Using Lantern
After you've gotten Setup you're ready to start using Lantern.
If you are in a censored region and have installed Lantern, simply open your favorite browser and navigate to any blocked site. Any browser should work, as Lantern configures itself to handle any connection from your computer.
While your browsing is connecting Lantern reports on the activity. On the map there will be a line between your computer and the computers of your friends (or the fallback cloud server). Also in the upper right hand corner of Lantern it shows the active bandwidth going up and down - this will be changing as you browse.
If it's not working then check that the site you want is on your Proxy Site List, and add it there if it's not on the list.
If you are not able to access you might try to invite more friends in uncensored countries who would share their connection with you, or sponsor a cloud server to help the lantern network. If things still aren't working head to the forum and you can get assistance there.
Users who are giving access often will not have immediate connections. If you want to make sure that Lantern is working you can try out Get Access mode.
Just go to 'settings' and change the mode 'getting access', and try the steps above.
You can explore the map of the Lantern network. The bottom of the screen shows the global statistics for everyone on the network - how many users are online now, have ever been online, and the total bandwidth transferred (currently broken). If you mouse over a country it will show you similar statistics for that country. You can also mouse over your own user and the users you're connecting to, as dots on the map.
Building your Lantern network by adding friends is the main task for users Giving Access from open countries. Adding others in uncensored countries is key for expanding the network. And any friend in a censored country that you add to your roster will instantly benefit from your connection and those of your other friends.
And it is critical for users Getting Access to invite more trusted users, to improve the network. Adding friends in uncensored countries is directly beneficial for better connections. But helping other friends within your country also helps build the Lantern network and connect you to more Lantern proxies.
You can add friends at any time with the friend button on the lower right.
This brings up the 'Lantern Friends' screen. You can enter the email address of any friend who has a google account. Any gmail address will definitely work. If you aren't sure you can just try to add them, as many people have other email addresses set up to work with Google. Adding them will send an invitation to join Lantern, with a link to the download.
Right now there is unfortunately no feedback as to whether your invite went out or the friend successfully got online with Lantern. Adding someone will instantly put them on your list of friends, and a request goes to a moderation queue, which lets the Lantern team make sure the network doesn't break because too many users join at once. When the user successfully installs and sets up Lantern they will automatically be on your network.
PROBLEMS WITH BULK ADD
For the early beta releases we have noticed that not everyone added in the
friends list gets invitations sent to our moderation queue. Fixing this
is our top priority. In the meantime please add friends slowly (one or two
every five minutes) and things should work better
We are working to improve the friending experience. If you have problems don't hesitate to get in touch through the forum. And we also welcome feedback on how to make it better.
Removing people from your friend list will make it so they can not access your connection to the internet and vice versa.
We encourage you to leave Lantern running, so that it can be helping others even if you are not using it right then.