How to Bypass Restrictions and Unblock Websites with Opera Turbo

To be fair, Opera is certainly not one of the most popular web browser tools for unblocking websites today. However, it does have some amazing features that make web browsing a lot easier – especially on networks that have a lot of browsing restrictions and blocked websites.

Turbo Mode

This feature of the web browser aims to speed up your page load times. This is a huge benefit if you are on an older, slower, and generally unreliable Internet connection. Though gigabit connections are becoming more available in consumer markets, there are still some places outside of big cities that don’t have access to the latest and greatest Internet connection technologies.

Opera Turbo works by caching and compressing websites on their servers. Then, when you want to browse a website, you simply ‘browse’ the compressed version of the site, which drastically reduces the bandwidth overhead required to receive HTTP data. Basically, this mode of the web browser acts more or less like a proxy server.

But there’s an added benefit. Since it acts as a proxy server, it will also allow you to browse websites that have been restricted on your network. Many people have been pleased to find that this feature unlocks access to the Pirate Bay, which is blocked by governmental organizations around the world.

Pricing and Supported Platforms

The great news about Opera is that you don’t have to spend a dime to use it. Though it lacks many security features that a VPN tunnel would provide, it is still a legitimate way to unblock websites without spending any money.

Also, Opera can run on Android devices, iPhones, iPads, Windows phones, Windows, and Mac. All of the mobile versions use a lite version, but all of the versions will still act as a proxy and compress website data before delivering it to your device.

Opera vs a VPN

There really isn’t a lot of security with Opera. You could make the argument that because it acts as a proxy server, your IP address is being hidden. However, don’t make the mistake of thinking that all of your data will be encrypted. Opera does make the claim that they don’t interfere with secure connections – meaning that secured data (such as an HTTPS connection) is still sent directly between your computer and the endpoint.

Processor Speed and Decompression

Though it is a stable service, understand that your speed is always going to take a performance hit when you introduce a proxy service (however the performance hit is negligible). Furthermore, data compression also has the ability slow down your connection if your processor is overburdened. Remember that your machine will need to decompress the data after it has been received. As long as your processor is fast enough, you should actually see increased speeds because you don’t need as much bandwidth to download the compressed version of the site.

Help When You Run into Problems

Though they don’t include a number to call on their website, they do offer some other forms of help. They likely don’t offer customer support since the service is free to begin with. Instead they offer forums, FAQs, help guides, and tutorials should you run into any problems.