useless VPNs blocked

[jerryz]

I have Nord VPN and Surfsharks and windscribe until recently they worked fairly well, but now Nord is incredibly slow only 14 mbs despite me having over 250mbs signal the other 2 have better speeds 36mbs - 57mbs but all are glitchy

All have BBC Iplayer blocked as well

Sometimes they work on my 5g phone ,, none are working anymore on my laptop its not only Thailand they are now poor when in EU, UK, and other places

also my fully loaded android box which i use for sport none of its apps work well anymore despite regular updates ,,

Im not sure where to go from here for watching football, cricket , rugby movies , series when travelling

 

[Gromett]

I have Nord VPN and Surfsharks and windscribe until recently they worked fairly well, but now Nord is incredibly slow only 14 mbs despite me having over 250mbs signal the other 2 have better speeds 36mbs - 57mbs but all are glitchy

All have BBC Iplayer blocked as well

Sometimes they work on my 5g phone ,, none are working anymore on my laptop its not only Thailand they are now poor when in EU, UK, and other places

also my fully loaded android box which i use for sport none of its apps work well anymore despite regular updates ,,

Im not sure where to go from here for watching football, cricket , rugby movies , series when travelling

You could create your own for $5 a month using a Digital Ocean droplet. Not sure if the BBC blocks Digital Ocean.

Run Your Own Private VPN Server | DigitalOcean VPN Hosting

The safest VPN is the one you run yourself. Take control of your privacy with a fast, reliable, and easy to use VPN. Set up in under two minutes.

www.digitalocean.com

I use digital ocean for a lot of things. But I have never used it for this use so couldn't guarantee it will work.

If you do decide to give it a go. Here is my Referral link.

DigitalOcean | Cloud Infrastructure for Developers

An ocean of simple, scalable cloud solutions.

m.do.co

You get $200 to spend over the first 60 days. So effectively $10 if you only do the small ones. ($5 x 2 months)
But it means you can do the first 2 months for free to try it out and see if it works with no risk to yourself.

 

[meanders]

I don't think it is the vpn's that are useless but:
1. The UK based content providers have learnt the addresses of the VPN endpoints and are blocking or restricting them,.
2. Some countries are restricting "out of state" bandwidth and even VPN usage when the government concerned wants to monitor traffic.

 

[Gromett]

Some countries are restricting "out of state" bandwidth and even VPN usage when the government concerned wants to monitor traffic.

That is not really possible. The cost for doing it would be high and the ease of sidestepping it means it would only catch innocents as anyone serious about their privacy would look this up.

The content of most connections to the internet be that email, web or chat are all encrypted end to end. Governments would struggle to snoop on anything other than DNS lookups.
Those however are relatively easy to sidestep as most modern browsers support DNS over HTTPS and you can use the free google 8.8.8.8 DNS servers to prevent government snooping.

Here is a screen shot from my firefox configuration. As you can see I just typed DNS into the search box in settings to find it.

I don't use it, because I run my own local DNS resolvers. I could go further by proxying this DNS resolver to my US based Digital ocean droplet. But I am not that paranoid and the security addition is not much of an issue for me.

 

[jerryz]

seems its always complex and technical all i do know is that Nord who are supposed to have the fastest best servers in the world are very slow and rubbish ...

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[jerryz]

Its not viable for me to set up a private DNS in uk as im often away so no one too take care ,, Im looking at simple solutions ,, using DNS over Https seems to have many security issues after reading up on it this morning ,,

 

[Wh05apk]

I had an issue in Spain with Nord and BBC iPlayer, eventually I deleted it and reinstalled it and it seemed to work ok, although as you say it does seem to slow the speeds down seriously.
Not sure if this will make any difference or it was just coincidence for me.

 

[jerryz]

I had an issue in Spain with Nord and BBC iPlayer, eventually I deleted it and reinstalled it and it seemed to work ok, although as you say it does seem to slow the speeds down seriously.
Not sure if this will make any difference or it was just coincidence for me.

I have done that 8 times in last month , had dealings with NORD technical and customer support who are also useless and unable to offer any solutions ,,, The speeds are aweful,, no changes to settings seem to help ,, Nord dont have any solutions . I will not be renewing my subscription,, but I also dont trust other VPNs , they all seem glitchy,,, Windscribe was OK until this week ,, all are being blocked by BBC even surfshark, the speeds even on non BBC sites makes watching movies or even just websites almost impossible to use ,,, when i switch off Nord my laptop is very fast to load webpages and netflix is fine

 

[Langtoftlad]

I'm a NordVPN subscriber.
I'm in New Zealand.
Literally just watched MOTD2 on Iplayer with no glitches via hotel WiFi geo spoofing to UK

 

[matbic]

The main problems with using a VPN is that they are very easy to detect and so block.

1) Any IP address that has a large number of connections to the streaming platform will get blocked. This is a fundamental problem with public commercial VPN services that have large numbers of customers and only a limited number of exit points.

