How To Access BBC iPlayer For Free
Those of us who spend a lot of time online often choose to view TV and films on the computer instead of on their TV. In fact, often these days the computer is the TV. Sadly though, some of the world’s best content is restricted to certain countries, without the option of allowing citizens elsewhere to just pay for access. Instead they seem content to allow third parties to profit by offering perfectly legal hacks. So, if you’re a fan of Internet TV, but not a fan of “Sorry, you can’t view this content in your country” notices then read on. Here’s three great (mostly free) ways to get access to your favourite content worldwide, particularly the BBC iPlayer.
Proxy Switching
The first method most people try to use is by using a proxy. Proxies can work really well for some sites, but not at all for others. Plus, active proxies come and go all the time. Sometimes you can spend quite a while just trying to get things to work – and even then it can leave you with a flaky or slow connection!
However, if you’re going to give proxies a try, here’s some cool tools to help you:
Some starting points for proxies:
- Xroxy.com – List of proxies by reliability and country
- Free Public Proxy Servers List
- CoDeeN Princeton Proxy Servers
VPN (Virtual Private Network)
Using a VPN will usually work for accessing most video sites. However, the downside is that you’ll usually have to pay for access or convince a friend in the desired country to host a VPN server for you.
We won’t go into too much detail on generic VPN access, since if you know how to use one you probably don’t need more information. There are also a few specific tools (mostly based on VPNs) which are free, easy to use and they work!
Expat Shield
Expat Shield is a free program for Windows users (Windows XP/Vista/Windows 7) which gives you a UK IP address. It does all the fussing about for you and simply works. Because it gives you a UK IP address, it will allow access to BBC iPlayer, but not other country-specific video sites.
Tunlr
Tunlr is a simple, free tool designed to give you access to any video sites anywhere. They do the hard work at their end to ensure that you have access to Netflix, Hulu, MTV, CBS in the US, plus BBC iPlayer and other great services from various countries.
As a user, all you need to do from your end is to change your DNS (Domain Name System) servers to use their addresses. It’s easy to set up and once you’re done it just works. Now, you can’t go leaving your DNS settings like this though, as they have a lot of people to serve. In order to remind you to change back to your own ISP’s DNS servers for everyday use, they artificially slow down any network traffic that isn’t video streaming.
TunnelBear
TunnelBear is a free tool for Windows and Mac users, which uses a simple switch to give you a US or UK IP address whenever you want it. The only catch is that the free account is limited to 500MB per month, so you’ll need to be sparing with it if you want to keep your access free.
Mix It Up For Free BBC iPlayer Access
So, you’ve tried all these services and you want to keep your access free? Here’s a plan of attack: Use Tunlr, ExpatShield, a VPN or a proxy in order to download your BBC iPlayer shows. You could choose “Series Record” for all your favourite shows and leave the computer downloading them all while you’re busy elsewhere.
Then when you want to watch your shows and authenticate iPlayer, use TunnelBear to quickly switch you to a UK IP address while you watch. To keep TunnelBear free, ensure that you’re not using any data while you’re watching.
Note: If you work for the BBC and you think this is unfair, please consider simply letting us pay a monthly/yearly BBC fee for access. There are a lot of us who would pay you! The iPad application is a good start.