Hi everybody,

Nice to see you found my blog – I am new to this and just arrived from the “analogue” world. I want to begin this blog with a question that has appeared about thousands of times already on the Internet, however there are few “good” solutions: How can I watch television from the United Kingdom when I don’t have a UK-IP-address?

Actually, as I said, there are a few good solutions out there, but let’s start with what does not work (in my experience, at least):

1. A UK proxy:

This won’t work – most proxies are on black list of all major television studios in the UK. Furthermore – at least free proxies – are slow and you have to change several times in only a few hours, because these proxies are available only for a short time.

Anyway, now 2 or 3 solutions, that do work and are either free or at least not too expensive:

2. Virtual Private Network (VPN):

I found this the best solution to watch UK television over the internet, as they are compatible to most platforms and when you set up a proxy, you can even connect your TV or game console to the UK tv stations. A free provider I found and that works quite well is http://www.ukipvpn.com/, but I also used http://www.focusvpn.com/ (GBP 4,99/month – a 2 MB Shared IP is enough, at least for non-HD-TV).

3. Other Solutions:

For some time I used http://www.easy-hide-ip.com/. It’s a good solution for USD 29,95/year, but only for MS Windows, but has the advantage of providing other IPs as well (US, Canada,…). However, it installs a Windows service, I am not sure what it does (it is active, even if you are not starting the tool), that’s why I try not to use it any more.

So, that’s my solutions – but do not forget: To legally watch UK television like BBC or ITV you must have a valid UK TV-license (I know, you cannot purchase one if you do not have a UK mailing address :-(). Nevertheless, If you have one, enjoy these solutions (warning: they may still be illegal, even if you are within the EU and think that due to Information Freedom you are allowed to do it – it has not yet been completely clear!). Another warning: these tipps do not work with tv-catchup.