How to Bypass Blocked Sites and Internet Restrictions – MakeUseOf
It doesn’t matter where in the world you live; there are times when you’re going to come across blocked sites and a restricted internet.
If you come across an internet block, don’t panic. Keep reading to find out more how to bypass barred sites and internet restrictions.
Why Do Blocked Sites Exist?
The possible reasons for the blocks are numerous.
Firstly, lots of services use geo-blocking tools to restrict access to their content in certain countries. The issue is perhaps most commonly associated with Netflix’s catalog. However, it can also apply to videos on social media (such as sports clips), news articles, and even entire services which are not available outside of their country of origin (like Hulu).
Secondly, governments often block access to sites to suit their agenda. The Twitter block in China is perhaps the most famous example, but we’ve also seen Turkey block access to social media in an attempt to quell protests in 2016 and Sri Lanka stop access to Facebook in the aftermath of the April 2019 terrorist attacks, supposedly to prevent the spread of fake news.
Thirdly, employers often block sites on their internal networks. Heaven forbid that you waste a few minutes of their time checking Facebook…
Lastly, some countries have odd laws that can restrict access to certain types of material. The UK’s controversial porn ban, which required users to verify their age, and Germany’s crusade against YouTube are two of the most notable cases.
How to Bypass Blocked Sites
If you run into a restricted site, what can you do? Here are the best ways to bypass blocked sites.
1. Use a VPN
The most popular way of accessing blocked internet sites is to use a high-quality paid Virtual Private Network (VPN).
VPNs have many benefits, but from a blocked sites standpoint, it’s the technology’s ability to provide you with an IP address in another country that’s the most important. The foreign IP address makes it appear as though you are based in a different location. Thus, you won’t trigger a site’s geo-blocks and can circumnavigate restrictions.
Some services theoretically block access from VPN IP addresses. In practice, this has resulted in a massive game of cat and mouse, in which the VPN providers are generally victorious.
VPNs are incredibly easy to use: download the app onto your phone or computer, enter your login credentials, and choose the network that you want to connect to.
Need a VPN? You can score discounted plans with CyberGhost and ExpressVPN if you sign up using these links. Both are reputable, performant, and mindful of your privacy.
2. Use a Smart DNS
The recent clampdown on VPNs by services like Netflix and BBC iPlayer has resulted in a growth of smart DNS providers.
Smart DNS services have some pros and cons when considered in contrast to VPNs.
One of the most significant advantages of using a smart DNS to get around a website block is internet speed. Unlike VPNs, which route all your web traffic through a different network, smart DNS providers only need to reroute information about your location. This process results in a faster browsing experience.
On the downside, DNS services do not offer any of the same privacy benefits as VPNs. They do not encrypt your traffic, nor do they change your IP. If authorities in your location are likely to prosecute based on the sites you visit, a smart DNS provider is not right for you.
One of the best smart DNS providers is Getflix.
3. Use a Free Proxy
If you need to quickly access a blocked website on a one-time basis, a free proxy might be the way to go.
A proxy will hide your IP address, thus helping to disguise your location. It will not, however, encrypt your traffic. The lack of encryption means proxies are not as secure as VPNs; they are an excellent option to get around blocks on work and school networks but are not suitable for browsing which requires anonymity.
Proxies are typically much slower than VPNs. You’ll also find they often have issues with page formatting and images. Both of these problems preclude them from being a reliable long-term solution.
Check out our guide to some of the best proxies for geo-blocked content if you’d like to learn more.
4. Use a Site’s IP Address
When you think of web addresses, you probably think of the domain name (e. g. ) that you type into your browser’s address bar.
In practice, the domain name is like a veneer for the IP address. It’s the IP address that points at a server and directs your traffic. DNS servers are responsible for converting domain names into their associated IP addresses.
However, if you know a site’s IP address, you can enter it directly into your browser, and you will still end up viewing the site.
Because many networks only block domain name URLs and not their underlying IP addresses, this trick is often a great way to circumvent internet restrictions.
