Unblock Facebook at School
You’ve got some downtime at school and you want to check your Facebook, so you open up your browser and put Facebook.com into the address bar. DENIED. Chances are, your school's network administrator has blocked any site worth visiting, including Facebook. There a few different ways to try to get around those blocks.
Contents
Steps
Using the IP Address
- Open the Command Prompt on your computer at home (Windows). You can start the Command Prompt from the Start menu. You may not be able to access the command prompt from school, so try this at home first.
- You can also start the Command Prompt by pressing ⊞ Win+R and typing cmd into the box.
- Open Terminal on your computer at home (Mac). You can find the Terminal program by opening the "Applications" folder and then opening the "Utilities" folder.
- You may also be able to access the Utilities folder from the Go menu.
- Type .ping facebook.com and press ↵ Enter. This works in both the Command Prompt and Terminal. Your system will make a connection to the Facebook website and return the results.
- Make note of the IP address. Once the Ping command has run, you will see a series of numbers next to facebook.com in the results. The IP address is four groups of up to three numbers each. Write this number down, including the periods, and take it to school.
- Enter the IP address into the browser address bar at school. Press ↵ Enter to visit the site. Some older blocking systems only block the name and not the IP address, so you may be able to access the site this way.
- IP Addresses change on occasion, so you may need to repeat these steps after a while.
Using a Proxy Site
- Find a list of proxy sites on your computer at home. A proxy is a server that you connect to that allows you to get "outside" of your network. A proxy is also useful because all the work is being done through the browser, so the method works regardless of your computer's operating system.
- There are several websites that list proxies that you can use. Proxy.org is a great place to start that is constantly updating its list.
- Make a list of 10-15 sites to take to school. There's a good chance that proxy listing sites like Proxy.org will be blocked by the school network. Visit the proxy listing sites at home and make a list of 10-15 proxy sites to try at school.
- Try the first site on your list on your school computer. If the site is blocked, try the next one.
- Proxies that are overused get noticed and blocked, so vary which ones you use on a day-to-day basis.
- Schools update their proxy site list very often, so chances are that most of your selections will be blocked already. Try to have a large list of proxy sites to try.
- Select the URL box on the proxy site. Enter "facebook.com" or any other website you wish to visit. Since proxy sites reinterpret the data of website you are trying to access, there's a chance that the site won't load correctly. Most commonly, videos will not load. If this is the case, try again with a different proxy site.
- Using a proxy site will make browsing significantly slower. This is because the traffic is rerouted through the proxy, reinterpreted and then sent to your location. Be aware that videos and websites may take longer to load, or may not load at all.
Using Your Phone as a Wireless Hotspot
- Check that your phone can make a hotspot. You will need a smartphone with tethering enabled through the carrier. Many plans in the US allow tethering automatically, though some require paying for the feature to be enabled.
- Using your phone as the network connection will bypass any restrictions placed on the school network.
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone or Android.
- Open the Portable Hotspot/Tethering section. If you can't open this section, then your plan does not support tethering.
- Android - Tap "More" in the "Wireless & Networks" section. Tap "Tethering & portable hotspot".
- iOS - Tap "Personal Hotspot".
- Turn on your phone's hotspot. This will allow you to use it as an access point for a new network.
- Android - Check the "Portable Wi-Fi Hotspot" box.
- iOS - Toggle the "Personal Hotspot" toggle on.
- Get the wireless password for your new network.
- Android - Tap "Set up Wi-Fi hotspot". Check the "Show password" box.
- iOS - Tap "Wi-Fi Password".
- Connect to the hotspot on the computer. Click the computer's wireless network icon and select your mobile phone from the list of available networks. Enter the password from your phone to connect to the network.
- Connect your phone to the computer via USB if it doesn't have wireless. After connecting your phone with tethering enabled to the computer via USB cable, you should be able to select it by clicking on the network icon in your system tray (Windows) or menubar (OS X).
- Visit the Facebook website on the computer. Now that your computer is connected to your personal network, you should be able to visit any site without restriction (as long as your personal data plan does not have any restrictions in place).
Changing Your Browser’s Proxy Settings
- Find a proxy server. Before you can change your proxy settings, you will need to find a few proxy servers to try. You can find lists of these, and they are typically listed by IP address. Since the lists are usually blocked at school, make sure to write a few down at home first.
- Enter a proxy server into the browser. This is the most difficult part of this method, mainly because many schools won’t allow you to change these settings. If you can access the settings, Change-Proxy-Settings will show you how to change the settings for all major browsers.
- If you can’t access the settings on your school computer, try using a Use-Mozilla-Firefox,-Portable-Edition. This is run from a USB drive and doesn’t need to be installed on the system. You can enter the proxy settings into the portable version and try connecting to Facebook.
- Visit Facebook. If you are able to enter the proxy settings, you should be able to visit Facebook now. Be aware that the speed will be much slower when using the proxy, because you are connecting to a server that is much farther away than normal.
Tips
- Sometimes schools block the search word "proxy", however, when using Google if you search "proxy" or another misspelling it will show you the search results for what you wanted, regardless of the block.
- Always clear your cookies and Browsing History when finished.
- Be careful that no one is looking over your shoulder.
Warnings
- Your network may block any links that are related to proxy servers, regardless of the web address.
- Your network may be monitored by teachers, technicians, and/or administrators.
Related Articles
- Avoid Wasting Time on Facebook
- Hide the Fact That You Have a Facebook Account
- Compose a Message on Facebook
