Why Proper Ticketing Proxies Will Bring You Ticket Success

It’s been about five years since I first tried out a beta version of a new Ticketing Bot that was doing the rounds. To be honest I was lucky to try it out as the full version was several hundred dollars, but I got to use it for a little feedback. Just to explain a Ticket Bot is a piece of software which allows you to go to specific Ticket websites, in this instance Ticketmaster, and buy multiple tickets under different aliases.   It was a very profitable experience although it did involve something of a learning curve especially about ticketing proxies and different ticketing sites.

At the moment of course, we’re in the middle of a global pandemic and the entertainment and concert industry is pretty much on hold.  However there’s a lot of expectation for huge pent up demand when the industry re-opens including the ticketing sites.  This will of course mean popular tickets will be even harder to get.  When you combine this with potential social distancing measures that might be in place, the ticket sites are going to be under siege when the events start up again.  Will demand return and people want to buy tickets again, I think it’s almost certain.

Is Software like these Ticketmaster Bots Illegal ?

Like pretty much every legal issue online it’s somewhat of a grey area and largely depends on where you live.  The software itself is certainly not illegal in any way by itself.  However there’s an increasing chance that using Ticket Bots or any piece of software to purchase large numbers of tickets for resale from a ticket site could well be illegal.  Much of it probably depends on scale, if you buy tickets and sell a few on to cover your costs is unlikely to be very risky.  However you never know when the ticketing sites will start to clamp down on this practice – although there’s some evidence that they’re complicit in the reseller market anyway.

Anyway here’s some of the legislation which has been designed to target using a ticket bot- 

There are other examples of other legislation in the pipeline although of arguably much more limited scope.  The surprising thing is that is that most of the Bots are still around, still working and making lots of people an awful lot of money.  The problem is, like many internet relating laws is simply that of enforcing these laws and regulations.   It’s extremely difficult to track down these offences and very expensive to bring a case to court especially if the offences are committed across geographical boundaries.  What’s more the extensive use of proxies means that it’s even harder to trace down these transactions in any case.   

ticketing proxies

Bottom line is that the rewards are potentially huge, and the chance of being caught while using sites like Ticketmaster to but tickets very small.  However depending on where you are based you should be aware of these legal restrictions.   It’s difficult to give a definitive answer but many want these Bots to be declared illegal, but there’s little sign of people stop using them yet.  The reality is that anyone doing this is already using private proxies and specialized residential proxies to hide themselves when purchasing so it’s virtually impossible to trace people at this stage. 

Selling them though is more difficult but again perfectly possible as large brokers operate without issue. You should be aware of the risks though, as they’re definitely increasing depending on where you live.  Many of the people making money out of the ticket industry have switched their skills to other areas while the market recovers.  Many online ticket scalpers made a fortune using Bots to buy up PS5 and X Box Series X consoles too.  The mark up on these just before Christmas 2020 was 100% plus and much more for a short period.

Using a Ticket or Ticketmaster Proxy Server for Anonymous Ticket Scalping

The idea is that for highly demanded events using software would be much more effective than sitting at home waiting to press the buttons manually. Especially because many of these events literally sell out in minutes and you had to be very lucky to get any tickets at all.  Even with unlimited bandwidth and a fast connection, using e commerce sites manually for high demand purchases is always going to be something of a lottery.

In such events the limit is normally set at two or three tickets, at the very most four so that you can’t pick up any for your friends either. In reality it doesn’t matter as trying it manually from a remote location it’s almost impossible. Which is what normally happens to me, when a ticket release happens then I’m nearly always somewhere obscure at the end of a painfully slow internet connection.

ticket proxies

There are many problems, sometimes it’s the location – you’ll rarely get a chance at a US concert if your IP address says you’re somewhere in Asia or Africa for example. Ticketmaster tries to check you’re a genuine customer and it presumes you’re up to no good if you try from a foreign country! Also simply the distance means you’ll be at a huge disadvantage anyway as those Boss tickets time out while you’re putting them in your basket! Frustrating, you bet !!!

The software circumvents a lot of this, optimizing the responses and allowing you to have multiple tries at getting some tickets. Or more interestingly giving you the chance to score a load of tickets with which you can make a tidy profit. Yes a little bit scalper like but when you see the money you can make it’s awfully tempting!

Why Ticket Proxies Are Essential

The problem is that although most ticket bots are fast and efficient. Plus it can try multiple times but most of them do nothing about hiding/obscuring your IP address. Even if it is in the right place you cannot make multiple applications using the same address or you’ll get blacklisted or blocked.  Without hiding this all your purchases can be linked to the same IP, in fact you won’t even get that far as they’ll be blocked and blacklisted automatically.  

