Jump to content
Chinese-Forums
  • Sign Up

hotmail access in china


onebir

Recommended Posts

Admin note: For info on the June 2009 block, see here

i've been having a lot of trouble getting access to my hotmail. only the link from MSN messenger 7.5 seems to work - so if the internet cafe happens to have this, it's ok.

but this link from msn doesn't...

anybody else have this problem? and or solutions?

Edited by roddy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hotmail is not blocked in China. I can access it freely, and a quick check with friends around China confirms this.

What you are probably experiencing is a simple case of overload. 99% of people on the planet have Hotmail accounts (or thereabouts!) Of course, the system can't always cope.

There are many small email providers who provide reliable service. Try http://www. yellowgrape.com, for example.

(BTW, I do maintain a Hotmail address in order to access MSN Messenger. Certainly never use it for email!)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"The Great Firewall of China", as it is sometimes known, isn't enforced uniformly throughout the PRC. It depends on what firewall software the ISP is running as well as individual security measures in place at whatever workplace, internet cafe, etc, you may be at.

I have most certainly had times when hotmail was blocked in China, not simply overloaded. There have also been times when it was freely accessible. I've even had one experience where I was in one cafe where it was blocked, and walked to another one in the same building and it wasn't: this situation reversed itself abouta month later!

Overall, of the "Big Three" Western Internet companies, yahoo is probably the most reliable and least likely to be blocked. Given their track record of helping to catch dissidents, I can't say that I'm too surprised. That said, there are, as has already been mentioned, plenty of smaller companies that will be able to give you reliable email service withough you having to worry about being blocked, and thats probably what you are best off with.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have also been having trouble here in Beijing over the last week. I am blocked most of the time, but am getting occasional access. It is certainly irritating.

I am being rerouted to a URL that contains the name of a company in Shanghai when I type in www.hotmail.com - can't remember this happening before.

Maybe Bill Gates also insulted Hu Jintao in the US a few weeks ago and this is his retribution :mrgreen:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know a lot of people here in Kunming that cannot access Hotmail. However, I know people in other provinces that do not have trouble.

Other services like MSN Spaces work fine here. You might need to login at login.live.com and then go to your MSN Space, but it is possible to load it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I find Gmail to be quite a bit more reliable than any of the other two. The consensus so far seems that the best way to access hotmail is by first logging on to your msn messenger; when you do that, a little box pops up telling you how many new messages you have; click on it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have been trying that for several days on several different computers in Beijing as well badr. Nothing. I can open my messenger but it will not connect to my hotmail.

Also I am finding all the free proxies I have located are also blocked. Most irritating.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ever since Microsoft rolled out a week or so ago its "Windows Live" web service (http://login.live.com/), I've been having trouble logging into hotmail. login.live.com seems to be the central login server for all msn-related sites, but for some reason it is not accessible from China (or at least it's often inaccessible). hotmail.com itself is accessible, but since you are redirected to log in at login.live.com, hotmail.com is not useable at the moment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

https://login.live.com is accessible in Kunming - the Great Firewall blocks it if I get to that page from hotmail.com, but works just fine if I go there first, then access any other services that require a MSN passport. Firefox says the connection is reset when I try logging in from hotmail.com first. So I don't think it is a problem on Microsoft's side.

In any case, if you have another way to access hotmail (such as through Outlook on the PC or Entourage on the Mac), you can read your hotmail just fine. It is only the web access that is blocked.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Panda's solution works:

(1) log in to https://login.live.com first (this is the new MSN log in)

(2) then go to http://hotmail.com

This should work. For some reason, http://login.live.com (http without the 's') seems to timeout when hotmail is redirected to live.com for password checking, so you need to go there directly to log in.

Or you can try logging in through live.com here:

https://login.live.com/login.srf?id=2&svc=mail&cbid=24325&msppjph=1&tw=0&fs=1&fsa=1&fsat=1296000&lc=2052&_lang=CN

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 years later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and select your username and password later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Click here to reply. Select text to quote.

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...