Bypass Firewalls - Unblock Facebook in China

When Facebook is Bocked by a Firewall – Use a Proxy to Unblock It

School and Work Firewalls blocking Facebook

Most school and work Internet networks block entertainment, chatting, and networking sites like Facebook to keep people on task. The truth is that these sites are addictive and distracting. These blocks are created with firewalls. Firewalls mediate the communication of IPs on the network with IPs outside of the network. You can unblock Facebook when it’s blocked by a firewall by using a proxy. Proxies use cached data or make requests on your behalf to provide you access with blocked sites.

Governments blocking Facebook with Firewalls

The world is moving towards the direction of further integration of social networking sites into everyday business and communication. Sites like Facebook and YouTube have gone beyond their original purpose of “just being fun” and turned into billion dollars businesses. However, Facebook, YouTube, and other similar sites (Vimeo, Twitter) have been banned in China due to the censorship laws about national security. Facebook is blocked in China with The Great Firewall, and all the same, a proxy can be used to unblock it.

Using your web browser to surf anonymously

Though there are settings on most web browsers nowadays that allow anonymous surfing through open proxies, these don’t work all the time. Most network administrators are aware of these and are able to block them. Also, this can be confusing for new users.

Free Web Based Proxies

There are also free web based proxies available. With a quick Google search, you can find many. The problem with these is that many are unprofessional and slow due to bandwidth limitations. Well known spam distributors, you should always be cautious when choosing a free web based proxy to bypass firewalls.

Premium Proxy Services

This is my preferred way to access blocked sites. I’m able to use some premium proxies even from behind The Great Firewall, the most advanced firewall in the world – proof that they work. With a premium service, you don’t have to worry about spam or bandwidth limitations. You get support, and access to premium servers in The US and The UK.

I use SecuriTales. There’s a free trial and a 30 day money back guarantee, so I don’t need to say much about it because you can try it for yourself – for FREE.

www.securitales.com

The Best Software to Unblock Sites

By Roderick

blocked globe

Spending eight hours in school or at work can be boring. Sometimes, we all feel the need to do something different and kill some time. With smart phones, laptops, mini laptops, Internet at work and school, this is pretty easy. However, bosses and teachers have different ideas of what we should be doing on company/school time, and firewalls are put in place to block these sites. The same rules apply to areas of the world that block social networking or political sites in the name of “protecting the country’s best interests” – ie China, Vietnam, Iran, Egypt, and more.

The Non-Software Solution

If you’re talking specifically about SOFTWARE to unblock sites, there are software based proxies out there. However, I would suggest two other options before you go looking into that.

More common that software based proxies are actually web based proxy. A web based proxy can be used to unblock sites at work, school, or at home. These require no installation and therefore can’t really be called “software”. Web based proxies have been used from a very long time and the main purpose they serve is to protect the privacy of the user or bypass firewalls. People who don’t want others or a third party to find out their IP address or their location or browsing history through packet sniffing or tracking cookies often make use of proxies to protect their IP information. Web based proxies also work to bypass firewalls put in place by your ISP.

Web based proxies are sites which have been created to function as unique web browsers. Instead of using the school or work server, any person can simply use a proxy server and access cached information of blocked sites such as Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo, and Gmail. Proxies can also provide you with fresh data by replacing your IP with its own and making site requests on your behalf. Open proxies are open to the public, and are widely available. Though it sounds like a great idea, open proxies can be home to spam, malware, and other unscrupulous individual if you get connected to the wrong kind of server.

Proxy services are a more effective way to unblock sites but they do require a monthly fee. One of the best proxy services to unblock sites that I know of is SecuriTales. Fast connection speed, support, servers in The US and The UK, and a free trial are just some of the perks of SecuriTales service. SecuriTales of course does not require installation so connection is instant. This also means you’ll be able to use it on work/school/public computers that you can’t install private software to unblock sites on.

www.securitales.com

Have you got your heart set on software?

Before you start searching for software based proxies as I mentioned above, there’s yet another option. Virtual private networks can’t really be considered software, they work much to the same effect, and actually provide better anonymous surfing results than many softwares on the market. Tunneling and encryption are the main players here, which mean that the anonymous IP assigned to you by the proxy server will be secure, reliable, and protect you from IP tracking tactics.

VPN also allow for server choice and switching, which means you can surf as an American, a Canadian, a German, a Brit, or many more. Connecting to a VPN also means that other programs and applications running on your phone/computer will use the anonymous IP address, and you’ll be able to unblock more sites than with a proxy. Most of the time, the end-site will be unaware that you’re hiding your real IP address.

Recommended VPN Services

Hide My Ass provides the most comprehensive VPN package on the Internet, which is why they’re one of the most popular VPN services out there. 18,000+ IP addresses, 160+ VPN servers, and 32 countries. PPTP, L2TP, OpenVPN. 30 Day money back guarantee, unlimited bandwidth, a free web based proxy and other free anonymous surfing tools. This is just part of what they offer, so you have to take a look at their site.

http://hidemyass.com

PureVPN offers a few things that Hide My Ass doesn’t. For one, it’s blocked in fewer locations. While Hide My Ass is blocked in China, Oman, UAE, and a few other places, PureVPN is not. PureVPN also offers custom VPN settings for users in China, SSTP VPN for Vista and Win 7 users, and static IP addresses for users who want to surf anonymously but don’t want to frequently change IP. The 30 GB bandwidth limitation will only affect P2P users, and there are unlimited bandwidth options as well.

http://purevpn.com

Click Here for a Full List of VPNs in China

Guide to Sites That Unblock Other Sites

By Roderick

blocked globe

Blocking access to undesirable websites is common in a number of countries, but China and Saudi Arabia are two countries which have extended greater censorship over the Internet than most other countries. When talking about Saudi Arabia, most of the websites which are blocked include politics, women, religion and even health related sites.

