First, confirm the IP is blocked
What a blocked IP usually looks like:
- Several networks (mobile data, other Wi-Fi, different carriers) all fail, on both nodes;
- An AI health check says the server is fine, and you can log in to it from outside China (or over another VPN);
- Most often ping still works but every port times out (only TCP is blocked); sometimes ping fails too.
To check it yourself, open https://tcp.ping.pe/your-server-IP:443 in a browser, then again with :22 instead of :443. In the rows starting with China at the bottom, look only at the 6 rows whose ISP is China Telecom, China Unicom or China Mobile: if they’re all failed while other countries are successful, the IP is almost certainly blocked. Ignore the Tencent rows — on port 22 they fail even for a healthy IP.
itdog.cn TCPing works too and has more test points in China: if most of them time out while the health check passes, the IP is blocked.
Getting a new IP
Recommended: just pay for an IP change
In most cases, paying for a new IP is the least hassle.
- Sign in to BandwagonHost and open the Request IP Change page (sign-in required).
- Pick the server and pay as the page asks. The price is whatever the page shows.
- Once it’s done, the new IP appears on the KiwiVM control panel’s main page.
- IP change fees aren’t refunded: the Terms of Service exclude them from refunds.
- Datacenter Migration won’t work for now: moving to another datacenter also gives a new IP, but the Terms say it can’t be used while an IP is blacklisted, until it has been off every blacklist for 7 days in a row.
Exception: bought less than a month ago and barely used? Refund it and buy a new one
A new server comes with a new IP, and you save the IP change fee. But it’s only worth trying if you meet all of BandwagonHost’s 30-day refund conditions; otherwise just pay for the IP change (see the Terms of Service):
- It’s a new order (not a renewal), placed 30 or fewer days ago;
- This month’s traffic is under 10% of the plan’s quota (100 GB on a 1 TB plan);
- No overdue payments, no Terms violations, no disputes or chargebacks;
- None of its IPs are on any blacklist or blocklist, and none were replaced because of blacklisting.
Mind the last one: the Terms say a blacklisted IP means no refund, but don’t say whether a China block counts, so BandwagonHost support decides. If you qualify and want to try, ask for the refund first, and pay for an IP change only if it’s refused. Changing the IP first disqualifies you.
The refund steps and emails you can copy are in Refund a server and buy a new one.
DMIT’s rules are in its documentation and depend on the plan series:
- The IP was already blocked when the server was activated: open a ticket for a free change.
- Pro or EB series: free if all four of these hold, otherwise 5 USD (at least 7 days between requests):
- at least 7 days old (from day 8);
- 15+ days since the last IP change;
- ICMP and every TCP port blocked. If ping still works and only TCP is blocked, it doesn’t count and you pay;
- 7+ days of service left.
- T1 series: paid only, 5 USD each. It must be 24+ hours old, with 3+ days since the last change and 3+ days of service left.
How to request it:
- Request it by opening a ticket in the DMIT client area, naming the server and asking for an IP change.
- Once paid and done, it can’t be reversed or refunded. The new IP is assigned at random.
- Abusing the feature can get you banned from it.
After the IP changes
The setup ties the certificate, subscription URLs and nodes to the IP. When the setup tool sees the server’s IP has changed it stops rather than patching the old config, so a new IP means setting up from scratch:
- Test the new IP with TCPing as above to confirm it’s reachable from China.
- Reinstall the OS in the provider’s dashboard: see Reinstall the OS as Ubuntu.
- Start again from step 3 “Configure the server” with the new IP, and choose a new ssh name (the old one still points at the old IP, and the setup won’t overwrite it).
- On every device, delete the old subscription and import the new one (the IP in the URL changed).
- Check everything as in step 5, including the new IP’s Claude AI trust score.
- On BandwagonHost, if you had KiwiVM usage display set up, connect it again as in Check traffic.
Ping works, so why is it called blocked?
The usual block only stops TCP connections; ping uses ICMP and gets through. A working ping doesn’t mean the server is usable: check whether the ports connect (test 443 with TCPing as above).
Will a block lift by itself after a few days?
Sometimes, but there’s no telling when, and it may never lift. If you need it now, change the IP.