Nothing is more frustrating on the internet than being blocked from a website that you need to visit. Many schools, universities and businesses block websites for a variety of good reasons. In 2000, the Federal Government of the US passed the Children’s Internet Protection Act enforcing schools with minor children to block access to certain websites deemed inappropriate for children under the age of 18.
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While this law is a valiant effort to protect children from questionable internet content and potential predators, it does pose problems for older children and young adults over the age of 18. This article/guide will focus on how to get on blocked websites at school, but we must state this disclaimer:
Unblock websites at school at your own risk! We here at Secureknow.com do not endorse minor children using this guide to unblocking blocked websites that are being blocked for valid reasons. This article is d for the purpose of legitimate access to blocked websites and not for any other reason.
How do they do that?
Before we get into the nuts and bolts to unblock websites at school, let’s look at how they are blocked. Many network administrators in schools use a couple of methods to block content on the servers, such as “Blacklisting” and “Whitelisting”. Both blacklisting and whitelisting involve using content filters to block access.
The difference between the two is blacklisting blocks the websites listed for blocking and whitelisting allows access to websites listed for access; like your spam filter blocks emails you don’t want and adding a sender to your contacts lists allows them to continue sending you emails.
The workarounds
Now that you have some idea of how websites are blocked, we can look at how to get on blocked websites at school.
Just ask your Instructor
One of the safest ways to unblock websites at school is to ask your instructor to unblock it for you. If you have a valid reason for needing to access the site, then asking to have it unblocked is the best way to access it without risk. If that doesn’t work, then other ways can be implemented, but again we state: Use them at your own risk!
Proxy Servers
Another method for unblocking websites is proxy servers. There are many free proxy websites out there to choose from and they all pretty much work the same; they access websites on your behalf rather than you gaining access directly. Once you have found and signed up with a proxy service, all you need to do is type in the URL of the site you wish to access and off you go.
IP Ping
Another method for accessing blocked sites if to ping the website for the IP address. Use the command prompt to ping the URL, and it should give you the IP address of the blocked site. Copy and paste this into the address bar and it should direct you to the blocked site, usually.
Translation services
You can also translate the site into another language by using a website translation service such as Google Translate. Simply go to the translation site, type in the URL and select the language you are translating from and the language you are translating to. Google Translate automatically redirects the URL to the blocked site into the language you selected.
Third party Software
If you can, you can download a third party unblocking software from sites such as HideMyAss Pro!. This software will allow you to access blocked websites. These sites act much like a proxy server site except that the software is on the computer you are on instead of running through a proxy website.
Mobile Web
There are instances when using the mobile version of the website rather than the full site will gain your access too. You won’t have a full site available to you, but most of the pertinent information is. This method works best from a mobile device as many mobile devices will automatically load the mobile version of the site rather than the full.
Alternate Browsers
There are times when the only block is being imposed by the security configurations of a web browser. Switching to an alternate web browser may sometimes get through this block, like using Google Chrome instead of Internet explorer.
URL Redirects
Using a URL redirect site, like Tinyurl, changes the URL from its standard long form into a shorter one. Simply copy and paste the long URL of the blocked site into the box and click the button. You will then get a shortened version of the URL that you can copy and paste into the address bar.
Now you learn how to unblock websites at school and work, and here we have highlighted just a few. As long as you understand the laws and the risks involved, you can unblock websites with ease and surety.
