MarkMC

What is the error?

It may be channel 4 being strickter than the others.

pip12

It just said it was an error. When you remove the IP hide you get the message not available in your region. SO I guess they dont allow the IP to be hidden.

MarkMC

You might need to use VPN to give you a uk ip address. I'm not sure, my vpn subscription has expired so I just down load the programs from the free places now.

pip12

Using Hide my Ip I have managed to sign up to the TV catch up. That will do for now. Pity that cant get 4od, I intend to drop a line to the Hidemyid guys to see if that can sort a patch.

Cheers

Hutch

The problem with HideMyIP, proxies and indeed with VPNs is that they live or die by the IP addresses behind them. The BBC and the other telly companies will, of course, monitor this sort of thing and if they suspect an IP address is being used by people in other countries to watch UK telly, they'll simply block that IP.

The shelf life for a standard proxy is incredibly low. So low in fact that you'll save yourself a lot of ball-ache by not bothering with them at all. Due to the fact that they're open to the public, they're slow, unreliable and often down, because cheap bastards all over the world are trying to watch Top Gear.

HideMyIP is a commercial proxy service. So, because you're paying for the software and because only paying customers have access to their UK-located IP addresses, it works a lot better than the freebie ones. But don't be fooled - it's exactly the same as a free proxy, just with some funky looking software bolted on top to save you the three minutes it takes to set up a full proxy yourself. So while you're not sharing the IP with so many people and while you have some recourse with the company behind HideMyIP, it's just as liable to get spotted by the Beeb, Ch4 etc and taken down. When this happens, HideMyIP simply move to a new IP address, but the issue's always going to come up.

And to be honest, while VPN connections usually offer the best speed and most bullet-proof connection, they're just as susceptible to IP banning as the above. This is why, if you're paying for a commercial VPN service, you'll occasionally get an email telling you about their 'wonderful' new server located on a different IP address.

So to summarise, it's just one of those things you have to accept if you want to watch UK telly. For what it's worth, here's my view on the subject.

Most IP hiding, VPNs etc are a waste of money. Not because they don't work, but because they're fairly pointless. The only reason you need to proxy or VPN into a UK location is to watch live TV. But there's an 11 hour time difference between me and the UK, so if I settle down to watch UK telly in the evening, at best I'm going to get Cash in the Attic, Loose Women and a programme for schools on Channel 4 on Edward the Confessor. I guess if you're a big sports fan (which I'm not) then it might be worth it, but otherwise I wouldn't bother. Yes, you can watch stuff that's already aired on the iPlayer, but why would you when it usually rebuffers all the time, is fairly ropey quality and requires a commercial software package or a VPN subscription.

The UK torrent sites (despite the fact that they're run by ignorant dullards with a god-complex) should always be your first stop. The programmes are usually ripped and uploaded within a few hours of transmission, they're taken from high quality digital TV, they have the adverts removed and they download in half an hour. Yes, you have to play the ratio game with them, but if you've got a home ADSL connection that's not using its upstream for most of the time, then you might as well.

Above and beyond the UK torrent sites, many British telly programs get upped to the mainstream torrent sites too. X Factor, Top Gear etc can all be found on the big American sites.

And if you hate the whole idea of torrents, then try the newsgroups. I'm with Internode and they throw in a free connection to the SuperNews feed (the best there is) which means I can download at the full speed of my connection (8Mb) and consequently can get a movie in about 20 minutes and a half hour TV show in about five. It's not as reliable in terms of choice as UK Nova or TheBox, but it's more flexible and faster and you're not forced to share anything with anyone. I have a bit of software running on my media PC which monitors the newsgroups and downloads the family's favourite shows the second they appear and them emails me to let me know it's done so. I can also get entire series downloaded this way in an evening.

freebo

Would you mind mentioning the name of that bit of software

theotherphil

Just a heads up...not sure if it's been mentioned as I didn't read the full thread. It was mentioned that the cheapest VPN is approx $75. I am using the 3 City Special with strongVPN for $55 US per year and it allows switching between US and UK IP addresses.

Hutch

http://www.sabnzbd.org/

LouiseR

I use HidemyIP, it cost about $50 AUD for a year and I can choose between UK and US IP's. Touch wood, not had any real problems with it!

gs.gecko

I agree with most of what Hutch says expect that a good VPN will have multiple IP addresses available and will change them quite often. This makes teh likelihood of being blocked a lot less. I was using UKTVabroad and it got blocked - they had a second server which worked for a while but because it was too vulnerable (and expensive) I went to TVexpat - they have 8 (I think) Uk servers and it's been fine.

Scribble

I have tried these guys in the past, seem pretty good although 4OD is not available at present.
www.proxyplayer.co.uk
VPNs are also a good option that I have used but I don;t want to send my entire internet traffics through the VPN whereas I am fine just sending webpages.

stelensmith

BBC Iplayer is one of the most popular resources on the internet with good reason But unfortunately you can watch BBC Iplayer only in UK not outside.

freebo

Not quite true, I watch it on my TV most days in Sydney.

freebo

Thanks for putting me onto sabnzbd, I have it running on my linux based NAS, which is always on, the RSS feeds work great

sormesher

hi freebo how do you use BBC Iplayer? i was using tor something or other, but it has stopped working today. very annoying as i was just about to settle down to watch holby city this morning. anyway any ideas. cheers