. In our support experience, full speed is expected on China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom lines. Choose the one that can install your own line in your building soonest, with a good upload speed.

Do we need a fixed IP address?

Only if something needs to recognise your office by its address. A fixed IP from the carrier identifies your China line. For a fixed address on your international traffic, for example for allowlisted admin panels, see dedicated IP for teams in China.

China's rules separate licensed cross-border lines, which companies contract with carriers for internal office use, from other VPN services, which sit outside that framework. Throughwire is not licensed or approved by Chinese authorities. Our guide Are VPNs legal in China? explains the details. This is general information, not legal advice.

Who should hold the router admin password?

Two named people, stored in the company password manager. Never post it in a chat or email.

Details for your IT team

  • The router sits behind the carrier's modem or router; no bridge mode is needed. It runs on GL.iNet stock firmware with no reflashing, or on OpenWrt 24.10 and 25.12.
  • Minimum hardware: arm64 or armv7, at least 256 MB RAM and 30 MB free storage. Buy arm64 with 256 MB+ RAM and 128 MB+ flash.
  • The router runs sing-box and connects with VLESS-REALITY. Mainland China domains and IP ranges go direct; everything else, including unknown destinations, goes through Throughwire.
  • If the tunnel stops, the router holds traffic back and reconnects. Lists and updates are signed and verified.
  • Zero-Trust Relay lets you run your own encryption (Tailscale, WireGuard, SSH or Cloudflare Tunnel) inside Throughwire without us having access to its private contents.