How You Can Watch BBC iPlayer Wherever You Are in 2021

by | Apr 25, 2014 | technology

Have you noticed the increasing number of websites that are becoming inaccessible?  Once upon a time you could click on pretty much any YouTube video but nowadays so many are country restricted i.e. you can only watch from specific countries.    I was trying to watch a movie clip the other day and I got this message.  It was a YouTube video from Channel 4 the British TV channel.  Which is odd really as this happened from the UK and I could access all of the actual Channel 4 site and the thousands of programmes on it (including where the clip was from).

channel 4 blocked

I see it more and more, sometimes with more information but very rarely.  The reason is normally due to licensing issues or restrictions, the technology used to block you is called Geotargeting.  The restrictions are based on your IP address – many web sites now look up your location from this.  Sometimes it’s for good things perhaps to customise your experience of their site. All the search engines for example will customize your results to your actual location. So if you just search for ‘plumber’ you’ll get results of local plumbers not from the other side of the world.

The problem is that there seem to be far, far more restrictions than there are benefits to this technology.  I watch a lot of shows on Channel 4 and love this one in particular – Escape to the Chateau which is broadcast on Channel 4 live and through their website for free.  However as soon as you step outside the United Kingdom our old friend geo-targeting will block access to not only Channel 4 but all the other UK TV sites too.



For example try and watch something on Hulu when not in the USA and you’ll get blocked, watch the BBC Iplayer outside the UK and the same thing happens. More and more sites are doing this – literally thousands of different websites will only allow you to watch certain things on their sites depending on your location. Sometimes the lookup gets things wrong, this is because the database which lists all the IP addresses and their locations doesn’t always get updated.  I’ve often managed to watch UK shows from a French hotel because my IP address is incorrectly listed as British.  However this is all a bit haphazard and you certainly can’t rely on this happening.

To ensure you can watch what you like you need to start using VPNs or proxies to obscure your location.  These middle man servers present their own IP address to the web servers when you connect.  Therefore if you select an elite proxy or VPN in the appropriate country you should be fine to access the sites.
The service I use has lots of servers in different countries in order to make this more accessible.  For example the above site is watchable from Switzerland despite being blocked in the UK.  Connect via a Swiss server and you can watch  the above video with out a problem.  If you want to watch the BBC or Channel 4 then you need a UK server, for Hulu or NBC then select a US one and so on.

There can be some restrictions and issues with using this technology primarily because the media sites try and block their use.  Some sites are better than others at achieving this, the BBC was quite relaxed until recently when it started blocking a lot of VPNs. There are plenty that work though and you should always check before investing in a long term subscription to see if it works properly with the stations you need.

When you get the right VPN though, you’ll wonder how you lived without them.  They open up literally thousands of great sites from all over the world.  Most of the best VPNs come with subscriptions that cover lots of countries so don’t restrict your viewing.  I recently used a VPN to watch the Test Match cricket on Indian TV then switched to watch Match of the Day on BBC later all from a US based computer.

The Internet is Shackled

by | Apr 25, 2014 | technology

Blocked and filtered, monitored and restricted – this is the reality of the internet today.  Ever clicked on a particularly funny looking video to be greeted by the message – ’we’re sorry that video is not available in your area’.  Perhaps you’ve tried to watch the latest episode of that TV programme while on holiday.  Maybe you’ve simply tried to place a bet while travelling using your online betting account.  There’s a very good chance that none of these will work simply because of your physical location.

When did the internet change like this? It was once open to all, it didn’t matter if you were in a cyber cafe in Karachi, an Airport in Harare or sitting in a Starbucks in London – we all saw the same online, we were all equal.  But that’s not the case any more – commercial interests, government filters and restrictive licensing meant that whatever you see online is highly dependent on where you live.  Much of it is promoted as improving the user experience, while that’s partly true the majority is simply to boost profits or to control what we see online.

Mostly it’s geo-targeting that’s to blame, a website will check which country your IP address is from before deciding on what you can see.  If you don’t believe me check out any media site in a country apart from yours – Non US residents try and watch something on ABC or Hulu, or if you’re in  the US go and try to watch something on the BBC iPlayer website.  Put simply it won’t work simply because the internet is now layered in Tiers and not all open to all.   Media sites like these are a great example, virtually every single one works perfectly when you’re in a specific location (usually the domestic market).  However as soon as you travel, then they’ll stop working.  These huge international barriers being placed on something where location really shouldn’t matter.

internetaccessafghanistan

We’ve mentioned some benefits and they’re definitely are a few.  Search  engines for example will tailor your results to match your location.  So if you search for electricians you’ll get results located in the same area as you.  Search for film times and you’ll see them matched to cinemas in your local area too.  All this is useful in most cases but the blocks and filters are much more pervasive than these.

It doesn’t seem right that your physical location should be so important on a global communications network like the internet.   Some people are seriously disadvantaged by their location with access to many important internet sites like PayPal and eBay restricted based on their location.

As always though there are work arounds, mainly in the various technologies that can be used to bypass these blocks. The vast majority of these sites determine your location using the IP address of your computer.  Now although you can’t change this, you can hide it to a certain extent. By connecting through an intermediary server you can hide your real location and use that of the server.   These are called proxy servers which you can gain access to through many different locations.   You can use a BBC Iplayer proxy or a VPN to access Hulu and Pandora and it doesn’t really matter where you are – read this.  In fact for internet surfers in most developed countries, a subscription to one of these services is becoming a necessity.

Many services offer access to servers across the world meaning whenever you get blocked you can simply select the appropriate server and you’re back in business. But of course this has meant that slowly the internet is becoming accessible to some and inaccessible to others.  If you can afford one of these subscriptions you’ll be fine but others will have to live with the handicaps.  It’s not really how the internet used to be and I suspect it’s not how most of us wanted it to be!