I will show you some tricks I have seen in action as a network administrator over the years and some I have discovered myself. But before starting, know that your system administrator might not be partial to you circumventing their network security so do so at your own risk and make sure you are fully aware of the possible consequences first!

How to Unblock a Web Page – Retrieving The Site’s IP Address

The first trick we will use gets around most firewalls or content filtering that work by domain name or URL. The trick is to ping the website from the command line from your home or another computer not on the restricted network. This can be done by hitting start ->run and then typing cmd. On Vista and Windows 7, just hit the start orb and type cmd.

Then at the command prompt type ping www.site.com replacing site.com with the actual website you want to get to. Like so:

I chose a random site called www.restricted.com and pinged it as you can see above and it returned the IP address. Then I can type in http://216.34.131.135 in my browser and bypass the URL’s restriction.

The Google Cache Trick to Unblock a Web Page

If that didn’t work for you we will move on to the Google Cache trick. Search for the website you are trying to get to. In this instance, we will use http://www.wtfluck.com. On this imaginary network we are blocking this site and its IP address. So what can we do? Google for it of course, like so:

Hit Google Search and you will see results that look like these:

Maybe you have never noticed it before but there is a Cached button after each entry and you can click on it to see the site like so:

And on closer inspection to the URL we see this:

The URL http://www.wtfluck.com does not appear in the main URL which here is http://74.125.113.132 but if you click the links then you will be taken to the real site so be forewarned!

Wayback Machine

The next method to unblock a single web page from behind a restrictive firewall or filter is to use the Wayback Machine located here. Archive.org keeps a working replica of sites from way back when or maybe closer. This is a good way to get content that is a few years old.

Check it out and lets take a look at what we can see:

Can you imagine a network blocking MakeUseOf? Well this is what we could do to read it regardless:

Clicking on one of the links will take you “back in time” and that will bring up a version of the site from that day like so:

And clicking on the links will still keep you in the archive like so:

Looking at the URL it is: http://web.archive.org/web/20080728061910/www.makeuseof.com/tag/get-your-computer-startup-under-control-with-autoruns/

And my final suggestion is one which is the one I always use, which is 100% effective, and is not monitored by your IT group. Use Remote Desktop to connect to your computer at home and browse away there. For even more security, open a VPN tunnel between the two machines and encrypt your traffic! You can find a post on this subject by Varun by clicking here. Also, check out Jack’s article on some more tips to bypass a firewall.

How do you bypass security restrictions like this? Let us know in the comments!

While there are certainly a large majority of users who simply would like to access a proxy sites in order to get access to blocked sites at their work or school, there are actually a number of other reasons that are a little more appropriate (and won’t get you fired). Sometimes, for whatever reason, people get banned from forums, or they other otherwise locked out of some form of online service based on their IP address. Using proxy sites makes it appear as though you’re a completely different person coming into the target web server from a different geographical location and IP.

Of course a proxy server will also fool your local firewall into thinking that you’re visiting one website, while that website actually redirects the traffic from a completely different website (the one you really wanted to go to) back to your computer. The problem with choosing a proxy and using it consistently is that eventually, one of the security experts identifies the server as a proxy site, and in very short order almost every firewall in the world gets reconfigured to block all traffic to and from that particular server.

The Never-Ending Game of Cat and Mouse

Since proxy sites come and go so quickly, hackers, simple Internet travelers and freedom of information activists now offer various services to the Internet community where they will constantly create new proxy servers just as fast as the old ones get blacklisted. Internet users who have a constant need for a proxy server simply sign up for the proxy server newsletter or email list, and they will receive a fresh new proxy server list in their email on a regular basis.

Since the general approach is based on email lists, there are other unscrupulous websites that seek to farm email addresses by building a “front” website which appears as a proxy list newsletter, while it is nothing of the sort. In order to respond to the overwhelming demand for these services, and to protect Internet travelers from these email-farming scam artists, I would like to present 4 legitimate and useful services that will email fresh, new lists of proxy servers to your email.

Many of the groups that provide the service of delivering proxies to your email use Yahoo Groups to organize those email lists. EverydayProxy is one of those Yahoo groups. Every day, you receive a list of fresh, working proxies drawn from the popular proxy provider Proxy.org. Signing up is a piece of cake, just send an email to the “subscribe” Yahoo Group email address.

