Can't connect from mainland China

You're inside mainland China and Reach either won't sign in, sits at connecting, or routed pages show TYO Reach gateway unavailable.

What it means

The Great Firewall blocks or throttles foreign connections by pattern, and it changes what it blocks. Reach is built for this — its Disguise transport looks like ordinary HTTPS, the Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore gateways are chosen for reachability from China, and sign-in has a China-reachable path — but the local network still decides what gets through, and hotel Wi-Fi is the worst of them.

Fixes, in order

  1. Install and sign in before you travel if you still can. The download page, app stores and the identity service can be slow or unreachable from inside China; a client that's already signed in only needs to reach a gateway. See Using Reach in mainland China.
  2. Pick Hong Kong, then Taiwan, then Singapore. Tray → Gateway (Android: Gateways tab, auto-select off). HK usually has the lowest latency from China; if it's being throttled that week, TW or SG often isn't. See Gateway regions.
  3. Force Disguise mode. Tray → Connection mode → Disguise. Auto should already choose it in China, but forcing it removes the guesswork; if Disguise stalls, try Slow. See Connection modes.
  4. Try mobile data instead of the Wi-Fi. Hotel and some campus networks filter far more aggressively than mobile carriers. If it works on 4G/5G, the Wi-Fi is the problem, not Reach.
  5. Sign in with the in-app dialog (Windows) if the browser sign-in never completes — it doesn't depend on the browser hand-off. On other platforms, complete sign-in on mobile data or before travelling.
  6. Turn on Route mainland China direct (Android) so WeChat, Alipay and local sites go direct and don't compete with — or get confused by — the gateway path. See China direct mode.
  7. Complete any captive portal first. Hotel Wi-Fi sign-in pages must be finished with Reach off (or in a browser you haven't routed); then switch Reach on.

Common questions

It connected yesterday and not today

Blocking changes day to day. Switch region (step 2) and force Disguise (step 3); one of the two nearly always restores it.

Is everything slow even when it connects?

Speed depends on the local link far more than on Reach. Disguise adds a little overhead; a throttled hotel connection adds a lot. Mobile data is usually faster.

Do I need a Chinese phone number or ID for Reach?

No. Reach accounts are TYO IDs; nothing local is required.

Still stuck?

Get in touch with the city, the network type (hotel Wi-Fi or mobile), the region and connection mode you tried, and your Reach version.