BatchFile Posted January 12, 2011 Posted January 12, 2011 Quick question: Do Kindles work through proxy servers? Has anyone actually used them? Our library are after some but I need to confirm if they'll be able to access the internet in school first!
bladedanny Posted January 12, 2011 Posted January 12, 2011 If not, what I've done for some non-proxy equipment is set up a transparent proxy using smoothwall express then just set the IP gateway to the smoothwall. So far works ok. 1
somabc Posted January 12, 2011 Posted January 12, 2011 (edited) They don't support enterprise wireless either ie. WPA-Enterprise so don't assume you will be able to join your school network. Edited January 12, 2011 by somabc 1
Jamman960 Posted January 12, 2011 Posted January 12, 2011 Haven't seen a proxy option anywhere on mine so far 1
BatchFile Posted January 12, 2011 Author Posted January 12, 2011 If not, what I've done for some non-proxy equipment is set up a transparent proxy using smoothwall express then just set the IP gateway to the smoothwall. So far works ok. Giving this a go now with an e-pad
BatchFile Posted January 13, 2011 Author Posted January 13, 2011 (edited) Giving this a go now with an e-pad Right, I've set smoothwall up on a VM, ticked the "transparent" option and it's working (via windows and ubuntu) if I tell the machines where it is in the proxy settings. What do I need to do to make it work with no proxy settings? do I set the "default gateway" in the network settings to point to it? (that doesn't seem to work) Edited January 13, 2011 by BatchFile
BatchFile Posted January 13, 2011 Author Posted January 13, 2011 I'll let you know if I get it working on the e-pad! that's android 2.1
bladedanny Posted January 13, 2011 Posted January 13, 2011 Would this work for my Android phone? In theory. As long as you can change you IP settings some how (either locally or via DHCP) so the gateway points to your transparent proxy which in turn has your RBC proxy set as the upstream proxy.
JJonas Posted January 13, 2011 Posted January 13, 2011 dunno if this helps but there is an http proxy app on the Android market. I guess when I get it set up I put the IP address of my smoothwall box in there.
bladedanny Posted January 13, 2011 Posted January 13, 2011 Right, I've set smoothwall up on a VM, ticked the "transparent" option and it's working (via windows and ubuntu) if I tell the machines where it is in the proxy settings. What do I need to do to make it work with no proxy settings? do I set the "default gateway" in the network settings to point to it? (that doesn't seem to work) What I did was, set up smoothwall express (I used a physical machine but it shouldn't make a difference). I then set my RBC proxy in the upstream proxy setting (on the smoothwall) and ticked transparent. Then on the device (Tested on a laptop just now) set my IP settings gateway to the ip of the smoothwall. 1
BatchFile Posted January 13, 2011 Author Posted January 13, 2011 (edited) Well, that's working now (tried on a physical machine instead - less to go wrong) so the Kindles should now be ok in school not an unnaceptable security hole either as you'd need (1) access to the network settings (which the pupils don't have) and (2) knowledge of what the IP settings need to be (which they won't). And anyway it's only upstreaming to the RBC filtered feed. Chuffed as. Now... the E-Pad.... Edited January 13, 2011 by BatchFile
bladedanny Posted January 13, 2011 Posted January 13, 2011 Well, that's working now (tried on a physical machine instead - less to go wrong) so the Kindles should now be ok in school not an unnaceptable security hole either as you'd need (1) access to the network settings (which the pupils don't have) and (2) knowledge of what the IP settings need to be (which they won't). And anyway it's only upstreaming to the RBC filtered feed. Chuffed as. Now... the E-Pad.... I don't really see it as a security hole at all as like you said it goes out to the main RBC filter which it would do anyway. I've also found this method useful so staff don't have to mess around with proxy settings if they take their laptop home.
BatchFile Posted January 17, 2011 Author Posted January 17, 2011 Would this work for my Android phone? Yes! see this thread for a fuller description:http://www.edugeek.net/forums/internet-related-filtering-firewall/69072-smoothwall-express-have-i-got-right.html
RyanBTBizDirect Posted January 17, 2011 Posted January 17, 2011 I haven't seen any proxy support yet.
Rachael Posted February 18, 2011 Posted February 18, 2011 Our library bought 10 kindles, I setup a transparent proxy which the kindles could connect to fine but when it came to HTTPS this is where it failed. The kindles can browse the web using the experimental web browser they have but they cannot connect to the Amazon store, or send the login details to download books. So at the moment the kindles have to be taken off site to download the books, joy! I wish Amazon had just allowed proxy settings to be configured on the Kindles.
Ric_ Posted February 18, 2011 Posted February 18, 2011 It would have been so much easier just to get a 3G one
Rachael Posted February 18, 2011 Posted February 18, 2011 I said the exact same thing, although I suppose they'd have to fork out extra money and pay for the 3G service. At least we now have a guest wifi for visitors.
waldronm2000 Posted February 18, 2011 Posted February 18, 2011 Just a thought - has anyone tried WPAD to configure them?
Ric_ Posted February 18, 2011 Posted February 18, 2011 I said the exact same thing, although I suppose they'd have to fork out extra money and pay for the 3G service. Rather than them spending a couple of pounds extra (there is no ongoing 3G cost) you just had to spend hours of your life finding a work around. Those are hours you will never get back The problem with the transparent proxy solution is that you have no logging of who is accessing what. It might be filtered but what if somebody uses your wifi to plan a terrorist attack or run a drug cartel? I know I'd like to have a rough idea of who was accessing it. Of course the 3G Kindle doesn't log anything either.
steve_nfi Posted February 18, 2011 Posted February 18, 2011 Can you allocate a range of IP addresses in your firewall then give the Kindles those addresses. We do this with guest laptops/iphones etc. That way they can use the wireless network to get out to the internet but not actually touch or join your main network and you can still keep some sort of control over what is accessed.
BatchFile Posted February 18, 2011 Author Posted February 18, 2011 Rather than them spending a couple of pounds extra (there is no ongoing 3G cost) you just had to spend hours of your life finding a work around. Those are hours you will never get back The problem with the transparent proxy solution is that you have no logging of who is accessing what. It might be filtered but what if somebody uses your wifi to plan a terrorist attack or run a drug cartel? I know I'd like to have a rough idea of who was accessing it. Of course the 3G Kindle doesn't log anything either. Smoothwall Express keeps a log of what was accessed by which IP and when, and we're issuing static IPs to the Kindles, E-Pads etc. and we've connected it to our pupil filtered internet, so it's pretty much ok here
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now