Two parallel internet connections

[nexxogen]

Hello everyone.

I work as a software developer at an insurance company and due to the company's security policy, some websites have been blocked by the administrators. A lot of them are pretty harmless. Youtube has also been blocked and I can't count the times when I could have used it to solve a problem that I had but instead had to spend a whole lot of time browsing through god knows how many websites. Other than the wired connection, we also have a WiFi which is completely free, but we can only access it from our smartphones since we don't have WiFi cards in our desktop computers.

Now, I got an idea to try and use USB tethering to connect my computer to the free WiFi through my Android phone, which worked but there is a problem with that - when the WiFi is being used, I can't access the company's infrastructure and I can't work. So after that, I had this idea:

1. Have both the wired and the tethered WiFi connection on at the same time.
2. Set windows to use the wired connection and not the WiFi, so I can work normally.
3. Install VMWare Player and install Ubuntu on it.
4. Set Ubuntu to use the WiFi instead of the wired connection.
5. Be happy.

I tried to do this, but I don't know anything about how this works and if it can work at all, so I pretty much have no idea what I'm doing.

So my question is - is this even possible and if it's not, is there an alternative way to do it without having to put any new hardware in, because that is not an option unfortunately.

 

[Joe C]

So your stating your want to circumvent your company's security policy's?
Your company will allow you to install VM so you can use another operating system on their pc?
Can you contact your IT dept. and ask then to unblock You Tube for you, it would much simpler to try that first. You should not try to override your company's security policies, They probably feel they have those policies in place for a good reason

 

[nexxogen]

So your stating your want to circumvent your company's security policy's?
Your company will allow you to install VM so you can use another operating system on their pc?
Can you contact your IT dept. and ask then to unblock You Tube for you, it would much simpler to try that first. You should not try to override your company's security policies, They probably feel they have those policies in place for a good reason

As I said, we have access to a WiFi that's completely open and doesn't have anything blocked. We all use it to open YouTube, Facebook and many other sites. It's just that it's inconvenient to do it on a smartphone and the only thing I want to do is use that same WiFi on my desktop. And as I also said, I can't access any of the company's infrastructure through that WiFi connection so there's absolutely no danger involved. I just don't want to have to switch between the two connections every time I want to check YouTube on my desktop because that takes time. Also, sometimes I just want to plug the earphones in and listen to music while I'm working. I've been doing that so far on my cellphone and it's a pain in the butt to do it that way.

Please don't worry about my company's security policies and what I'm trying to do. If I wanted to do something sketchy, I would have just lied here and said something that didn't involve any security policies at all.

 

[carnageX]

Please don't worry about my company's security policies and what I'm trying to do. If I wanted to do something sketchy, I would have just lied here and said something that didn't involve any security policies at all.

Actually that's exactly what we have to do. We're not here to help people circumvent security policies put in place by companies/parents/etc. As per the rules:

Tech-Forums is here for informative purposes only. We are not here to help bypass, or otherwise negate, security or any other measures put in place by a Employer, School or Parent.

Contact your manager, put a support ticket it, etc. If it's for work purposes, then they should be able to work something out and allow access if they decide it's fine. If they don't want to give access like that, then ask if you can install a VM that uses the wifi connection and proceed with that idea instead.

 

[nexxogen]

Again with "circumventing security policies"... Maybe I'm not being clear enough.

The wired connection is for work purposes only. Some sites are blocked on it and they will remain blocked.

The WiFi connection is for all purposes. Nothing is blocked on it.

I'm merely asking how I can use it on my desktop.

Could you please tell me which part of that is "circumventing security policies", because I'm having a hard time seeing it. If I asked you to tell me how I can enable YouTube on the WIRED network, that would be circumventing security policies. But I'm obviously not asking that.

Btw, the administrator who does the blocking has seen my VM and didn't say a word. Also, the way they block websites is pretty much random. At one time, they blocked ASP.NET | The ASP.NET Site, even though most of our web apps are written in ASP.NET, and enabled it after a lot of people complained. There's no big company decision behind it at all, it's pretty much the will of this one guy.

 

[Joe C]

your phone and personal wireless devices are open, Your desktop is Not. Your employer does not want you to have your desktop on line without their security in place. You will be circumventing that by attempting to have your desktop on the wireless.
Ask your Manager or someone in your IT dept to allow you to have access to you tube to help you in your job (you'll probably need to show how this will help you)

 

[nexxogen]

your phone and personal wireless devices are open, Your desktop is Not. Your employer does not want you to have your desktop on line without their security in place. You will be circumventing that by attempting to have your desktop on the wireless.
Ask your Manager or someone in your IT dept to allow you to have access to you tube to help you in your job (you'll probably need to show how this will help you)

Nope, my employer doesn't care enough to provide us with wireless adapters, that's all. But OK, if you don't wanna help, I'll find someone who will. Goodbye and thanks for nothing.

 

[I am confused2]

Reading thru all this, I see both sides as being valid. BUT, from the company side, I would say that their are sites being blocked that DO NOT need to or should be involved with the business and youtube is one of them.

From the user side, if you wish to go to these sites, then use you own equipment to include iphone, ipad, computer etc.

if you do not like the way the business is setup and ran, then you always have the choice of leaving.

 

[PP Mguire]

Nope, my employer doesn't care enough to provide us with wireless adapters, that's all. But OK, if you don't wanna help, I'll find someone who will. Goodbye and thanks for nothing.

They don't provide wireless adapters to reach the unblocked net on the desktop for a reason. It's because they want you to use the ethernet and not circumvent their security policies. It's literally as simple as that, otherwise why even have anything blocked on the ethernet at all?

 

[nexxogen]

They don't provide wireless adapters to reach the unblocked net on the desktop for a reason. It's because they want you to use the ethernet and not circumvent their security policies. It's literally as simple as that, otherwise why even have anything blocked on the ethernet at all?

Yeah... That's why some employees have those websites enabled because they persuaded the admin guy to enable them for them. It's funny how much energy some people here are willing to spend patronizing and not answering concrete questions. I know better than all of you how my company works so please stop trying to teach me that.

Btw, I figured it out by myself and now I have what I wanted. It works like a charm and I let everyone in the office know and no one thought I was doing something wrong. In fact, they asked why did I bother doing all this instead of just asking the admin to enable the sites for me. So this case is officially closed.