This is why people buy proxies, simply because giving you the ability to hide your real location/identity and use a false IP address instead. Not only can you have a completely optimized location and connection, you can have lots of them too! Nowadays there are even specialist Ticketmaster proxies which are located near their servers and are specially designed for speed and to get passed all the blocks.  There aren’t many proxy providers who offer this level of geographical targeting especially for a residential proxy (one that looks like a standard hone user connection – one of the few is called IP Burger who many eBay users swear by.  It does require more advanced proxies than those people use to watch TV abroad for example

The Right Proxy Services will Bring Success

If you don’t use proxies to hide your IP address then frankly you’re wasting your time. However there are now some great deals on these proxies which us IP rotation to allow switching between lots of different addresses very simple.  You can configure the software to dip into this proxy pool as required from a central control panel. These are much more cost effective than using reserved dedicated proxies on even the smallest package.   It’s definitely worth finding a proxy provider who allows this, the most advanced is a company called Luminati but they can be expensive. Check out the other options mentioned on this site like Storm Proxies too. Remember though any proxy used to access an E-commerce site like Ticketmaster should ideally be using residential IP addresses. Any other classification such as datacenter proxies is likely to be filtered unless you’re only trying to get one or two tickets.  Some of the smaller ticketing websites places won’t have such advanced detection but Ticketmaster proxies really need residential addresses to work properly.

For commercial or larger scale then residential IP address are pretty much essential for ticketing proxies. They’ll normally be rotating as it’s actually quite difficult to buy static residential IP addresses due to their costs.  Much depends on the scale though, you can get away with fairly basic tickets proxy for very small purchases or for internet marketing.

Using these rotating proxies which are available under quite inexpensive proxy packages though works really well especially with ticket bots as you can simply plug in a single proxy address. The proxy will then rotate through different IP addresses, if you use a decent company you can configure this to maximise your chances. Some companies let you configure to a city level which can help greatly when trying to get tickets for a specific event.

Elite Proxy Vs Anonymous Proxy

The trouble with many definitions and descriptions with regards proxy servers is that there are very few standards.  Many providers simply tag their own descriptions or opinions onto a convenient title.  Some of the favorites are descriptions like anonymous and elite which you’ll often find used to explain the security level of a service

Elite Proxy Vs Anonymous Proxy

These descriptions are often used completely inappropriately, substituted or simply swapped around.  However there are some fairly standard definitions of these terms which are generally accepted by the majority of the IT community.  Here’s the three based standards which you will find referenced the most.

  • Transparent Proxy
  • Anonymous Proxy
  • Elite Proxy

There are many other definitions but these are fairly standard and you’ll find them used by most of the serious proxy service providers and of course in thousands of lists available on the internet.

Transparent Proxies

The standard definition of a transparent proxy is a basic proxy which does not alter user information in any way.  The proxy will simply pass the information along without modifying or hiding it in any way.  The important factor to remember with regards security is that a transparent server will not hide the original IP address in any way.

Transparent proxies are able to transmit all standard HTTP traffic and the user does not need to make any modifications at all.    There’s no real anonymity or security aspect to using these proxies, in fact they’re generally used to simply speed up access or act as a buffer in internal networks to internet access.

Many firms install them in their DMZ to create a barrier between desktop clients and the internet in general.  It allows a single point where traffic can be monitored and checked for viruses without having to check each individual PC.  All the relevant headers will transmitted including the following –

  • REMOTE_ADDR  – includes the proxy IP
  • HTTP_VIA – includes the proxy software being used
  • HTTP_X_FORWARDER_FOR – includes client IP address

Anonymous Proxies 

With regards to caching functionality, an anonymous proxy has the same functionality as the transparent server above.  The major difference as suggested by the name is of course the ability to provide a level of anonymity to the client and proxy connection.   This group probably represent the most common type of proxies that are available online.

The anonymous proxy server will attempt to forward the same headers –

  • REMOTE_ADDR
  • HTTP_VIA
  • HTTP_X_FORWARDER_FOR

However the true information will not be included in these fields, which will either be null or filled in with incorrect information depending on configuration.

Elite proxies

So that just leaves us with the last and most frequently abused category, that of elite proxies.  It is described as the highest level of security and potentially gives the most privacy and anonymity online.  There are specific requirements but the overall concept is that an elite proxy will be undetectable and provide no traces of a proxy being used.

Also the real ‘client IP address’ should not be visible at all, this is essential in providing anonymity.   If your actual IP address is visible this would negate all anonymity as it’s individually assigned to your internet connection especially if you’re using a home connection.

  • REMOTE_ADDR
  • HTTP_VIA
  • HTTP_X_FORWARDER_FOR

In this scenario the above headers are not forwarded at all,  which is essential otherwise it would be evident that a proxy was being used.   Any server specifically designed for a certain purpose like these which are used for Ticketmaster are likely to be configured as elite level proxies.

Using an elite proxy is the most advanced degree of security as it provides the best protection and privacy on the Internet.   If privacy is your core concern you should definitely be looking at elite level proxies like the ones supplied by Storm Proxies.

BBC iPlayer VPN Workaround – How You Can Watch BBC Abroad In 2021

Updated May 2021

Many people use VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) for security reasons, primarily because they create a secure, encrypted tunnel across the open architecture of the internet. Many firms use them as a secure method of allowing remote users to access corporate file servers and email systems from anywhere in the world. It has to be said that if you travel for any length of time, it’s probably one of the smartest moves you can make for keeping your data secure.

bbc blocking VPN

However there is another use of VPNs and it’s arguably becoming the primary reason and that’s to bypass internet censorship and filtering. This is a huge problem and one that you will find exists on many levels. At a country level – filtering used to be relatively rare, with only places like China, Iran and North Korea who did any serious censorship.

BBC iPlayer not working with VPN? Here’s the fix!

However now there’s rarely a country in the world that doesn’t censor their internet feeds to some extent. In many countries there are literally hundreds of thousands of web pages that are not accessible due to some sort of filtering. Countries like Turkey enforce their religious beliefs by blocking all sorts of sites including women and gay rights web sites.