The same principle applies to short URLs. It’s unlikely that a small employer or school has blocked all the short URLs that point to a site. You’ll often enjoy some success in bypassing school-blocked sites if you try to use them.
You can find the IP address of a site by opening Command Prompt as an admin, then typing tracert followed by the domain name; for example, tracert
5. Use Tor
When you use the Tor network to browse the web, your traffic is taken on a long journey through thousands of nodes all around the world.
This process makes it almost impossible for a regular website to know where the request originated, so it’s unlikely to get caught in any blocking filters.
Be aware that Tor and the dark web is not completely anonymous. Government authorities can, and do, monitor persons of interest on the network.
Learn More About How to Get Past Blocked Sites
Our preferred method for accessing blocked sites and bypassing internet restrictions on a regular basis is to use a VPN.
If you would like to learn more about using VPNs (along with some of the other methods for getting round online blocks), you should learn more about how to bypass Wi-Fi and internet restrictions.
How to Bypass Blocked Sites: 5 Methods to TryYou’re at work or school, but you want to check on Facebook, or watch something on YouTube. It’s blocked – so how do you get around this and ruin your productivity?
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Dan Price
(1607 Articles Published)
Dan joined MakeUseOf in 2014 and has been Partnerships Director since July 2020. Reach out to him for inquires about sponsored content, affiliate agreements, promotions, and any other forms of partnership. You can also find him roaming the show floor at CES in Las Vegas every year, say hi if you’re going. Prior to his writing career, he was a Financial Consultant.
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How can I use VPN to play my PS4 online? – Reddit
OK so, I live in a shitty dorm room which gets good wifi reception and has a few ethernet ports scattered around, but the problem is that the school’s internet blocks gaming services and consoles (like Steam and PS4). My friend told me that I could buy a VPN service in order to bypass the school’s block on my PS4, but I’ve got no clue on how to do it with my dorm room setup. So, what do I need, whats the best/most reliable VPN service, and is it even worth it? Log in or sign up to leave a comment
level 1Hook a linksys router to the the schools Ethernet and specify the VPN pass through on the router itself maybe? level 1School blocks gaming. Wtflevel 2Why is it surprising? They don’t want all the bandwidth taken by downloadslevel 1If you have a laptop you can load the VPN on there, connect to the WiFI via the laptop, connect the PS4 to the laptop via Ethernet, then bridge the wireless and wired connection so the PS4 connects through the pending how they have it setup, this still might not work. If they are actively blocking ports or DNS/IP entries from known gaming sources then they are still being passed on via the 1I can understand blocking it at the library, because a lot of folks used steam and played League of Legends when I needed to use it to print off some projects. But blocking it on residence? Dafuq 1I have been in the same situation as well. First thing first check your NAT, more than likely it’s NAT 3 (Strict NAT), this is caused by the network admins not port forwarding the required ports for PSN / XBL. I also am in the same predicament as the schools IT department has done that at my university. With strict NAT you should still be capable of playing some games, but you will not be able to connect to everyone and may have other network issues (using Mic, disconnection, etc.. ). The only method that would provide you with a chance of having NAT 2 (Moderate) is using a VPN as you suggest (don’t know how to set that up directly on ps4 unfortunately). However, you may have success if you connect to a VPN outside the schools network (vpn at your parents house, 3rd party vpn from a company) on your laptop, then run an Ethernet cable from laptop to ps4 and then connect laptop to router wirelessly (you would need your own router which then connects to a rj-45 wall port that would need to connect to a telecom room with internet access so router can have internet access). From there you would need to connect to a vpn server and then find the adapter to share network connection between Ethernet adapter on your laptop (that connects to ps4) and the vpn adapter. If all works well you may have NAT 2 ( I have done this once with success), but the firewall setup at the university could pick this up and stop it from working. Best of 1VPN won’t work. U r at the whim of the ITlevel 1ITT people who don’t understand that paying for a