Help with getting around school server?

[Doctor A kAz]

Hey all, need some help with my school server. You see, my school has a proxy set up that limits the sites that you can go to while using the internet. If you bring a laptop in and hook up the ethernet, you still are on the schools server, causing you not to be able to view sites you want. The computers run windows xp. I have tried SSHing into my computer at home, running squid, opening Firefox, but my ports seem to be screwy. Any suggestions on how I can get this to work?

 

[Legodude522]

Firstly, I'm very nervous about you plugging your laptop directly into the school's network. That's a big no-no. There are countless things that you can do with that sort of access from a security point of view.

For getting online, have you tried using an alternative proxy server like the many found on Google or does the firewall block that?

Another option would be using a cellphone phone and tether it for internet. I tether my iPhone to my laptop so I get 3g internet wherever I am.

I personally bypassed and got around the internet filter at my school every year and every year they had a completely different filter and security scheme. I'm not saying you shouldn't do it but most people in high school or whatever school are not mature enough to actually surf the internet unrestricted. I never asked for help either in doing the stuff I did but instead I did my own research and learned all sort of neat tricks.

 

[Doctor A kAz]

Thanks for the response. Firstly, it wasn't my laptop that was being plugged in, so i didn't have any worries. And yes, the firewall does block the alternative proxies on google. Tethering is a possibility, but the point is to get unrestricted internet on a school computer running windows. I have already booted up a portable version of ubuntu and connected with no restrictions easily, but thats not a challenge. The thing is, I don't really want to have unrestricted internet, I just want to be able to do it. I'm not planning on using it, just doing it to say i actually did it, if that makes sense.

 

[Legodude522]

Just so you know, I'm not referring to web-based proxies. Have you tried proxies that you would enter the address into the Internet Settings?

 

[Doctor A kAz]

not quite sure, i have not tried, last time I checked IE didn't have proxy capability, and that is what the school is running. I havn't run IE since the stone age; I use Chrome for browsing and Firefox for other things. Ill set one up on Firefox and see if it works. If not, other suggestions?

 

[Legodude522]

Internet Properties -> Connections -> LAN Settings

 

[Doctor A kAz]

All right, thanks, I'll give it a shot this weekend. Nice build you got there by the way.

 

[berry120]

Being an old grump here. But do you think that the sites block at school are perhaps blocked for a reason?

 

[Legodude522]

Being an old grump here. But do you think that the sites block at school are perhaps blocked for a reason?

I always got around the school blocking to actually get my papers done. I even had Firefox and OpenOffice on my PC to increase my productivity. Then there were the idiots bypassing the blocks to go on MySpace.

 

[berry120]

I always got around the school blocking to actually get my papers done. I even had Firefox and OpenOffice on my PC to increase my productivity. Then there were the idiots bypassing the blocks to go on MySpace.

Fair enough. But I'd say that was the exception rather than the norm.