On another level companies and corporations are increasingly blocking access mainly as a profit maximization technique. What happens in this case is that access is selectively restricted based on your physical location. This means you might find that parts of a web site are only accessible in particular countries and you’ll be blocked if you’re actually outside those locations. So if you’ve tried to watch Hulu from outside the US then you’ll have seen these blocks and similarly try and access the BBC from outside the UK and the same thing will happen.

In this post we’re going to focus on using a VPN to unblock BBC iPlayer although the principles apply to almost any blocked content online. Once you’re comfortable using a VPN to watch BBC iPlayer you’ll find yourself using it more and more to access other sites and TV shows.

The BBC iPlayer VPN Workaround Still Works in 2021

What’s more they’re becoming very easy to use. A simple VPN program in your task bar allows you to bypass pretty much all blocks online, whenever you need. That includes both commercial and political filtering and lets you watch most entertainment channels including British TV. This is because the website you visit only sees the IP address and location of the VPN server not your real one. So if you’re connected to a VPN in the right country you can access whatever you like including allowing you to access BBC iPlayer anywhere in the world.

Indeed, millions watch the BBC from all over the world using a simple VPN to hide their location. If you go to any expat community you’ll find lots of VPNs which still work with BBC iPlayer. Indeed the BBC iPlayer VPN workaround is well known. Unfortunately things are beginning to change and the technology war between the web site and the VPN service providers has started to escalate.

Over the last few months for example the BBC have started blocking VPN connections from accessing the BBC iPlayer application outside the UK.



This is significant as up until this point, the BBC have made very minimal effort to restrict the use of these programs. Many millions used them routinely, connecting to UK servers to watch British TV online wherever they happened to be. It’s no understatement that there was some element of panic when it was initially discovered BBC iPlayer not working! Many people had been using their favorite VPNs for lots of streaming services. It affected lots of people using all sorts of VPN providers. A friend of mine was upset when he found Express VPN had stopped being able to stream BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub and other UK TV channels too.

We’re Still Watching BBC iPlayer Abroad, You Can Too

There is still some hope though, mainly because it is still extremely difficult to completely block access to VPNs completely. Also companies involved in this tactic tend to make aggressive noises initially then stop, it looks like BBC iPlayer blocking VPN might be one of them, simply because of the cost and effort it involves.

The Chinese after all have not yet succeeded in completely blocking them through their infamous firewall. The reality is that although many of these media companies can block access through VPNs it is actually quite a difficult process which involves a lot of manual intervention. The best VPNs actually still work fine for unblocking BBC iPlayer.

There are potentially ways that VPNs could be completely blocked for example by restricting access based on the classification of IP addresses. This has already been implemented once and stopped the Netflix VPN workaround for some time. However as Netflix discovered there is inevitably some impact on other users too. The problem for the companies trying to block these workarounds is that people watch media streams on all sorts of different devices from lots of locations.

How Does BBC Know I Am Using VPN?

A well configured VPN is still pretty much undetectable, so they instead focus on identifying IP addresses with multiple concurrent connections. This is very time consuming and also unreliable as often legitimate proxies in various establishments will look pretty much identical. It’s even harder to identify people accessing through other methods like the BBC iPlayer app too. They still actively do block though, and you’ll find BBC iPlayer only works with the better VPNs who are able to rotate addresses and don’t stick everyone on a few dedicated IP addresses which never change.

After all if a single IP address has 5000 connections streaming different programmes from the BBC, then it’s not hard to suspect that a proxy or VPN is being used.

If a VPN provider has plenty of servers in the UK and ensures that the IP addresses are rotated regularly then you won’t have a problem. For instance Nord VPN have created a set of servers specifically for being able to stream BBC iPlayer.

It’s worth checking the latest servers but currently these are the BBC optimized VPN servers to use – UK# 1840-1847, 1850-1863, 1865, 1869, 1873, 1875-1878, 1880-1881, 1900-1901, 1903-1904, 1911, 1913, 1917, 1919-1920.

The VPN is still one of the most useful internet tools especially for travelers, holiday makers and expats. The only company which has managed to block the majority of access is the media streaming giant Netflix. What this company has done is to restrict access from any server with a commercially registered IP address. This blocked a huge proportion (over 95%) of VPN services with only a few having the ability to use residential addresses. You can read about one company that has bypassed this issue here – supplying Netflix IP addresses. It is unclear whether other companies will follow suit to this method or they are simply evaluating the success of the method.

We Use NORDVPN in 2021

Give it a try and watch the BBC iPlayer from Anywhere

Some Further BBC iPlayer VPN FAQS

We try and keep this page updated as the situation changes quite often. Here are a couple we’ve received in 2021 and willl attempt to briefly answer them below. Hopefully this will help other people too.

Is BBC iPlayer Not Working with your VPN ?

Although the VPN workaround is fine in 2021, there’s many VPNs which won’t work anymore. If the company has too many users on each IP address or overloads it’s servers then they’ll get blocked. Not all VPN companies monitor these things, so you should move if your provider doesn’t support sites like the BBC.

The Best VPNs for BBC iPlayer (2021)

This changes all the time but there are a few who actively try to ensure access to BBC iPlayer. NordVPN are one of the biggest, and as long as you use their BBC optimized servers should work fine. If you’re unsure just email support, no decent VPN will openly advertise this functionality but many do.

