 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi, does anyone have any experience of using VPN's in Italy to gain access to internet? Ideally, I would like to use a VPN to alter my connection IPL so that I can logon to Sky Go, Netflix, BBC and ITV iPlayer whilst abroad. I have been recommended Express VPN, which claims to do the aforementioned, by a local internet store but they had no real knowledge if these work in reality.
Does anyone have any experience of using these to gain access to UK based TV services or can anyone recommend an alternative? Primarily for use in Italian dolomites.
Thank you to anyone that can offer any advice
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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The country you are in shouldnt matter as the vpn connection will be wherever you connect to.
I can certainly say that express vpn works for me connecting to a Uk based vpn in Austria to watch BBCi player etc.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Express VPN works for me with BBC iplayer, etc when abroad and also for appearing to be somewhere else when watching Formula 1 races from the UK.
The Express VPN app also works nicely on the amazon firestick so you can watch all your streaming on the TV.
Express VPN doesn't work so well for me with Netflix. I guess they do a better job at finding and blocking some VPNs.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Yes it worked for iplayer in Jesolo this year
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I have never used a VPN but I think I understand the idea behind them. I have just looked at Express VPN and I see it costs £90 or so per year. I assume that you get what you pay for, but for occasional TV and Radio use, are there cheaper options that people can recommend?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@bowbells, The media providers spend a lot of time blocking known vpn connections. I found that Cyberghost worked intially then failed with both the BBC and Sky. Friends have reported similar problems with other VPNs. They work for a while then they are blocked.
The most reliable scheme is to look carefully at your router at home. I discovered, for example that could I set up my Ftrizbox router to act as a VPN server. Effectively my vpn client (Shrewsoft) can now access the internet from anywhere via my home IP address. The router rebroadcasts its input in an encrypted form to be picked up by the client. Of course you have to leave the router on. And I don't have to pay a fee 
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Used to use Nord VPN but switched to Express a good few years ago.
They all have their issues, but Express I found to be the better.
It's if you try casting your screen that things tend to not work.
The best for us is to patiently download the programme over antiquated ADSl (soon to be fibre hopefully) and then watch connected via HDMI.
And should imagine now is the time to buy / sign up with BlackFriday deals etc
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As someone said, it doesn't matter where you are coming from. Well, it depends how you run your VPN.
I run one on my home Draytek router, so when I'm away I just securely connect to that. It doesn't care where I'm coming from unless I tell it to. With this approach you "appear to be at home" from a source IP address perspective, so everyone's happy. You probably won't find the feature on ISP provided routers, but a decent aftermarket router ought to do this, including the Open Source stuff.
Commercial VPN services may or may not restrict your source location, but I'm sure plenty don't.
FWIW when on the road I also securely tunnel into my router, and wake my NAS, so I can back up images & video to it as a theft risk reduction tactic.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@Weathercam, we currently use Nord ... why do you think Express is better? Thanks
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Personally I used to have Nord, and BBCi player stopped working. Express has worked now for the last three years Ive been subscribing to it.
Maybe Nord have managed to resolve the issues they had in the past, so cant comment since i left.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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There will be lots of blackfriday sales coming up.
I use a DNS changer rather than VPN. A small company, so companies are less likely to obtain the connecting IP range & ban them.
Not had a problem in years of use.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Nord VPN worked for me on last yrs Italian bashes.
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You know it makes sense.
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You probably won't find the feature on ISP provided routers, but a decent aftermarket router ought to do this, including the Open Source stuff.
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My Fritzbox came from my ISP, Zen. The router manual has to be read. I suspect that it's there on most of the ISP routers, but they just don't tell you about it. You also need a decent upload speed. Our 17Mb is fine.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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We've had variable success with a range of VPNs. Most seem to work initially, then get progressively less reliable over a period of several months. And it's really obvious when the beeb's servers are busy - no hope of watching the world Cup, and strictly is patchy at best. Currently using SurfShark but not overly impressed with it (although it definitely changes your location).