Yet another popular proxy site is Yahoo Group is ProxInbox. This is actually a public group, which means that if you don’t really care to receive the proxies in your email inbox, then you can just visit this group website for the daily list of new and active proxies. I searched through the message history, and without fail the group administrators have delivered a list of proxies to the group web page every single day.

DDDay is another group email list, but in this case it’s powered by Google Groups. Signing up is as simple as entering your email address into the text field and clicking on “Join.” The list contents come from the popular “All For Proxy” Google group. You can unsubscribe by sending an email to the unsubscribe address, but when you start receiving the daily list of new and active proxies, you really won’t have any reason to unsubscribe!

Anonymode.info is another Google Group where you can quickly type in your email and immediately subscribe for the latest list of active proxy sites provided by the network. It appears that this list doesn’t get delivered every single day, but you are alerted whenever the proxy network  releases a new proxy.

Whether you decide to sign up for just one or several of the services, you can rest assured that you’ll never remain blocked from your favorite website or forum again. If a proxy that you’ve been using stops working for any reason, at least now you know that you have a place to go to get a new one that is active and working. It may be tedious, but at least it works!

Have you ever had the need to use proxy servers? Do you have your own favorite source for the latest proxy lists? Share your feedback in the comments section below.

The Internet is one of the favorite places to slack off from work. And most of the time people “intentionally” get confused on the difference between “slacking” and “working”, hence abusing the free net connection provided by the office/school/whatever.

So, to increase the productivity of everybody, the network admin is asked to block those major slacker-maker websites (social networking, chat, photo/video sharing, etc.). And since nobody has the guts to point his/her finger to the boss, the network admin will definitely play the role as the bad guy.

Unlock The Block

The problem is, there are always some ‘good’ sites that also get blocked in the process. And it’s very annoying if you really do want to work but unable to access the necessary places.

Assuming that you are going to use it for a good cause, there are many solutions available on how to get past blocked sites, and we’ve discussed some of them here, here, here and here. But you can’t get too many alternatives, can you?

This article will show you another way how to get past blocked sites. You’ll need your own domain hosted in a PHP-friendly hosting service and a script called PHProxy.

You can try to use a free web host for this purpose. The basic rule of thumb is, if the host can handle WordPress, it can easily handle PHProxy. However, not all free hosting providers (are willing to) support this script.

How to Get Past Blocked Sites

After you download PHProxy, unzip it, then upload these three files: index.php, index.inc.php, and style.css to a directory in your site. You can use any existing directory in your site, but it’s preferable to create a new one.

To upload files or create a directory, you can use any FTP client or use the online “File Manager” provided by your host. This is usually accessible via cPanel (and may have a different appearance depending on what kind of cPanel is used).

Inside the File Manager, choose “New dir”

And then create a new directory by writing down the desired directory’s name and click the checkmark.

Then choose the newly made directory to open it, and click the “Upload” button.

Browse for the three files and add to the upload list. Click the green checkmark to upload them.

And you are done.

Note: In some cases, you may have to create the new directory inside the “/htdocs” directory.

Using PHProxy

Using PHproxy to access blocked sites is very easy. All you’ve got to do is point your browser to: http://yourdomainname/the-new-directory-name/

If nothing goes wrong during the installation (read:uploading process), then you’ll see the following PHProxy display.

Just put the address of the blocked site in the “Web Address” field and click “Go“.

You can share the access to your friends if you want to, but it’s better if you just show them how to build one themselves. Because the more users there are, the more likely it’s being discovered by the admin.

To close, let me quote the disclaimer by the script’s author:

Since this script basically bypasses restrictions that were imposed on you, using it might be illegal in your country, school, office, or whatever. Even your host might not allow you to run it. Use it at your own risk. I will not be responsible for any damages done or any harm that might result from using this script.

Simply put, use the method at your own risk.

Again, PHProxy can be downloaded for free here. And there’s another similar script that you can try: CGIProxy.

Do you know other free and easy methods how to get past blocked sites?  Please share using the comments below.