Is there a Free VPN for BBC iPlayer ?

There are free VPNs but unfortunately none that will currently work for accessing the BBC iPlayer from abroad. The problem is that the servers are usually overloaded and the IP addresses already blacklisted. If you don’t mind letting others use your internet connection, the Hola VPN might work occasionally.

How to Watch UK TV Abroad Free Online without VPN Services

Watch UK TV Abroad Without a VPN in 2021: Step-by-step Guide

As many of us probably know it’s kind of difficult to enjoy British television stations outside the UK. Sure, pretty much everything from the major broadcasters is streamed online but by default all these sites block access to anyone based abroad. That’s everyone, it doesn’t matter if you’re a premium subscriber or have been paying for your UK TV license for years. If you’re physically outside the United Kingdom then you won’t be able to access sites like the BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub or All Four. It’s hugely frustrating that all these channels are available online yet watching UK TV abroad is not technically allowed. You can’t even download the software to play them – try to access BBC iPlayer or the ITV Hub from the app store and you’ll not be allowed either.

Fortunately there is a way to bypass these and watch for free online, although you will need a small tool to help.

Why Do You Need a VPN to Access UK TV?

The primary reason is simply so that you can hide your location. However if you read on, you’ll discover that a VPN is not the only option available to watch English TV from other countries.

Of course, restrictions like this don’t often stand unchallenged online and fortunately there’s several ways to bypass them. It’s fairly straight forward and indeed millions of people use these ‘workarounds’ all over the world. What’s more it works with just about every country restricted site too, including sites like Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and virtually every media site.

How UK TV Services Block You

To enforce these rather ridiculous blocks the technology used is called geo-targeting. This involves looking up where your IP address is registered and then applying a rule based on the location. It could sometimes be routed through to an appropriate language version but more often that not it simply blocks access. It happens across all sorts of channel both free and premium ones. Here’s me getting blocked from my beloved Britbox subscription simply because I was in the wrong country at the time.

uk tv abroad free online

Here’s a current list of the most popular UK TV sites which are restricted when you leave the United Kingdom. Some access was allowed in the European Union because of the EU digital rules, however this finished when Britain left the community at the beginning of 2021.

  • BBC iPlayer – including all the BBC TV sites and some of the radio channels.
  • ITV – ITV Hub was accessible in EU but finished 1/1/21.
  • Channel 4 – All 4
  • Channel 5 – My 5
  • Sky TV – Sky GO access was allowed in EU but that finished 1/1/21 when Britain left.
  • Now TV – access restricted outside the UK.
  • BT/BT Sport – access restricted outside UK.

Basically every decent UK station including subscription and free to air channels now won’t work outside the United Kingdom.

It seems rather old fashioned and backward for a global communication network like the internet. Yet it happens all the time and on all sorts of platforms. Of course, it’s worse for some people than others but happens in every country on the planet to some extent. It seems especially bizarre for subscription channels that you actually pay for like Britbox or Sky Go.

How People Watch UK TV Abroad – Using a VPN to Stay Hidden

VPN services are a relatively recent tool but something which has become increasingly important for people who use the internet a lot. It stands for virtual private network and is essentially an encrypted tunnel between your computer/device and a secure managed server. It’s prime purpose is security, it ensures everything you online is protected by the encryption. However it also provides another level of privacy – by hiding your location and identity from the websites and servers you use online. Instead of seeing how you are and where you’re logging in from, only the VPN server is visible.

This facility to basically hide and change your real location has spawned a huge market for VPN services all over the world. For instance anyone who wants to watch British TV online from outside the United Kingdom simply has to use a VPN. As long as they connect to a server based in the UK then they are able to watch any TV channel they like. So for example normally you can’t watch BBC iPlayer or ITV Player online as soon as you step outside Britain, however with a VPN service it doesn’t matter. You can essentially watch TV online from any country you want and use any streaming service in any country anywhere in the world. Where your internet connection originates is immaterial only the location of the VPN servers that you connect to.

Sounds complicated but it really isn’t – here’s a quick demonstration on how to use a UK VPN to watch British TV content..

Here’s my favorite the best VPN for most of use – a great combination of speed, value and fantastic support with a money back guarantee too. I use it primarily for the BBC iPlayer to watch Match of the Day and to watch BBC News. Remember speed is important too especially if you want to watch full ultra HD or HD streaming using the connection. Just switch countries when you need to watch US TV free online or from another country.

watch british tv online

However sometimes a VPN is not the right solution for bypassing these blocks and enabling TV channels like these. For example you can’t always install VPN software on some network enabled devices like Smart TVs or media streamers. However there is another option, which although has less security is useful in many situations.

How to Watch UK TV Abroad Free Online Without VPN Services

So what do you do if you don’t or can’t use a VPN, is there an option to use something else to hide your location? Well for many years people did use something called proxies which worked in similar way to a VPN without the encrypted layer. You could certainly use a UK based proxy for watching UK TV and other streaming services too. However those days are long gone, most proxy servers are detected by the TV and media sites very easily and will rarely work. It’s probably about 5 or 6 years since you could use a proxy to watch most of the major UK TV channels or TV services.

