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Panopto access in China

Tom BrunsdonTom Brunsdon Tyro
in General Q&A

Hi,

We've are based in England. We've had some anecdotal reports from students via teaching staff of not being able to access videos in China.

There was a thread in August 2020 and someone replied:

"Due to the network restrictions in mainland China, Panopto, and all other videos streaming services, will have an inconsistent playback experience. If they want a more consistent experience, you should advise your users to tether to their mobile device and use their cellular network"

As this was 4 years ago, I was just checking back:

  1. Are there widespread issues accessing Panopto in China?
  2. Are 'network issues' are more likely to be causing the problems and this may not be limited to just Panopto?
  3. What is the current advice is for students in China so they can access Panopto for their studies?

Many thanks!

Answers

  • Caitlin McCabeCaitlin McCabe Administrator

    Hi @Tom Brunsdon,

    I've followed up with some colleagues, and they've confirmed that the guidance we sent four years ago still stands:

    Panopto can be accessed easily by students and academics around the globe. Panopto's infrastructure backbone is provided by AWS and makes use of AWS Cloudfront CDN to deliver services globally.

    Regarding access from China, Panopto websites are available via the public internet, and Panopto does not enforce any blocking. Many students access Panopto from China successfully. However, Panopto cannot predict the possible effect of the Great Firewall of China on your viewing experience from within China of content hosted by Panopto outside of China. If it is found that accessing via a wired Internet connection or mobile phone network Internet connection is unsatisfactory, Panopto can provide reliable and stable access via a Chinese CDN provider for an extra cost. This is available regardless of which Panopto Cloud your site is hosted in e.g. USA, Canada, Ireland, Singapore, Japan, or Australia. If your organization is interested in a Chinese CDN provider, please contact your Account Manager for further assistance.

    To answer your questions more directly:

    1. Are there widespread issues accessing Panopto in China? 
      No, but this is unpredictable.
    2. Are 'network issues' more likely to be causing the problems and this may not be limited to just Panopto? 
      Correct, this is not limited to Panopto.
    3. What is the current advice for students in China so they can access Panopto for their studies? 
      If it is found that accessing via a wired Internet connection or mobile phone network Internet connection is unsatisfactory, Panopto can provide reliable and stable access via a Chinese CDN provider for an extra cost. Please reach out to your Panopto representative for more information.


    If you have any additional questions, please feel free to ask - we're always happy to help!

    Best wishes,
    Cait

  • Tom BrunsdonTom Brunsdon Tyro

    This is incredibly useful, thanks so much for following up on this. Much appreciated.

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