Well, let's be honest. Right now you are either in your school cafeteria or sitting in your room fighting with the annoying "Blocked" message at your school Wi-Fi. You just want to go online and visit some website, which was blocked by your school IT staff. And you are thinking about downloading some app from the internet to bypass filters. Actually, it is an absolutely wrong choice. Malware applications can steal your data faster than you can say "hacker".
What you need is more sophisticated solution for bypassing filters. Imagine your personal internet at home as some kind of tunnel. School firewall is just the guard at the entrance of this tunnel. Once he spots that you are a student, he stops you. But what if you could disguise yourself, to leave your home via this tunnel and appear in the school network immediately? Routers can do exactly this.
Usually, routers are associated with some boring black boxes with blinking lights. Most people do not know that these devices are actually small computers which rule your internet life. The problem is that you have not logged in the admin panel after installation by your technician. You lose a chance to utilize a lot of security options which are completely free. It is high time to be a master of your own internet.
At the beginning, you have to find the IP address of your router. It is marked on the sticker at the bottom of this device. Open your web browser and enter this address. You will see the login page asking you for username and password. In case you have not changed them yet, your default username is "admin" and password is "password". You have to change this as soon as possible.
After that, you have to find the tab named "Security" or "Advanced". There you will find an option "Access Control" or "Traffic Rules". It allows you to control who can communicate with the internet and when. You can block some websites for access in your network. This will help you to protect your family members from visiting malicious websites. All your family members will be safe from viruses.
The other option is so-called "MAC address filtering". Every device has its unique code similar to fingerprinting. The router detects this fingerprint. You can tell your router to accept only trusted devices. Those who try to get access to your Wi-Fi will be blocked. It is like hiring a bouncer for your private club. No invitation – no entry.
And the main feature of many routers. Now there are lots of modern router models including gaming routers such as ASUS ROG series or Netgear Nighthawk. They are equipped with server which can create your Virtual Private Network. Be careful! It should not be confused with client which gets access to some server. The server can establish access to your network. You just activate this feature at the settings. Suddenly, your router creates the secure tunnel. You connect to this tunnel at your school using your smartphone.
Your traffic travels via this tunnel and then via your home network. Your school firewall detects your connection to the IP address of your home. He thinks that you are checking your e-mail or doing something boring. However, you are watching movies or playing games online. Everything you transfer is encrypted, so your school IT cannot trace your activity. The most important thing is that you use your own equipment and do not spend any money.
However, there are some nuances you have to know. The upload speed of your home internet connection is crucial in this case. In case your parents are too cheap with the internet plan, it can be low. The other thing is that your router has to be turned on all the time. If someone turns off your router at home, your secret tunnel will be vanished. You have to configure some Dynamic DNS service which gives a name to your changing IP address. It may seem to be a complicated task, but there is a wizard in your router which helps you.
To sum up, depending on your router is a much better choice than downloading some random app. You learn more about network technologies which is very useful in future. In addition to this, you remain private without transferring your data to some strangers. Finally, it is pretty cool to hack your own hardware.
0 Comments