net4people
[Myanmar] Severe Internet Slowdown & VPN Connectivity Issues (Since Nov 1st) - Firewall or Cable Issue?
Hello everyone,
I'm writing to discuss and gather insights on a widespread internet disruption happening in Myanmar, which started around November 1st. We are experiencing major issues with connectivity, and I'd like to share the specific symptoms to see if anyone has a technical explanation.
Here is what we are observing: Asymmetrical Speeds: While upload speeds seem to be normal or at their maximum, download speeds are extremely slow, making most of the internet unusable.
VPN Connection Failures: It has become very difficult, and often impossible, to establish connections to VPNs.
As a personal example: I set up a brand new VPN server. It worked perfectly for about 5 hours, and then the server's IP address was completely blocked. I can no longer connect to it in any way. Partial "Walled Garden" Effect: At certain times, the entire internet connection drops completely. However, during these specific outages, some services—specifically Google and YouTube—remain accessible while all other websites, apps, and services are unreachable.
The official statement from the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Myanmar is that this disruption is due to "submarine cable issues." However, the specific symptoms don't seem to fully align with a typical cable fault. The fact that upload speeds are fine, VPNs are being actively blocked (even new ones), and Google/YouTube are sometimes selectively allowed makes me suspicious.
Could this be the result of a new national-level firewall or a new set of traffic filtering policies being implemented, rather than just a physical cable issue?
I wanted to post this here to see if anyone else in Myanmar is observing the same patterns or has more technical insights into what might be causing this.
Thanks for any information you can share.
