Using VPNs

[modtinbasher]

Hi folks, I'm after some help please!


Having just purchased my very first tablet (a very cheap Android thing) and as we visit Madeira shortly, I thought it would be a good idea to load it up with the apps to get local (UK) TV news etc., whilst we are away. Also I do like to look at Pprune on a daily basis! Tinbashette will also be able to keep on top of her favourite programmes too, which will keep me contented!


And then I found that when you are out of the country, things get blocked so you've no access to them. I understand now a little of the frustration of ex-pats commenting on Pprune losing their TV in places like France and Spain. Although I can well believe the Beeb blocking stuff, but why ITV?


After some research I loosely understand the concept of using a VPN, but I'm very hesitant about it. Is it a sound process, and when you've altered your kit to get it to work abroad, what happens when you come back to the UK? Are these things also free for the short term as I'm only away for 3 weeks?


I'd appreciate any advice and specific recommendations on this topic and please be gentle with me, this "app" business is well above my usual comfort zone!


Thanks


MTB

[mixture]

Although I can well believe the Beeb blocking stuff, but why ITV?

Because, just like the BBC and any other TV channel in the entire world, their transmitted content is either in part or in whole comprised of content owned by other rights-holders with whom they have reached a commercial agreement.

This can be anything from the entire TV programme being produced by an independent production house, through to the soundtrack. Whatever it is, a large part of the commercial agreement reached between the broadcaster and content provider will be a restriction on geographic transmission. This is both beneficial to the broadcaster (as the smaller the geography, the smaller the licensing fee), as well as to the content provider (being able to keep prices competitive by allowing them to sell the same content in multiple geographies at the same time).

Therefore, please respect copyright and don't attempt to bypass it. It is illegal.

Please also note the Computers & Internet forum guidelines which state This forum is NOT a place to enquire about circumvention of copyright (even MS products) - any such posts will rapidly be deleted and the culprits hung, drawn and quartered.

If you wish to discuss copyright circumvention, Mr Google will no doubt promptly guide you to the darker parts of the internet....

[mad_jock]

Start another thread saying you don't trust your internet in the hotel your staying in and need to be able to check your bank in the uk and you believe a vpn is the solution.


Then we can tell you how to do it.

[ExXB]

The BBC's iPlayer tablet app* (for non-UK residents) allows limited 'free' shows and a 'paid' options.

See if you can download this from where you are. (You need a non-UK version of the app)

*At least for iOS, can't say for Android.

[mixture]

Start another thread saying you don't trust your internet in the hotel your staying in and need to be able to check your bank in the uk and you believe a vpn is the solution.


Remaining serious for a moment... there's not a cats chance in hell I would use an untrusted third-party VPN to conduct e-ecommerce or banking transactions. I would advise others to bargepole such thoughts from their minds too.....

[mad_jock]

Its better than the local method trust me and the big one starting with a W is fine by me in the risk stakes.

[Bushfiva]

So leave Neorouter or similar running on a home machine (or Raspberry Pi) and get an IP address from that.

[mixture]

trust me

Unfortunately I don't. Secure stuff over untrusted VPN is always going to be a recipe for bad news, no matter how much you try to polish the turd.

[Booglebox]

For a secure VPN you can do online banking etc. with, you could take a VPS and do it yourself. Should cost about 10 bucks a month.

[mad_jock]

:D don't worry its not on an XP machine.

[Booglebox]

Oh, I forgot to mention (and I am surprised my good buddy Mix also forgot): PPTP VPNs are really very insecure, regardless of what you're running at either end. L2TP with IPSec and especially SSTP are both much more secure alternatives.
Although if you try to do L2TP with double-NAT (NAT at each end) with a Windows client, you may run into a small issue which needs to be remedied with a registry fix.

mad_jock: you can run L2TP VPNs with a Server 2003 R2 machine (XP-based) if you like... still 8 months of support left! :E

[OFSO]

modtinbasher, a vpn isn't necessary, see the PM I just sent you.

