There are many situations where a blocked website is an essential means of maintaining staff productivity or safeguarding a server from crippling computer viruses – but sometimes, the act of blocking a website is nothing but unjust.
If you ever find yourself in a situation where you’ve encountered a blocked website, and you desperately need to access it for either personal or professional reasons – there are a few swift and savvy ways around it. And we’re going to tell you what they are -without further ado, let’s dive in.
URL shorteners
This particular method is by no means foolproof, but it’s simple, it’s quick, and it has been known to bypass many a blocked website in recent times.
Most URL shortening services won’t be blocked from your server, and by using one of them to customize the URL you’re trying to access, you could trick your browser into believing it’s an entirely different website. Of course, if your shortened URL redirects back to the original, you’ll still find yourself locked out – but for the amount of time and effort this takes, it’s certainly worth a try.
Viewing in PDF format
With online URL to PDF converters, you’ll be able to work your way around a website blockage by viewing your desired website and all of its content in document format, once again tricking your server.
By using one of these services to punch in your desired URL and download its content in PDF format, you’ll be able to access the essential information you need. While this is fast and effective, sometimes it’s no substitute for navigating the real thing – but it’s a solution nonetheless.
Try the RSS feed
This blocked website aversion method is most useful if there’s a website at work that you need to access fairly regularly, but your access is permanently restricted.
If the website in question has an RSS feed, you can subscribe to it either in feed reader format or via good old fashioned email. The RSS feed is useful because you don’t have to access the actual website to view its content (updates, new blog entries, etc.), rendering the blocked website conundrum obsolete.
Use a web proxy server
An online, or web proxy server, is a popular means of accessing blocked websites as it essentially acts as a shield or barrier between you and the site your browsing, and as such, can bypass certain network restrictions (goodbye blocked website).
All connections through the web proxy are encrypted, helping to prevent the monitoring of your network, which means that not only will you be able to access that blocked website, but your online activity won’t be traced back to you. Web proxies are relatively speedy to set up and make some of the most reliable means of getting around blocked URLs.
Go with a VPN
All of the above methods serve a purpose when it comes to accessing blocked websites, but we’ve saved the best until last.
A VPN – or Virtual Private Network – is a service that will give you the power to connect to the internet through a server run by a VPN provider. All of the data travelling between your computer, or device, and the VPN server will be securely encrypted, allowing you to browse the web anonymously and securely, eliminating the issue of website blocking as a result.
Choose a robust VPN service that will be right for your needs and budget and of course reliable. Other factors would be how it is quick to set up, or the level of privacy you need to browse the web freely, carrying out all of the research and tasks you need to without the prospect of unnecessary censorship.
We hope these top tips on unblocking a website in under five minutes have proved helpful and for more tech-based enlightenment, check out GeekWire’s How to be a tech security Jedi: 5 lessons from the original ‘Star Wars’ movies.