The latest solution is actually something called Smart DNS which is kind of a combination of a VPN and a proxy server. It still hides your location but doesn’t route all your connection through an intermediate server. It’s also important to remember that Smart DNS doesn’t encrypt your connection in any way so is of limited value as a security system.

There are however two advantages to using Smart DNS solutions particularly to watch UK TV channels and other TV streams.

  • Faster as it doesn’t route your entire connection through an external VPN server
  • Easy to set up, the system works through DNS so you only need to change the DNS servers

The speed difference can be significant in some situations as the majority of traffic is routed directly to your device after the initial connection phase. The setup just involves pointing your DNS settings at the Smart DNS servers, which is usually possible through the network connection settings on most devices. There’s no requirement for any software to be installed to make this works.

It’s become so useful that the biggest VPN services like Nord now supply a Smart DNS service included. For example you can use Smart DNS service as part of your NordVPN subscription at no extra charge when required. However if you think Smart DNS might be enough for you on it’s own perhaps just to access a particular streaming service like BBC News then here’s a free trial option.

watch uk tv abroad without vpn

It’s a Smart DNS service which works with the vast majority of streaming services and has a 14 day free trial which you can try out for nothing. What’s more there’s no credit card requirement so there’s no risk of testing the technology entirely without risk.

Still Confused – Here’s Few of the Questions Received here –

What is a VPN?

A VPN, or Virtual Private Network, is a technology used for browsing the internet securely. When you connect to a VPN from your computer, all web traffic will be encrypted as it travels through its network and out to the public internet.

Why you need a VPN to access UK TV?

Simply to hide your location if you’re outside the UK. However Smart DNS will also hide where you are connecting from as well but only for specific channels.

Why are British TV channels inaccessible abroad?

Mostly it’s because of rights restrictions. Stations buy the rights to broadcast to a particular country, usually their domestic market. They can sell rights to other countries separately to make more money. Most media companies do the same all over the world.

Why Should you Access UK TV overseas with a VPN?

It’s the simplest way to hide your location and protects all your data too. The VPN can be switched to whichever country you need and turned off easily.

Best IP Changer Software: How to Change Your IP Address

Every one probably knows that in order to access the internet, you’ll need something called an IP address. This is a network number which uniquely identifies your device when you’re online. Because it’s unique it’s effectively your address on the internet. What people are not aware of is that this address can be used to track, control and filter what you are able to access.

Important Point – you have effectively got two IP addresses – a local IP address set on your device and a public IP address assigned by your internet connection.  It’s the public IP address that’s the important one, which affects what you can do or see online.  It’s this address which we use IP address changer software to hide using something like a proxy server or virtual private network.

Perhaps you don’t mind being tracked online, perhaps you are happy for websites to decide what you can see or not see. Pretty much every web site now uses software which automatically detects IP address when you visit. More likely you’ll be fairly annoyed at this, the internet is meant to be a universal medium of communication open to everyone. It’s simply not and one of the main forms of control is through this essential network address that we all need online.

So changing your IP address is a way of getting around this. There are various reasons why you might wish to do so, for example: if you want to access streaming services like Netflix or BBC iPlayer from abroad; if you’re on the run and need an alternative identity; or simply because it’s something fun to try out. Virtually all forms of this control are linked to your IP address so if you’re able to modify it then you can set yourself free of this digital tyranny !

Can’t bothered to read the post – well just watch this video instead !  Here’s the software being used.

Can you Permanently Change your IP Address?

In theory, yes however you would need to own or have access to an Internet Service Provider. For most of us it’s not really an option, at least if you want to still be able to access the internet. Anyone can change to a different internal IP address but you’d still need a public facing one assigned by your internet provider for the internet.

In practice there’s actually a simple alternative and that’s to use a VPN or proxy service. These are external servers which you can route your data through, protecting your anonymity, data and hiding your real IP address. For example when you use a VPN – then all websites will only see the IP associated with it.

best ip changer software

Your real address will be hidden and all websites will only see the location of the VPN or proxy. It will seem as though you’re browsing from there. This makes these tools great for accessing geo-blocked websites such as Netflix or BBC when travelling because your real location usually doesn’t matter. Simply switch to a proxy or VPN in the correct country and all will work perfectly.

Is changing your IP address illegal?

A surprisingly often asked question. No, it is definitely not illegal to change your IP address. Nor is it illegal to use a VPN or proxy service to change or hide your real location. The only caveat would be if you’re using someone else’s connection or without their permission which could lead to charges for fraud. In reality millions of people change IP addresses all the time, mobile phones switch as you move around, or when you connect to a new WiFi spot. Is moving house illegal ? It’s effectively the same question.

The IP address is just a network number, it’s required to enable TCP/IP to work which is essential for internet access. There’s certainly no legal requirement attached to it though some of the more extreme and controlling governments try to discourage or block the use of VPN programs.

What is the best IP Hider software?

There are a few ways of hiding your IP address although they are all quite similar. Basically VPN, proxy or something called Smart DNS which is a combination of both. Smart DNS only routes a small portion of your connection and is designed primarily to enable specific online TV and entertainment sites. It works well, but doesn’t hide your IP address the majority of the time only on pre-configured sites. It might be best for you and it’s probably the cheapest option – check out this site for a free trial.

If you’re serious about hiding your IP address though and protecting your anonymity then there’s only two options – VPNs and proxies. They both act as the intermediary in your network connections therefore hiding your real location/address. The advantage for a VPN is that it actually protects your data as well by encrypting your connection completely.