[modtinbasher]

Thanks for all the response folks, there's a lot of stuff there I hadn't considered and thank you for the legal advice as well. Although we do bank online, I don't think we'd be tempted to access our account whilst away from the UK, apart from using a credit card for purchases, which I know can be dangerous too. In fact, we did get someone using our A****n account once but on reporting the fraud it was all quickly cleared up.


Thanks to those who sent me a PM I'll get back to you now.




MTB

[mad_jock]

The W lot run that way which is what I use for banking stuff.

I have no option but to use it outside the UK.

Again mixtures grasp of the real world reality's against what the "perfect solution" should be.

I might add all the airports I operate into and have IT coverage of are all still XP desktops and servers and there is absolutely no interest or money to upgrade them.

[Orvilles dad]

MTB - you don't need to run a VPN to do what you seek. In fact, running a VPN will slow down the service and likely make it impossible to watch anything streaming.

The better way is to use a DNS switching service.

Basically, all ISP's allocate you an IP address when you sign on to their service. Those IP's are geolocated - i.e. it is possible to see which country you are in when using that IP. So if you try to access the BBC, for example, from overseas, the Beeb will check the IP, realize where you are and will block you.

So what the DNS switching service does is that it routes your service through their own DNS server, rather than the DNS server used by the ISP you are using. So if you try to access an NBC American show, for example, it knows you need a US IP so it will allocate you an IP address that is geolocated to the US, irrespective of wherever you are in the world.

This type of service is particularly common as we see the growth of Netflix. Your local Netflix service will show relatively few movies, mostly local - whereas the US Netflix has a huge collection of movies. So lots of my Canadian Friends use a DNS switching service to watch US Netflix as they have a better selection of shows than the Canadian Netflix, for example. They can also use this service to switch to the UK Netflix if they have a desire to watch Dr. Who.

The cost of a DNS switching service is a few US$ a month, and most importantly, they don't slow down your service as will a VPN.

OD

Staying up waiting for Rochester and Strood - good job the count is delayed or I'd already be in my "pit"

[mixture]

Orvilles dad,

DNS does not allocate IP addresses. :rolleyes:

[ExXB]

Can anyone suggest how this works?

And can anyone advise via PM of a reasonable priced company providing this service (for UK)?

[Orvilles dad]

Mixture - thanks for a massively unhelpful post.

Yes, I know the DNS doesn't assign the IP - but you understand the concept of "dumbing down" to explain a complex subject?

I could have gone on about IPV4, IPV6, SOA,TTL, NAT etc - but that would have confused everybody. So instead, I wrote an easy to understand post.

But my point was correct. The DNS switching sites work! And that was the sort of hell the OP was asking for!

OD

[ExXB]

OD,
Thanks for the PM! I decided not to use them though. They said they had software for the Mac, but when you try and download it, it is a .exe file (Windows). I found another company by googling. It is working, so far ... I've even managed to get my Phillips TV to work with it!

[Ant]

Not for a moment would I advocate anyone should break the law by accessing content not available in certain geographic locations due to copyright reasons, however I can't help thinking that it's not hugely dissimilar to the old argument regarding 'DVD regions'.
Remember that?
You'll recall it was an invention thought up by the big movie and distribution companies to geographically restrict distribution of DVD content for various reasons, but the bottom line is that it was of benefit only to the big players and certainly not the end user. I have read Mixture's well put points in post #2, but feel once again that the real beneficiaries here are not the end users but the commercial organisations. It is of course up to each individual to assess whether it is legally and morally right to circumvent restrictions, and while I readily admit to being not 100 per cent sure myself, I have in the past used DVD region hacks, and continue today to use Hola Unblocker (https://hola.org/) when and where I feel unfairly disadvantaged.

[Orvilles dad]

In my case, I spend half the year in Suffolk and the other half in North America - the joys of being retired and having kids who fly for a living!

Of course, I have a TV License for my set in the UK, so I don't think I'm breaking any laws by accessing the BBC from North America. Their message says that I must have a UK TV license to access the BBC - I do, therefore I access it.

OD

[modtinbasher]

Thank you all for your direction and advice, albeit a lot of it is over my head, as most things are these days.......I'm going to take the tablet with me and suck it and see! Most likely the tablet as well!




MTB