Five steps to cross-border access

The entry point is the Login button that sits in the top right of every page, or any Start Free button on this page or the home page — both open the sign-up view of the user dashboard. The marketing site and the dashboard are two different addresses: the marketing site explains the service, while accounts, orders and subscriptions all live in the dashboard, and once you've registered everything happens there.

The sign-up form has just two fields: username and password. VPNFL registration needs no email address, so the account is usable the moment you submit — no verification email, no confirmation link to click. Use a short string that doesn't contain your real name as the username, and set a password you don't use anywhere else, not the one for your everyday email or other services: once generated, the subscription link works as a credential for the account, so the account itself deserves its own password.

After submitting you land on the dashboard home. The sections you'll use most are Account Overview, Buy a Plan, Download Clients and Tickets: the overview shows your plan's expiry date and remaining data, the plan page is where you order, the download page is where you get clients, and for anything you can't resolve, describe what you're seeing in a ticket. The dashboard language follows the language parameter you arrived with, matching the marketing site.

If you come back later and find you're logged out, just sign in again with the same username and password. Clearing browser data, switching browsers or switching devices all clear the login state, but your plan, data allowance and subscription address are tied to the account and are unaffected. If you forget your password, use the recovery entry on the login page or open a ticket in the dashboard explaining the situation — the exact paths are in the Help Center.

Open Buy a Plan in the dashboard. There are three monthly tiers: ¥9.9/month with 60GB, ¥18/month with 250GB and ¥28/month with 500GB. Data resets monthly on your activation date — activate on the 12th and it resets on the 12th every month, not on the 1st of the calendar month, so ordering on any day wastes none of that month's days.

If you're not sure how much you'll use each month, start with the lowest tier. The dashboard supports mid-cycle upgrades, with the price difference prorated by remaining days, so you never pay twice for the same month. The only difference between the three tiers is the data allowance — the route catalogue, simultaneous devices and client support are identical.

If your usage swings a lot, look at the data packs: ¥158/300GB, ¥358/1000GB and ¥658/3000GB, used until they run out and never expiring. Data packs suit a rhythm of heavy use in some months and almost none in others, and they can sit alongside a monthly plan — monthly data is used first, then the pack.

Payment options are Alipay, WeChat and USDT — pick one on the order page and follow the on-screen steps. Once payment is done, go back to the overview page to see your plan's expiry date and remaining data. Simultaneous devices are unlimited, so install it on all your everyday devices without paying extra per device.

Before paying, take a look at the refund policy: a 60-day refund with no reason required. If an order doesn't activate for a long time after checkout, refresh the overview page once first; if it's still processing, open a ticket with the order number and payment time. Full details of the tiers and data packs are on the plans page.

Once your plan is active, open Account Overview in the dashboard — it has an entry for getting your subscription (depending on the version it may be called Subscription URL or One-click subscription). Click it and you'll see a link starting with http and carrying a long string of parameters: that's your subscription link.

The subscription link holds your route list and protocol parameters, not an installer. The client reads it and builds the node list itself, so when routes are added or removed you just update the subscription once in the client and the new nodes appear automatically — no manual editing of individual nodes.

Copy the whole link, including the token at the end. Miss a section and the client will report a subscription parsing failure or show an empty node list. The link looks something like this (format example only, not a working address):

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

This link works as a credential for your account — anyone who has it can use up your data, so don't post the full link in public groups, forums or screenshots. If you need to show someone your client interface, blur out the link before taking the screenshot.

If you suspect the link has leaked, reset the subscription address in the dashboard: the old link stops working immediately, and you then re-import the new link into your clients. The location of the reset entry and the order of steps are covered in the Help Center.

Clients for all four platforms come from Download Clients in the dashboard, which requires a login and an active plan; the marketing site never offers direct installer links. iOS is the one exception — its client comes from the App Store, see step 7. The clients on the download page already have this site's configuration entry built in, so all you do is paste the subscription link.

On Windows, go back to Download Clients in the dashboard and get the Windows client. What you download is usually an archive — unzip it into a folder that won't get cleaned up by accident, for example a dedicated folder under D:\Apps\; don't leave it on the desktop or in a temp directory, or system cleanup may delete the client along with it. After unzipping, run the main program. On first launch the system may ask whether to allow it network access — choose allow; this only lets the program go online and has nothing to do with whether you're connected to a route.

Once the client is open, find the subscription area. Most clients have a Subscription entry in the left sidebar or at the top, with an Add subscription or New subscription button inside; some versions make Import from clipboard a standalone button that reads the subscription link from your clipboard automatically. Both entries do the same thing — use whichever your interface has.

When adding, paste the link you copied in step 3. The remark name can be anything, such as "VPNFL", to tell multiple subscriptions apart later. After saving, the client pulls the node list immediately and you'll usually see region names and route types within seconds. If the list is empty, first check that the link was copied in full, then hit Update subscription again — the update button is usually to the right of the subscription entry, or appears when you right-click it.

Once the node list appears, pick a region. For a first run, start with a node that shows a lower latency figure and adjust based on real experience afterwards. Select the node and click connect; the client shows a connected state and the tray icon usually changes colour too. If you want it to launch and connect at startup, turn both options on in the client settings so you don't have to do it manually.

The macOS client also comes from Download Clients in the dashboard. What you get is usually a disk image or an archive: double-click the disk image, drag the app icon into the Applications folder, then eject the image; if it's an archive, unzip it and drag the app into Applications. If you just double-click the copy in your Downloads folder, the system restricts its access to network settings — don't skip the move to Applications.

