The complete manual: from account setup to a working connection

Stage 01

Step one: understand the subscription and the routes

Before you register, get three things straight: what you are buying, how routes are classified, and which numbers are fixed. VPNVan is a cross-border network acceleration subscription billed monthly or by data pack, with clients for Windows / macOS / iOS / Android / Linux. It carries the network path from your device to services outside mainland China over a scheduled route; it is not a plugin that makes everything faster on install, and it does not push all traffic unconditionally into a single tunnel.

Subscription service vs. self-hosted nodes

Self-hosting means preparing your own server, installing an OS, configuring the network, maintaining addresses, and diagnosing every hiccup yourself — is it the local network, the destination site, or the node? A subscription service consolidates that work: you get an updatable subscription URL, a route list grouped by region, and a set of clients, while route changes happen on the server side. The trade-off is that you cannot control the low-level parameters of an individual route; the payoff is that long-term maintenance disappears.

Billing is by data: three monthly tiers and three data packs. Devices are unlimited, which suits multi-device use. No email address is needed — a username and password are enough. Payment is by Alipay / WeChat / USDT, and there is a 7-day no-questions-asked refund. These are fixed facts and are not recalculated later in this guide.

How to read route types

The three types you will see in the route list are IEPL dedicated lines, relay, and direct. IEPL dedicated lines follow a fixed path and hold up better at peak hours, which suits long meetings, live streams, and large file transfers. Relay connects to an entry point first and then hands off to an outbound route — fine for ordinary browsing and video, with the real experience depending on how well your local network reaches that entry. Direct has the shortest path and suits light access, but may wobble at peak hours. Choose by where the target service sits, then by whether your local network reaches the entry smoothly — not by which name sounds fastest.

The route table is grouped by region and lists country, city, route type, and streaming support. The full list lives on the servers and routes page; the route status on the home page is indicative only, and the list refreshed inside your client is what counts.

Which numbers are fixed

100+ countries / 240+ routes; monthly plans at ¥9.9/month for 60GB, ¥18/month for 250GB, and ¥28/month for 500GB; data packs at ¥158/300GB, ¥358/1000GB, and ¥658/3000GB; unlimited devices; 7-day no-questions-asked refund; payment by Alipay / WeChat / USDT. Monthly data resets each month on the activation date, and mid-cycle upgrades are prorated into remaining days; data packs last until used up and never expire. Do not extrapolate numbers that are not in the table — the pages and the dashboard are authoritative.

Who it suits, and who it does not

If you need steady access to sites outside mainland China, AI tools, or streaming, or you need a fixed egress for API debugging, start with a monthly plan to learn the routes. Multi-device households and small teams can share one account with pooled data; low-frequency users can keep a data pack on hand. If you only need a one-off transfer, do not care about route quality, or want full control over low-level parameters, self-hosting fits better. This service does not promise that any single route stays unchanged forever; route changes sync to your client through subscription updates.

Stage 02

Step two: choose a plan and estimate your data

The point of choosing a plan is not to buy the biggest one, but to match data to your usage. VPNVan has three monthly tiers plus three data packs; monthly data resets each month on the activation date, while data packs last until used up and never expire. Estimate a month of usage first, then pick a tier — that is safer than starting at the top.

Three monthly tiers

All three tiers allow unlimited devices; only the monthly data differs. Data resets each month on the activation date, not on the 1st of the calendar month; mid-cycle upgrades are prorated into remaining days. Monthly plans suit continuous use, data packs suit low-frequency or backup use — confirm which billing type you are on before ordering.

How to estimate data

Web pages, email, documents, and code requests use relatively little data; video and live streams scale with resolution, and 4K is clearly heavier than 1080p. System updates, cloud backups, and auto-sync consume data in the background and often add up to more than browsing does. AI tools send small text requests but are more sensitive to connection stability — frequent reconnects hurt the experience more than the bytes do. Do not convert usage into "hours per day"; bitrates vary too much for that to mean anything.

A practical approach: start on the 60GB tier and watch it for one to two weeks. Check used data in the dashboard, note video, meetings, and backups separately, then decide whether to upgrade. Upgrades are prorated by remaining days; the dashboard shows the exact entry point.

