Hi everyone,

I'm currently facing some frustrating restrictions with the public Wi-Fi at my school. It's an open Wi-Fi network without a password, but the school has implemented a firewall (Fortinet) that blocks access to certain websites and services, including VPNs like Mullvad and ProtonVPN. This makes it difficult for me to maintain my privacy online, especially since I don't want the school to monitor me excessively.

After uninstalling Mullvad, I tried to download it again, but I found that even a search engine (Startpage) is blocked, which is incredibly frustrating! Here’s what happened:

  • The Wi-Fi stopped working when I had the VPN enabled.
  • I disabled the VPN, but still couldn't connect.
  • I forgot the Wi-Fi network and reset the driver, but still no luck.
  • I uninstalled the Mullvad, and then the Wi-Fi worked again.
  • I tried to access Startpage to search for an up-to-date package for Mullvad, but it was blocked.
  • I used my phone to get the software file and sent it over, but couldn't connect.
  • I searched for different VPNs using DuckDuckGo, but the whole site was blocked.
  • I tried searching for Mullvad, but that was blocked too.
  • I attempted to use Tor with various bridges, but couldn't connect for some unknown reason.
  • I finally settled for Onionfruit Connect, but it doesn't have a kill switch, which makes me uneasy.

Ironically, websites that could be considered harmful, like adult content, gambling sites and online gaming sites, are still accessible, while privacy-tools are blocked.

I'm looking for advice on how to bypass these firewall restrictions while ensuring my online safety and privacy. Any suggestions or alternative methods would be greatly appreciated! (If any advice is something about Linux, it could be a Problem, since my school enforces Windows 11 only PC's which is really really igngamblingThanks in advance for your help

edit: did some formatting

edit2: It is my device, which I own and bought with my own money. I also have gotten in trouble for connecting to tor and searching for tor, but I stated that I only used it to protect my privacy. Honestly I will do everything to protect my privacy so I don't care if I will get in trouble.

edit 3: Thanks for the suggestions, if I haven't responded yet, that's because I don't know what will happen.

  • InputZero@lemmy.ml
    ·
    2 months ago

    Yeah you already do. I'm assuming that you're in a public highschool. This advice becomes bad advice when there is any money on "the table". NEVER do this at a university, private, chartered school, and absolutely NEVER do this to the person who will be giving you a paycheck.

    I'll repeat this to be clear to everyone reading this. Do not do anything on a computer or network someone else owns that they don't allow when money you have, or money you could have gotten could be taken away.

    When I said break the system I didn't mean become so smart at computers that you can just walk past any barrier in any code. That's impossible. Breaking the system means learning to understand the people who enforce it and working with them to get yourself around it. It means talking to the IT person, getting them to like you, then getting them to show you how to get around a firewall or tunnel out of a network or at least letting you try without getting into huge trouble.