At home, my dad was always strict whenever I was using the computer. He never allowed me to get on sites I wanted, saying that they had a bad influence on me, and distract me from my homework. He had an IT guy put a firewall against sites like Facebook, YouTube, and other sites that I probably shouldn't mention.
Then, when I got to college, the dorm blocked all kind of sites too. Again, it was a firewall that was standing between me and Internet freedom.
So then I graduated, and my work firewall blocked me from email and video sites. Boring.
Now I'm living in China, and stuff is blocked everywhere – even in my own home. Can I escape this Internet oppression? How do I unblock restricted sites?
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 .jpg)
"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.
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.
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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
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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
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