Accessing Gtalk when access to Gmail is blocked via the Firewall.

Most admins block access to gmail to prevent users from accessing gtalk. Their reason being, bandwidth wasted and more importantly time wasted chatting :).

However, there is a way to bypass this firewall rule. You can still access gtalk via an IM client like Pidgin that can connect via the XMPP protocol. All you have to do in Pidgin is to select the XMPP connection method (instead of gtalk), enter your gmail address and password to connect.

This works with any client that can connect via the XMPP protocol. Another one I've tested this on is Exodus (version 10).

So, keep chatting :).