The best way around this is to have a personal VPN from your van back to your own house. This will then look to the streaming service like an ordinary household using their service. I use my Pepwave router in the van which has a “Speed Fusion” feature that makes this easy. The software for the part that runs on a computer in your house is free. Speed fusion is highly optimised for streaming data it can also add several connections together to gain bandwidth which is also useful. I never get blocked by streaming services when using it on my laptop in the van (see next point).

I have also used Tailscale which is easy to set up on most devices. It is not so well optimised for streaming but is free, it is really useful.

2) Some streaming services use the GPS location information from your phone/tablet to detect you are out of the country and also refuse to play content if you switch the GPS off on your phone. I have found by using a laptop rather than a mobile device helps with this problem. Not all laptops have GPS fitted so they can’t assume it’s available so don’t block you if they don’t find one.

3) There is a “Time To Live” TTL header on every packet of data sent over the internet. Each packet is sent out it will hop from one device to the next on its way to the final destination. You can use the traceroute command to see the steps each connection will take from where you are. On each step the TTL is reduced by one when passed on. This is designed to stop a packet from going around in loops when the count gets to zero it stops being passed on. This is important or the internet would be completely clogged up with lost looping data!

But the TTL is also a good way for an ISP to detect the use of tethering and VPN. A packet that is sent directly from your home/van network will have the TTL reduced by just one, as it only passes through your home router before entering the ISP network. If it has been through a tether device that too will reduce the TTL by one so the ISP will see this as the TTL will be reduced by two.

Some routers will allow you to fix the TTL on all packets they pass on. This masks any tethering/VPN you may be using. I have a Pewave router in my van it has a feature that lets me fix the TTL. I am still experimenting with it but it is well reported that is both helps avoid being blocked by streaming services (who clearly have good links with the ISPs) and also the speed of mobile service. I have found setting the TTL to 64 can on some mobile networks make a big difference to the speed.

Points 1 and 2 keep us watching in the van all over EU and Nordic countries. I am still experimenting with point 3.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Jewellbags]

I have Nord VPN and Surfsharks and windscribe until recently they worked fairly well, but now Nord is incredibly slow only 14 mbs despite me having over 250mbs signal the other 2 have better speeds 36mbs - 57mbs but all are glitchy

All have BBC Iplayer blocked as well

Sometimes they work on my 5g phone ,, none are working anymore on my laptop its not only Thailand they are now poor when in EU, UK, and other places

also my fully loaded android box which i use for sport none of its apps work well anymore despite regular updates ,,

Im not sure where to go from here for watching football, cricket , rugby movies , series when travelling

Get an unlimited uk sim from ID (£19 per month ) and drop the VPNs

 

[jumar]

Had to drop Nord...too unreliable... Surfshark hasn't caused issues... I'll stick..
I even got free Nord on a bank account...but haven't bothered trying it..

 

[seanandjules]

matbic - perfect answer, it's exactly what we do - we've got a glinet x3000 in the van and Tailscale as an exit node at home, works perfectly. You can use esims with it, too.

 

[fishplug]

If you have a house in the UK with an internet connection and you're not bothered about being able to spoof that you're in some other country then you can very easily set up your own VPN server.

Lots of YouTube videos on how to do this with an inexpensive RaspberryPi

This is a good one as it takes you through everything step by step. He talks quite fast, so there will be a lot of pausing and rewinding but even if you have zero technical knowledge you can just copy everything he does exactly and it will work. Shouldn't cost much more than £50 as a one off setup.



Alternatively you can look at buying your own router that supports VPN (you'll need to put your Virgin/BT router into bridge mode). Things like the Ubiquity UniFi support Wireguard (and other VPN options) natively. However, this will cost more than doing it with a Pi and unless you can find a step by step guide for your particular router it might be more problematic for some people as you do need to understand what you're doing from a networking point of view.

 

[StillGoing]

I have WireGuard VPN running on a Pi connected to my home router. My son tested it from Prague watching Sky Sports and BBC iPlayer using the hotel WiFi. As a backup, my home router has OpenVPN server installed. I realise that not everyone has the same inclination to build this stuff but it’s not that hard if you do your research. There are loads of step-by-step guides available. If you get stuck, you can ask on this forum!

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[yorkiebar]

I have WireGuard VPN running on a Pi connected to my home router. My son tested it from Prague watching Sky Sports and BBC iPlayer using the hotel WiFi. As a backup, my home router has OpenVPN server installed. I realise that not everyone has the same inclination to build this stuff but it’s not that hard if you do your research. There are loads of step-by-step guides available. If you get stuck, you can ask on this forum!

I use Home Assistant (at home!) on a Pi 4 for general smart home stuff and have the Tailscale add-on installed. So I can use the Tailscale client on my phone to create a VPN to Tailscale on the Pi and onto the internet from there.

 

[Silver-Fox]

I hold my hat upto you folk that have this knowledge and ability.

I was lost at VPN

 

[Bustup15]

Last 4 weeks spent in France, Portugal a.d Spain. I've watched all UK channels including live sport using NORD without any issues.

 

[Bustup15]

Last 4 weeks spent in France, Portugal a.d Spain. I've watched all UK channels including live sport using NORD without any issues.

