I've beaten my Internet censors

[vt_shooter]

The Chinese government blocks their citizen's from connecting to web sites they do not approve of. Same thing in Vermont where I am - public wifi access points run by people of an un-named political affiliation have configured public wifi networks to block access to sites they do not approve of, in this case, smith-wessonforum.com. I read up on VPNs (virtual private networks) which means your computer connects to a particular IP address via an encrypted connection, and from there my computer connects to any web site I want, in my case, S&W forum. The wifi managers/censors have no idea where my Internet traffic goes after it reaches the VPN's IP address and so they do not censor it. I subscribed to a VPN service that costs $48 / year, and I can once again visit this web site, as in right now, despite the political elite's wishes. $48 a year to beat the censors seems like a good buy. It's what they do in China to beat their censors. An added plus to using a VPN from a public wifi spot is security - all of my data is encrypted, meaning nothing is in the clear for hackers to sniff out of the air for nefarious purposes, nor are the public wifi managers logging where I go. All they know is all my Internet traffic goes to one IP address. Recommend people investigate VPN services if you use public wifi, or find yourself blocked from this forum.

 

[Bullet Bob]

"Public wifi sites" in most cases mean places where someone else pays for the wifi service you use. Their property, so to speak, their rules. They not only have to try and make you happy, they have to try and stay out of trouble with other users while keeping them happy. Hard, okay - impossible - to satisfy everyone.

Not everything that isn't as an individual wishes it to be is a vast conspiracy. But maybe my post is.

 

[italiansport]

Are you saying that the Vermont State government is blocking access to sites that anyone elsewhere can legally connect to? I could possibly see this even if I didn't agree if you are a State employee and using a State owned network. Please clarify this for us.
Jim

 

[gregintenn]

That's the sort of thing you run into when the government provides you with something you should be providing for yourself.

 

[Muss Muggins]

The Chinese government blocks their citizen's from connecting to web sites they do not approve of. Same thing in Vermont where I am - public wifi access points run by people of an un-named political affiliation have configured public wifi networks to block access to sites they do not approve of, in this case, smith-wessonforum.com. I read up on VPNs (virtual private networks) which means your computer connects to a particular IP address via an encrypted connection, and from there my computer connects to any web site I want, in my case, S&W forum. The wifi managers/censors have no idea where my Internet traffic goes after it reaches the VPN's IP address and so they do not censor it. I subscribed to a VPN service that costs $48 / year, and I can once again visit this web site, as in right now, despite the political elite's wishes. $48 a year to beat the censors seems like a good buy. It's what they do in China to beat their censors. An added plus to using a VPN from a public wifi spot is security - all of my data is encrypted, meaning nothing is in the clear for hackers to sniff out of the air for nefarious purposes, nor are the public wifi managers logging where I go. All they know is all my Internet traffic goes to one IP address. Recommend people investigate VPN services if you use public wifi, or find yourself blocked from this forum.

I pay for my wifi. Get to look at any site I want . . .

 

[RJJ 1971]

The Chinese government blocks their citizen's from connecting to web sites they do not approve of. Same thing in Vermont where I am - public wifi access points run by people of an un-named political affiliation have configured public wifi networks to block access to sites they do not approve of, in this case, smith-wessonforum.com. I read up on VPNs (virtual private networks) which means your computer connects to a particular IP address via an encrypted connection, and from there my computer connects to any web site I want, in my case, S&W forum. The wifi managers/censors have no idea where my Internet traffic goes after it reaches the VPN's IP address and so they do not censor it. I subscribed to a VPN service that costs $48 / year, and I can once again visit this web site, as in right now, despite the political elite's wishes. $48 a year to beat the censors seems like a good buy. It's what they do in China to beat their censors. An added plus to using a VPN from a public wifi spot is security - all of my data is encrypted, meaning nothing is in the clear for hackers to sniff out of the air for nefarious purposes, nor are the public wifi managers logging where I go. All they know is all my Internet traffic goes to one IP address. Recommend people investigate VPN services if you use public wifi, or find yourself blocked from this forum.

Uhhhhhhhh ok?

 

[vt_shooter]

Sheesh. I pay for my Internet access at home. No issues with paying my own way. But when I'm at work, and on a lunch break, and my employer does not supply Internet access, I see no reason to not use a government supplied wifi that's there for the public to use. Clearly some see nothing wrong with government censoring to fit a manager's personal biases. I do. I should not have started the thread.

 

[CH4]

I use a VPN when I am staying in China. Works great! Not needed in Hong Kong. Was surprised I don't need it in Vietnam.

 

[okiegtrider]

"Public wifi sites" in most cases mean places where someone else pays for the wifi service you use. Their property, so to speak, their rules. They not only have to try and make you happy, they have to try and stay out of trouble with other users while keeping them happy. Hard, okay - impossible - to satisfy everyone.

Not everything that isn't as an individual wishes it to be is a vast conspiracy. But maybe my post is.

 

[Muss Muggins]

Sheesh. I pay for my Internet access at home. No issues with paying my own way. But when I'm at work, and on a lunch break, and my employer does not supply Internet access, I see no reason to not use a government supplied wifi that's there for the public to use. Clearly some see nothing wrong with government censoring to fit a manager's personal biases. I do. I should not have started the thread.

Starting the thread was a good thing. Maybe you'll learn something. I may have not provided enough details. I use free wifi when available. When the free wifi is not good, for whatever reason, I just use my data package, which I pay for. If I can't get to a certain site using the free wifi, I don't pay for a VPN to circumvent free wifi, I use the LTE package I'm paying for. Your solution, which amounts to not getting free wifi, and is more than I pay for my data package, seems like a lot of trouble.

 

[vt_shooter]

Starting the thread was a good thing. Maybe you'll learn something. I may have not provided enough details. I use free wifi when available. When the free wifi is not good, for whatever reason, I just use my data package, which I pay for. If I can't get to a certain site using the free wifi, I don't pay for a VPN to circumvent free wifi, I use the LTE package I'm paying for. Your solution, which amounts to not getting free wifi, and is more than I pay for my data package, seems like a lot of trouble.

So you're not bothered in the least that government would censor this web site? I find that odd.

 

[Muss Muggins]

So you're not bothered in the least that government would censor this web site? I find that odd.

Not at all bothered. I don't care what the government does with the internet they offer for free. I suspect they also censor a lot of other sites which I'd like to visit, and they allow a lot of sites that I don't think people should visit. It's called freedom.

Here's sort of an analogy . . . Are you bothered that you can't get anything you want on a personalized license plate?

 

[arjay]

Nothing the government does is free [emoji38]

 

[vt_shooter]

Not at all bothered. I don't care what the government does with the internet they offer for free. I suspect they also censor a lot of other sites which I'd like to visit, and they allow a lot of sites that I don't think people should visit. It's called freedom.

Here's sort of an analogy . . . Are you bothered that you can't get anything you want on a personalized license plate?

Freedom is government controlling the flow of information, information that harms no one?? I give up. BTW, if I couldn't get S&W on my license plate I'd view it as wrong, whereas I imagine you'd view not being able to get it as freedom.

 

[gregintenn]

Freedom is government controlling the flow of information, information that harms no one?? I give up. BTW, if I couldn't get S&W on my license plate I'd view it as wrong, whereas I imagine you'd view not being able to get it as freedom.

Freedom is the government NOT being in the internet business at all.