Using IRC at college on a macbook. reddit / irc ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Cactusthelion · 2013-02-23 23:39 So I am unable to use colloquy here at school. I don't really know the ins and outs of it and was hoping someone could help me. The residence halls have their own wireless internet that I access. I feel like this is the issue because I can use it at home. It just won't connect to any channels. Can anyone help me? Thanks in advance ---------------------------------------------------------------------- eax · 2013-02-23 23:47 Are you connected to the server? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- zacjack · 2013-02-23 23:58 Sounds like you need to look into a proxy or vpn of some sort. I am guessing your campus blocks IRC traffic. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- bacon1989 · 2013-02-24 00:12 If you have a crappy old computer, you could try installing a linux server on it, and create a secure socks proxy between that computer and your currently running computer. Then access the socks proxy through firefox, and use chatzilla, or something like that. It requires a bit of know how, but you'll always have access to irc. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- faghat · 2013-02-24 00:22 The network admins have probably blocked "random" ports, ie. 6667 which is the default listening port for IRC servers. Try connecting to different ports (ie. 700 or 9999/6697 for SSL) and see if that works. Failing that, you'd need to either use some sort of web chat (like qwebirc if you're trying to use freenode/rizon/? or mibbit) which will use port 80, or you'd have to set up your own VPN which can connect to IRC, and then you can connect to the VPN via a "normal" port. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2013-02-24 00:54 [deleted] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Cactusthelion · 2013-02-24 02:21 Aight, I switching ports and using the SSL ports have both proven unsuccessful. I'm looking into setting up my own VPN, unfortunately I don't know a lot about this stuff so it may be a while. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Franciscouzo · 2013-02-24 06:04 There are some really cheap vps options, like [buyvm](http://buyvm.net/) or [blinkenshell](http://blinkenshell.org/wiki/Start), that you could use to set up a bouncer/proxy. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- supah_ · 2013-02-24 07:07 try CIRC on google chrome? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2013-02-24 12:06 This is what I'd do if you've already tried all the listening ports for your irc server of preference (including ssl). Get the cheapest VPS you can buy. You're probably be looking at $12/year. Look at the offers [here](http://www.lowendtalk.com/categories/offers). The simplest thing to do is to use a SOCKS proxy. See [this](http://blog.ashurex.com/2012/03/15/creating-ssh-proxy-tunnel- putty/). Then you would tell your irc client to use the proxy. You might have to try different ports to find one your school will allow. A better solution is to set up a bouncer on the VPS. A bouncer is where you run your irc session 24/7 remotely on a server, and connect to that locally. The easiest bouncer to use is [znc](http://wiki.znc.in/ZNC). Again, you'll probably have to try different ports until you find one that your school allows. (Note: you'd have to get znc to use ssl on the route between you and your vps, if you wanted to defend your privacy.) On the problem of which port to use: in a pinch, you can use those your school would never block, like 443. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- faghat · 2013-02-24 17:26 yeah, that'll probably work but honestly CIRC is a terrible client. I tried it yesterday and it only has the basics - anything more complex (like /whois) needs to be sent with /raw, and even then, a lot of output is missing. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- supah_ · 2013-02-24 18:35 ok. my bad. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2013-02-24 20:10 [deleted] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- faghat · 2013-02-24 20:12 Well, it'll work... OP would be able to use it if he wanted to, but I wouldn't recommend it.