Then give me some of your thoughts on how Smart DNS works or don't you believe that it works as advertised? It wasn't until 2012 that the first Smart DNS server was available.

I've told you; it's an (SNI enabled) proxy server based upon DNS.

They have simply worked out which URI or DNS domain performs the authentication and altered their DNS results appropriately. In the event of iplayer they will proxy all traffic. You can run a tcpdump to confirm this. There are loads of open source implementations of a DNS unblocker available if you want to see in exact detail how it works.

https://github.com/corporate-gadfly/...ster/README.md

And ,yes, smart dns is deliberately dumbing down their statement. They're simply referring to the majority of streaming coming from a CDN rather than the provider directly.

I use Overplay DNS too but can only use BBC iPlayer on my iPad. ITVPlayer tries to redirect to an iTunes app, and 4OD / Demand 5 players aren't compatible.

I can use these on a Mac/PC but wondered if anyone has found a way to view them on an iPad.

I use the free Hola web browser plug in.

https://hola.org/

I run my own RHEL server hosted in the UK (costs $130 a year) IPSEC (strongswan) / OpenVPN VPN concentrator which has split tunnelling enabled. Works perfectly.

Open a UK iTunes account and download the ITV / 4OD / Demand 5 apps? That should work on your iPad. You don't need a UK credit card to open an account (just google 'open uk iTunes account no credit card' for instructions).

As for the overall question, I use Overplay SmartDNS at the router level so all devices are geo-located where they need to be. I find SmartDNS faster than VPN such that iPlayer downloads come down quickly and SkyGo runs more smoothly.

It's easy to open a UK account if you don't already have one. All you need is an email address not linked to iTunes. Change the store to the UK one on your device, pick any free app, click to download then set up an account with the email address you have when prompted. As you say, you have the option to bypass the credit card details.

Sounds good. Can you have both a US & UK account with apps on the same iPad? i.e. all my other apps are downloaded from my US iTunes account.

Yep. You'll just need to switch between accounts when it comes to updating them.

I think you can have 6 accounts linked to one iPad. I have UK, HK, and US on mine.

It can be a bit frustrating remembering which apps are updated with which accounts. Sometimes you just have to take a bit and go to each store, login and update everything country by country just to make sure everything is uptodate.

Yeah, that's fine. Glad I asked now.