Academic institutions usually put restrictions on their networks that prevent users from accessing certain websites. This is done with the goal of preventing students from wasting their time when they’re supposed to be studying or paying attention to a class. It’s also not uncommon to have YouTube in the list of blocked websites, after all a big part of its content is not really academically valuable.
Nonetheless, if used correctly, YouTube can be a lot more than a website to relieve some stress watching cat videos. It is filled with lots of tutorials, filmed classes, simulations and educational content in general that can actually contribute positively to your formation. For this reason, we present you today with a few ways you could bypass your institution’s web restrictions and have free access to the powerful tool that is YouTube.
Tor Browser
Our first recommendation is used by a lot of people to protect their identities while they browse online. The Tor Browser is a web browser that encrypts and reroutes all your internet traffic through what’s called the Tor Network before actually connecting you to the websites you want to access. This fools your school’s network into thinking you’re connecting to a server in the Tor Network when the truth is you’re watching YouTube videos.
The good thing about it is that you’ll be 100% anonymous on the net when you use this browser. The bad thing is that the longer routes and encryption activities make it much slower than average browsers, which is really annoying if your plan is to watch HD videos. You can find out more about it on their official website.
Proxy Site
A proxy site is a website where you input the sites you actually want to visit and they access them through one of their servers and redirect the content back to you. When it reaches you, your school’s firewall thinks it is the proxy server you’re connected to, instead of YouTube. Unlike Tor, they only reroute your traffic through a single server and they don’t take many security measures that could slow down your connection. Although this means you’re also very exposed while you browse.
VPNs
Virtual Private Networks, or VPNs, are pretty much your best option to unblock YouTube videos at school. They are an arrangement of servers networked using internet connections. They work similarly to proxies in the sense that they reroute your traffic through one of these servers to fool your school’s firewall. However, they actually do this to all the applications of your device that are connected to the internet, not just one tab of your browser.
Apart from this, they also provide you with a lot of features to take care of your privacy, implemented in a way that differs from the Tor Browser that makes them much faster. VPN services usually have hundreds of servers distributed in dozens of countries, allowing you to fool websites into thinking you’re connecting from those locations. This is helpful if you want to access a YouTube video that’s been region-blocked.
The thing with VPNs is that choosing the right one is not an easy task. There are many factors to consider and hundreds of different VPN providers to choose from and some of them might be scammers. To save you the experience of having to find the best VPN provider, we’ve taken the liberty of listing some of our favorite choices based on factors such as speed, security, and amount of servers.
Have a look at them:
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|---|---|---|
| Multi-platform Compatible | ||
| 256-AES Encryption | ||
| PRICE | $5 for 1 month with code "best10VPN" | $6.95 a month |
| Website Rating | 9.9 | 8.8 |
| 24/7 Live Chat | ||
| Residential / Dedicated IP for permanent streaming access | ||
| Has Mobile App + PC / Mac Support | ||
| Stealth VPN / Advanced Obfuscation techniques | ||
| Visit VPN Provider | Visit TorGuard | Visit PIA |
TorGuard
The thing that makes TorGuard special is the incredible amount of features they include in their client. It has DNS leak protection, support for split-tunneling and user-made scripts as well as an automatic kill switch. They also have all the best security features regarding encryption protocols and algorithms as well as a very strict zero-logs policy.
They have lightning-fast speeds and a network of over 3000 servers in more than 50 different countries across the world. They support all major operative systems and also offer proxy services for all major browsers, which is nice if you want to go for a lighter tool to unblock YouTube videos at school.
IPVanish
IPVanish has a very solid network of over 850 servers distributed across 60 countries. They don’t have a bandwidth limit, so you don’t have to worry about it slowing the load of your videos. On top of this, they have a ton of security features embedded in their client like 256-bit AES encryption, DNS leak protection, and an automatic kill switch.
They also feature a very strict zero-logs policy which ensures your navigation info is never stored. This, added to their big network and fast speeds make them one of the favorites among tech magazines and security adepts. Also, their subscription has a very reasonable price, and if you don’t like them, you can always make use of their money-back guarantee.
Private Internet Access
If you’re a student, then you’ll most likely be glad to read that this provider’s strong point is the cheap price of its subscription. Most people call this one PIA to make it shorter and it is another tech magazine favorite. Its subscription price and the quality of its service are so good it almost makes no sense.
PIA has all the security features you can expect from a good provider including the best encryption algorithms, the fastest and strongest VPN protocols as well as a strict zero-logs policy to ensure your anonymity at all times. Their network counts with more than 3000 servers, which is a lot, although they only have 25 countries to choose from, which is less than the others on this list but surely enough to bypass most geo-restrictions. They also have very fast connections speeds, so if you fit in the stereotype of the broke college student, then PIA is the best option for you.
ExpressVPN
ExpressVPN’s renown comes from the fact that they have one of the fastest VPNs in existence. Their servers are optimized for fast connections and they do not have any bandwidth limits. If your school’s connection is fast enough, then you’ll be able to watch YouTube videos and live streams in all their glory with this VPN provider.
Their game is not all about speed, though. They also have all the security features you’d expect from any proficient VPN service. Strong encryption, no-logs policy, DNS leak protection, ExpressVPN has all of these. And on top of that, their network has more than 1500 servers spread across 90 different locations, making it an ideal pick to unblock YouTube videos at school even if they’re region-blocked.
GhostVPN
GhostVPN is a new company that has proved to be a very proficient VPN provider. They have over 1000 servers in more than 50 countries making it a good choice to bypass geo-restricted content from YouTube. They also feature very strong encryption algorithms and have very fast connection speeds that will surely let you watch videos in high quality.
Their main downside is the fact that they don’t support mobile platforms just yet. Although they’re still a solid choice for desktop and more than capable of unblocking YouTube videos at school.
Which Tool is Best
Any of the ways we presented is good enough if all you want is to bypass your school’s firewall to be able to watch YouTube videos. However, if your institution’s network is public, then we strongly recommend you go for the safest options, which are Tor and VPNs. In these networks, your privacy is extremely exposed and failing to protect it can result in the leak of sensitive information such as your credit card information. Whether you’re watching videos or not, using these tools to navigate can save you a bad experience.
