SanNico

A VPN on an UNsmart TV? You lost me there.

Has anyone ever managed to add a VPN to their TV or router? I've always given up and I consider myself pretty good with this type of thing. I tried with the TV and managed to download iPlayer but it wouldn't let me watch anything. I managed a few years ago on a Netgear router but it meant logging in to the router to change the settings every time I wanted to change country.

maverik

It works perfectly if you use the TV as a projection screen from your PC or Notebook. I am doing it the whole time.

Luc

SanNico

Yes. That's what I do now, also from the phone but I'm trying to find a way to either get a smart TV to allow me to watch iPlayer directly (without connecting another device) or to have a router which can easily switch VPN locations, like a 1 button press, or have 1 network port or wifi connection dedicated to the vpn connected to the TV. For years I've had other expats telling me they could watch it directly on their TV but none could explain how and when it came to being offered a paid task to do it for others all of a sudden the dog had eaten their homework.

Jon-Bxl

Hi Loco. Ive covered this in other posts but to save you scrolling here is a summary: I do have one question, please, at the end.

I still have Priinet. The contract is terminated at the end of this billing month on 5 May. They will also return my €20 deposit, when they remove all the equipment. I am pretty sure that the 4G solution will work. It did previously, (not perfectly) even though back in the day the speed - or technology - wasn't as good as today. It took a TMN dongle, that luckily I kept. MEO told me it should work with their SIM. (They 'think' -its the same company). Also the advice from you and the others make me feel comfortable terminating priinet.

I have my old router here which works still. Its a "Wireless-N router w LTE/4G/3G Data port" if this doesn't work well, I'll (probably) splash out for this. CAT 6 as you recommended

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Archer-MR60...%2C196&sr=8-16

It will pay for itself soon enough.
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I bought the MEO SIM but haven't activated it as its a waste of money whilst I still have priinet.

My phone had a significantly better MEO download speed in 3 areas, one of which is ideal for the router which also minimises the distance to upstairs. Here the phone is faster than priinet too - running the same speed test over WiFi as a comparison. Its probably not scientific, but a good sign

I like the dongle which I believe 'forces' an MEO (ex TMN) connection. So I am not roaming. MEO told me I would use up all the €15 credit with just a 200mb roaming-download!!!

If I buy a new router (unlocked) and put the SIM in it, I need to programme it so that it only connects to MEO. Is this possible please?

It must not 'see' me in Spain... And switch to roaming via the unlocking ... So I need to lock it!

If all else fails, its priinet fibre - so the risk of terminating priinet is small

Jon

Loco

I had to scroll down to find the question but the quick answer is it is probably possible depending on the Router and SIM but the question is irrelevant anyway!
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​​​​​​That is presuming you have bought the Prepay Card called Enjoy Card All Traffic Included.

If so the Meo Monkeys advising you just monkeys or worse arn't monkeys and just pulling your plonker.

The card will not roam as MEO's website makes quite clear at the near bottom of the notes at the bottom of every promotional page on the their web site promoting the Enjoy Card All Traffic offers.

Trust their web site rather than their monkeys or for that matter me.

​​​​​​Another bit of bad news....... They have just increased the cost of the prepago offer and tightened the term.

Best
Loco
PS The good news is your current 4g router should suffice.



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Lol in which case the Meo Monkey is talking utter nonsense.

Loco

Yes at least for others. I generally prefer they use a DNS proxy service on the router. It's cheaper, faster and more reliable than a VPN service and you can change country settings at one or two clicks.

However if using a 3/4/5 G router these services won't work so a VPN service will be required which, as has been pointed, out can't be added to many branded UNSmart TVs so have to be added at router level and so to change country normally has to be done via the router.

Best,Loco
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Jon-Bxl

Thanks again
I haven't seen the no-roaming comments on the site and when I went to the shop, she checked on the computer to give me the roaming info.

My phone is set to automatically choose the best network of all available. Living on the border, means it switches often. I cant have the unlocked router do that, if my old router doesn't work.

