Bahrain has been named as one of the five “State Enemies of the Internet” March 2013 by Reporters Without Borders (RWB), a non-profit, non-governmental organization based in France, and aims to defend and promote press freedom. The other four countries are China, Iran, Syria, and Vietnam. In Bahrain, Facebook and Twitter are both accessible. The country’s Ministry of Information is currently implementing strict Internet censorship, and many critical websites are now blocked. But if you want to visit them, there are many different ways to bypass Internet filters in Bahrain. Below are four of them:
DNS Server
DNS (Domain Name System) servers simply translate a human-friendly Internetaddress into the IP address. Typically, Internet service providers bypass the DNS servers of your local ISP using third-party servers, allowing your computer to locate the addresses of the websites blocked by your ISP’s DNS servers. The main disadvantage of using a DNS server to bypass Internet filters is that the DNS request is not encrypted, greatly reducing the level of security. In short, you are not safe especially if you are in Middle East. In fact, alternative DNS servers are not advisable unless you have issues with your ISP’s servers.
Tor
Tor (The Onion Router) is a free software program that directs Internet traffic through their worldwide network or relays. You can access blocked websites anonymously, thus protecting your privacy. This is the main purpose of the activists and volunteers who set up Tor. However, the actual content of your data is not protected after it leaves the Tor relay network. Tor routes your web browsing over and encrypted network, but it is not designed to protect your data, only your identity. So, if you want to try Tor to unblock sites in Bahrain, then expect that you will easily be caught.
Web Proxy
Web proxies work much better than alternative DNS servers and Tor. A web proxy can instantly unblock restricted sites in Bahrain without the need to install anything or change any system settings. Proxy serves assign a new IP address to you and hides your location, allowing you to visit sites anonymously. But besides the fact that you can easily be blocked, they offer free service which means you will be bombarded by tons of stubborn ads. Security is also a great concern because they don’t act as firewalls. Therefore, using a web proxy in Bahrain is not really recommendable if you are concern about your safety.
VPN
Unlike the other three methods mentioned above, VPN (Virtual Private Network) works like a firewall. With a reliable VPN for Bahrain, you are not only allowed to visit sites anonymously wherever you are, including Bahrain, your web traffic is also encrypted. VPN also works well for all kinds of mobile devices, allowing you to safely browse the Internet even if you are in Wi-Fi hotspot. Most VPN service providers can also immediately provide you a new IP address once the one they assigned to you earlier was blocked. Free VPNs are fine, but the paid ones are much better because they provide faster and safer connection.
Among the four methods mentioned above, VPN is the sure winner to unblock sites anywhere around the world. So if you are now in Bahrain and you want to be safe online, look for the best VPN that can protect you at all times and can provide you excellent customer support.