I live in France.

I have a UK roku 3 box and a French (I presume) Chromecast dingle dongle.

I have Tunnelbear VPN.

I have a (free) Zattoo account.

Can someone with patience and who is less tech-allergic please tell me how to make these things show British TV before I burn them/smash them with an axe/both/eject from window onto passing poodle/baguette/National Front voter (actually that's not a bad idea).

Chromecast won't show iPLayer (just stays at `ready to cast`), Roku 3 just is like all those channels you never watch on real TV, I can't see any UK TV on Zattoo even on German VPN Tunnelbear whatsit.

I mean it. I'm now going to get my axe and some matches.

This might help:
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/how-to/di...v-when-abroad/
It basically concludes you can't do it on a Chromecast.

A quick Google for "Using Chromecast to watch UKTV from abroad" turns up quite a few links though, so maybe some time and patience reading them "might" help.

Actually you can hack it it seems, but it requires rooting your Chromecast and a wee bit of technical knowledge.
http://ihaveagadget.blogspot.co.uk/2...hromecast.html

I'm pretty sure you need a smart dns service such as Unblock-us not a VPN, as a VPN service doesn't allow you to change dns settings on other devices. Someone will probably correct me if i'm wrong though.

A DD-wrt router piggy backed on to your French router and configured with a UK VPN should do the trick.

Turn the wifi off on the French router and on on the DD-wrt one and all the devices connected will 'be' in the UK.

Unblock us

To get the roku working you need to use a UK vpn when setting up the account as it's that dictates what apps are available.

Or you can contact roku support and ask them to change it to a UK account as you've moved there, I did this when I created a US account and couldn't get iplayer

Then use a smartdns service to get it working.

Problem being the dns on the chromecast is hardcoded to Googles servers so you'll need a dd-wrt router or I've read blocking their dns works.

Be easier to get a UK chromecast as they aren't fixed to Googles dns.. Or at least mine and friends aren't.

ta

Don't give up yet.

There is a simpler option for live TV.

Simply go to www.filmon.tv in chrome browser and cast to dongle.

If you use google chrome on your PC whilst attached to a VPN, you will be able to see all UK TV as you wish.


If you are using other applications than the chrome browser, a smart dns will work depending on your router.

Some of the advice above is rather outdated and refer to DD-WRT routers as being the solution. Fortunately there is a simpler solution which most modern routers will allow.

http://www.netmagellan.com/using-chr...alia-1737.html

You have to set up your router to be routed to the smart DNS server addresses.

You then have to route the google IP adresses 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.8.4 to your router (gateway) using a static IP route.

If your router does not support static ip routes (broadband supplied routers often have limited functionality), you can work around this be attaching a second wifi router where you can change addresses. Chromecast dongle would attached to wifi on second dongle.

There are many guides on web how to do this (search "join two routers lan to wan").


One guide showing principle (LAN to WAN)
http://kb.linksys.com/Linksys/GetArt...d615f_3733.xml

This may look complicated but is not that difficult.

I do not think that is true now. Mine is hardcoded and cannot be changed even with the published hack.

My parents watch uk tv from france, I think they signed up for sky when they were heare, cancelled when they moved and use it for freeview over there.

Ok, this can easily be done (and I've done it, so this is from experience), and you don't need a DD-WRT Router. But... you do need a router where you can access the network settings and manually type in your own DNS servers.

This is not hard, but you may need to consult the manual.

The DNS servers you enter will be provided by a Smart DNS supplier. This is not free, but not expensive (usually around 3,60€ per month or close by). I personally use OverPlay, but there are others - though not all support Chromecast or the Roku box for UK apps.

Roku 3: This is straight forward, just add the DNS servers to your router, and you should be set to go. BBC iPlayer, 4oD and Demand 5 should now work.

Chromecast: This is not quite as easy, as you need to make a bit of a more complex configuration, but you don't need to fully re-route traffic as described above, only partially, and there is a good chance you won't need to at all. In any case, there is a guide available here.

(This website may also have a wealth of info about watching UK TV when abroad via the Internet)

Chromecast may be worth the effort as Zattoo are about to offer Chromecast support in the very near future, meaning it will be very easy to get this to your main TV.

FilmOn, as also mentioned, is a great service and free in Europe. But they have no announced support for Chromecast, nor do they have any Roku app, so it is not so easy to get to your main TV. Apple users are lucky as it has AirPlay support, but you need an Apple TV for that.

If you do get Chromecast up and working, I highly recommend Zattoo under a sub. It doesn't cost much from Switzerland, but gives you amazing video quality and every programme from every channel is recorded and available for 7 days (like catch-up) as well as up to 250 programmes of your choice for easy recording. I love it.

Impossible. You cannot use a Sky box for Freeview. Freeview is a terrestrial service received through an aerial. If your parents are receiving Freeview in France they must be very near the UK or Channel Islands.

^^ he probably means FreeSat. Easy mistake to make.

Just to clarify this, Zattoo with the UK channels requires a Smart DNS service. This is different to a VPN, but to be honest easier to configure and set up, and generally works better as well.

A Smart DNS service that works with Zattoo will open up the UK channels.

I suspect Winston already knows this. Just a hunch

If you use chrome browser method on PC, I am sure you can cast film-on to tv, Will try it tonight.