For reasons too long to go into here I sometimes have to use a specific network when traveling. It takes a few seconds to do this on my phone. I hope that its also possible with the unlocked router.

I have asked TP link support to answer this, to be sure. Lets see what they say.

Thanks again for the help.. I'll keep a close eye on those plonker-pullers

Jon

Loco

That's the one.

See last line in notes at the bottom of MEO's Pages for the service : Internet traffic only available for use in national territory.
Best Loco

SanNico

Sounds promising. Can you recommend a DNS proxy service? To give a quick outline I have a Samsung Smart TV, standard Digi router and connected to TP-Link X20 Mesh, although the router sits under the TV so no issues with cabling it. I've got iPlayer installed on the TV and can access it but it won't let me view any content.

By UNSmart you mean normal TV I assume?

Jon-Bxl

Just in case you were following the discussion: Here is the response from TP link support. Regarding selecting a preferred network on the router

As for the situation you mentioned, whether the network will automatically switch provider depends entirely on your SIM card. Our 3/4G router only converts the network of your SIM card into wifi for other devices to use, all network related depends on your SIM card.and the 3/4G router has no way to set the functions you mentioned.

How interesting something that I can do easily on the phone (selecting my network) isn't available on the router from them...

Jon

guesswork

I have been using SmartDNSProxy for many years. Very reliable for the price You also get aVPN in the price. I use this on my mobile. They have a Youtube channel with all types of advice and instructions on it

Loco

No I mean Smart TVs sold by many of the well known brands.

Many are geo locked, app locked and or VPN locked.

Smart for them but not for users.

Best
Loco

Loco

As for PRIINETs fibre offer I spent over 4 hours yesterday afternoon on Lomas.

Average download speeds and latency were as follows:

PRIINET Fibre ( I suspect is actually routing via Vodafone) 55.6 download latency 25ms

Digi/Movistar on a 4g NOT a 4.5 G router 50.7 download latency 26ms

Lyca/Orange on my cheapo mobile 50.3 download latency 38ms

All tested using opensignal at the same time and all the devices within 30cms of each other.

I was unable to test Meo on opensignal as I didn't have a SIM for it but tested it's signal strength on a cell mapper program. It seemed to suggest it delivers much the same.

So PRIINET Fibre came out the fastest by a fraction that is insignificant. Had I tested any of the others on a router capable of 4.5 G I am confident all would have beaten PRIINET Fibre offering by a fair margin.

My point ?

Any will suffice so especially for those who don't require year round access and are being told to upgrade tell PRIINET to take a running jump or improve their offer. Lol Meo offer 4.5g at around 1 euro a day for unlimited downloads and for 25 a month Digi offer not only unlimited downloads but free calls virtually worldwide.

If they want to dispute what I am saying tell them to contact me

Best
Loco

EsuriJohn

👏🏻✅

Jon-Bxl

Really interesting thanks!

A few points/questions:
1: MEO have upped the price ... https://www.meo.pt/servicos/movel/ne...uter/pre-pagos
I still feel its a good option vs priinet for non resident visitors, switching on and off.... And not wanting to pay full price when away. Especially at these speeds.

2: The digi offer, how easy is it to switch on/off please?

3: Is 4.5G the same as 4G+ please? I think the best is '4G LTE Advanced'.

4: In an earlier post, number 70, I mentioned that TPlink support say they have no way to select a network forcing the router to stick to (eg) MEO. Something very easy to do on a phone. Living on the border means it can easily roam between countries (=Expensive!) MEO support are surprised about this and are able to disable roaming, via a phone call to them (e.g when you activate the SIM). However for reasons beyond my brain, they dont recommend this.

5: The MEO SIM dies if you are away for more than 3 months after it times out. But the SIM is free, so just go to the shop and get a new one and activate it then. Its 5g ready too, so once 5G comes in (and 5g routers drop in price) you will have far better speeds.....

Jon

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