[TYPO3] Problems with Extension Repository

[Gunnar Jonsson]

My ISP has decided to set the PHP parameter "allow_url_fopen" = Off, because 
of security reasons. Then I have problems to connect with the Extension 
Repository.

When I try to find an extension in the repository I get the following error 
message:
Error: The extension MD5 sum could not be fetched from 
typo3.org/fileadmin/ter/extensions.md5. Possible reasons: network problems, 
allow_url_fopen is off, curl is not enabled in Install tool.

When I goes to "Settings" and click on "Click here to reload the list" I get 
the error message:
The mirror list was not updated, it could not be fetched from 
http://repositories.typo3.org/mirrors.xml.gz. Possible reasons: network 
problems, allow_url_fopen is off, curl is not enabled in Install tool.

When I goes to "Translation handling" click on one language and clicks on 
"Save selection", it seems like nothing happens. And when I click on "Update 
from repository" it responds immedately with "Update done" and ALL the 
Extension keys are listed with "N/A". When looking into the folders 
typo3temp/temp and typo3conf/l10n, there are absolutly no files to see.

Then it seems like I have no access to the repository. In the mailing lists 
there are a lot of people with the same problem, but with rather different 
approaches to what to do, so I am a bit confused.

Question A:
For the extensions I could download the t3X files, without having to have 
direct access to the repository, but what about the "Translation handling". 
Is there a way to download a language file and install it without direct 
access to the repository ?

Question B:
Is there a way to by pass the "allow_url_fopen = off" problem ? I could not 
change it from off to on, because the ISP has decided so. How to access the 
extension repository, when "allow_url_fopen = off" ?

Regards,
Gunnar Jonsson