For personal privacy and anonymity – using a VPN is the best option.

Teenager’s Swap Technology for Drugs and Alcohol

We’re quickly getting technology addicts – and the habit begins early.  For years parents have been worried about their children developing drug or alcohol problems.  It started perhaps when they watched too much TV, however there’s much more available now than just a few TV channels like the BBC.   However recent studies have revealed that for many the problem is in a much more benign form – technology.

Research indicates teens may be so glued to their telephones, televisions and tablets which they no longer have time to get alcohol and drugs.  The tendency has been building for a decade and specialists think that technology can offer young people with a similar kick to experimentation with drugs.


Teens’ use of drugs, tobacco and alcohol in America has diminished considerably and prices are at their lowest since the 1990s, based on results from the annual Monitoring the Future study.

Considerably fewer adolescents reported using any illicit drug aside from marijuana in the previous 12 months – 5 percent, 10 per cent and 14 percent in 14, 15 and 16-year-olds respectively – compared anytime since 1991, according to the report.

The percentage of secondary school pupils in the US who used any illicit drug in the previous year dropped appreciably between 2015 and 2016.

Anti-drug campaigns are mostly deemed a failed venture that has led investigators to think that mobiles are currently giving teens so much stimulation they are not as inclined to find alcohol and drugs.  This has been helped by some developments in treatments for both drug problems and alcohol abuse.   Some Norwegian clinical trials of The Sinclair Method which uses a drug called Selincro – read about it here, have reported successful results of nearly 80%.

Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse expects to learn more about the connection between the decrease in medication and the increase of technologies to find whether there’s causation – rather than only correlation – between the two.

‘Something is happening,’ she told New York Times.

‘Teens can become actually high when playing with these matches’, she explained, describing interactive websites as ‘a different reinforcer’.

Smartphones are so brand new to our own lives investigators are only beginning to understand how they’re altering our brains.

Dr Nicholas Kardaras is a major psychotherapist, dependence expert and senior clinical adviser at the Dunes East Hampton, among the world’s leading rehab components.

He explained: ‘Screen timing is “electronic heroin” for kids — especially those below ten.

‘Some accuse me of scaremongering for comparing it to addictive substances like drugs and tobacco. However, I have treated patients using crystal meth issues and will tell you it is more difficult to find someone on a digital dependence. Unlike illegal drugs, displays are everywhere.

‘It is not only kids, however. The normal age for a video game enthusiast is 35. But children are especially at risk from displays since the pre-frontal cortex — our character centre — does not finish developing until their early 20s’, ” he explained.

A research by Indiana University asked teens who did not normally play video games to perform to get a fortnight.

‘In this brief time period, mind pictures before and after revealed changes in the frontal cortex which mirrored chemical dependency’, said Dr Kardarassaid

John Carter

http://cipec.org/

What’s the Best VPN for BBC iPlayer Streaming in 2021 ?

Choosing the right VPN to watch the BBC abroad can be somewhat of a challenge.  Every year this changes to some extent so it can be difficult to keep track.  So here’s my assessment of which is the best VPN for streaming BBC iPlayer abroad in 2021.  If you can’t be bothered to read to the end, then in my opinion these are the best options –

Identity Cloaker – for use on a PC/Laptop, super reliable for accessing all UK TV channels.  Great security pedigree and support however a bit limited in support for other devices like Smart Phones, tablets etc.

NordVPN – the giant in the VPN world, they have even advertised on major UK TV channels !  Lowest prices if you go for the longer term subscriptions,  support for most major devices and a fast reliable network.  Sometime servers get blocked due to huge number using these for streaming the BBC. however use the ‘BBC optimized’ servers and you’ll rarely have a problem.

Best VPN for BBC iPlayer Streaming
I’ve lost count of the number of VPN programs that I’ve used over the last 15 years to make sure I maintained access to BBC iPlayer and the other UK TV channels when travelling.  To me it’s hugely important as the amazing site contains the majority of my online entertainment needs.  Whether it’s the BBC news every day, politics from News Night, or dramas like Line of Duty – I don’t really need anything else.  For movies there’s a few on BBC but loads more on the other domestic UK TV channels – Channel 4 even has it’s own film channels.  These are not the latest blockbusters but are usually highly rated, quality films actually worth watching.



So choosing the right VPN is vital for me, because increasingly many simply don’t work with BBC iPlayer or the other UK TV sites any more.  So what are the components that you should look for in a VPN for watching the BBC?  If you’re like me and just want something reliable so they can watch their favorite BBC shows whenever they like and wherever they happen to be,

Best VPN for BBC iPlayer ?

There’s actually a few aspects to consider if you’re choosing a VPN primarily for BBC iPlayer access although the primary one is of course that it works!  A super, secure, low priced VPN is no use if the VPN doesn’t let you watch the BBC.

IP Address – the vast majority of VPNs use shared IP addresses on their servers,  This means that when you connect you’ll be sharing your assigned VPN address with potentially thousands of people.  Normally this is no problem, however BBC iPlayer WLL BLOCK access if the number connecting with the same address gets too high.  It’s an easy way to block access to VPNS and proxies and one that is used consistently.  It’s actually the primary reason that many VPNs now are blocked automatically by the BBC and other UK sites – too many people sharing the same IP address when they connect.

