Internet blockade at MICO - How to use VPN and Proxy to access blocked websites

My Third Semester at MICO University doing my Professional Diploma in Teaching has come to an end. I'm no officially on Christmas break, catching up on blogging on My Thoughts on Technology and Jamaica, MICO Wars: The Teacher Force Awakens and Geezam at day and watching a long list of series at night.

That's right folks, even on a holiday, I still do not take a break from running my three (3) blogs; there is just too much news going around. Plus I have to get ready for my Teaching Practicum in January 2016 when I'll have to take up teaching duties at the Spanish Town High School as show below.

 

Purchasing all the stuff I need, from the Binder to a Laptop, a Camera, a smartphone and a Tablet that's coming in a Barrel as pointed out in my blog article entitled “How US$80

Amazon 6-inch Kindle Reader (2014) is on sale - Why pack US$50 Amazon Fire Kindle in a Jamaican Barrel”.

MICO University Internet Blockade – Sharing passwords, Video streaming and Downloading

So I was quite surprised to discover before I left that MICO University is now blocking Video streaming, downloading shows as well as visiting Social Media websites such as Facebook and Instagram on Campus.

 

Apparently, the students have been abusing the privilege as there has been a spike in traffic ever since the CMI (Caribbean Maritime Institute) students have come on campus as pointed out in my blog article entitled “CMI's Future Mechatronics Engineers - Why Free Housing for Robotics Programmers vital to Jamaica's Growth”. 

This as some Miconians have probably been lending them their logins and passwords to use on the MICO Campus Internet. Also, some Smartphones double as a hotspot, redistributing 3G as well as Wi-Fi Internet, allowing the CMI students access to a resource that only registered Miconians can use.

Many Miconians have complained, claiming that this is unfair, as it means that they are being punished for the evil of a few registered Miconians students who should be using the Internet for work, not “pimping” their Social Media and wasting time on YouTube as well as downloading Videos.

Still, there is little that the students can do to convince the Admin, as the traffic spike is obvious and they have no plans to increase the Bandwidth or change to Digicel Play Fiber Optic Internet as described in my Geezam blog article entitled “How Digicel Play will spread the Gospel of Fiber Optic this Christmas” unless the school's population were to suddenly double in size come January 2016.

So what can a Miconian do to get their Video streaming, downloading and Social Media Fix?

How to use a VPN to bypass MICO University Internet blockade

For one they can install a VPN (Virtual Private Network) on the laptop or smartphones as explained in my blog article entitled “Cable Providers comply with BCJ Cable Channel Removal - How to install a VPN to Stream American Cable Channels on your Roku”.

A VPN basically involves logging into an ISP (Internet Service Provider) in another country, making your Internet queries appear to be coming from that ISP in that country. Most Firewalls are programmed to block traffic coming from a specific ISP.

So using an ISP outside of MICO University will not be blocked, as MICO University's Internet is merely an encrypted pipe that's carrying your traffic.  A list of these VPN's for Laptop and Desktop users are as follows:

1.      BlackVPN (US$10.71 monthly, US111.63 yearly)

2.      Buffered (US$9.99 monthly, US$120.00 yearly)

3.      Cyberghost (US$6.99 monthly, US$69.96 annually)

4.      ExpressVPN (US$8.32 monthly, US$99.95 yearly)

5.      IPVanish VPN (US$6.49 monthly, US$77.99 annually)

6.      Norton Hotspot Privacy (US$20 monthly, US$60 annually)

7.      Private Internet Access (US$7 monthly, US$40 annually)

8.      TorGuard   (US$9.99 monthly, US$59.99 annually)

9.      VyprVPN (US$9.99 monthly, US$80.04 annually)

For Smartphone and Tablet users, these are these Apps that are trial ware which also have a pay option:

1.      Cyberghost

2.      Hideman VPN

3.      Hola Free VPN

4.      Hotspot Shield

5.      Private Tunnel VPN

6.      TunnelBear

Once installed, just follow the instructions and install and you'll be able to get past the firewall and visit YouTube, downloading videos and hanging out on your Social Media websites once more

Good to note that VPN apps and websites are the technique used by High school students on the TIS (Table in Schools) Program to bypass the protection on Tablets and access. But they are mainly trial ware and some of them only work if you pay for the service.

So what's a Miconian without a Scotia VISA Debit or CIBC VISA Debit card to do?

How to use a Google Proxy to bypass MICO University Internet blockade

The answer is to use a Google proxy!!!!

A Google Proxy as described in the article “Bypass blocked webpages and paywalls with Google as your proxy Server”, published July 16, 2013 By Melanie Pinola, IT World, like all other proxy's, is a free option. There are paid options, but with so many free, it's pointless to pay.

A Proxy basically involves routing your Internet traffic through another Server in another country, making your Internet queries appear to be coming from that Server in that country.

Again Firewalls are programmed to block traffic coming from a specific Server, so using a proxy outside of MICO University will allow you to circumvent MICO University's Internet blockade.

The only problem is that unlike a paid VPN, traffic through a proxy as usually monitored by the owners of the Server. It is also method used by hackers to steal your passwords.

Still, if you're a cash-strapped Miconian, then you have little to fear if you use of these three (3) Google Proxies as listed in the article “Use Google asa Proxy Server to Bypass Paywalls, Download Files”, published July 15 2013, Labnol:

1.      http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ja&tl=en&u=http://example.com/

2.      http://www.google.ie/gwt/x?u=http://example.com/ 

3.      http://www.gmodules.com/ig/proxy?url=http://example.com/ 

To use them, simply enter the address that you wish to visit in the section titled http://example.com/ and then press Enter. Your traffic will be tunneled through the Google proxy, allowing you to visit the website for free.

To m fellow Miconians, this is my Christmas Gift to you so Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2016 when you return.  Remember sharing is caring so share this post with someone else that needs it at MICO University!