On first launch macOS may say the developer cannot be verified or block it outright. That's not a problem with the client — it's the system's default policy for apps from outside the App Store. Go to System Settings → Privacy & Security, find the blocked-item notice near the bottom of the page, click Open Anyway and confirm once. Later launches won't be blocked.

The client usually doesn't open a big window — it leaves an icon in the menu bar at the top of the screen. Click that icon to open the menu, find the Subscription or Profiles section, choose Add, paste the subscription link you copied in step 3 and save. The client then pulls the node list and the region list appears in the menu. For fuller node details, open the main window from the menu.

After selecting a node, turn on System Proxy (or Set as system proxy) in the menu — this hands your system's network traffic to the client, and without it the right node still won't take effect. Some clients also ask for your local password once during first setup to write the system network configuration; that's a normal authorisation.

Once connected, the menu bar icon changes state — open a web page to confirm it loads. To quit, turn off the system proxy in the menu first, then quit the client; if you quit the client with the proxy still on, pages may stop loading, and reopening the client and turning the proxy off once will fix it.

Get the Android client from Download Clients in the dashboard. Open the dashboard in your phone browser, log in, go to the download page and download the installer directly. Tap the file to install; the system will say installation from unknown sources isn't allowed, so go to settings and switch on Allow unknown apps for your current browser (or file manager), then come back and continue. You can turn the switch off afterwards — it won't affect the installed app.

The first time you open the client, grant any permission requests it shows. Then find the Subscription or Profiles page, which usually has an Import from clipboard button — copy the subscription link in the dashboard first, come back and tap it, and the link fills in automatically; you can also create a subscription manually and paste the link in. After saving, the client pulls the node list, showing entries for each region and route type.

Pick a node and tap connect. Android shows a VPN connection request dialog explaining that an app wants to set up a VPN connection — tap OK or Allow. This dialog is a system security mechanism and appears on the first connection after every reinstall; it's not an error. Once authorised, the status changes to connected and a small key icon appears in the status bar.

To save battery, turn off options like Always-on in the client settings and connect manually when needed; or enable per-app routing and exclude the apps that don't need the route — that saves data and reduces battery drain. When the route list is updated, tap Update subscription once on the subscription page and the new nodes are added automatically.

If you see a subscription parsing failure after connecting, first check that the link was copied in full, then check that your phone's date and time are set to sync automatically — a large time offset makes the signature check in the link fail, which shows up as a subscription that won't load.

iOS is the only one of the four platforms whose client isn't downloaded from the dashboard: the system doesn't allow apps from outside the store, so the client comes from the App Store. Such clients can't be found in the China store — sign in to the App Store with an Apple ID from another region (for example the US or Hong Kong) and search there. Switching Apple ID only affects the store; it doesn't touch photos, contacts or other data on your phone. If you don't have a non-China account for now, open a ticket in the dashboard and we'll point you to a workable way to get it.

Once installed, open the client — the home screen is usually an empty list with a "+" button in the top right or at the bottom. Tap "+", choose Subscription as the type, paste the subscription link you copied in step 3 into the address field, add any remark name and save. The client pulls nodes immediately and the home screen shows them grouped by region. If the list is empty, long-press the subscription entry, choose Update and pull again.

Pick a node from the list and tap connect. On the first connection iOS asks "Add VPN Configuration?" — confirm with your passcode or Face ID / Touch ID. The prompt installs a VPN configuration profile, which is a normal part of the process and won't appear again after you confirm once.

Once connected, a VPN badge appears in the status bar. There's also a handy iOS option: Settings → General → VPN & Device Management shows the installed configuration, and you can add a VPN shortcut to Control Centre for one-tap toggling. The client itself usually offers on-demand connection too (for example, connecting automatically when you leave a certain Wi-Fi network) — turn it on in the client settings if you want it.

Updating the subscription and switching nodes all happen inside the client — you don't need to go back to the dashboard for the link. Only after resetting the subscription address do you need to import the new link once: the old link stops working immediately after a reset and the client will report a failed pull, which is expected.

Once the client shows connected, confirm that traffic is actually going through the route. The most direct way is to open the IP check page: it shows your current exit IP and its location. Note the original location before connecting, then refresh after connecting — if the location has changed to the region of the node you picked, the route is working. If it hasn't changed, the system proxy is probably off, or the client is in rule-only mode and the site you're visiting isn't covered by the rules.

Once it's confirmed working, open a page that normally won't load and see. The first visit may be slower than you expect while the client establishes the connection; later visits settle down. The latency figures in the route list are only a reference — real performance depends on your local network, your ISP and the international exit, and the same node can perform very differently on different networks.

If pages won't load, troubleshoot in the order below, changing one thing at a time and testing right after each change:

1. Try another node. Different routes in the same region may use different exits, and switching to one that works is very common.
2. Click Update subscription in the client to pull the latest route list.
3. Quit the client completely and reopen it, rather than just disconnecting and reconnecting — some clients leave state behind that only a process restart clears.
4. Check that your device's date and time are set to sync automatically. A large time offset makes some protocols fail the handshake outright.
5. Test on another network: a phone hotspot or a different Wi-Fi, to tell whether the problem is your local network or the route side.

If all five steps fail, put the client name, the node you selected, the exact error message and the location shown on the IP check page into a ticket — it makes handling much faster. Deeper troubleshooting, protocol choices and route types are covered in the AI Tools guide and in-depth docs; common account, billing and subscription questions are collected in the Help Center.