thebrit123

Have been noticing that ExpatPat shield (free) is buffering the BBC Iplayer more and more. Have started looking into VPN services. Noticed some people mention StrongVPN. Is this a good one to use. On there website, they are offering a 1 year special of $55 for PPTP.

Does anyone know if they allow you to use multiple devices like an Iphone/IPOD, PC and laptop?

Are there any better ones to use? Will they be better than Expatshield and prevent buffering with Iplayer etc?

penguinsix

I've always liked Overplay.net but others recommend StrongVPN as well. Overplay works well for me as it's pretty simple (there is a desktop app that works to turn it on and off) and you can switch to multiple servers in the UK if one stream is buffering.

I was watching BBC 1 earlier today--Helicopter Heroes. I had about 5 buffering incidents, none more than a few seconds. I switched to a different server in the UK through the advanced functions of the app and watched the rest of it and then BBC News without a buffer for about 30 minutes. I made it through the closing ceremony of the Olympics live with about 2 buffering incidents total (note: I'm in Hong Kong though).

Sheepdip

Used Astrill for quite a while with no problems but switched to Expatsheild because of the price

Maybe time to switch back as it does seem to be slow at the mo.

Nutek

I use UKiVPN. Funny though... we have buffering issues lately also.

kins

I use StrongVPN on PC, iPad and iPhone. Once you've set it up it's very easy to access on all devices.

My biggest complaint is that when I do need to switch servers it takes me forever to find the bit of the site where you do that, and the online chat help is sometimes just not available.

Mostly it's reliable though.

halfmoon

I use TunnelBear to watch shows on my iPad - small subscription charge to do that but worth it and easy to set up.

kodokan

Very happy Overplay user here for years, and no problems. Use it on the main computer attached to the TV, and iThings.

With BBC iPlayer, did you know that you only need to have the VPN in place for the initial ping? Once the show is streaming, you can drop the VPN and carry on watching over the regular connection.

NatashaB

Anyone else use StrongVPN? about to order a years subscription with them...

BritishGuy36

ibVPN is my service of choice, $20 for 6 months.

Hardly ever have buffering, and I even use iPlayer to download the HD versions of shows to my media PC's hard drive and watch them whenever.

NatashaB

thanks - cheaper than strongVPN! will look into that one when i get home.

thebrit123

Thanks for all your replies and suggestions.

Decided to try Tunnel Bear starting with their 500MB free trial. The Iplayer played with no buffering and was very fast to navigate. In fact, it was light night/day when compared with Expat Shield. It was so good, that I upgraded to the gran grizzly option which was $49 per year.

The things that I like is that they do not automatically upgrade after the year, have an easy interface. There interface looks like an old radio which toggle switch to turn on/off and another to switch VPN to US or UK.

NatashaB

ibVPN gives you a 2 hour free trial which we tested last night and worked really well, no buffering etc. The only annoying thing was that you can't use Apple Airplay to watch BBC iplayer on a screen as we assumed we'd be able to (unless you use the browser version of iplayer rather than the iplayer app). Anyway we have signed up for ibVPN now, I'm ridiculously excited about being able to watch something other than American Pickers and Keeping up with the Kardashians!

Steve_

The best way of doing it is to get someone you know in the UK to leave their computer on, they set up Internet Connection Sharing and you connect through that using the VPN client.

Bob

Thing to watch out for, most of these outfits are fly by night and can disappear without warning, so it's generally not a great idea getting a year subscription in advance.

Saying that, StrongVPN have been around for years and not that that's any indicator, but it's probably a safer bet than most if you rather not go month by month.

Nutek

Mine bills monthly via paypal. I get a usage summary from them which is quite interesting and also site access to manage my account and see usage graphs etc.

iPlayer is still running ok, but i do see some buffering if streaming live content from ITV etc. dunno why... It's just a recent thing.