Hola is something to avoid completely. Bunch of crooks, apparently.
I would uninstall immediately if I had it.
Yet another topic where the original poster has never bothered to re-appear!
Just got an email from SmartDNSProxy.com - they have now added free VPN and SmartVPN services.
After viewing all your comments, I subscribed to Hotspot Shield Elite and, to my wife's delight, BBC Radio Player now works well and she can listen to the Archers to her heart's content. But I still can't get BBC i-Player to work on my Windows 8 laptop. Any ideas??
SmartDNSProxy.com will add any site - they say... and I know they added tenplay.com.au within a few minutes of me asking... They do list Netflix as available already though...
Thanks for the tip on SmartDNS. U.S Betflix etc users try getflix.com.au as SmartDNS does not currently allow you to access Netflix US etc. getflix.com.au was recommended for US users by SmartDNS.
Andy Carter this looks interesting - would it let us watch Sky on demand?
STOP !!!
OK - so I used to use a VPN service, but if you are looking to unlock those sites that you can't get to and to watch streaming services that you need to be in a different country for, then take a look at Smart DNS.
This is a new thing, and can work from most routers directly without needing to use proxy settings on one computer etc etc.
Basically a DNS is a directory service - like the phone book... you put in a name "www.bbc.co.uk" for example, and the directory service sends your request to the correct place (all Internet addresses are numeric)
With a Smart DNS, the request from your end is the same, and the Smart DNS looks not only at where you are heading, but also why. If you enter BBC.CO.UK then it not only sends you there, but also sends them a "note" that you are connecting from a UK IP address. (or US, Aus, NZ, Canada, etc...)
There is no restriction on where you can go - I am British in France, but sometimes like to watch Australian or US programmes - I can do this without messing around in any settings.
The one I use is called www.SmartDNSProxy.com, but there are others. I paid 30€ for 6 months, and will renew for sure.
Because I can set it on my Router's own DNS page, I can connect my Blu-Ray to it, and through that I can watch iPlayer and others on my real TV.
Also - because this is not a VPN, there is no difference in speed. Most VPN's slow you down, but this system doesn't.
OF COURSE - unlike a VPN, this does not hide your web traffic - and if you want to do that, you will need to continue with the VPN.
Finally, with the people I use, if I find a site that I cannot connect to (my wife wanted to see Neighbours last week) then I can send them a request through their site, and they will add the connection within a very short time - I think it was about an hour from request to working.
I cannot recommend them enough - sadly they don't have a "tell-a-friend-bonus" !!
A
I used to use Hide My Ass when we lived in India. They were excellent - very helpful with information and help when setting up - and very reasonable. Would highly recommend.
Yes, Strong VPN here, too. The service is excellent.
http://hola.org/ - has a good plugin for Chrome which I use to get the iPlayer when working away from home in the UK
and
http://www.bestukvpn.com/ - this requires you setup a VPN from your Control Panel >Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center >Set a new Connection of Network
Hi all,
I use tvonholiday. http://www.tvonholiday.co.uk
There are several different packages including a friends and family option which allows you to share your subscription with anyone anywhere in the world. (Handy for my mother in Canada)
Customer service is excellent and very fast and the two problems I had were resolved in less than hour! Also I find the pricing very reasonable compared to some providers.
Hi everyone
I use this one as the name implies it is a free service, and being only an occasional user of the BBC iPlayer, etc., it suits me just fine and dandy…
I have VPN Unlimited
Got a 3 year subscription with 70% discount through a special offer on BGR
One advantage is that same license is valid for 5 devices (PC, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS)
I use Strong VPN here in Saudi Arabia (due to blocking of many internet sites) and it is excellent. When using in France i have had no problems at all. Their customer service is exemplary and that alone is worth the annual fee.
I use a free antivirus called "Avast" which has an additional VPN service, costing £5/month. It's proved very reliable for me, and easy to use; when you close down the pc, it reconnects automatically when you re-start. It's not 100% reliable, it can drop out occasionally, but it's easy to reconnect.
It has one interesting feature, you can choose from a few host countries. Having seen some American and Australian television, maybe that's not much of a bonus..
I have been using Tunnelbear for over two years and I strongly recommend it.
StrongVPN is working flawlessly for me