Internet suppression has increased drastically over the past few years with nations like China, Saudi Arabia, Iran holding the edge over others in barring sources of unregulated and impartial information. China is known to have even pushed Google to refine its search results(also see 5 Best VPN for China). Moreover, Government restriction is not the sole cause of why websites are blocked. Some network controllers also restrict netizens from reaching particular sites; which they think have no use in places such as schools, colleges and sometimes, even offices. In such circumstances, you may want to visit a website that is blocked in your school. This article describes how to unblock websites at school.
Why Do You Need To Unblock Websites At School?
Numerous schools have Wi-Fi facilities, but they obstruct pupils from accessing social networks such as Facebook and some streaming sites like youtube. There are various techniques to unblock websites at school, but the simplest method to unblock websites at school is using VPN and proxy.
VPNs can be defined as a tunnel under the public network that grants more anonymity than proxy websites; as it also encrypts the internet data carried by the blocked website; thus, providing absolute anonymity.
When you are connected to VPN; your IP address is turned into the location that you choose to connect to. And it looks you are living in that region. So any restriction that they impose on your network dies, and you can surf the internet and use social network sites without any interruption. (also read, VPN Buying Guide)
Why can’t I access certain websites at school?
Websites are blocked by disallowing users access based on their IP addresses. The ISPs assign a unique IP address to every computer with an internet connection. When you are accessing the web from your school or college, the whole network comes under the general IP address format. Consequently, you are refused to access different websites blocked by the school.
Social networking sites often arise at the top of the ‘blacklist.’ When they fail to access them, students also miss out on online collaboration tools. For example, Facebook groups may serve as an excellent place for a team working on a group project: they can discuss ideas, share views on opinions, or even conduct a quick online survey. No wonder why tech-savvy kids often look for ways how to unlock any website anywhere, school, or college included.
How To Unblock Websites At School Using a VPN?
However, there are several techniques to circumvent school Internet filters; the most secure one is to use a VPN service. The Virtual Private Network (VPN) masks your IP address; so you no longer appear to be reaching websites from your school or college. This is how you can unblock websites at school and access Facebook or Twitter and YouTube.
VPN connects you to the Internet via a tunnel that encrypts all the data packets swapped between the Internet and your system. The VPN connection enables you to surf the web privately and securely; because your IP is masked from all prying eyes.
5 Best VPN to Unblock Websites at School
1. NordVPN
- Double encryption for added security
- Automatic kill switch
- A variety of platform support
- Six simultaneous connections
- Zero log keeping policy of internet activities
- 3-Day free trial
2. ExpressVPN
- Unlimited Bandwidth with Ultra Speed
- Provides all VPN protocols OpenVPN (TCP, UDP), L2TP-IPsec, SSTP, and PPTP
- Dedicated VPN Apps for Android & iOS
- High-End Security with OpenVPN 256-bits
- Zero log keeping policy of internet activities
- 3 simultaneous connections
3. Surfshark
- AES 256-Bit Network Encryption
- Chrome Extension Available
- Kill-Switch functionality
- A variety of platform support
- Zero log keeping policy of internet activities
- Unlimited simultaneous connections
4. CyberGhost
- Uses AES 256 Encryption
- Supports OpenVPN, L2TP/IPsec, and PPTP
- DNS & IP Leak Protection
- Uses 2048 Key & MD5 Authentication
- Zero log keeping policy of internet activities
- Up to 7 Simultaneous Connections
5. Private Internet Access
- Offers all Protocols PPTP, OpenVPN and L2TP/IPSec including SOCKS5 Proxy
- IPv6 Leak Protection & DNS Leak Protection
- Kill-Switch functionality
- Encrypted Wi-Fi Protection
- Zero log keeping policy of internet activities
- 10 simultaneous connections
Access Blocked Websites at School By Using Other Methods:
There are many valid purposes for which you might need to visit blocked websites at your school or college. The following are the ways for you to reacquire access to the blocked site you want to visit.
1. Cache Method:
Most search engines keep a cache of web pages recorded by them. You can seek a website on Google, Yahoo! Or Bing, and click on the cached link; that is given after the result. To load the web pages more quickly, you can visit the text-only version. Since the website is brought to you by the search engine’s servers, it can be used to overcome IP address and URL based filtering.