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Poster: A snowHead
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Express has worked in every country ive ever used it and im happy to pay it as its so much less hassle.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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You don't need a VPN for NETFLIX but you may need to reset your language preferences unless your Italian is good. I use NORD for everything else, but with regards to BBC/ITV you sometimes need to switch NORD to a different UK NORD connection to get it to work. Once in it seems to hold OK for a night's viewing. I've also got Norton for my Anti-virus stuff and that has a VPN option which also works.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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The free VPN services have not been reliable for me. You should anticipate paying for a service and Im sure there is no shortage of options.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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we have Hotpot shield and it usually works but some providers obviously check to see if the IP is used by a VPN and then block it, VPN company changes IP address range, works for a while, IP address is detected as from a VPN, stops working etc etc
re Netflix, they will still give you access without a VPN but the programmes you can view vary as they don't have global rights to everything. Make sure you have a profile that has the language option set to English.
If we have problems we just tether to a UK phone but obviously you need a decent(ish) signal.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I’ve recently switched from Express to Nord. Both have worked reasonably well, but both occasionally get blocked by broadcast providers. I’m normally able to resolve this by selecting a different VPN server. I install the VPN onto my overseas router, rather than onto each device.
A couple of questions for those with knowledge of putting a VPN onto your home router. 1) How do you connect your devices from overseas to your home (UK) VPN router? 2) Does this give you a unique IP address, or a shared IP address that could be blocked by broadcasters?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
1) How do you connect your devices from overseas to your home (UK) VPN router?
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I use a free version of a program called Shrewsoft VPN access manager (https://www.shrew.net/home) which I also use for my work vpn. It is old but works fine on windows and is also available for linux and BSD Unix (I am not an apple user but I beleive this is the operating system used by them).
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2) Does this give you a unique IP address, or a shared IP address that could be blocked by broadcasters?
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It gives you exactly the same IP address as if you were sitting at home. If it gets blocked then you will also be blocked at home.
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@bowbells, I use Dashlane password manager and their new VPN Hotspot Shield works with iPlayer. The one they had before Surfshark doesn't work and is really bad. Ive heard good things about Nord (watch out for their pricing jumps after the trial).
Like @johnE, I also used Shrewsoft for my former work VPN.
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@bowbells, I use NordVPN works for me in Italy (just back), Austria and The Netherlands.
Casting from an iPad to a TV won't work, we use a laptop connected to the TV with and HDMI cable, no issues watching what we want, iPlayer, Channel 4 etc.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Quote: |
| 1) How do you connect your devices from overseas to your home (UK) VPN router? |
It depends slightly which type of VPN you configure, there are a number of protocols - I have five choices (DrayTek Vigor 2762 series), other routers will differ. You can use additional software, but it's built into Windows 11 - just type VPN into the search thing and there it is. The built-in thing works great with L2TP/IPsec, but I've played with other configurations including OpenVPN.
For L2TP/IPsec (layer two tunnelling protocol etc), you need your home IP address (which is usually relatively static), and a username/ password. That's it. To test it you need to connect from a different network, eg local cafe etc. As you are tunnelling to the router, you look to the world as if you come from it.
The built-in Windows stuff is very simple to connect - you can add a little button for it to the network icon in the taskbar, so it's three dumb clicks and you're connected as if you were sitting at home. That will likely be true for people who don't have a broadband router capable of running a VPN. Mine happens to be on a UPS so I don't even care if the UK power's down, so long as my ISP is up, I'm good.
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I use Nord when I’m in Spain and it’s pretty good. However I think Sky Go might be an issue, maybe someone else can confirm if it has worked for them. The reason I say this, I use Sky websites for sports and fantasy football which are restricted to the UK, but if I try and access those sites using the downloaded app it recognises I’m not in the UK and won’t let me in. However, if I just open an internet browser and log in via the Sky website, the VPN does it’s job and all is fine. A friend of mine also had the same when abroad so it’s a Sky thing with at least some of their apps.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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For the dyslexic amongst you who may have misread the thread title and come here out of hope.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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I have found Nord pretty useless with BT Sport.
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FAQ
