Hola unblocker - BBC iplayer gone?!!!!!!
 

I hope this is a temp glitch but BBC iplayer is no longer showing on the list of sites that Hola unblocks :eek: My wife is not amused, especially as we cannot seem to download expat shield because of compatibility issues!

So whats going on and what is the way around this?

Re: Hola unblocker - BBC iplayer gone?!!!!!!
 

Its happened to me too, just go straight to iplayer it still unblocks it :)

Re: Hola unblocker - BBC iplayer gone?!!!!!!
 

No it doesn't, says I cannot access due to not being in the UK

Re: Hola unblocker - BBC iplayer gone?!!!!!!
 

Apparently you can no longer get the BBC on Hola. It's no longer a temporary glitch - it's permanent.

I recommend Tunnelbear (can get it here in the US, so check to see if it's available in Oz). It's only $4.99 USD per month and you can watch all the BBC programs you want so long as it's not 'live'. :)

Re: Hola unblocker - BBC iplayer gone?!!!!!!
 

AceVPN is great, $60 a year which enables you to watch world wide TV.

Re: Hola unblocker - BBC iplayer gone?!!!!!!
 

At a rough guess:

iplayer sent a few packets of geolocation check before serving up the actual DRM encumbered file for viewing. If you didn't pass the check, you didn't get the reference to the file, but the actual content servers didn't have to worry about any of that restriction - they just concentrated to feeding the file. Hola redirected those few geolocation packets via someone's computer in the UK, then you downloaded the actual programme file directly. That made it practical for a P2P bolt on.

If the Beeb have added in geolocation checks to the content servers, then when you try to get the content file, you'd get rebuffed. Only way around it would be to redirect ALL the content file download via a UK computer.

In short, if this is what they've done, its only going to work in future if you go the VPN route. There is the possibility that they've done something else that could be bypassed, but ...

Re: Hola unblocker - BBC iplayer gone?!!!!!!
 

I've emailed Hola. Will post when they get back.

Re: Hola unblocker - BBC iplayer gone?!!!!!!
 

Ahhhh well, couldn't last forever I guess, I will start looking in to this VPN access area, there are a good few around that charge a monthly subscription.

Will keep an eye on Hola to see if BBC come back, but not holding out any hope :thumbdown:

Re: Hola unblocker - BBC iplayer gone?!!!!!!
 

Cheers Matey, let us know what they say :thumbup:

Re: Hola unblocker - BBC iplayer gone?!!!!!!
 

Aunty has gone. Email reply says:

Unfortunately we are no longer supporting the BBC in our unblocker.

Ofer

Re: Hola unblocker - BBC iplayer gone?!!!!!!
 

The problem with posting suggestions oh here, is that you never no who is reading them!
I recently gave some advice on getting round a blocked UK sight, only to have that blocked very quickly !!!!

PMs are better!

Re: Hola unblocker - BBC iplayer gone?!!!!!!
 

Probably the best way is via something called a Smart DNS. It isn't free as it costs generally about the price of a pub beer per month, but you get a lot more than Hola.

The big advantage is that it can be set up easily on almost any Internet able device, including Smart TV's, iOS devices, Android etc, so it is really easy to get the BBC (and all the other UK catch-up services) on your actual TV. Much better than watching on a computer.

There are a pile of articles, instructions and reviews of all the UK services it works with at www.eyeondemand.com

I'm now living in Germany and using the Overplay version of SmartDNS, I can access BBC, 4oD, ITV, Demand 5 from the UK, but it should be the same as in Australia as one of the great things with a SmartDNS over standard VPN is that because you don't tunnel all the date through to the other end, the network speed is much faster.

Re: Hola unblocker - BBC iplayer gone?!!!!!!
 

We use http://www.unblock-us.com/ for $5 a month :thumbsup:

Re: Hola unblocker - BBC iplayer gone?!!!!!!
 

This is just the type of post I'm talking about in Post 11.
A broadcaster reads the post, investigates the process, and blocks it!
This is probably what has happened to 'Hola'.

Re: Hola unblocker - BBC iplayer gone?!!!!!!
 

As I explained above, the chink the geolocation armour of the Beeb was well known and understood - even without checking the forums, just checking their access logs would have told them what was happening. It was always just a matter of time before they closed over the chink.

They can find and block the ip addresses used by VPN providers as well if they want - indeed they have been known to do so for years on certain TV services. Additionally they can automate the process if they desire - tracking high usage IP addresses is a no brainer.

In the end you either download once and re-serve the file (eg torrents) or have a personal VPN service that's so low usage it goes under the radar.

Well, actually there IS another way, but I'm keeping that one quiet as a personal backstop ;)