Lay My Hat

Having lost our access to iPlayer a few weeks ago from the current VPN provider, I still haven't got around to sorting this out - so just wondered if there was any consensus on the best solution?

Change your VPN or better still go for a smart DSN. Many offer a money back so if it does not work for you then you can back out. I have VPN issues - strangely not with BBC iPlayer but with ITV Hub. I am going to switch to smart DSN when I move up to my rural property in October but for now I am gritting my teeth with the VPN and using FilmOn when it lets me down.

Hi,
Yeah, I've been using a smart DNS with CactusVPN quite happily for some time, but the Beeb seem to have got wise to this.

I'm using a Roku as the media player, fed via a dedicated router that has the clever stuff set up on it, and found in the beginning that iPlayer would not work properly if I set it up with a VPN - smart DNS did work, or at least until recently. Sigh.

So looks like I could get stuck in that maybe a new VPN will basically work, but not with iPlayer on the Roku.

Why can't they just let us buy a license and watch it like everybody else? We're still UK tax payers after all.....

I wonder if there will be changes in the way iPlayer works. The license rules in the UK have recently been clarified and you now need a license to watch BBC material even on catch up. This has been done to stop all the revenue leakage to new generations of viewers who no longer watch live TV.

The BBC offers a fantastic service and I have been using iPlayer since early Beta testing many years ago. I am frustrated that I can't use it as a legitimate license payer when I travel, hopefully this will be fixed with license payers being given a login as we are for other onile services we pay for like Netflix.

I have friends living all over the world that use VPN services to access iPlayer. Lets hope they come up with a sensible low cost solution that allows us all to access the service in a legal way no matter where we are. I am sure there will be challenges with the material they can offer when they do this but it would be better for all to have a legitimate solution.

I don't have an issue with paying - within reason because I watch very little TV - and some kind of cross-border licensing agreement would suit me to include not just the Beeb but the commercial stations too which are currently blocked to overseas viewers. I know this issue is not just petulance on the part of the UK stations but some unfathomable international protocol, but if you licence the whole shebang then you avoid all the deviousness involved with trying to sidestep the transmission blockers. Where I am in Southern Spain the options for watching UK TV are very limited. I can't say it's the world's most major hardship, but there are some programmes I'd like to watch from time to time.

Try
https://unlocator.com/
It works well!

PW in Polemi wrote:Try
https://unlocator.com/
It works well!

That is rather ironic, allows one to break the law but you still have to pay your taxes (VAT). Normally it is law breakers that do not pay their taxes.

I quote: "Local VAT rates apply for EU users."

If their service works so well, how do they know which EU country you're in?

Thanks PW.

Am giving Unlocator a try as they use smart DNS also. Seems to be good so far......