I have a friend ...

[Christian Hewitt]

On 20 Jan 2011, at 17:11, <roadcone at uk2.net> <roadcone at uk2.net> wrote:

> ... don't they all start like that :-)
> 
> But this one is true. I am in the UK and am presently using get_iplayer successfully (mostly) under Windows.
> 
> I have a friend in Canada who would like to avail herself of the facilities afforded to those of us in Blighty. Does anyone outside the UK have get_iplayer working through a proxy or VPN? And if so, what is involved in the process?
> 
> Of course, one needs a UK proxy - is "any old proxy" suitable or are there certain points to be careful about? Does Auntie allow proxy connections?
> 
> Following a successful install of get_iplayer, are there any options to be added to the options file? How does one tell get_iplayer to talk to the proxy rather than use whatever internet connection it finds?
> 
> I'm sure there are more, what Rumsfeld called, unknown unknowns so I'd be most grateful for any guidance.
> 
> Thank you for reading and, if you do, for taking the time to respond.


Any proxy service that masks your non-UK IP and isn't in the BBC's block list should work fine with get_iplayer and most commercial service providers work to ensure they remain unblocked. If you read the in-built help for get_iplayer you will find all the instructions you need to configure it with a proxy (it's not difficult) and once configured you can use get_iplayer from pretty much anywhere in the world. Likewise, any VPN service that avoids the BBC block list should work fine. VPN has the minor advantage of not needing additional get_iplayer configuration to work. Some people interpret this as "a VPN is easier to use" while others would argue "a Proxy is easier to use" as the connection doesn't need to be dialled and a proxy doesn't fundamentally change how you access local and other internet resources. Which one to use is very much a personal preference and there's no right/wrong or best answer - hence some of the confused postings you'll find online.

Christian