Data packs: use them up, they never expire

Data packs do not reset monthly, which makes them good for business trips, short projects, backup routes, or low-frequency use. They do not reset when the month changes, but they also do not give you the monthly reset of a subscription; if you use the service steadily every month, a monthly plan fits better. Monthly plans and data packs are two different billing types — confirm which one you are buying before you order.

Recommendations

First time: start on the 60GB tier and decide about upgrading after a full 7 days. Household sharing or several devices at once: go straight to 250GB or 500GB. Mostly high-bitrate video or long live streams: 500GB is more comfortable. Mostly API debugging and AI tools: 60GB or 250GB is plenty — put your attention on route stability instead. Do not buy the largest data pack up front; learn your consumption on a monthly plan first, then top up.

Stage 03

Step three: create an account, order, and pay

Creating an account and placing an order are two separate things: first the account, then the billing type. VPNVan registration needs no email address — a username and password are enough. Payment is by Alipay / WeChat / USDT, and once the order is complete, both the subscription and the client downloads live in the dashboard.

Registration: username and password only

Open the registration entry in the dashboard and fill in a username and password. No email address is required, and no payment is needed at this stage. Your username is part of your login credentials, so pick a combination that is not easy to guess; make the password long and do not reuse it from another site. After registering, log in and go to the plans page to choose a monthly plan or a data pack.

Because there is no email layer, you are responsible for keeping your username and password safe. If you lose your login details, submit the issue through the dashboard's ticket entry — never send your password through other channels. Log out after using a shared device, and do not let the browser save the password.

Ordering

After logging in, go to the plans page and confirm three things first: billing type (monthly plan or data pack), price and data, and your account status. Pick a tier, submit the order, then choose a payment method. The amount shown on the payment page should match the order amount; if it does not, stop and open a ticket to confirm. When payment completes, check the order status in the dashboard — do not submit the same order twice.

If the order status does not update right away, refresh the page first; if it still has not changed, open a ticket with the order number, payment method, and payment time. The order number is a credential — do not post it in public group chats or on social media. Do not place another order after a successful payment; duplicate payments only add refund steps.

Payment methods

Alipay, WeChat, and USDT are supported. For USDT, follow the network and amount shown on the payment page — sending on the wrong network usually cannot be recovered. Never transfer money to anyone privately, and do not trust any "help" that asks for your password or subscription URL. The payment page is the only entry point; payment methods offered outside your order are never accepted.

After payment, a monthly plan's data reset date is counted from the activation date; a data pack lasts until used up and never expires. Both show their status in the dashboard once credited. If payment succeeded but the dashboard does not show it, do not pay again — follow the ticket process above.

Refunds and validating a first order

There is a 7-day no-questions-asked refund, requested through a ticket in the dashboard. Include the order number, payment method, and reason, and do not submit it twice. Refunds go back to the original payment channel, and the time to arrive depends on that channel; the scope of refunds is defined by the refund policy page. For a first order, buy the smallest tier, spend the 7 days validating routes and clients, and then decide about upgrading.

Stage 04

Step four: get your subscription and keep it safe

A subscription is a URL with credentials embedded; the client uses it to pull the route list and configuration. It is not your username and password, but it carries the same power: whoever holds the subscription URL can use your account's data. Getting it, importing it, updating it, and guarding it are four jobs to finish together.

What a subscription URL is

A subscription URL usually starts with https and carries a credential parameter. When the client reads it, it receives the currently available routes and configuration; when routes change, updating the subscription syncs them. It is not an installer and not your login password — think of it as a key that fetches configuration on demand. Never put a subscription URL into a public config file, a code repository, or a chat group.

Where to get it

After logging in, find the subscription URL in the dashboard overview or subscription area. You can copy the URL, or use one-click import to launch an installed client. Desktops usually support copy-paste and mobile devices usually support one-click import; both produce the same result, so use whichever is convenient. Marketing pages never provide subscription URLs — do not use any page that asks you to submit subscription details while logged out.

