Don’t get suckered into paying $20, $30, or even $70 per month for nationwide wireless internet. If you’re a T-Mobile customer, you can do it with their $6 T-zones plan just by making a minor change on your laptop. Here’s how:

Table of Contents

1. Instructions for Mac OS X, Linux, or *BSD
2. Instructions for Windows
3. How it Works

Instructions for Mac OS X, Linux, or *BSD

1. Add T-Zones to your calling plan, if you haven’t already.
2. Sign up for a free shell account at SilenceisDefeat.org (instant activation is a one-time fee of $1)
3. Setup tethering, if you haven’t already.
4. From a terminal, issue the following command:
   ssh -p 143 -D localhost:1080 username@ssh.silenceisdefeat.org
   Of course, you need to replace “username” with the username you picked in Step 2. The password to use was emailed to you when you completed Step 2. If there are any problems, check the support channel.
5. You can change your default password by using the psswd command once you’ve logged in. You now have a local SOCKS5 proxy with no restrictions. Just configure your browser to use it. For Firefox, (Click Edit > Preference > Advanced > Network > Settings > Manual proxy configuration; At SOCKS Host put in localhost and for the port, use 1080.)

Enjoy the freedom!

Instructions for Windows

1. Add T-Zones to your calling plan, if you haven’t already.
2. Sign up for a free shell account at SilenceisDefeat.org (instant activation is a one-time fee of $1)
3. Setup tethering, if you haven’t already.
4. Download and run PuTTY
5. For hostname, enter ssh.silenceisdefeat.org. For Port, enter 143, like this:
   
6. On the left site, in the Category box, click over to Connection > SSH > Tunnels. Click the second check box, enter 1080 for the Source Port, click the Dynamic radio button, and click Add. Make sure it looks like this before you click Add:
   
7. Now go back to the Session screen (at the very top in the Category box), under Saved Sessions, type “Silence is Defeat” without quotes, and click Save. This will allow you to re-use these settings in the future without having to enter them again.
8. Now click “Open” to start the session. You’ll be prompted for a password, which should have been emailed to you when you completed Step 2. If there are any problems, check the support channel.
9. You can change your default password by using the psswd command once you’ve logged in.
   You now have a local SOCKS5 proxy with no restrictions! Just configure
   your browser to use it. For Firefox, (Click Tools > Options >
   Advanced > Network > Settings > Manual proxy configuration; At
   SOCKS Host put in localhost and for the port, use 1080.)

Enjoy the freedom!

How it Works

The T-Zones APN, wap.voicestream.com, has a proxy available at 216.155.165.50 on port 8080 that used to allow most HTTP traffic to any server, but as of late it blocks normal websites. However, the APN still allows unrestricted traffic on ports 25, 110, 143, 465, 587, 993, 995, and 8080 for various reasons. ssh.silenceisdefeat.org accepts SSH connections on ports 80, 143, 465, 443, and 587. So, we’re just connecting to Silence is Defeat on port 143 and then tunneling all of the traffic from our local SOCKS proxy to Silence is Defeat, where there are no traffic restrictions. This can be used for the web, IRC, instant messaging, and just about anything else.

If you like this trick, please consider donating to Silence is Defeat via paypal at sdpaus@gmail.com, as they are footing the bill for the bandwidth required to do this. Also, check out their chat room. Enjoy!

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 23rd, 2008 at 5:34 pm and is filed under Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.