Skype is perhaps the most famous blocked site in The Middle East. In China, most of the major social networking sites, porn, anti communist/socialist propaganda and of course free Tibet/Taiwan independence sites are blocked. The most famous blocked sites in China are Facebook and YouTube.

Other sites which are blocked in various countries around the world include Myspace, Twitter, Bebo, Photobucket, Youtube, Vimeo, Wikipedia, Linked In, Flikr, Picasa, The BBC, and many more. Although it is possible to do without poking your friends and keeping up on international news, its convenient, fun, and many times important to us to keep up on current events or keep in touch with family and friends from overseas.

Internet censorship is not limited to power-crazy governments and 3rd world countries, and there are many more websites that students and employees do not have access to. If you are one of them and are looking for sites that unblock other sites, then read on!
It’s kind of a funny phrase, “sites that unblock other sites”, but that’s just what web based proxies are – a websites you access in order to unblock another site you can’t connect to. When you searched for the term”sites that unblock other sites”, you were probably looking for a web based proxy – the official term.

While there are other ways to change your IP address and access restricted websites, web based proxies are the type which you can access directly from your Internet browser and require no installation. If you want to look into IP changing tools that can be installed, you should read more about virtual private networks.

To use a web based proxy, you just type a URL in the area provided on the proxy site. The network that you belong to will check against all the URLs which are banned. Most of the time the URL of the proxy server website may not be blocked. In case it is, its easy enough to sign in again and assign yourself a new IP that’s not blocked.

By masking your IP with that of the proxy server’s IP address, you’ll be able to unblock sites like Facebook, YouTube, Gmail, and others.

Proxies and VPNs

Hide My Ass has a FREE web based proxy. Totally Free – you just have to look at their advertisement while you surf. There’s also an option to upgrade to a VPN which will increase speed, reliability, and security of your anonymous surfing exploits. They’ve also got a FREE list of proxies that are listed by level of anonymity, speed, and age. These can be used to alter your Internet browser and surf anonymously.

http://hidemyass.com

*Hide My Ass is blocked in China. For an alternative, go to PureVPN at http://purevpn.com

If you’re looking for a proxy service free of advertisements, with better speed, support, and zero issues with bandwidth limitation you should check out SecuriTales. It’s a paid service, but paying for stuff just means its going to be better. For $6 dollars a month you get access to a pretty awesome proxy service. It will allow you to unblock any sites you want.*

Get a FREE trial at www.securitales.com

How to Unblock Restricted Sites

By Roderick

Work, School, China. They all block sites. Unblocking restricted sites isn’t hard, but it is hard to find reliable services to do this. Most people want to find cheap or free solutions, which attracts a lot of scammers. Below are a few methods and reliable services for unblocking restricted sites in a variety of situations.

Proxies

There are basically two ways to unblock restricted sites. In most cases I listed here I’d suggest using SecuriTales. This is because you don’t have to install anything, so if you’re using it at home, work, school, or public computers, when you close the secure browser no one will know you were using it. There’s no “trail” of stuff you forgot to uninstall. Also, many times the download links for software based stuff expire after a day or two, so you’ve got to request a new link each time you install, making installing and uninstalling a real pain.

SecuriTales is known as a web based proxy because you can operate it straight from the web. There’s no setup and it’s cheap ($6 / month) which makes it great for your smart phone, laptop, or computer.

www.securitales.com

Virtual Private Networks

Another option to unblock restricted websites is with a VPN. Here’s a checklist to see if you want to “upgrade” to a VPN. (VPNs are proxies are actually different things, but VPNs are more secure, faster, and also more expensive, so it’s kind of an upgrade if you ask me.)

1. Do you own the device
2. Do you run software that needs to bypass a firewall/change IP
3. Do you run apps that need to bypass firewalls/change IP
4. Are you worried about privacy?
5. Do you download or do things that require you stay connected to the Internet for a long period of time?

If you said yes to one or more of these, then a VPN is a good choice for you to unblock restricted sites. These are all advantages of VPNs over proxies. For example, because I’m in China, I prefer to use a VPN. I don’t want the government here snooping in my stuff. Also, because I run a website and upload/download/work on my site a lot, I need a VPN connection. If you’re looking for purely browsing stuff however, a proxy will do.

Outside China

For users outside of China, I suggest Hide My Ass. They’ve got the most IP’s and severs of any VPN service I’ve ever heard of, and lots of free cool stuff like anonymous email, file uploading, and even a free proxy. Check them out at

http://hidemyass.com

Inside China

But they’re blocked in China, so for users who want to unblock restricted sites in China, I’d use PureVPN. They’ve got custom VPNs for Chinese users that are super easy to install. Also, because its PPTP and L2TP they’ve customized, you can also use a VPN on your smart phone (iPhone, Android), despite many areas of China not supporting PPTP and L2TP VPN. Take a look for yourself at

http://purevpn.com