Import methods

One-click import suits cases where the client is already installed and the system allows launching it; manual copy suits cases where the client does not detect it automatically or you need the subscription written into a specific config. After importing, run an update once, then choose a route. If the update fails, first confirm the device can reach the dashboard, then check that the subscription URL was copied in full with no trailing space.

The example format below is illustrative only — it is not a real subscription URL:

https://example.com/sub?token=YOUR_TOKEN

The real URL only appears in the dashboard after you log in. Do not treat the example as a working address, and do not paste a real address into public documentation.

Subscription security

A subscription URL is a private credential. Do not screenshot it into group chats, do not commit it to public repositories, and do not save it on shared devices. If you suspect it has leaked, stop using it on unknown devices first, then contact support through a ticket; never send your subscription URL to a stranger in chat so they can "test it for you". If several people share one account, data is pooled, so one leaked URL affects every device.

Updating the subscription

After routes change, the client needs a subscription update to see the new list. Update once a week, or whenever you cannot connect or speeds change noticeably. Re-select a route after updating instead of staying on the old one. Updates usually fail for three reasons: the device cannot reach the dashboard, the subscription URL was copied incompletely, or the client cached an old config. Work through them in that order rather than reinstalling the client repeatedly.

Stage 05

Step five: client import on five platforms

All five platforms get their client from the download entry in the dashboard: Windows / macOS / iOS / Android / Linux. Log in and pick your platform — do not hunt for direct installer links on marketing pages. The import steps are broadly the same: install, open, find the subscription entry, paste or one-click import, update, choose a route, connect. The sections below break it down by platform.

Windows

Download the Windows client from the dashboard, run the installer, and follow the prompts. On first launch the system may ask whether to allow network access — allow it; if a firewall prompt appears, allowing private networks is enough. Open the client, find the subscription or configuration entry, paste the subscription URL, run an update, then pick a route from the list and click connect. Once connected, do not rush to open a website — confirm the egress IP with the verification steps in the next stage.

The common conflict on Windows is another proxy tool running at the same time. Quit other proxies before connecting so the system proxy is not taken over. If the client says connected but the browser behaves the same, check whether another program reset the system proxy, or whether the browser has its own proxy extension installed.

macOS

Download the macOS client from the dashboard and install it into the Applications folder as prompted. On first open, the system may require you to allow it in System Settings; do that and open it again. Importing the subscription, updating, choosing a route, and connecting follow the same order as on Windows. macOS may hide the menu bar icon, so if you cannot find the window, check the menu bar before reinstalling.

If some apps still connect directly after you are connected, check whether the system proxy is on and whether another network tool is running. Quit the other proxy, reconnect, and verify again.

iOS

Get the iOS client as the dashboard instructs: accounts with an active plan see the download entry in the dashboard, and accounts without one are prompted to choose a plan first. After installing, open the client, allow it to add a VPN configuration, then import the subscription, update, choose a route, and connect. iOS manages the VPN configuration at the system level, so you can disconnect in the client or in System Settings.

If no routes appear after importing, run an update first; if the update fails, confirm the device's network is working and then check that the subscription URL is complete. Do not keep retrying an import without an active plan — go back to the dashboard and confirm your account status.

Android

Download the Android client from the dashboard and complete the installation as the system prompts. Open the client, import the subscription, update, choose a route, connect. Android's battery optimization may restrict background operation; if the connection is unstable, add the client to the battery optimization allowlist so the system does not drop it when the screen locks. Do not download installers from third-party sources, and do not install "acceleration plugins" of unknown origin.

If only some apps work after connecting, check the per-app proxy settings and confirm the target app is in the proxied list. Android allows only one system-level VPN to be active at a time, so quit other VPNs before connecting.

Linux

Download the Linux client from the dashboard and install it in the package format your distribution provides. With a graphical interface, importing the subscription, updating, and choosing a route work the same as on Windows / macOS. On the command line, write the subscription URL into the config file as the client's documentation describes, then run an update. In a CLI environment, make sure the current user has permission to read the config file, and never write the subscription URL into a world-readable file.

