gfunkdave

Depends how technologically minded you are. You probably need to put a custom firmware on your router (I use Tomato, but DD-WRT works too, as do others.). Then you need to configure it, which is pretty simple (to me, at least, but I've been a computer nerd since I was a kid).

The FoxyProxy plugin just automates switching Firefox's proxy settings.

Global_Hi_Flyer

Depends on the router. I've got a Sonicwall - by setting up a L2TP/IPSEC VPN on the stock software. L2TP/IPSec is supported in a native iPad or Android, and most laptop operating systems.

Mine works great....

thegasguru

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Astrill. It's only $5.50/month if you go with the 12 month plan, has servers in 44 countries, and you can do instant switching between countries on demand.

But the part I like best: it's FAST. No slowdown whatsoever. And I never have any trouble connecting.

Hope that doesn't make me sound like a company shill, since I've got no affiliation with them. But after having been through over half a dozen commercial vpns, this one has worked best for me.

btw: my second choice is ProXPN. Which I'm also surprised no one has mentioned.

Johnsonm90

Why don't you subscribe yourself for an yearly package??I agree to the fact that most of the quality and reliable VPN service providers price $9 or more.But if you think that their service is worth it then you can avail their yearly subscription which normally does offer you some discount..For example, the service I use[PureVPN] has a minimal price of $9.95 but it cost me around $6.25/m when I subscribed to the yearly plan and I am more than happy with it..All geo-restricted streaming and other websites like Netflix, Hulu etc are accessed without any hassle and that too in an affordable price

garyschmitt

The problem with the VPNs being recommended is you get an IP address that is on a known list of data center IPs. So the other end of the connection (e.g. Netflix) knows your IP is not residential.

I've used a proxy to shop online (because merchants will often cancel orders if the IP is in a different country than the shipping or billing address). But then there are some merchants who will cancel orders because the IP address is not residential! Tor is the only way around both those problems.

I would love to find a VPN or VPS provider that issues IPs that are considered residential.

gfunkdave

Set up your router to run a VPN or SSH server and you'll always have a residential IP.

garyschmitt

You mean buy a house in the geolocation I want to tunnel to, subscribe to local internet service in that area, and setup a router?

Setting up the router is the cheap and easy part of that option.

gfunkdave

Well, if you don't live in the USA then your problem is increased.

thegasguru

What difference does this make? Are you saying that the vpn providers you've tried do not let you successfully stream Netflix when travelling overseas?

I've never had a problem with streaming video when out of the U.S. using Astrill. Maybe I'm just lucky, of maybe the servers I'm using are still too new to be recognized on a blacklist database yet (Astrill is one of the few/only vpn providers that lets you switch servers seamlessly and on the fly). Or maybe it doesn't make any difference to Netflix as long as the IP shows as U.S. based.

PTravel

The easiest solution to all of this is to install dd-wrt on a compatible router. It is very easy to install, and very easy to set up the VPN, particularly if you're using a recent Microsoft product. The website identifies compatible routers -- you may even own one already!

garyschmitt

The server knows from your IP address that you are proxying. The reason? Commercial VPN services are run from data centers (not households), and the IPs are listed as such.

VPN providers themselves only care to the extent that you would over-consume bandwidth, but at the same time they don't want to lose clients, so they allow it.

The question is, does the *server* care if you're tunneling? Netflix would probably love to serve the whole world. They don't want to discriminate on IPs. But the copyright holders Netflix has agreements with do care about this (for the same reason that you have region specific DVDs). So Netflix is being contractually forced to refuse overseas IP addresses. Netflix obviously does not want to block tunnelers.

The question then becomes: why are the copyright holders not forcing Netflix to block tunnelers? Either it's cost prohibitive to cut off a few people slipping through the cracks, or they're getting business from customers who stream things to large offices with non-residential IPs and don't want to give that up.

So strictly for Netflix, VPNs may work, at the moment. It depends on what you're doing. Try shopping abroad, and using the tunnel to simulate using your credit card from your home country - it will be a different experience.

thegasguru

OK, I'm not familiar with dd-wrt. I'm assuming it allows a vpn that can tunnel thru any corporate IT dept web site blocking and user traffic snooping.

But what IP address does it show? Where does it geo-locate? I'm assuming that it gives the same IP address every time - which doesn't really cloak your identity that well. Please correct me if I'm ignorant here. Also - if a dd-wrt based vpn can only geo-locate you to where your home router is, then I would consider it an advantage that some of the commercial vpn services can provide geo-located IP addresses in various other countries. As I mentioned earlier, Astrill allows you to change servers/countries on the fly.

Of course, as garyschmitt points out, that also means that your IP address can be identified on a database as being owned by a commercial entity. For my purposes, that hasn't yet posed a problem.

gfunkdave

DD-WRT is a third party firmware for your home router. Depending on which version of it you install, if can support either a full VPN or an SSH tunnel. In either case, traffic looks to websites as if it's coming from your home router.

Global_Hi_Flyer

DD-WRT is a replacement firmware/operating system for home routers. It provides the functionality of the router, plus additional features.

DD-WRT has, among other features, the capability to operate as a PPTP or SSL (OpenVPN) VPN endpoint. PPTP has some security shortcomings but is easier to set up than OpenVPN.

You can create a tunnel through a coprorate network *if they don't block it (and many do). Hotels generally don't block.

You will need either a static IP address or an address through DDNS. This cost a bit. Your IP seen by Netflix would be your home net address, so it would appear that you're accessing from home.

Note that you'd need a very high speed connection at home. Dsl won't cut it, needs cable or FiOS or Uverse as you need to bandwidth to download then reupload the content.

theworld

I've been using a service called Unblock-us for the past few months.

Its not quite a VPN, what you do is you change the DNS addresses to the one that the service provides you. It basically runs as a "whitelist".

I've done a small write up on the service here:

http://www.browngeek.net/unblock-us-...-proxy-service