Kittykerr

im trying to access the BBC iplayer, but its only for UK. so has anyone found a good way to view it whilst here in Canada?

is a proxy server a way to do this? anyone got an idiots guide for a mac user?
thanks

Purley

I started a thread about this a couple of days ago, only not on a Mac. Someone told me about Hotspot shield, but none of us can get it to work. It appears as though it gives you a US IP address, instead of a UK one - which was what I was told it would do. If you ever find a way of doing it - from a PC please let us know!

Cassie 10000

I would also like to know this if we move. Great way to keep up on programmes.

ThomOMalley

If you have a friend in the UK then I would advise using 'slingbox'.

You basically can stream your tv on the internet and watch it on your computer anywhere in the world.

http://www.slingmedia.com/go/slingbox

bazzz

They'll need to have a pretty good connection to make it watchable. Most people in the UK won't have nearly enough upload capacity.

Kittykerr

ok, no solid ideas yet then?

does anyone know if ITV.com works? im trying and it just says there is an error, please try later. doesnt say its cos im not in the UK.. so is itv.com just having problems?

MarkandShirl

Hi,

You wont be able to access iplayer anywhere outside the uk for a while. The beeb uses your ip address to determine where you are in the world, and as this is (usually) dynamically allocated to you by your isp theres no simple way around it.

Apparently the beeb are looking at ways of granting access to iplayer in other countries. However i guess there will be various rights issues to deal with (which I guess is why they dont allow it now). Id imagine if it comes it will probably be a pay on demand type service (like 4od) for overseas users????

I dont think a slingbox would be a realistic option either. youd need a pretty understanding friend with a fast broadband connection and youd probably be pretty much hogging their bandwidth for them??

Kittykerr

i know, thats the whole point of my topic.

people have managed it by using a proxy to mask the IP..

DAVIE_MAC

Try the following but not sure if they are any good or do the trick:

http://anonymouse.org/

http://www.proxy4free.com/

TA

MarkandShirl

Hi Kitty, didnt want to appear to be quoting the obvious, sorry if it sounded that way!

Like I said, there is no simple way round it. It depends how technical you are or if you have a teccy friend to help (and how much you want to use iplayer??).

Using a proxy server for internet access is a fairly top heavy approach for home use and im not sure on its own it would fix your issue anyway. Typically A proxy server pretty much acts as a single point of access out to the internet out to the internet for a number of pcs. The way it actually connects to the outside world would be the same as your home pc, ie it connects via a router. Its the router that has the external ip address not generally your proxy server, and its that address that is the problem.

The only way I can see it working would be to have a combined proxy/router type solution and then use ip masking software to "hide" your router's true ip address from specific requests.

The other thing would be to find out how iplayer determines you ip. If it simply pings your machine when you launch it, you could configure your firewall to block any incoming ping requests. That might work???

soconnell74

If your company has a UK based VPN service that would work.

Kittykerr

hmm, i dont think calgary police has a UK branch. lol...

MarkandShirl

Well, it would only work if you have access to a UK corporate network from Canada, and if you could then access their proxy server from the VPN.

I guess it'd be a long shot.

G77

That would work, but might get your company upset since you'd be dragging a lot of traffic in through their UK proxy servers, through the internal network and then across the VPN concentrator - a fast way to get yourself fired I'd say....

soconnell74

I didn't say it was wise, just that it would work The only way I have come across that works is having a reliable proxy, and that suggests either a UK VPN connection (which acts as the proxy itself) or having a UK based friend run a proxy service on their computer for you (remember to password protect).