To verify the connection on Linux, if these tools are installed, use the commands below to check basic connectivity:

ping -c 4 example.com
nslookup example.com

These two commands only show DNS resolution and basic connectivity; they do not prove traffic goes through the proxy. The egress IP still comes from the network check page.

Platform differences at a glance

Stage 06

Step six: connect and verify

The client saying "connected" does not mean traffic actually goes through the proxy. After connecting, verify three layers: whether the egress IP changed, whether DNS is working, and whether the target app is covered. Only when all three pass is the connection genuinely working.

Pick a route first, then connect

Choose a route by where the target service is, not by what is closest to you. For sites outside mainland China, prefer routes in the target region; for stable meetings or live streams, prefer IEPL dedicated lines; for ordinary browsing and video, relay routes are usually enough; for light access, direct works. At peak hours, prefer dedicated and relay routes — direct may wobble. After switching routes, wait a few seconds before testing rather than switching rapidly.

Connect

Open the client, choose a route, click connect. The first connection may trigger a system permission prompt — allow it. Once connected, do not just look at the icon colour; open the network check page and look at the egress IP. If the connection fails, try another route in the same region; if it keeps failing, update the subscription first, then check your local network.

Verify the egress IP

Open the network check page and note the egress IP and location before connecting, then look again after connecting. If the egress IP changed, traffic went through the proxy at least; if it did not change at all, traffic is not going through the proxy. Do not use IP-checking sites of unknown origin, and do not post screenshots of your full IP in public group chats. The network check page is for self-checks only and does not record results.

Verify DNS

A DNS leak slows things down and can also expose your local DNS to the target site. Use the DNS check on the network check page, or run this in a terminal:

nslookup example.com

If the DNS server returned is still your local ISP's and the client has not taken over DNS, resolution problems can appear. Reconnect first, then switch routes; if it is still wrong, check whether the client has DNS takeover or a similar option enabled. Option names differ between clients — follow what your client documents.

Per-app verification

Your browser reaching the target site does not mean every app goes through the proxy. For a specific app, check whether it is in the proxied list; if the client supports per-app proxying, add the target app and reconnect. On the command line you can check the HTTP status code with:

curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}\n" https://example.com

A 200 means the request reached the target; any other status or a timeout means the path has a problem. ping only shows basic connectivity and cannot prove the proxy is working, because ICMP does not necessarily go through the proxy.

Cases where it looks connected but is not

One: the client says connected but the system proxy is off. Two: another proxy extension is still active in the browser or the system. Three: the target app has its own proxy settings and bypasses the system proxy. Four: DNS cache still points at old results. Five: a routing rule sends the target domain direct. The fixes are: quit other proxies, clear the cache, switch between global and rule modes, reconnect, and verify again.

Troubleshooting order

This order works better than reinstalling repeatedly: update the subscription; switch to another route in the same region; change the client mode; restart the client; restart the local network; compare on another device; and only then open a ticket. In the ticket, state the platform, the error message, the time it happened, and the steps you already tried — not just "it will not connect". For more verification detail, see the blog post Is your VPN actually on? Three ways to confirm your egress IP and DNS really took effect.

Stage 07

Step seven: day-to-day upkeep and renewals

A subscription is not the end of the story. Data resets, renewals, upgrades, device management, subscription updates, and tickets are all part of routine upkeep. Doing these on a fixed schedule is easier than fixing problems after they appear.

Check data and the reset date

The dashboard overview shows used and remaining data. Monthly plans reset each month on the activation date, not on the 1st of the calendar month; data packs last until used up and never expire. As the reset date approaches, check remaining data before deciding whether to upgrade; a data pack balance and a monthly plan balance are two different billing types, so confirm which one you are on before ordering.

Renewals

Renew a monthly plan before it expires, using the next reset date shown in the dashboard. Do not pay twice after renewing; if payment succeeded but the status has not updated, refresh first and then follow the ticket process. Data packs do not need monthly renewal — top up when they run out. Before renewing, confirm your current tier still fits; the dashboard shows how to adjust it.

