Review on Witopia and other "Anti-Wall" apps

[johninchina]

Sorry for all the questions but this is very hard for me. I don't even have a solid understanding of what I'm working with.

In the Opera tools menu I go to preferences>advanced>network>proxy settings. Is this where I configure my proxy?

Where the heck do I even get my proxy address?

All I have is the Vidalia Control Panel which is where I set up the bridges. I was under the impression that was all I needed.

Thanks for all the help so far.

[johninchina]

Shoot, I don't think I posted my last reply. . .

Do I configure a proxy address in tools>preferences>network>proxy settings?

also, where the heck is my proxy address? All I've done is download Tor and set up a few bridges. Do I need to do something completely different I find a working proxy?

[liuzhou]

In Opera, go to Tools - Preferences - Advanced - Network, then select Proxy Servers.

Select HTTP and HTTPS (that should be enough for normal use), then enter 127.0.0.1. Under Port enter 8118. Keep pressing OK till you are out. The proxy should now work.

[johninchina]

that did it. thanks a lot liuzhou and imron

[monica_lisa]

Nearly all of the freeware solutions out there seem to be for the Windows platform. I was using Hotspot Shield until that got blocked, too.

I've tried Tor and keep getting an error message: "Vidalia was unable to start Tor. Check your settings to ensure the correct name and location of your Tor executable is specified." I've checked the settings and they seem correct as far as I can ascertain (under "Tor Executable" on the "General" settings I have /Applications/Vidalia.app) and I've put in the bridges. Still no success.

[gato]

Nearly all of the freeware solutions out there seem to be for the Windows platform.

I've tried Tor and keep getting an error message: "Vidalia was unable to start Tor.Check your settings to ensure the correct name and location of your Tor executable is specified." I've checked the settings and they seem correct as far as I can ascertain (under "Tor Executable" on the "General" settings I have /Applications/Vidalia.app) and I've put in the bridges. Still no success.

I don't have a Mac, so I can't really help you much.

Here is the Tor installation guide for Mac. Maybe try re-installing.

http://tor.zuo.la/docs/tor-doc-osx.html.en

[peterd]

I am trying to find details on how to use witopia openVPN with my andriod phone .... i noticed a post saying there was now plugins for it but i cant find any info on this ....

thanks

[Constantin]

for some reason that download gives me a corrupted DMG file. is there any other way to get Vidalia for OS X? i've tried for about an hour to find an unblocked link but I've been unsuccessful

[flippant]

I bought an Asus WL-500gU router, installed DD-WRT VPN edition and set up my Witopia connection on the router. The result is "permanently" free access for as many computers in my network need it (usually 2-3).

I'm using the SF gateway, which generally seems to be the most responsive.

[周易Joey]

I have been using web proxies to get around internet blocking, but now it seems that they don't seem to work anymore.... it seems like from 国庆 onward. Does anyone else have this problem? Is there any way I can get around internet blocking for free?

Thanks,

Joey

[gato]

The anti-GFW team is still working on a consistent solution. See here for some currently work solutions:

http://www.chinese-forums.com/showthread.php?p=202710#post202710

Review on Witopia and other "Anti-Wall" apps

[jobin]

Ah, Joey, the range of possibilities are infinite. One end of the 'spectrum of possible' is suicide, that stops all your problems. The other end is less easily found but may be to simply enjoy life without porn. Only you can know which choice is best for you. But if you must have porn in china, then you, and i, are up against a very big, hard and dedicated CCP. Good luck in your efforts.

[gato]

One end of the 'spectrum of possible' is suicide, that stops all your problems. The other end is less easily found but may be to simply enjoy life without porn.

Tough choices, jobin. Tough choices.

[roddy]

Merging.

Is it fair to say the days of easily being able to get round the blocks for free are over? Seems to be the case to me, certainly for the non-technically inclined.

[imron]

@jobin, have you ever been to China? There are plenty of legitimate, non-porn sites blocked by the Great Firewall. Needing to get around the GFW != looking for porn

[gato]

Is it fair to say the days you can easily get round the blocks for free are over? Seems to be the case to me, certainly for the non-technically inclined.

I wouldn't say that, yet. According to posts on Freegate's website, the new version is working for people in a lot of cities, such as Qingdao, but not in Shanghai for some reason.

Tor should still work (once you add the bridge address in the setting), but it does require a few more clicks than Freegate.

[liuzhou]

I've got Freegate and Tor (via bridges) working here in Guangxi.

[周易Joey]

I just want to read the news on www.radioaustralia.net.au/chinese ..... and now it is blocked to browse previous articles. So my roommate told me porn is easily gotten with file sharing networks that aren't blocked by the great firewall. I don't understand why China blocks porn but has so much open prostitution, is this part of a plan for economic development??? I live in Hangzhou and wanted to find statistics on air pollution but could not...I feel angry that I'm not allowed to even know about the air I breath. I will try the Tor with the bridges and I hope it works here... maybe if I can't I'll try to buy something that works, but then I'd be afraid that might eventually not work too.

[imron]

For air pollution, check here. Granted those are figures provided by the Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection so you'll want to take them with a grain of salt, however at least it's something.

Depending on your length of stay, a paid solution is still relatively cheap. Another option would be to see if you have any technically inclined friends, who might be able to give you SSH shell access to machine located outside of China.

[roddy]

How are people finding Witopia these days? I'm finding it variable - sometimes it works fine, but sometimes it slows right down to the point of being unusable. I connect via one of three gateways, haven't noticed any being better than the others.