You may be aware that the popular file-sharing software Dropbox is blocked in China. This is probably because dissidents could use Dropbox to share their secret plans for political naughtiness.
Whatever the reason, it’s a bit of a pain if you rely on Dropbox to get various things done, like I do. You don’t actually need a VPN or proxy to unblock the service though – you just need to edit a file so that your computer has the correct IP address with which to access the Dropbox servers.
In Linux, you need to edit this file:
/etc/hosts
For Windows, the file you want is:
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC\HOSTS
In either case, open the file in a text editor and add these lines at the end:
# Dropbox servers
174.36.30.73 www.dropbox.com
174.36.30.71 www.dropbox.com
Restart and you should find that Dropbox can now connect and operate normally. Comment below if you have any questions!
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The client can be accessed to in China. Not blocking!
As for the web, a tiny little trick can be done:
enter https instead of http, and the rest of the address.
Bang. There you go on the way!
This works for the official website as well as your file’s downloading address.
But, hush, this is secret. I only found it recently! By googling, I found little entry about this method. So just keep it low key, u know, in case the big brother might hear it and fail it.
Amazing! Any thoughts on how to do this on Macintosh?
[...] international calls.DropboxThis is probably the best way to share files with someone in China. Dropbox works in China, and has software for the major operating systems. It’s a file-syncing service which [...]
To DB:
The same thing applies on OS X: you need to edit this normally hidden file to add these IP addressess.
You need to do:
sudo nano /private/etc/hosts
after you have opened Terminal application.
And ad in a file:
174.36.30.73 http://www.dropbox.com
174.36.30.71 http://www.dropbox.com
Read here instructions:
http://decoding.wordpress.com/2009/04/06/how-to-edit-the-hosts-file-in-mac-os-x-leopard/
I copy pasted here whole because you need VPN probably to read that website:
Step 1 – Open the Terminal.app
Either by start typing Terminal on the Spotlight, or by going into Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal.
Step 2 – Open the hosts file
Open the hosts by typing on the Terminal that you have just opened:
1 $ sudo nano /private/etc/hosts
Type your user password when prompted.
Step 3 – Edit the hosts file
The hosts file contains some comments (lines starting with the # symbol), as well as some default hostname mappings (e.g. 127.0.0.1 – localhost).
Simply append your new mappings underneath the default ones. Or edit one of the default values if you know what you are doing!
You can navigate the file using the arrow keys.
Step 4 – Save the hosts file
When done editing the hosts file, press control-o to save the file.
Press enter on the filename prompt, and control-x to exit the editor.
Step 5 – Flush the DNS cache
On Leopard you can issue a simple Terminal command to flush the DNS cache, and have your host file changes to take immediate effect:
1 $ dscacheutil -flushcache
You can now test your new mapping on the browser!
Thanks for sharing that, very useful
If it works… you’re the boss man!! Let me restart my computer!
Working like a charm, never been happier to see the little blue spinning arrows. Thanks for sharing!
We tried Dropbox today in China and were able to use it without a VPN.
Yeah I think it varies. It was definitely blocked at the time of writing, but now seems to be accessible again, which is great.