Mid-cycle upgrades

Monthly plans support mid-cycle upgrades, with the price difference prorated into remaining days. Before upgrading, look at current usage and remaining days and confirm the new tier's data covers the rest of the cycle; the new tier takes effect after the upgrade, as shown in the dashboard. Do not jump to the top tier just to round out an order — validating routes on the smallest tier first is safer.

Device management

Devices are unlimited: one account works on multiple devices with pooled data. When several devices are online at once, video, backups, or updates on any one of them draw on the shared pool. If a device is lost or handed on, log out in the dashboard first and then handle subscription security through a ticket; do not leave the subscription URL on the old device.

Updating the subscription

Update the subscription once a week, or whenever you cannot connect or speeds change noticeably. Re-select a route after updating rather than staying on the old one. If an update fails, confirm the device can reach the dashboard, check that the subscription URL is complete, and restart the client. Do not reinstall the OS or keep reinstalling the client because one update failed.

Tickets and refunds

Tickets are the main channel for account, order, payment, and connection issues. Include the platform, error message, time it happened, order number, and the steps you already tried; mask the subscription URL and full IP in any screenshot. 7-day no-questions-asked refund: apply through a ticket within 7 days with the order number and payment method, and do not submit it twice. Refunds go back to the original payment channel, and the time to arrive depends on that channel.

Stage 08

Step eight: advanced usage and troubleshooting

By now the basic flow is working. What remains is getting more out of routes, routing rules, and device management, and locating problems quickly when they appear. The sections below go by scenario; they do not try to cover everything, only to give you an actionable order of checks.

Choose routes by scenario

For streaming, check the streaming support column in the route table first, then pick the matching region. For AI tools and API calls, prioritise stability and a fixed egress rather than switching routes often. For live streams and meetings, prefer IEPL dedicated lines and relay routes, which hold up better at peak hours. For ordinary browsing and documents, direct or relay is enough. No route is absolutely better — only better matched to the scenario. For more scenarios, see the blog posts AI API accelerator picks: three things developers should check when choosing routes and Sports live stream accelerator picks: how to choose low-latency routes (hands-on comparison).

Routing rules

Rule mode sends only target domains through the proxy and connects everything else directly; global mode sends all traffic through the proxy and is useful for troubleshooting; direct mode bypasses the proxy and is useful for comparison. Per-app proxying covers only the apps you choose, which suits using local and overseas services at the same time. If a rule is wrong, the target site goes direct and the symptom is "the client is connected but the site has not changed". Verify in global mode first, then switch back to rule mode — that tells you whether the problem is the rule or the path.

Fixed egress and API debugging

API debugging is more sensitive to egress stability: a shifting egress can break the other side's risk controls or session, and timeouts add retry costs. Pin one route while debugging and do not run several clients at once; when comparing, change one variable at a time. Text requests are small, but connection setup and timeouts matter more, so choose routes for stability rather than peak speed.

Multiple devices and household sharing

Devices are unlimited: one account works on multiple devices with pooled data. For household sharing, estimate the load from video, live streams, and backups first, then choose the 250GB or 500GB tier; more devices does not automatically mean more data — what matters is whether there is high-bitrate video and automatic backup. When setting up family members, import the subscription only and do not share the login password; log out of old devices promptly after a change.

Security habits

Keep passwords separate, keep the subscription URL private, log out after using shared devices, and mask the subscription URL and full IP in screenshots. This service follows an anonymous, no-logs policy, but that does not mean accounts can be shared freely; once a subscription URL leaks, someone else consumes your data and refunds and tickets become more complicated. Refuse any "help" that asks for your password, subscription URL, or remote control of your device.

Common questions at a glance

Keep reading

For the shortest path, go back to the quick start guide; for the full route list, open servers and routes; to check prices and data packs, open plans and pricing; to look up an answer by question, open the help center; to self-check your egress IP and DNS, open the network check. For multi-device and household sharing detail, see Multi-device VPN picks: how one account covers a whole household, and for a from-scratch walkthrough, see How do I use a VPN? A complete beginner's guide from sign-up to first connection.