What’s on the Box?

Television choice is limited here, and decent on demand non-existent. Tekkie Help’s SARAH and BO talk us through what options we have to make sure we can watch what we want, when we want.

Virtual Private Network (VPN)

A common way to work around regional restrictions and watch international content is to install a VPN. This lets you connect through a third-party server and makes it look, to the external world, like your computer is actually located in the UK, Australia or anywhere else.

If you have a Smart TV or Apple TV, you can connect it to the VPN; in order to do this, the VPN needs to be configured on the router or the device. A downside of watching through a VPN tunnel can be bottlenecks in the streaming path, resulting in buffering or reduced picture quality. To avoid this, we recommend investing in a dedicated VPN router and connecting the devices to it, rather than using your main router.

Domain Name System (DNS)

You could subscribe to a DNS service, such as GetFlix. After set-up, when you access sites with geo-blocks, it automatically bypasses the blocks by providing you with a local IP address. A DNS service offers a more seamless viewing experience as streaming speed is generally higher.

The benefit of a DNS is that it can be configured directly on computers, as well as Apple TV, without any impact on performance; this negates the need to connect every time you wish to watch anything. As Apple TV can be configured with a DNS, it means that you’re able to access region-specific apps such as BBC iPlayer, directly on your TV.

Amazon Fire TV Stick, Apple TV and Roku

These are devices that have content apps pre-loaded. Access will be dependent on the region of your account and the location the device was purchased. They also need to be used in conjunction with a DNS or VPN service to access content from other regions.

Which to choose?

The solution you choose will ultimately depend on what you want to see and what equipment you have. It may be that you use a combination of methods to let all the family get their television fix!