Speed – this is probably  the next most important factor.  There’s little joy to be had if your VPN reduces your connection speed to a crawl.  What’s more streaming video especially HD quality takes lots of bandwidth, a slow VPN makes watching online TV extremely tedious. You’ll get stuttering, freezes and buffering while your VPN connection tries to catch up.  It’s an awful experience, your VPN must be fast and ideally maintains your native connection speed if possible.

These two are where most cheaper VPNs and all the free ones fail.  They reduces costs and therefore their prices by loading as many customers onto each server as possible – crippling speed and getting the IP addresses blacklisted for too many concurrent connections.

Security – ok not always essential if you’re just wanting to watch Match of the Day, but a decent VPN should be secure.   A poorly configured VPN will be detected by media sites like the BBC iPlayer and ITV Hub.  So although not a core requirement, a decent VPN should encrypt and secure your internet connection.

Multiple Devices – nowadays people surf the internet and world wide web on all manner of different devices.  The same is said for streaming multimedia content, while some only watch the BBC on a computer or laptop, many others use tablets, smart phones and TVs to stream directly.  You should check that your VPN supports multiple devices and ideally has customized applications for each one.

These are the most important criteria to check if you’re searching for your ideal VPN for BBC iPlayer.  In our two recommended examples Identity Cloaker scores well on the first three – low number of users, high speed and very secure.  However their support for multiple devices is not the best, you can use it on most devices but they only have applications for PC and MAC, you can connect manually using tablets and phones etc.

NordVPN scores well on security, speed and multiple device support but you have to be careful with the IP addresses you use.  NordVPN has millions of users and you have to ensure you use specific servers for watching the BBC.  If you use the auto connect feature which assigns your server connection automatically you’ll often find access to BBC iPlayer is blocked. Fortunately Nord maintain a series of UK based servers which are optimized for BBC access – currently these are as follows –

# 1840-1847, 1850-1863, 1865, 1869, 1873, 1875-1878, 1880-1881, 1900-1901, 1903-1904, 1911, 1913, 1917, 1919-1920

These servers are monitored to enable BBC access, IP addresses are swapped if they’re blocked.  These UK servers should always work with BBC iPLayer but keep checking with the company that they don’t change them!

Can I Use PPC Adverts to Boost My Business?

You may have heard many stories of vast riches that were made by spending a few minutes on PPC advertising primarily using Google Adwords.  Although many people did make some ‘easy money’ in the early days, those days of setting up a quick advert and pointing it at a product while you count the cash are long gone.  What’s more Google isn’t the only option now and there are many other places you can spend your money for traffic.

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However don’t let anyone tell you that you cannot succeed and make tons of money using pay per click advertising. Around for almost 10 years, this type of advertising is useful and unique in several ways. Google started this type of advertising and has made a lot of money with this particular strategy. Making good money with this type of advertising, people continue to use it to generate an income.  It’s important to keep track of what you spend though, don’t get carried away with the sales mounting up – make sure there’s a profit involved.

There are many important concepts to know and act on with pay per click advertising. Being relevant is something that you need to be. It is essential that everything in your ad group be relevant to everything else in the ad group that you set up. Your CPC will actually be affected because of this. Google, as well as other ad platforms, check for this too. As long as the destination URL is relevant, everything is fine. If not, it will cost you more money. You will certainly have less traffic, and it will cost you more money, if you are unaware of how to do this the right way. The visitors are simply expecting something else, and when they don’t find it, they will go away.

If you’re targeting different countries, then it’s important to tailor both your adverts and landing pages to match that market.  Learn to look at how others use advertising in that location, you can buy IP address based in that country and actually browse and see that adverts are actually displayed.

Managing your money is an important tenant of having a successful pay per click advertising campaign. After all, probably the most common criticism of PPC is you lose a lot of money. Of course many people have, but remember there are sound reasons for that happening. Proper money management involves paying attention to what is going on and reducing risk.

You need to know how to execute your campaigns properly and be knowledgeable to reduce your risk. No matter what you do, or how good you are, every new campaign stands to lose some money. However, proper testing can turn that around and produce a winner.

One of the primary complaints that people have with the Google keyword research tool is the inaccuracy of the search volume numbers that are reported. Sometimes they are underestimating them. Other times, they are overinflated by quite a bit. If you know this, you can change your decision-making process just a little bit.

When you run a campaign on the Google network, the actual numbers will be accurately reported. Be careful of seasonal downturns as these can provide inaccurate results on your campaign. This will actually work out in your benefit. All you have to do, once you know the actual keyword results and search volumes, is to not run the campaign when they are too low to make a profit. Pay per click advertising is very much like any other kind of method you will use on the net. All you have to do is figure out which way is best for you and which sources are the most trustworthy. Then it’s a matter of getting started and proceeding with caution until you are comfortable. In addition to gaining valuable experience, you’ll get the confidence you need to keep going if you make a mistake.

Further Information

 

Israeli Based Tvinci Bought Out By US Firm

It often saddens me when yet another great Israeli technology firm get’s bought out by a foreign company.  It’s not uncommon, and over the years Israeli technology and innovation has formed the basis of some pretty successful Western technology firms.   It’s probably just the way of the world, buying smaller innovative firms is an easy way for  the bigger companies to expand.  Look at all the companies that Microsoft, Google and Facebook have bought over the years.

