I am living abroad and like watching a few programs but can not access anything like bbc iplayer, 4od, itvplayer etc for obvious reasons but is there any way around it? I would like to watch a few programs even just for home comforts sake.

thanks in advance

if you’ve got a freind in the UK with a pc they can switch on for you then use LogMein and watch stuff on their pc from where you are?

Yes – I do

purevpn

Yep, easy. I used a vpn service.. forget the name of it though. Worked perfectly, cost US$60 a year.. I’ll find what it’s called.

EDIT: Witopia. Excellent performance and service.

VPNs are preferred to proxy services because it’s easier to detect a proxy apparently, and many no longer work with iPlayer.

I’ve got a mate in China who uses a pay for proxy service
they’re not that expensive
depends if it’s a one off/short trip or a long term arrangement

Didn’t iPlayer go international last year?

They do an international iPlayer but I think its £44pa.

You can pay for iPlayer for most but not all stuff. Works nicely on an iPad. Don’t know if it exists for PCs yet

You can also use one of the paid vpn service above. Never tried it

If you have way too much time it is possible to initiate the connection using Firefox and Tor with a UK exit node then switch Tor off once it is going as Tor isn’t fast enough to stream. Bit unreliable but does sometimes work for real cheapskates.

http://unblock-us.com/ works well. Includes US content too.

Easier to setup than VPN aswell. One week free trial so easy to try out.

I should also add that Witopia lets you be from anywhere in the world so you can watch Hulu.. or any online service from any other country 🙂

Easier to setup than VPN aswell

in what sense?
the VPN services are just one click apps too

i use vyprvpn to watch sky, itv player, iplayer and others. Works fine on Ipad, Macbook etc.

i need some of this knowledge as well, need to get this sorted out before my trip to the middle east next month.

http://expatshield.com/

What Mackem said!

i found expatshield really annoying… adverts, strange pop up pages etc, and it wasn’t that reliable (4od didn’t work for eg)

i use a mates VPN – he has a few different channels, so i have one of his.

do you have to pay for that mackem? i bet you were loving the football scores on saturday mackem, assuming your from sunderland, newcastle 0-5 tottenham, terrible

I find the answer to this depends very much on how far abroad you are. Here in Oz just about all the vpn services struggle to stream, but proxy services have no such issues. Having been through this a few times now, I’ve settled with your-freedom, who seem to be able to make iPlayer work in HD for me here in Oz, which is great 🙂 Only downside is the BBC are tricksier if you want to watch something live, then you do need full vpn, which just doesn’t seem to work very well. One day I’m sure they’ll upgrade so they can spot proxy users for iPlayer as well as live TV, but they don’t seem to have done so in more than a year.

Silly really, I’d much rather give my money to them than a 3rd party, but as licensing laws just don’t ‘get’ global markets and the internet, looks like I’ll have to carry on benefitting a 3rd party instead

i looked at expat shield, but wasn’t sure if it was any good. reckon of the ones above, witopia sounds like a good value option. will check it out i reckon.

I dont use expatshield myself, it’s what Mrs Mackem uses to watch Corrie etc. She likes it and it’s free.

Wasnt really loving the football scores as Sunderland got beat, the Mag result eased the pain though.

You can do real time live streaming from http://www.filmon.com. I use it when away and it works fine as long as hotel wifi is up to snuff.

Didn’t iPlayer go international last year?

They do an international iPlayer but I think its £44pa.

Yes, but the selection of material is limited to costume dramas, Top Gear, and anything with Stephen Fry in it.

Hmm interesting will be needed some of these services in a couple of weeks.

They do an international iPlayer but I think its £44pa.

No problem with the cost, but the platform (iPad/pod only), and the content (Stephen Fry only – perhaps the two are linked??) are problems…

Better off just downloading content from uknova.com or thebox.biz

And to be honest when you actually have to put even minor effort into getting UK television, you soon realise its not what its cracked up to be.

MSP, I’ve had the opposite experience. When being abroad and faced with foreign telly, I wish for the BBC!

Couldn’t the BBC have a log-in for people who own licences?
Anyone wants access (from wherever) buys a TV license and gets a user name and password relating to their license. Job jobbed.

MSP, I’ve had the opposite experience. When being abroad and faced with foreign telly, I wish for the BBC!

THIS!

The BBC’s nature stuff is fantastic, but that’s purchased on blueray anyway. Sherlock was good (not as great as many wax lyrical about it, although hound of the baskervilles was as good a TV drama I have seen for may years),British television comedy has just been dead for a long time.

American series are just pissing all over the British efforts and have been for a long time.

yeah i might not be that bothered if it’s going to cost/be a big hassle. my laptop will be loaded with films and tv shows worth watching before i go anyway!

Better off just downloading content from uknova.com or thebox.biz

+1 in theory. In practice I tend to get banned from thebox as I download unpopular stuff, and only have unpopular stuff to share, which puts me in deficit and ultimately banned. Haven’t tried uknova though, you need an invite I assume.

edit

It is not possible to sign up at the moment. More accounts may become free later

😐

American series are just pissing all over the British efforts and have been for a long time.

Heh.. the stuff we get here (mostly) is the cream of the crop of US TV. There is an enormous volume of complete junk including shows that are embarrassingly blatant ripoffs of other shows. Trust me I’ve spent quite a few evenings in a US home watching TV..!

Unfortunately that expat VPN site seems to well mess with my Internet connection, uninstalled right away. I mainly just want top gear, desperate arsewipes and some random stuff about British outdoors and house program’s just for a bit of homely tv, not the first two obviously

I use these guys: UK Proxy Server

Configure a VPN connection and you can then connect/disconnect it at will and it won’t screw anything up. When you’re connected, all your web traffic goes through it.

It’s adequate for standard definition iPlayer gubbins, but won’t quite do watchable HD streaming. You can download HD versions on iPlayer though.

I’ve tried a few of the free proxies and downloading from various websites, but they are too much of a faff and I like the convenience of switching the VPN on or off with nothing else needed.

There is an enormous volume of complete junk including shows that are embarrassingly blatant ripoffs of other shows.

Unfortunately true, Mrs 10 and I would have cancelled cable entirely here were it not for a good deal to keep it and internet.

Defo going to look into the VPN stuff, I miss the beeb and Netflix has the same collection of period dramas, Top Gear and stuff with Stephen Fry in it!

Whatever VPN service you use – make sure that you can easily switch the proxy IP to various countries

The one that I [and the one that molgrips] recommended will very easily do this
That means you can stream UK, US and other countries native broadcasting

I’ve tried a few of them and you shouldn’t have to spend more than US$5/month to get perfect streaming and shouldn’t have to commit to more than 3 months at a time or sign up with recurring payments
They all seem to have free trials so do a bit of speed testing with the VPN on and off and see what the difference is like

We use Tunnelbear which you can use to login to the US or UK websites.

Combine Tunnelbear with the laptop, HDMI cable connected up to the TV, can watch Iplayer and 4OD through the TV as per normal 😀

How have people found cancellations with http://www.ukproxyserver.co.uk/ ? Difficult? Are they ‘swipes about it?

I am using unotelly DNS to stream BBC iPlayer, TVcatchup and Lovefilm from US. I like it because it supports more channels than any other similar service + it’s cheap. Great customer support too.

I’ve been using UKiVPN for a number of years, never had a problem.

Cheers, Rich

Moving to China in September so this is all good stuff. Ta men.