Connect Your Home Router to a VPN to Bypass Censorship, Filtering, and More

September 16, 2021

How ironic that VPN connections are foiled in this manner! Even though a VPN allows you to bypass several restrictions online, the truth that your ISP, govt, or even a webpage can block it may end up leaving you with a bad taste in your tongue.

As a result, VPN companies have devised a variety of ways to circumvent VPN blocks, trying to make VPN connections virtually untraceable to the outside world. Continue reading to learn everything that you need to know about VPN blockage and how to fix it.

Best VPNs for Bypassing Restrictions

If by chance your VPN has been blocked, you may want to try a different VPN. The following VPN providers have a reputation for being able to bypass VPN blocks. A number of factors are responsible for this, from encrypted servers to proxy integration.

  1. ExpressVPN (Recommended: regularly rotates IP addresses)
  2. NordVPN
  3. SurfShark
  4. CyberGhost
  5. IPVanish

Why are VPNs blocked?

Various reasons exist for why a website, your ISP, or the government would block VPN connections so you had better connect your home router to a VPN to bypass censorship, filtering, and browse safely and securely. Some of them include:

1. School and workplace policy

Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are blocked in many educational institutions, as well as in some offices for productivity reasons. It’s also possible that your workplace or school will also block VPN connections because it’s one of the ways to get around these restrictions.

It is also illegal to use VPNs at school or work because they make it impossible for ISPs and network administrators to access your browsing history.

For example, your ISP or network administrator may use firewalls or other network filtering measures to prevent you from using a VPN to access restricted websites.

2. Copyrights

Some of the world’s largest VPN sales are unintentionally attributed to streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and HBO. Geographic licensing restrictions are driving the need for VPNs.

The Netflix library in your country may not include certain movies and shows that are available in other regions of the world, for example. You can’t watch these shows in your country because the platform didn’t purchase the rights to distribute them in your country.

Accordingly, streaming services must make sure only the regions in which their content is licensed can access it. Unfortunately, blocking VPNs and proxies is the only solution.

Positively, using a VPN won’t get you kicked off a streaming service. What this means is that you’ll get a simple proxy error even if VPNs are against the company’s Terms of Service (TOS). When you disconnect from your VPN, it will vanish, which is a blessing.

3. Fraud prevention

VPN use is prohibited on some websites that deal with money due to concerns about possible money laundering. You may not be able to use PayPal when connected to a VPN server, for example. Trying to do so may result in your account being locked out.

4. Legal issues

Just because you’re using a VPN doesn’t mean that you’re committing a crime. Playing at online casinos is a good example of what I mean. As gambling is illegal in some countries, many gamblers use VPNs to access real money games that would otherwise be inaccessible in their region.

When a VPN connection is detected by some casinos, it can result in the immediate termination of your account (along with all of your winnings).

5. Political reasons

Many countries use online censorship to limit the amount of information that reaches their citizens, despite the fact that it’s incredibly unfair. For example, China blocks access to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Wikipedia. This is why the use of VPNs is so common in China, both among locals and tourists alike.

Due to strict regulations, it’s difficult to find a VPN that works well in China. Any software that bypasses China’s Great Firewall could result in a fine from the authorities.

Lastly, bear in mind that some countries have banned completely the use of VPNs. If you don’t want to risk your freedom, don’t use one in Russia, Belarus, Turkmenistan, Turkey, or North Korea.

The Best Way to Bypass VPN Blocks

When it comes to VPN services, Newton’s third law stands true: for every action, there is a counteraction. It is possible to bypass VPN blocking and circumvent censorship in a variety of ways. Consider a few of them in detail.

Switching to another server or VPN

It suffices to say that the easiest way to get your VPN up and running is to simply try another server (and get lucky!). Because most VPN providers have hundreds of servers (often in the same country), trying to reconnect might be all you need to get around the VPN block.

In particular, services like ExpressVPN, which regularly change their IP addresses, make it easy to do. Consider changing your server location if the location isn’t that important.

But if you have trouble finding a server that works, you may want to try a different VPN. As an added bonus, most major VPN providers offer a 30-day money-back guarantee, which lets you try out different services until you discover one that unblocks everything that you need.

Obtaining a dedicated/static IP

A dedicated IP address could be the solution to a VPN block caused by a simple IP range blocking. Because you’ll be the only one using it, it’ll raise fewer eyebrows.

When you consider how useful a static IP can be, many VPN services allow you to purchase one for a few dollars a month.

Switching to a mobile data connection

If your school or workplace network forbids VPN connections, enabling mobile data on your phone can help you bypass VPN blocks instantly.

The free wifi is gone, but you can use the VPN of your choice instead. Assuming you don’t have unlimited mobile data, be sure to keep an eye on your limit.

Changing the tunneling protocol, encryption, or port

Once again, this is a simple way to get around VPN restrictions. Certain tunneling protocols may be blocked only when you use a VPN for various reasons. Your VPN application’s Settings menu allows you to choose a different one to use. Because they may not have been blocked by your network or in your country yet, using new and less popular VPN protocols can be especially helpful.

Use a different encryption algorithm to get around VPN blocking. Fortunately, some VPNs allow you to manually select the encryption type you want to use.

Consider using a different port for the tunneling protocol instead. The fact that OpenVPN’s default ports are 1194 and 443 does not preclude the protocol from using other ports – you simply need to select them manually.

This can be done directly on the app in some cases, but you may need to do it manually in others, as not all applications have such selection options built-in.

Changing the DNS settings

You may not be able to connect to VPN servers because your ISP has blocked them. However, changing your DNS settings has a good chance of resolving the issue. The most popular DNS providers include Cloudflare (1.0.0.1, 1.11.11), Google (8.18.18.1, 8.8.14.4), and OpenDNS (1.11.11.1, 1.10.1.1). (208.67.222.222, 208.67.220.220).

As an alternative to using a VPN, you can change your DNS settings (assuming a website you want to access is blocked at the DNS level). But keep in mind that this method is different from a VPN in that it does not encrypt your data. There will be no encryption of your traffic – you’ll simply be able to unblock the websites that your ISP has blocked.

Setting up a manual VPN connection

Unblocking VPNs manually may be an option when your VPN is blocked. For example, on Windows 10, you can use the built-in VPN functionality or an app like strongSwan or OpenVPN Connect to manually set up your device’s VPN connection.

Though a VPN server is an option, it can be difficult and expensive to set one upon one’s own. Possibilities include the ability to virtually guarantee that websites will not be able to detect your VPN use (especially if you use your own hardware and network to set it up).


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