Oops - just tried it with my laptop rather than tv and firestick or Android phone, it's pathetic! Why the difference?

 

[matbic]

matbic - perfect answer, it's exactly what we do - we've got a glinet x3000 in the van and Tailscale as an exit node at home, works perfectly. You can use esims with it, too.

Looks like a good unit - I missed the bit about eSIM until you pointed it out Thanks. So you put a special physical SIM card in and then you can load an eSIM in to that. £311 for a 5G router with eSIM support seems like a good deal!

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[jerryz]

I have given up on Nord still got another 6 months subscription but its pointless ,,Windscribe sometimes been working in Thailand but not always , seems a bandwidth problem even though my Thai 5g is 250mbs all the time and netflix is perfect mind u when in Uk i barely get 35mbps on my vodaphone Boadband fibre , and nothing much on my phone .. my android box used to have all sports but now none of the links works, BBC Iplayer blocked ,,, ?? all the bars and expats here seem to be using something called wizz tv to watch premier league , cricket etc ,

 

[CAB96]

Get an unlimited uk sim from ID (£19 per month ) and drop the VPNs

Unlimited in Thailand?

 

[Howard B]

We used Nord for 5 weeks recently in Spain. No issues other than BBC was hit & miss.
Used it with a router and Yoigo (Orange) sim.

 

[Jewellbags]

Unlimited in Thailand?

I’ve just checked and I had my contract with them before they introduced the fair usage policy so I can , but new subscribers may not

 

[fishplug]

I hold my hat upto you folk that have this knowledge and ability.

I was lost at VPN

No hat holding required - it's one of those things that's made out to be something that it isn't.

There's some technical knowledge required to set your own up, but it's not a secret and it's not really difficult.

That's why I posted the 'step by step' guide. A lot of that stuff will sound really complicated, but it really is just a question of typing what the chap says when the chap says it should be typed....

I actually do it the other way with my own router which is in some ways much quicker and easier - but only if you know what you're doing and if you're happy to spend another few hundred pounds on hardware which is only really worth it if you're getting some other benefit from doing so.

Keep an eye on eBay and you'll find a Pi 3B for somewhere around £18 (watch for things like Micro SD card included or not) and have a play around with it. Worst case scenario is that you can't get it to work and you can sell it on for what you paid for it so it'll only cost you a couple of quid postage to try.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Just smiffy]

I’ve never had a vpn on any of my devices… I watch any channel I want where ever I am….

I’m such a rebel…

 

[seanandjules]

Looks like a good unit - I missed the bit about eSIM until you pointed it out Thanks. So you put a special physical SIM card in and then you can load an eSIM in to that. £311 for a 5G router with eSIM support seems like a good deal!

Yup. Rock solid (it used openwrt under the hood, don't mind telling you this as you're obviously a nerd too), throughput was amazing.

We're AirBNB'ing our place whilst getting used to our first motorhome and I work for a Dubai company so start at 6am, hence she's driving us to wherever usually by 10am. I've never had an issue with this kit even though it's only 2x2 mimo due to what the previous owners put on the roof. No dropouts, sessions being killed etc. It's a test for travelling around Europe for next year basically.

Weirdly, even though my exit node is our house in the UK, my jitter went down using the van and the house as an exit node. I have no idea.

(apologies to everybody else for the nerding)

 

[matbic]

Weirdly, even though my exit node is our house in the UK, my jitter went down using the van and the house as an exit node. I have no idea.

Sounds like you have less buffer bloat via your home router.

It’s quite common for mobile networks to employ very large data buffers. It helps with managing congestion on the mobile network. Buffer bloat really increases jitter - the large buffers fill up and then this add lots of latency. When they empty the latency goes right down again. So you get lots of jitter when connected directly to the mobile network. Lots of little pauses as your data is held in large buffers on the network and it then arrives in big chunks as the buffers unload.

Sounds like your home router has some mitigation for buffer bloat. Usually this is done using a queue management technique called CoDel. It basically gently slows the stream of data down before the buffers fill up and when they start to empty it speeds up. This keeps the latency constant over your Tailscale link as all the data on it goes through your home router.

Even though your link home is going over a network with large buffers your router is slowing down the flow over the Tailscale to reduce jitter!

CoDel is very useful! More details here: https://www.bufferbloat.net/projects/bloat/wiki/Introduction/

Does your X3000 van router have a CoDel feature - sounds like you would benefit by turning it on. I noticed Open Wrt supports CoDel and some other buffer bloat management techniques as well, so maybe you have this option.

 

[Wanders from Glos]

seems its always complex and technical all i do know is that Nord who are supposed to have the fastest best servers in the world are very slow and rubbish ...

We used to use Nord and found they slowed content down too much.

 

[JJ]

I have no trouble using Nord VPN... often 24 hours a day.

I have learnt that if the Beeb get a hissy fit and tell me I'm not in the "correct" area, I have to turn off my location thingy and change server from Manchester to London or vice versa. (While I am doing this I always swivel my baseball cap around into the "backwards" position which fools them into thinking I am a tech save teenager.)

JJ

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}