Image credit: Joshua Rappeneker and Llima

Another reason for a website not working is that the website’s firewall may be preventing you from accessing it. If you are unsure what a firewall is and how it works, have a read of Wikipedia’s explanation and if you’re looking for a firewall recommendation, have a look to see what the MakeUseOf readers use.

If “Down For Everyone Or Just Me” says the site is down for just you, and you have asked your friends if they can access the site, which they can, here are a few tips on how to unblock a web page from behind a firewall.

1. Wait – And Wait Some More

After a certain amount of time (depending on the server’s configuration) the firewall may automatically unblock your IP address. This may take anywhere from one hour, to one week, or indefinitely. So if you are still waiting after a couple of days, continue reading this post as you might want to try another option.

But seriously, who would want to wait one week for Facebook’s firewall to unblock you?

2. Use A Proxy

So if a firewall is blocking you, you can use a proxy to see if you can access the website, because the firewall will most probably have blocked your IP address or an IP range. Have a read of my post How To Use a Fake IP Address & Mask Yourself Online for some proxies that you can use. If you managed to access the site, or at least view some of the homepage, you can say that your IP address was most likely blocked.  So to unblock yourself, you may want to try step three (but this won’t work for everyone).

3. Restart Your Modem

Restarting your modem will only work if you have a Dynamic IP address assigned by your Internet Service Provider (ISP). By restarting your modem, it will reconnect to your Internet connection and your ISP will assign you with a different IP address.

So if the firewall has blocked your IP address, by getting a new one, you should be unblocked from the website ““ unless of course that IP address is blocked as well. I should not have to explain how to restart your modem, but turning it off for 10 seconds and back on should do the trick.

4. Use Google Cache

If restarting your modem does not work, and you cannot access the site at all, you may want to use Google Cache. Google Cache is good for a site that does not get updated frequently, and you just want to view some information ““ for example doing some research.

Google Cache is basically a backup of the site that Google has archived ““ so you won’t be able to access Facebook properly with it. To access a cached website, simple do a Google search with site:domainname.com, then click on the cache link.

5. Try The IP Address Of The URL

Another thing you may want to try is to get the IP address of the website, and enter that into your web browser. To get the IP address of a website, visit the site SelfSEO and enter the website URL. You will then get the IP address of the website. Enter that number into a web browser to see if it works.

If you still can’t access a website, the problem may be at your end, so make sure your Internet is successfully connected and you can access other websites. But if you are positive that it is a firewall that is blocking you, the last resort is step 6.

6. Contact The Website Owner & Ask Them To Unblock You

If all else fails, contact the website owner. You may be able to find contact information by doing a WhoIs Search on the domain and looking through the results for their contact details. If it is a company’s website, you may be able to do a search on their company name to find their contact details and then ask them why you cannot access their website.

If you still can’t access the website, the following MUO articles may be able to help you out as well.

• How to Bypass Firewalls & Get into Blocked Websites in School or at Work with FreeProxy (Windows)
• How To Use a Fake IP Address & Mask Yourself Online
• Access Blocked Websites using Proxy Servers
• WebInMail: Access Blocked Websites via Email
• 5 Methods To Bypass Blocked Sites
• IsThisDown: Check If The Website Is Really Down
• AnonyMouse: Surf The Web Anonymously

Do you have any other tips on how to unblock a web page from behind a firewall?  If so, share it with us in the comments.

Image Credit : Wikipedia Commons

(1) Vanishd – Access Facebook and Youtube At Work

Make your co-workers, bosses, and friends think you’re working. What if you could cover any webpage with a fake word document or even the Google homepage and peek through a small window to surf access Youtube, Facebook or some other site without anyone seeing. Enter Vanishd.

Vanish hides one webpage behind the other and gives you a small custom-sized viewing window that you can drag around and see contents of the hidden page. You can also use a mouse scroll wheel to resize the viewing window to a desired size.

When you need to quickly hide the viewing window all you need to do is drag the cursor to the side. Easy.

See Vanish in action in the video below:

Read more on Vanishd here.

(2) WebToMail – Get Websites by Email

If the internet access in your office is limited only to email then WebToMail is just what you need. It lets you quickly access a site of your choice via e-mail.