2. Using Google Web Light:
For users browsing on a slow mobile internet connection; Google Web Light removes all CSS styling, and JavaScript to present a stripped-down version of the web page from Google’s own servers. As the content is provided from Google’s servers; the blocking software feels that you are visiting Google; whereas, in reality, you are viewing the blocked website. Head over to Google Web Light. To visit the website of your choice, just replace tweakandtrick.com in the URL with the address of the site. Despite being designed for mobile devices with a slow internet connection, Google Web Light can be accessed from your computer as well.
3. Unblock Websites at School with Google Translate:
You can use translation service from Google to visit blocked websites. To do so, enter a language different from the website’s language in the ‘From’ field and English in the “To” field. You can also use this method to bypass software that blocks websites by specific keyword mentions. Just translate the URL you wish to visit a different language to overcome the keyword block.
4. Create a 2 Layered Unblocker:
Go to Google Translate, open any proxy website inside it, and then use that proxy website to access your blocked site. In this way, you can achieve two-layered webpages unblocking.
5. Use RSS Readers :
All blogs syndicate their content via RSS feeds which you can subscribe to in web-based RSS readers like Feedly to access blocked content. For example, the RSS feed of this blog is located at http://feeds.tweakandtrick.com/tweakandtrick.
6. IP Address Method:
To access a blocked website, you can enter its IP address instead of the URL in your browser’s address bar. This can circumvent the most basic forms of website blocks. Although if the blocking software maps the IP address to the website domain, the website will remain blocked. You can find the IP address of any site by pinging the website domain name in the Command Prompt in Windows (Terminal in other operating systems) and noting its IP address. Execute ping www.tweakandtrick.com in the Command Prompt to ping www.tweakandtrick.com.
7. Use IP Address to Decimal Conversion:
If you cannot access your blocked website by entering its IP address, you can enter the decimal equivalent of the URL’s IP address to get access to it. Search Google for IP to Decimal + IP Address of the banned website and Google will convert it into decimal. Enter that into your browser’s address bar and see if the blocked website opens.
8. Nyud.net:
To unblock websites at school, just add nyud.net to their URL. For example, if this blog (www.tweakandtrick.com) is blocked, you can visit it by going to www.tweakandtrick.com.nyud.net. Note: Nyud.net may not work for some users.
9. Opera Mini Simulator:
Opera Mini, the mobile browser for users with a slow internet connection; can be installed on your computer. You can use this PC version of visiting blocked websites; as Opera Mini accesses content from Opera’s servers; instead of accessing it from the servers on which the website is hosted. Most sites will load through this method; although the quality of the results obtained may not be that good for JavaScript-heavy websites.
10. TOR:
TOR or The Onion Router is free software that protects the privacy and security of its users by channeling data through multiple nodes to prevent the original data from being unscrambled. Although browsing through TOR is a bit slow, it is one of the most effective ways of bypassing website restrictions and protecting your privacy. (also check, TOR VS. VPN – WHICH IS THE BEST FOR PRIVACY?)
11. Proxy Websites:
There are many proxy websites (anonymizers) that open blocked sites on their servers and present the data to you. This hides the address of the website you are trying to visit from your internet service provider. Few popular free ones include Anonymous and KProxy.
12. IP Hiding Software:
Sometimes, websites block users on a particular IP address from visiting themselves. In such cases, free IP hiding software like UltraSurf can be used to visit them. While free software offers very fewer features as compared to paid ones, they are still useful for overcoming most common blocks.
13. Changing DNS Servers:
A common way of blocking websites is preventing DNS servers from giving the locations of the blocked website’s servers. In such a scenario, changing your DNS servers to those of OpenDNS or Google DNS will be your best option to get over the block. As an additional advantage, this can also increase your internet speed.
14. Edit Your Host Files:
Some malware and blocking software edit your host files and add a website’s address in them to prevent you from visiting it. In such a scenario, you can edit your host file with Notepad by visiting “C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc” if C is your system drive. In Windows 10, Windows 8(.1), Windows 7, a warning from UAC might be displayed.
Conclusion:
In all I want to add is while finding ways to unblock websites at school; it is important to ensure your internet privacy and security beforehand. To that end, the best way that we recommend is to unblock websites at school by using a good VPN. This way, you can not only unblock websites at school but also make your connection super secure. (also read, WHY DATA ENCRYPTION MATTERS EVEN IF YOU HAVE NOTHING TO HIDE)
