Configurating proxy bypass in a router

Question

The issue is this:

I have a private network that uses a proxy server: proxy.address.com port:8080 in order to enable internet access to the hosts.

The thing is that i need to give internet access to some devices (tablets,smartphones) that do not allow proxy configurations.

What i intend to do is to configure the proxy (proxy.address.com:8080) somewhere in the router (TP Link WR740N) so that the hosts accessing the network do not have to use the proxy configurations!

network topology:

wifi client -- > router --> LAN --> VPN Access <--> VPN Access --> Proxy Server >> INTERNET

Is this possible?

If not possible tell me why please...

Solution

I'm embarking on this myself and as I understand it we need

• router redirects packets to proxy
• proxy accepts packets and handles them

and there are two ways this is normally done:

1. router and proxy are the same machine, and packet redirection is fairly trivial
2. router and proxy are different boxes, both must talk WCCP or equivalent, and it's harder

You and I are both in camp 2, and your network topology matches what I've seen (under WCCP2, the "VPN Access" is implemented using a GRE tunnel from the router to the proxy). I have a Cisco 800-series that has WCCP built-in; like my soon-to-be-decommissioned Billion, your TP-Link may not. The proxy server also needs to understand whatever WCCP-or-equivalent the router talks. Squid-on-Linux is apparently easy to set up to do this; I can't speak for any other environment.

As I proceed with my implementation I'll update this answer to reflect that progress.

Update as promised:

Sadly I can provide no further clarification, as I've aborted this implementation:

• thanks to a new employer I've got a faster Internet link;

• the Cisco's 100Mb/s ports are now Too Slow;

• it's simpler to just have every device fetch direct every time; and

• there's now no user-visible benefit from a local caching proxy.

When technology or my circumstances next change significantly I'll revisit the question.