Well here’s another example, the Israeli start up company Tvinci, which works in the on demand subscription TV services, has now been bought out by the open-source video platform company Kaltura.

Tvinci uses the latest technology to deliver through it’s own software a variety of TV services over the internet.  It works using on demand and standard linear programmes which are broadcast in the traditional way.  The content can be accessed through a wide variety of devices such as Smartphone, computers and Smart TVs to name but a few,  It’s also perfect for streaming to large companies through central gateways or proxies direct to large numbers of PCs using multicast.

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The company Kaltura is well respected in the video world and the New York firm hopes to integrate the technology from Tvinci with it’s own video platform.  There is good news for employment though, the company is to be based in Israel with the employees of both companies merging. Also the founders of Tvinci will be appointed to Kaltura’s management board.

Innovation in this sector is what usually controls a companies success or not.  Merging two mutually related companies like this can make a lot of economic sense.   The problem is making money out of the technology, especially when using the internet which is obviously rife with workarounds, piracy and copies of such media.  For example even a company like the BBC is unable to restrict their UK based content completely – many millions watch using proxies and UK proxies from across the world.  This post shows how to watch the BBC News Live or even Match of the Day  from anywhere  for example, the same method works anywhere for any media site which attempt to block access based purely on location.

There’s no doubt it’s a big industry despite this however, many estimates suggest that services of Pay Per View on the internet will reach many billions of dollars within a couple of years.  Kaltura has raised a lot of cash to invest in the developments of this area, so buying small innovative companies like Tvinci makes a lot of sense.

A Quick Starter to Networking Terms

In an ever increasing interconnected world, knowing some technology terms can be useful in all sorts of ways.  You may have noticed over the last few years many terms that once would have only been used in a IT department have entered common usage.  Which is fine but can get confusing if you’re a little out of touch with some of these expressions especially when acronyms start being thrown about.

A network is several printers, computers, as well as other devices which can be linked together with cables. The sharing of resources and information. Printer each computer, or other peripheral device which is on the network is known as a node. Networks can have tens, thousands, as well as numerous nodes.

Wiring:

Both most popular forms of network wiring are twisted pair (also generally known as 10BaseT) and thin coax (also called 10Base2). Thin coax looks such as the copper coaxial wiring that is frequently used to connect a VCR.

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Network Adapter

Some NICs are installed in of a computer: a network card is plugged straight into among the computer’s internal expansion slots and the PC is opened up. Many 486 computers, and 286, 386 have 16-bit slots, so a 16-bit NIC is desired. Quicker computers, like high speed 486 Pentiums and s,, frequently have 32-bit, or PCI slots. These PCs need 32-bit NICs to reach the most rapid networking speeds potential for speed-critical applications like databases, multimedia, printing, and desktop video. And if your computer will be combined using a Fast Ethernet network, it is going to need a network adapter that supports 100Mbps data speeds at the same time.

This device needs an IP address if it is to communicate over a TCP/IP based network like the internet.  YOu can read more about IP addresses and their operation here- http://www.changeipaddress.net/us-ip-address/

Proxies

Another technology that has become increasingly important in the last decade is that of proxies.  In pre-internet times they existed mainly as computers which acted as gateways to different applications and networks.  Now proxies are used in all sorts of environments in order to improve speed, access and even privacy.  The newest generation of proxies have advanced features which allow people to control hundreds of connections from a single desktop or device.

Basically a proxy server is a computer which can act as an intermediary between you and your target.  On the internet they are normally used to relay your connection privately, hiding your location and IP address from a target website.  Lots of people use them to bypass geo-targeting blocks which stop people using certain sites depending on their location.  Using a proxy can avoid these filters making them perfect for things like watching UK TV from outside Britain.

Hubs

The final bit of the networking puzzle is known as a hub. A hub is a box which is used to assemble groups of PCs at a central place with 10BaseT wiring. In the event you are networking a tiny number of computers together, you might be able enough to get by using a number of network adapters, some 10BaseT cables, as well as a hub. Each hub, consequently, may join some of computer together using 10BaseT cabling, which lets you construct networks of tens, hundreds, or tens of thousands.
A network is any group of independent computers that communicate over a network medium that is shared. LANs are networks typically confined to a geographic area, like a school campus or one building. LANs may not be large, linking as few as three computers, but frequently link hundreds of computers utilized by a large number of men and women. The development of media and standard networking protocols has resulted in world-wide proliferation of LANs throughout educational and business organizations.

Frequently a network can be found in multiple positions that were real. Broad area networking joins multiple LANs that are geographically independent. Broad area networking is as easy as remote access server and a modem for workers to dial into, or it is as complicated as hundreds of branch offices worldwide linked using specific routing protocols and filters to minimize the cost of sending information sent over vast spaces.

Internet

The Web is a system of interconnected networks which are global in scope and ease data communication services like file transfer, remote login, electronic mail, the World Wide Web and newsgroups.  The Internet was limited to academic and military associations, but it’s a full fledged conduit for all and any types of business and info. Internet sites now provide educational, private, political and economical resources to each corner of earth.  You can normally access the internet from most organisations both large and small.  Access is normally restricted through a specific computer or gateway normally called a proxy server.

Further Reading

http://www.iplayerabroad.com/bbciplayer-in-spain-uk-proxy/