dorm is the exact same thing as living in an 2No it’s not. A dorm is managed by the 1Comment removed by moderator · 6ylevel 1Comment deleted by user · 6ylevel 1 · 6yelly_no_utaI don’t know how schools get away with stuff like that. You literally pay thousands of dollars for a are they allowed to take your free time? level 2I don’t know how schools get away with stuff like cause it’s outlined in all that nice paper work you 1Couldn’t you use a router and port forwarding to disguise the traffic? level 2That’s not how that workslevel 2His router is still getting internet access via the schools network. It won’t help him at 1IDK if it makes a difference, but the ethernet connection is password protected. I havent tried hooking up a router to it but I would imagine that the ethernet would not go thrulevel 2Comment deleted by user · 6ylevel 2 · 6y · edited 6yYeah but you could share a laptops wifi via Ethernet easly with any Windows computer and then run a free or cheap software Vpn. I run a Vpn like this sometimes to get different countries Netflix like bbc and stuff. I think most of the free ones limit bandwidth or block torrents but a heap monthly fee one no issue. You could figure it out in about an hour of googling and screwing around if you don’t know. Also if you bought your own connection, couldn’t you just move the contract without an early cancellation to your next residency and then back again? If you right click on your wifi, chose network and connection, adapter settings on left, right click on wifi connection a menu will come up and one tab is share.
Proxy to bypass PlayStation Network locks
Limitations and blocking not so long ago effected online games and services. PlayStation Network has become unavailable to residents of the CIS countries, for which there have been many complaints. In this article, we will demonstrate 2 ways to bypass the block that can be used to restore access to the PSN: changing the DNS server on the router and connecting the proxy to ps4 in the console configurations.
Method 1: bypass blocking in PS through DNS change
First, we go into the settings: we write in the browser search bar any of these addresses: 192. 168. 1. 1 (most suitable for those with an Asus router) or 192. 0. 1 (for TP-Link device owners). Do not forget that you need to be connected to the Internet.
The page for entering the login and password will open. Enter the word “admin” in both lines if the settings are set by default and you did not change anything. If “admin” does not work, then, all the same, the router settings have been changed and you need to enter the data you specified. If you forget them, you will have to reset the settings: hold down the power button on the router.
When you can log in to the system, you will see a window with the device settings in the browser. We need only basic configurations. On Asus routers, these parameters are located in the Internet section.
Next, you need to find the item “Configure DNS”. If there is a checkmark about automatic connection, you need to remove it and in the window that appears, enter the DNS address.
Method 2: Bypass PlayStation Block Using a Proxy
The second way to solve the PlayStation problem is through a proxy server. With it, access to the PSN will be provided, as well as a fast Internet connection and low ping.
First, go to the settings, look for the “Network” menu item, press it.
In the window that opened, click the “Set up Internet connection” button.
Select “Use Wi-Fi”.
Next, select the “Custom” connection method.
Look for your Wi-Fi network.
In the “MTU” settings section, select “Automatic”.
Click on the item “Use” for the proxy server.
Next, you need to enter the IP address of the proxy server, and in the “Port Number” field – the HTTP / HTTPS port from the proxy.
Would you like to know more about proxy types? Read article about how HTTP(S) and SOCKS servers differ from each other.
As you can see, setting up proxies for the Playstation is very simple.
So that the proxy does not turn off at the wrong time and the speed does not decrease, we advise you to buy a proxy server with 24/7 support.
Frequently Asked Questions about how to bypass wifi restrictions on ps4
How do I bypass Internet restrictions on PS4?
InstructionsFirstly navigate to the settings menu on your PS4 … Next select Network.You want to select set up internet connection.You want to select customYou now need to select the method in which your PS4 connects to the internet.Make sure to set your IP address to automatic.More items…•Mar 28, 2020
How do I bypass home WIFI restrictions?
How to Bypass Blocked SitesUse a VPN. The most popular way of accessing blocked internet sites is to use a high-quality paid Virtual Private Network (VPN). … Use a Smart DNS. … Use a Free Proxy. … Use a Site’s IP Address. … Use Tor.Apr 28, 2021