Bumping into a blocked website is always frustrating, especially if you know that the content you need is available there exclusively. The most common reasons for website blocking include regional restrictions as well as school or corporate browsing rules. We gathered the best solutions for both situations.
Bypassing Regional Restrictions
Regional website and content restrictions on hosting platforms are due to various business and political reasons. Fortunately, you can do the following to forget about them wherever you are:
- Use a proxy – you can buy a proxy to tell the network that you are browsing from a computer located outside the country. A proxy makes it possible by replacing your computer IP address with a custom IP that’s hosted by servers in the countries you connect to.
- Use a VPN – this is a slightly more advanced tool for disguising your real IP. It does the same thing as a proxy but also encrypts all the incoming and outcoming traffic to protect your data and make you totally anonymous. Most VPNs slow down website loading significantly, though, while a proxy leaves browsing speed the same or even makes it higher.
Bypassing Local Network Restrictions
If you need to access restricted websites from a school, office, or library computer, it can be difficult to install a proxy or VPN because these machines are monitored. It’s still possible to access what you need if you know what to do;
- Try website mobile version – local network restrictions are usually adjusted manually and don’t include blocks for mobile versions of websites. Due to this, you can simply type “m.” right after “www.” and use the mobile version without problems. If the website automatically reroutes you to the full website version, minimize the browser window to smartphone size.
- Enter website IP instead of address – web address isn’t the only way to access websites. You can also access many of them by IPs. To find website IP, you need to google “website IP checker” and use the detected IP instead of the normal one.
- Hide website address with Google Translate – this is one of the most unobvious ways to bypass blocking, but it works for sure. All you need to do is install Google Translator, enter a website address into the left translation box, and click the blue link that appears in the right box. The Translator will offer you to visit the website you entered. The trick is that Translator will change the original web address and fool local restrictions.
- Use Wayback Machine – this website stores past versions of websites so that you can upload a copy of a website you need to visit for a selected date. This option won’t let you check Facebook updates, but all websites with static info will load well.
No More Barriers!
Congrats! Now you’re a pro online smuggler and can access any content regardless of the local network or regional website restrictions. This knowledge is very useful when you are traveling or need to access websites banned by your employer or university.