Working from China, properly set up
A short guide to the network setup that keeps a remote worker productive in mainland China.
If you work remotely from inside China, the difference between a frustrating day and a smooth one usually comes down to network choices made before you ever open a laptop. A few practical recommendations from what we see across our customers.
Pick the right physical line first
Before any VPN choice, the line into your apartment or office matters most. The major Chinese carriers offer business-grade lines that are noticeably more stable than residential lines, particularly for sustained uploads. If you have any flexibility, ask your landlord or building manager what is available, and pay the small premium.
Wired beats wireless for sustained work
Video calls and large file transfers benefit from a wired connection more than people expect. A short Ethernet cable from your router to your laptop will quietly fix problems that look like VPN issues but are actually local Wi-Fi.
Keep two paths
For anything important, keep a second path available. A mobile hotspot from a different carrier, or a colleague's connection, gives you somewhere to fail over to when one path is having a bad afternoon. This is normal infrastructure hygiene, not an indictment of any particular provider.
Keep your tools current
Old client versions occasionally cause connection problems that look like service outages. Updates are released for reasons, and the time spent installing them is usually less than the time spent troubleshooting an old version.
Communicate proactively
If you are taking a call and your connection is unstable, say so up front. Most colleagues are understanding. Pretending it is fine and dropping mid-sentence is worse than the five seconds it takes to mention the situation.