# Help! SOTW Thwarted by web filter!



## mnash (Nov 30, 2004)

I spend several hours each day at work in front of a computer. One of my minor guilty pleasures is the occasional visit to SOTW. 

At work there is a web filter installed that blocks access to craigslist, Ebay, porn sites, itunes, and other sites that are apparently considered inappropriate for employees to be spending time and bandwidth visiting. Many forum sites are also blocked, but for whatever reason, a few, like SOTW and a couple others, were never blocked. 

Until the SOTW upgrade, that is. 

Now the web filter blocks my access to SOTW from my work computer. I can access it from home, but I have an ancient computer with no speakers and a tiny CRT, a sluggish internet connection, a loud, demanding and distracting houseful of people that I love and don't want to ignore by spending time on the computer, and very little free time anyway, and what I do have I'd rather spend practicing. So, I'd really rather visit SOTW from work than from home. But, I doubt a request to the IT department to have the block lifted would be greeted favorably. 

So, what changed with the SOTW upgrade that caused the web filter to recognize this as a forum site and to invoke the block? Is there any way to change a setting at SOTW that might cause it to be invisible to the web filter software (which , by the way, is called Sonic Wall). Is there anything I can do locally to try to get around the filter?

Thanks for your assistance in my subversive and inappropriate behavior! :twisted:

mnash


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## Mal 2 (Mar 1, 2008)

Put a proxy server on your home network, and log into it from wherever you are. This will evade ANY block, unless they block your home IP -- and I think you can justify having that unblocked.


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## Harri Rautiainen (Jan 24, 2003)

mnash,
I cannot pinpoint anything particular. Iit could be of any number of changes in the new version.
Frankly I have no control of your employer's fire-wall settings.


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## mnash (Nov 30, 2004)

Harri Rautiainen said:


> mnash,
> I cannot pinpoint anything particular. Iit could be of any number of changes in the new version.
> Frankly I have no control of your employer's fire-wall settings.


Hi Harri - No, of course I know you don't have control of my employer's firewall settings. Maybe you could just talk to them, though, you know, as a personal favor?

Just kidding.

Maybe I'll try the proxy server idea, though I have no idea how that works. Unfortunately, I"ll not be able to visit nearly as often as I like. Thanks for the all the memories and good times. 
mnash


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## Enviroguy (Sep 1, 2006)

Go to this site and see if you can get on SOTW from there. If you can, the proxy server thing will work. Or you can just go there through this link.

http://www.freeproxyserver.net/


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## brassnaked (May 14, 2004)

yeah....same thing with my work computer, fine before the upgrade, blocked now.....access from home is okay as usual.????????????


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## Harri Rautiainen (Jan 24, 2003)

mnash and brassnaked,

I will bring this up with vBulletin support.

Thanks for your input,


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## mnash (Nov 30, 2004)

Thanks Harri. This is my first visit in over a week, I miss SOTW badly 
If there's anything you can do I'd sure appreciate it.
mnash


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## DaddyRabbit (Sep 17, 2007)

Maybe your boss thinks you're trying to go to Sex on the Web. :twisted:


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## mnash (Nov 30, 2004)

Hi, my first visit to SOTW in a couple of weeks. I'm really missing it. How many perfect mouthpieces have slipped away on the Mouthpieces for Sale forum? What perfect tips have I missed that would have gotten me past the player's block I'm suffering from? Bummer. I miss you, SOTW.


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## J-Moen (Mar 9, 2009)

mnash said:


> Hi, my first visit to SOTW in a couple of weeks. I'm really missing it. How many perfect mouthpieces have slipped away on the Mouthpieces for Sale forum? What perfect tips have I missed that would have gotten me past the player's block I'm suffering from? Bummer. I miss you, SOTW.


GAS will come and GAS will go, but the community is what should really be missed .


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## SaxPunter (Jul 21, 2007)

Could be the images in the page as they reference different urls - try firefox and adblock?

There's an image from paypal - could be the problem? http://www.paypal.com/en_US/i/btn/btn_donateCC_LG.gif


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## Harri Rautiainen (Jan 24, 2003)

DaddyRabbit said:


> Maybe your boss thinks you're trying to go to Sex on the Web. :twisted:


That could be a likely reason!?

I cannot see how the forum upgrade could have caused the blocking. The URL and the IP address stayed the same.


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