Just send an email to send@webtomail.co.cc with the URL of the webpage in a subject line and shortly after receive that page by email. Check out the screenshot below.

Although WebToMail doesn’t work with the websites that require you to login it’s still a handy tool to have in your arsenal.

(3) TwitterMail – Post to Twitter via Email

Is Twitter blocked in your office? If that’s the case TwitterMail has a workaround for it. Using TwitterMail you can post status updates to Twitter and receive tweets sent to your username (i.e. @your_username) all via email.

You might also want to know that when sending status messages by email all long URLs will be automatically shortened.

(4) MoDazzle – Facebook, LinkedIn, Weather, Stocks and more.

While TwitterMail brings Twitter to your email, MoDazzle brings the rest. Access Facebook, LinkedIn and a number of other web services (local business directory, weather, stock quotes, etc.) via email or mobile text messaging. No Firewall can stop you here.

Here are just a few of the many things that you can do with MoDazzle:

- update your Facebook ‘status’,
- get “˜un-read’ messages from your Facebook inbox
- get someone’s profile info from LinkedIn and Facebook
- check weather
- get driving directions
- get the location of the nearest Starbucks
- pull restaurant reviews
- check flight information
- and lots more.

It’s also very easy to use. For instance, to update your Facebook status message you can send an email to “˜fbprofilestatusupdate@modazzle.com’ with your new status message in the subject line. If you’re on a mobile phone then send an SMS message to “˜22553″².

(5) Read At Work

Read At Work is a wonderfully done website that looks exactly like a Windows XP desktop.

Now what no one knows is that those folders you got over there have about 20 ebooks that look like Powerpoint presentations.:-) Definitely check it out!

Bonus: If all you’re looking is a simple web proxy then try www.unblockall.net

Did we miss any cool websites office workers under firewalled connections should know about? Please share them wth everyone in the comments.

Web proxies are used for hiding your IP address and by-passing work, school or other web filters. For instance, if Facebook or Myspace is blocked on the computer you are using, you can easily gain access by using a web proxy.

HideMyAss – Free and speedy proxy service. Use it to hide your IP address and get through network filters. HideMyAss is part of a Privax proxy network, so if it’s blocked, there are several others you give a try. There is nothing to configure, just type-in the address of the website you want to visit and press ‘Go’.

Proxy.org – Extensive directory of free proxy servers. There are well over 15,000 Proxy Servers on the Web. As of this writing, Proxy.org claims to have 4,718 working proxies available for you to choose from, so that might be a pretty good place to start.

GlobalPandora – Finally, free and simple way to access a US-only Pandora interactive web radio from outside US. If you haven’t tried it before, give it a try now.

As always, if you have favorites that were mentioned above, please share them with us!

For those of you who think that the internet does an excellent job of protecting your location, think again. You are easily trackable via your IP address which is the digital equivalent of a fingerprint. So bear that in mind the next time you contemplate using a file sharing network. But all is not lost – you can easily surf the net, hiding your real location, using a proxy service.

A proxy service doesn’t have to be for the shady segment of internet users. There are plenty of legitimate uses for a proxy. Perhaps you just don’t like being tracked via your real IP address and wish to remain in the shadows. Or perhaps you like to surf the web at work and your IT department has decided to block your favourite websites. By using a proxy server, you can bypass those restrictions and surf at will.

There are countless proxy servers out there and I can’t possibly test them all. Plus I’m sure these services come and go as often as a wannabe singer on American Idol. So here’s five that I did try and which seemed to work OK. If you have a favourite proxy service, let us know in the comments. Oh and if you know where the proxy service is based, also mention that. It wouldn’t do to tell someone that you are in your beach house in the Seychelles when your IP address says you’re actually in a trailer park in New Mexico.

1. Corpask.com – apparently shows you coming from Texas.

2. MProxy – this one looks interesting. It allows you to remove cookies and scripts as well as encrypting the URL and the cookies.

3. Hide This – Works fine although it asked me for a password when I tried to access one of my websites. Strange.

4. Da Net Surfer – another one that allows you to strip away information such as cookies and scripts.

5. Fox Surf – seems to be no relation to Firefox!