You can, but tab mirroring results in a low quality video stream. This may not be an issue for some people, but the quality drop is so significant in my opinion, I would only ever use tab mirroring for absolute worst-case scenarios.

Then again, FilmOn free from a web browser is pretty low quality to start with (the quality is much better from a mobile app), so it may not be terribly noticed.

I suspect I do, I know they watch the uk channels, I will ask them this evening how they do it.

Can anyone confirm if you can make all these IP and DNS changes on the actual router itself if you are with TalkTalk and use their equipment?

I'm with Sky and the router they supply is really locked down in terms of functionality and what you can change, and they can be a little iffy if you buy your own router to use with their service.

Since TT are about £7 cheaper than I currently pay to Sky I was thinking about joining them if their router gives a little more freedom.

If you get the same make of router as my friends have with talk talk, a Huawei, you can put this into bridge mode and get your own router, then you have all the freedom you want.
Get yourself a decent one then, not like these shitty ISP routers
Asus RT-AC68U, or get the AC66U if the 68 is a little pricey

I wonder how much of an issue this is really. We managed with low quality video recording for 25 years.

I agree for sports shows, films etc quality is better , but for run of mill tv soaps, reality shows, even news perhaps, I think the picture quality is a lesser consideration.

Over in Denmark, we lost satellite viewing due to recent changes, and we mostly us filmon now, Filmon may not be the best quaility but we find it is generally very reliable (rarely freezes/crashes), Using (say) tv catchup via a VPN also works, but we find it is much less reliable.

I have a sky router and get round this very easily, You simply create a sub network by attaching a second router in "cascade mode".

The sky router (IP 192.168.0.1) is conected to second router using an ethernet cabe from a LAN port to the WAN (adsl) port of the second router.

The second router wan ip is 192.168.0.x where x = 2,3, 4 etc and set as a static address. The LAN IP on the second router is set as (say) 192.168.1.x.

You can then connect pcs/tablets/printers etc to second router via its wifi id/password or lan ports. You will still be able to access internet.

You can change DNS on second router to your heart's contrent.

The sky router (totally untouched) still connects to internet, but now only sees the second router and just passes all information through. Fortunately sky do not intercept dns server requests.

Many guides on web just search "connect two routers lan to wan"

Very good points oilman. But there is a big difference. FilmOn's free live streams are considerably lower quality than SD television. It's not only the resolution that counts here, it is also the pixelation that occurs, and with FilmOn, especially via a computer's browser, the free version is of such low quality that sports, or any fast action is almost impossible to watch. This was never a problem with good old fashioned television of the past 25 years.

FilmOn (free) via mobile is streamed at a higher bitrate, and so is more acceptable, but I still struggle with sports and fast actions. That said, it is, as you say, acceptable enough for reality shows and the news.

When compared to Zattoo under a sub for instance, which offers some of the UK channels via Smart DNS at near HD quality, the video is good enough to not only enjoy sports, but also films.
(Check out a review of Zattoo for expats like yourself here, it may be worth considering)


The problem here is that you are using VPN. VPN is not very reliable for video streaming and should be avoided. The far better method (and usually cheaper) is Smart DNS. This takes the stream directly and doesn't tunnel it, so reliability is generally as good as if you were in the UK.

Here in Germany, I can use Smart DNS for all the UK catch-up services and watch the BBC's iPlayer HD streams (at 3200kbps) without any issues at all. Compare this to FilmOn's 400kbps free web stream.

I can also enjoy Amazon Prime's US or UK streams which offer 1080p streams at up to 11,000kbps without any buffering.

Smart DNS works so well, I can stream content from anywhere in the world and never usually experience buffering, whether the stream originates in the US or even as far as Australia.

The other advantage is that it can easily be set up in devices that VPN's can not, such as directly in Smart TVs, set-top-boxes, gaming consoles etc, so watching HD streams from the UK on the main television is really easy.

You do of course need a reasonably decent broadband connection, but if you do, maybe you should consider a DNS service over VPN.

Also, one of the cheapest ways to enjoy the iPlayer in HD is via a Now TV box. It costs only £10 and if you have a friend in the UK who can send you one, and if you can manually change your router's DNS settings (most routers can), it is a real good option. There is a review here:

Thanks for the info! Thats really helpful!!

Thanks for you advice.

My overseas home is in Denmark, and I get a fairly good connection (10 Mbps/2+ upload). So my broadband speed is not an issue.

I actually use DNS as well as VPN, and I agree with your comments. In part, the issues are my own making, as I have not optimised my Danish system

Actually, I have found that DNS servers can be a bit hit or miss e.g. some US sites still seem to be able to work out you are not from same country. Interestingly STV Player would not work but ITV player would when accessed via a smart dns.

Also, I find sometimes the smart DNS servers (I have used overplay and VPNUK) can be slow at resolving standard IP addresses, and sometimes get time-out messages.

VPN's are more reliable in that respect I find. Downside is you are at mercy of VPN reliability/speeds as you say.

Actually, I intend to connect a second router so I do not mess with main router (TDC do not allow much configuration), and then I will have one wifi access point that connects to smart dns router and one to (dumb dns) main router, That way I can easily switch between smart/dumb dns servers without having to mess with configurations both time. I do this in UK home, and only resort to VPN when smart DNS servers do not work.