How to Bypass School WiFi on Android
In this article, we will show you how to use blocked apps or websites on school Wi-Fi or bypass school Wi-Fi restrictions using your Android devices without paying VPN subscriptions.
Schools have many reasons why they block certain apps and sites, especially those that are subject to abuse. These apps and sites are potentially distracting, and students may end up losing their focus in the areas that matter, especially inside school premises.
But there are cases where students find themselves in a situation where it is somewhat necessary to access inaccessible applications and URLs. Open YouTube for a video that can be critical for a school project, connect to Facebook for a crucial question, access a foreign website for group research, to name a few.
VPNs
VPNs are great to use and have always been the solution of choice for people to access blocked content. They are easy to use, fast and reliable. A VPN or virtual private network routes your device’s connection to the secure, private VPN server instead of using the connection information from your default ISP.
It hides your IP address and offers you private and encrypted access, thereby protecting your data and your identity. If you are still connected to a network with administrator-only applications and sites and still need access to this content, we recommend that you get a good VPN provider.
If that sounds like your way, here are the top 3 best VPNs for Android.
1.) ExpressVPN
2.) NordVPN
3.) CyberGhost
But if you just need temporary access, don’t want to pay for a VPN subscription, or for any other reason that you may have, here are some handy and easy to work around workarounds:
1.) Use of the Orbot: Tor app for Android.
Orbot is not a VPN application. Rather, it is a proxy application that allows other applications to use the Internet privately. It uses TOR to encrypt all internet traffic on a device, then masks this traffic by sending it back from a collection of computers around the world, this process is called onion routing and TOR means the onion router .
If you cut an onion, you will see that it has several layers of skin. This is what TOR does; it sends your traffic to multiple layers of servers, making it secure, encrypted and private. Orbot: Tor for Android is free on Google Play, and it’s also very light, with a size of less than 10 MB.
Using the app for the first time is pretty self explanatory. There is a drop-down menu on the left, where you can select a country of origin. The country of origin determines the IP address assigned to your device. Orbot is very useful if you plan to download prohibited content because it hides your location based on your IP address.
However, to try to get around the school’s Wi-Fi restrictions, it doesn’t matter which country of origin you choose. You can even leave it and it will be selected by default. The next step is to click on the onion logo to start your encrypted and secure private connection. Wait for the configuration period, probably about 30 seconds to a minute; after that, you can continue and access blocked content over Wi-Fi with restrictions.
If there is a downside to using Orbot, it is that it is quite slow at times. Due to the redirection of your traffic, even if your device is connected to a broadband Internet, you will notice a noticeable decrease in speed. But since this application certainly serves its purpose, I guess you could say that the result far outweighs the con.
2.) Proxy sites
Another simple way to do this is to use a proxy site. It just filters your web requests before they reach the site itself. When the site responds, instead of going directly to you, it is again filtered by the proxy server, which makes your web traffic private and anonymous.
If you’re happy to use the browser on your Android device to access blocked content, this is probably the best solution for you. Just enter the URL of the proxy site in your browser and enter the URL of the blocked site you are trying to access. The proxy site will redirect and mask your traffic, which will allow you to access prohibited websites on the network.
Top 3 most popular proxy sites:
3.) OpenDNS
Last but not least. If you’re on the tech side and know your Android device well, changing your Android DNS setting should do the trick. The process requires no application installation. All you have to do is manually configure your device’s DNS servers.
Not:
- Go to settings
- Open your network settings (may vary from device to device)
- Access your Wi-Fi settings
- Find advanced settings
- Find the IP settings and change DHCP to static.
- Two new fields will then appear or become accessible. DNS 1 and DNS 2
- Get a list of free DNS servers. Enter them in their designated DNS field (for example, DNS 1 and DNS 2)
- Click save.
You can search for free DNS servers, or you can use these:
DNS 1: 103.86.96.100
DNS 2: 103.86.99.100
DNS 1: 8.8.8.8
DNS 2: 8.8.4.4
DNS 1: 199.85.126.10
DNS 2: 199.85.127.10
DNS 1: 208.67.222.222
DNS 2: 208.67.220.220
DNS 1: 84.200.69.80
DNS 2: 84.200.70.40
DNS 1: 8.26.56.26
DNS 2: 8.20.247.20