Content

• To step
• Method 1 of 3: Using a proxy website
• Method 2 of 3: Using a portable browser
• Method 3 of 3: Set up your own proxy at home
• Tips
• Warnings

Are you trying to reach a website that has been blocked by school, work or your parents? Blocking software has become more and more powerful, but there are still ways you can access blocked sites. The most reliable ways work with proxies, which are servers that you connect to before connecting to the blocked site. Information is sent to the proxy server, the server sends data back to you, thus bypassing the block. You can use existing proxies or create a proxy server yourself at home.

To step

Method 1 of 3: Using a proxy website

1. Find a list of proxy websites. A "proxy" is a server through which you route your internet traffic. For this you will probably have to adjust the settings of your browser, which is not possible on all computers. A "web-based proxy" is a website that runs on a proxy server. You connect to the website and the website then connects to the website that would otherwise be blocked. It then shows the website to you.
   • There are many sites listing proxy websites. For example, use a search term ("web proxy list") in your favorite search engine. It could be that many of the websites with lists you find are also blocked, so you may have to search a little further before you find something you can use or use another computer to view the lists.
2. Connect to the proxy website. Choose one of the websites from the list and open the site in your browser. If it is a popular website, this site may also be blocked. If so, you can try another website from the list.
   • Proxy websites are constantly being updated, so you'll eventually find one that hasn't been blocked yet.
3. Enter the address of the blocked website you want to reach. Almost all proxy websites work the same, there is a field where you can enter the web address of the site you want to see. For example, if you want to go to YouTube, type in www.youtube.com.
4. Wait for the site to load. Connecting to a blocked website via a proxy website is slower than connecting directly. This is because the proxy website must first download the site before it can be sent to you. There may be errors, these are parts that have not come through properly.
   • Never use a proxy website to reach sites that require you to log in, because you never know who can see the information between you and the proxy. If you need to connect to a secure website, read the section "Setting up your own proxy at home" below.

Method 2 of 3: Using a portable browser

1. Download a portable browser. A portable browser is installed on a USB stick. You can then insert this stick into any computer, the browser runs from the stick and you do not have to install it on the computer you are using. A portable browser is useful because you can change the settings of the proxy connection, which is usually not possible from computers at work or school.
   • The most popular browser is Firefox. Download the portable version from this website: PortableApps.com.
2. Install the portable browser on your USB stick. Insert a USB stick with at least 100MB of free space into a USB port on your computer. Start the Firefox installer and set the location of the USB stick as the installation location. The installation is done in a few seconds.
3. Find a proxy to connect to. In order to use the portable browser in such a way that you can bypass a block, you must connect to a proxy server. Like the proxy website in the above section, a proxy server will pull the blocked site for you and forward the data to your portable browser. But instead of doing this through a website, you change the address that your browser connects to, and that affects the entire browsing session.
   • There are hundreds of websites online with lists of proxy servers you can connect to. You have to look up these sites on a computer that does not block the sites.
   • Copy the host name or IP address of the proxy and the port.
   • If you set up your own proxy at home, you can use your portable browser to connect to it. This is the safest option, but it also takes the most time. See the next section for details on setting up a home proxy.
4. Change the proxy settings of your portable browser. Launch the portable Firefox and click the menu button (☰). Select "Preferences" and then the Network tab.
   • Click Settings ... in the Connection section.
   • Select "Manual proxy configuration".
   • Enter the host name or IP address in the "HTTP Proxy" field.
   • Enter the port number in the "Port" field.
   • Click OK to save the settings.
5. Take the portable browser with you. The next time you use a computer with a website blocked, simply insert the USB stick with the browser into one of the computer's USB ports and start your portable Firefox. You can then simply visit the blocked website from this browser.
   • If you use a proxy that you found on a list on the Internet, it probably won't work for long. Grace proxies never exist for long, so you will have to update your portable browser often.
   • Never use a proxy website to reach sites that require you to log in, because you never know who can see the information between you and the proxy. If you need to connect to a secure website read the section "Setting up your own proxy at home" below.

Method 3 of 3: Set up your own proxy at home

1. Download and install a web server. The safest and best way to bypass a block is to install your own proxy at home on your own web server. You can install a web server on your home computer and then connect to your server from anywhere, if the computer is on. Installing your own web server is very easy. For a PC, WAMPserver is the best option, Mac users can use MAMP.
   • If you have installed WAMPserver you will see the icon in your system tray.
   • Right click on the icon and select "Put Online". With this command you turn on the server.
   • Right click on the icon again and select "Localhost". If you now open the configuration page of WAMPServer, the server has been installed correctly.
2. Download and install PHProxy. This is an open source proxy server program that you can download and use for free. Download PHProxy on SourceForge or you may get a modified version.
   • Extract the folder from the .ZIP file you downloaded.
   • Copy the folder to the root of WAMP (or MAMP). The default locations of this folder are:
     • Windows - C: wamp www
     • OS X - Programs / MAMP / htdocs /
3. Test the proxy. PHProxy was installed by moving the folder to the correct location. Open a browser on your computer and go to http: // localhost / phproxy / to test the proxy. When the PHProxy page appears everything has been installed correctly.
4. Find the IP address of your computer. To access the server from anywhere in the world, you must redirect incoming traffic to the server on your home network. To do this, you must first know the IP address of the computer running the server software.
   • open a command prompt window and type ipconfig. Your IP address is listed in the section of your current connection. Read this article for more details on how to find your IP address.
   • Write down the IP address, you will need it in the next step.
5. Open port 80 on your router. If you are connecting to your server from a different location, you will try to connect to port 80 of your network router. By opening or closing ports you can determine which traffic is or is not allowed on your network. To connect to your server you need to open port 80 to allow incoming connections.
   • Open your router's configuration page. You do this with a browser on your local network. Enter the address of the router in the address bar of the browser. Read this article for detailed instructions.
   • Open the "Port Forwarding" section. The naming of this part may differ per router. Create a new rule for the local IP address of your server. Set the range of the ports to 80 and make sure that both TCP and UDP are enabled. Read this article for detailed instructions on Port Forwarding.
6. Find your public IP address. Now that Port Forwarding has been set up correctly, the web server is ready for use. All you need to do now is connect to the public address of your home network from another computer. That is the address that determines your place on the internet.
   • You can easily find your IP address by typing "My IP address" on Google.
7. Connect to your proxy server. Now that you know the address, you can connect to your proxy server from anywhere in the world. Your proxy server will load the page you want to see and forward the data to you.
   • To connect to PHProxy and use the web interface, simply type Public IP address/ phproxy /. Suppose the public IP address is 10.10.10.15, then you can connect to PHProxy from anywhere in the world by 10.10.10.15/phproxy/ in the address bar of a browser.
   • To connect to your proxy server via a portable browser, you must set the browser's connection settings to your public IP address and port 80.

Tips

• If you want to use a portable browser, but don't want to put in too much effort, use the Tor Browser Bundle. It is preset to work with the Tor network. You can visit blocked websites on this network and the connection remains anonymous.

Warnings

• If you are caught while accessing blocked pages, you will likely be punished. You can even get expelled from school.