An inexpensive LEGAL method to access BBC iPlayer and other British streaming TV services from outside the UK
Pre-requisites:
- You home Internet connection needs to support upload speeds of 3Gbps or greater
- The Internet connection you are using overseas needs support download speeds of at least 3Gbps
- A GL.Inet Travel router about £20 on Amazon, ie https://amzn.to/34v3foU
What it does
When you are using an internet connection outside this will channels traffic through to your home internet connection. This means you should be able use iPlayer, ITV Hub etc, even though you are outside the UK legally so long as you have a TV Licence
Setting up (at home before you go)
1) On any device on your home network log into a browser and type ” What is My IP“, make a note of the address, this is you “public address” that sites like BBC iPlayer use to determine what country you are in. If you were in Spain you’d have a Spanish IP address so iPlayer would reject you, ditto ITV Hub, All 4 etc.
2) Use an ethernet cable to make a connection between the of the WAN connection of GL router and one of the LAN sockets of your home router
3) The GL INET router comes with a preconfigured WiFi network, the network name (SSID) address and WiFi password will be on the sticker on the underside (you’ll want to change these later!)
Log on to your travel router, the default will probably be http://192:168.8.1
username – admin
password – goodlife
Click the INTERNET icon on the left-hand side and make a note of the IP address, this is it’s PRIVATE IP address, write this down, you’ll need it later.
4) Click the VPN icon on the left to reveal the VPN options, then click OpenVPN Server
Unless you want to be able to access your local computers at home there is no need to click modify
5) Click Start to enable the VPN server, the screen should look like this. If you want to access shares on your home computers and devices click the slider shown on arrow 1
6) Click “Export config” (the red arrow 2) to save the xxxx.ovpn file (call it whatever you like)
7) email the xxxxx.opvn your devices or transfer it to a USB stick, keep it yourself!
8) You’ll need to download the OpenVPN client software to your remote or mobile device
Windows – http://bit.ly/2NAuZ4A
Android http://bit.ly/2WHztKG
iPhone – https://apple.co/2Ce0Se4
Mac – http://bit.ly/2NECqaP
Linux – http://bit.ly/36u97QV
9) Run the client software and import the xxxxx.opvn , give the profile any name you like.
10) Finally, you’ll need to open a port on your router, Sounds a bit geeky with if you google the same of you router and include the phrase port forwarding you should find YouTube videos and\or help guide from your ISP if they supplied to the router. Assuming you are using the default settings You’ll need to forward port 1194 to the private address of your travel router
11) To test:
If your phone has 4G disable your home WiFi and enable 4G, alternatively log on to a network elsewhere (work, friend’s house etc.)
Again Log into a web browser and type ” What is My IP“, make a note of the address, it will be different to the public IP address you wrote down from step1, make a note of it.
12) One your remote\client device click the profile, yes should fly up the screen and after a few seconds, it should say connected.
13) Again Log into a web browser and type ” What is My IP“, it should be the same address as you wrote down from step 1, i.e your home public address.
Even if you are on the other side of the world you should be able to access BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, More 4 etc. Optionally, you could also see any other shares on other devices if you ticked the box in step 4. As far as I am aware this is legal so long as you have a current TV licence and only apply it for personal use.
The GL.Inet routers have lots of clever features including allowing you to create a WISP network, a way to share a public wireless network to your own private WiFi and ethernet network, ideal if you want to share a single Wifi or Lan network many times over in a secure fashion.
This a draft I’ve written for a friend that may need tweaking so feedback welcome.
Phil Bridges - useful stuff 