How to Install

WebScout is designed to run on Windows NT, 2000, XP or 2003. Ideally, the software should be installed on a dedicated server, but since the software uses a small amount of resources it will function adequately on a user’s workstation.

Download and install WebScout onto a PC on your network. This PC should remain on and connected to the Internet whenever Internet access is needed. After installation is complete, WebScout will start an HTTP proxy on port 8080, and a SOCKS 5 proxy on port 1080. By default, any user can connect to either proxy and have full access to the Internet.

Proxy settings

Before WebScout can start sharing or filtering your Internet connection, you need to configure the HTTP or SOCKS 5 proxy settings in all Internet programs so that they are aware of WebScout. For programs that use an HTTP proxy, such as web browsers, you need to enter the WebScout IP address and the port number should be 8080. For programs that use a SOCKS 5 proxy, you should use the same IP address but enter the port number 1080 instead.

If you have a network firewall, you should prevent users from bypassing the proxy by blocking Internet access from every PC except for WebScout. Alternatively, if WebScout is installed on your Internet gateway PC, you can simply disable Internet connection sharing.

To confirm that you have your web browsers setup correctly, try to access a few web sites. On the WebScout computer, view the Access Log in WebScout. If everything is setup correctly, you should see a list of the web sites that were just visited.

If everything is working, proceed to WebScout settings.

Examples

These examples assume the IP address of the WebScout proxy is 192.168.0.12. You will need to find the WebScout IP address on your network and enter that instead.

Internet Explorer 6 LAN settings:

MSN Messenger 6 connection settings: