Internet Share (SOCKS5) For BlackBerry 10

July 4th at 12:00am

This app has been discontinued


I needed an App that supplies a SOCKS5 proxy for BlackBerry 10, so I decided to write one. It is titled Internet Share (SOCKS5) and should be available in the BlackBerry AppWorld for BlackBerry devices running OS 10.2 or higher.

Read on for details

What is this for?

This app can help if you need to run a network application (like a browser or chat client) from your laptop when you are away from a wifi or ethernet connection. As long as the program you want to run supports a SOCKS5, you should be able to make good use of this app.

 

How To - Part 1: Basic Configuration

This isn't a one-step operation, so be prepared to do a few things:

  1. Install BlackBerry Link software on your PC (available from blackberry.com)
  2. Download Internet Share (SOCKS5) to your BlackBerry device
  3. Plug in your BlackBerry phone to your PC using a USB cable
  4. Wait for the device password prompt
    (You don't have to enter a password. Just dismiss the box when it pops up)

 

How To - Part 2: App Configuration

Now that you have your devices connected, we need to configure & start the SOCKS proxy server and configure your PC to use it:

  1. Open the Internet Share (SOCKS5) application on our BlackBerry
    (You may be prompted to close and reopen the app if the USB connection isn't ready yet)

  2. Pick a Port you want the proxy to be available on
    (This can be left at the default of 8080 if you like. It has to be a port higher than 1024!)
      
  3.  Toggle the Proxy to the 'On' position
 

How To - Part 3: PC Configuration

Now that you have the App configured and running, its time to make  use of the proxy server on the PC:
  • Open the Internet / Network application you'd like to use
  • Configure the SOCKS Host (SOCKS5 Proxy)
    • Use the Address listed in the App as the Host/Proxy server
    • Use the Port listed in the App as the SOCKS/Proxy Port
        
  • Save and restart your application (if necessary)

As there are more network applications available than I can count, I won't be able to list specific steps for your application. In general, you can google something like "set firefox proxy" to get steps for configuring the proxy settings for a given program (as long as the app supports a SOCKS proxy)

 

How To - Part 4: User Agent

If you will be using HTTP (like when you browse the web using Firefox, Chrome or something else), you may need to adjust the User Agent that your browser sends. This may be necessary if your Mobile Phone Network Operator blocks your traffic.

To find the user agent your phone uses, use your phone's browser and go to a site that will tell you your user agent. Copy down the user agent string (it may be pretty long).

In your web browser, adjust the User Agent to be the one that you know works on your phone.

 

Attributions

This app would have taken a LOT longer to develop if not for the BSD licensed software provided by raptorswing. Here's a link to the QT-Socks-Server project on GitHub. Thanks a tonne, raptorswing!

 

Where was this available (before being discontinued)?

The app was available on BlackBerry World.