freebo

To add to BBC iPlayer* , now, when does that Foxtel contract run out?

Although to be fair ITV does seem full of stuff I have no interest in, like X factor

I did watch an episode of "Tonight" about the snow back in the UK, the ITV one asks for your postcode so I put my old one in, may be able to watch the "local" news at some point.



*For those using a VPN or similar

ianhutch1

what VPN are you using? the ones ive used (even paid for) cant seem to stop constant buffering...

Amazulu

I'm using overplay at the moment and, so far, it's working well.

saxtonj

How do you get it working with your PS3?

looking at the website it says it uses vpn software?

I'm very intereste din this but don't see how it works?

Also, what connection speed do you have? mine is roughly around 4MBit and can struggle when streaming i've found?

freebo

I'm using hideipvpn and its mostly fine (I'd say I get a few secs buffering for every 5 hours playback or so, Iplayer can take 30 secs or so to launch the start of a show). When I get round to it I'll check out Overplay but TBH I'm content with the results I'm getting at the moment.

The problem with the PS3 is it can't supply a login/password to a VPN account, so I run a passthrough proxy, Squid, elsewhere on the network (mine's a NAS but could equally be a PC or Mac) and the Iplayer proxies off the IP/Port that its serving.

I get about 6MBps "native" and anywhere around 2/3Mbps through the VPN, enough to watch a full F1 race with little/no interruption.

Amazulu

This is interesting. Have you got a guide/website about how to set this up? I have a good internet connection - usually 16-20Mb, so I shouldn't have a problem. Overplay is good in that they have 30-odd servers scattered around the world, so if one os slow you can try another.

freebo

I tried to google for a guide but couldn't find one, so I'll do my best.

- First, you setup a proxy server (I use a free one called squid), on your PC/Mac (or NAS in my case), you configure it with your login details for your VPN account and set it to run a proxy service on a given port - 3128 is a good one.

- To test this you set your browsers proxy to be localhost:3128, then access a website which shows your location, I use www.speedtest.net, it should show you as being in the UK

- Once thats working go into the network settings on the PS3 (or xbox or whatever) and set its proxy IP to be the IP of your PC and proxy port to be 3128, you probably want to set up a UK PSN account at the same time, then under TV on the PS3 Menu you should get iPlayer, ITV, 4OD etc and you should be able to play shows driectly thru the PS3 and control with the PS3 remote. The reason I used my NAS as a proxy server is because its always on, but I got it working via my Mac first, whatever you use needs to be on for you to watch TV thru the PS3.

The only downside I've found is pause/ffd doesn't work well on iPlayer and the output is choppy after a pause, just quit the show & go back in, it remembers where you where and continues playing.

Any questions, just ask!

EDIT - a bit more googling - this is similar to my setup but instead of squid he uses ccproxy which may be a better bet for windows http://www.iminstant.com/iminstant/i...ks/CTYR-7R7RDV

grapii

Stupid question, how do I get a VPN account?

freebo

Sign up for one online, I'd post the url but proxies are banned at my work, google hideipvpn for the one I use or Overplay VPN for the one Az uses. I pay by paypal every month $6US for a UK only account (not by subscription in case I want to change or the service degrades).

In return you get a username and password and (if lucky) some instructions.

P.S. In my example above you need a decent network connection to your PS3, may have problems if your wifi signal is not strong (I use Powerline adapters).

grapii

Understanding a bit better now, thanks. I don't have a PS3, not likely to get one either, misses won't allow

I do however have a macMini connected to the TV acting like a media centre. If I install the VPN client on that machine, would that allow me to get to the iPlayer sites? If so, I'm assuming the Proxy requirement is only if I want to watch them, say on my laptop and by using Proxy I don't have to install the VPN client on the laptop, instead uses via proxy the one on the macMini. Is that correct?

Thanks

freebo

Yep, thats right. In that case the proxy server would run on the Mac Mini (Squidman has a nice gui which makes it easy), then its browser would be pointed at localhostort, other machines on the lan would be pointed at the proxies iport, proxy switching in the browser is made easy using plugins like foxyprox for firefox or proxy switchy for chrome. This would enable all to run iPlayer.

grapii

Perfect, thanks for the info. Misses was worried about all the soaps she'd miss, now I can ell her she can still get them......or do I?

Lucy Loose Nut

Hi everyone

Sorry to interrupt but have you tried an easier way of downloading soaps, The Apprentice, X Factor etc?

(1) Download utorrent
(2) Open it
(3) Go to Pirate Bay (or another torrent site)
(4) Search for Coronation Street/EE/whatever you want to watch
(5) Double click on episode you want to watch
(6) Click on the 'magnet' symbol to download
(7) This will save to your hard drive where you can either burn it to disc or watch it on your PC

We burn it to disc and watch it through PS3 or DVD player It's such a simple way of doing it. Apologies if this way has been discussed elsewhere.

(8) Once the download is complete and you have seeded for a while (to assist others to download), go back to utorrent and in the 'completed' menu choice, right click on the downloaded episode and select 'remove'.

freebo

Hi, sorry to disagree but using a VPN is much easier than torrents for iPlayer ITV, Chanel 4 etc. With a VPN you can watch anything on iPlayer, ITV catchup and 4OD just by using my TV remote control, and never burn anything to disk, its instant - so I don't need to wait for a download to complete. Today we said "lets watch Have I got News for You", within 60 secs it was on TV and all just using a remote control. It is more work to set up but once in place its always there.

BTW, if you play your stuff on a PS3 (even if you download torrents) and its networked take a look at ps3mediaserver, it lets you play stuff directly from your PC or Mac on the PS3 without burning disks or converting any formats, its free and very good! I even use it for playing Spotify from our surround sound system.

Amazulu

Why do you burn it to disk? Just copy it to a USB stick and watch it through that. You could also stream it via wireless, which is what I do.