Gents & ladies, By way of background, I am a technophobe. Think the biggest clueless eejit that you know re technology and multiply it by 10!! I have a, ahem, IPTV box that I had to put a VPN onto after the IPTV trouble last November. All good now. I paid about £15stg for the VPN and I think it covered 3 devices although I only have it on the IPTV box. I'm getting a new telly this weekend. A Samsung. First one in years and my first ever smart tv. The Mrs would like to watch the BBC iPlayer & ITV Hub if possible but it needs a VPN (which is set to the UK). Does anyone know how I get the VPN onto the telly?? Thanks!!
Sorry - I should have said. The IPTV group put up a video of how to the get the VPN onto the box so that's how I managed that. I wouldn't have otherwise!
Samsung uses the TizenOS so it natively won't support VPN apps. But you can either change your DNS settings on the TVs network settings to match your VPN providers details, or you can set up a router to be your VPN and have the TV connect to that. Instructions would be a little different depending on what exact TV you have, and what exact router you use. Easiest way is via the TV. So if you share the exact model I'll try find you a guide you can use.
Cheers Elvis. Its a Samsung QE55Q60R. BTW, I'm not sure what a DNS is or how to connect the TV to a router (which is in a different room)!
Don't worry about the router for now. Try the below. So you'll need to do 2 things. Firstly you have to change your DNS to match that of your VPN provider. Then you'll need to change the region your TV is set to so that you can download the apps that you want eg for BBC iPlayer you'll need to set it to UK, for Hulu you'll need to set it to USA and so on. Here's how to change the DNS Press the Menu button on your remote control. Scroll down to Network. Choose Network Status. Select IP Settings. On the IP Settings screen set DNS Settings to Enter Manually. Enter the address of you VPN suppliers SmartDNS server: It'll look something like the below 62.210.136.158 - EU DNS or 69.162.67.202 - US DNS Press OK. Restart your Samsung Smart TV. Here's a video for changing the TVs region.
Cheers Elvis. You're a star!! Just got tv tonight. Mrs watching Corrie and a lot of frame freezing as people move across screen. Not sure if that's a regular thing but will keep an eye on it for a few days. Thanks for your help!!
what speed broadband you got? Your VPN is going to be slower than that as its basically a link to a server in the uk and extra security and the speed of the vpn provider can cause so such issues.
Broadband speed is low as in the country. But the soaps are off the aerial Kev i.e. saorview and freeview.
@DalglishGold That usually happens when the source material isn't a high standard. To fix it you should have a setting for "Auto Motion" or "Motion Processing" go in there and switch it to "Off" or "None" Alternatively there's another setting which is for "Auto Motion plus" and you can change the "Judder Reduction" and "Blur Reduction" settings, some people have experienced the issue going away by changing both of those from "0" to "10"
Elvis, I tried that re the blurring. Early days but seems to have made a difference!!! Re VPN for BBC iPlayer etc. I'm not sure how to get the VPN's DNS server details. Can you recommend a service for this (I dont mind a fee if it works) that is easy for an eejit like me to simply get the VPN details to key in as per your instructions above? Thanks again - you've been a great help!
Hi Sorry, I've been away with work so completely missed this, if you already have a VPN service, you can just go to their website and they should have a section that'll give you the details. If not, I'd recommend paying for a good VPN like Express VPN, or NordVPN they are the most reliable and fastest. Over the years I've paid for lifetime versions of other ones, but they all either die out or just aren't very good, so you end up throwing more good money after bad trying to chase the "cheap" deals. NordVPN have a great deal on at the moment, it's 70% off a 3 year plan. Works out at €111 for 3 years, steep initial cost but it's great value long term. Comes with a 30 day trial so if you don't like it you get all your money back. https://join.nordvpn.com/order/ ExpressVPN is more expensive, it's €90 a year billed up front, with a 30 day free trial and if you don't like it you get your money back. https://www.expressvpn.com/order Both are about €10 a month if you want to do pay as you go option and not stump up the upfront cost. If you didn't want it on your TV, you could try some free or cheaper ones first, but they likely will want you to work exclusively through an app.
Thanks a million Elvis. Your advice is very much appreciated! I'll have a look at Nord!! That seems an ok price if it works. And the free trial will tell if the BBC & ITV players work or not. Thanks again!
I know nothing of vpns. Only learning a bit bout them now. Looking to get bbc iplayer so I can watch snooker with bbc coverage. I have sky plus box. For some reason , the red button doesn't work for bbc. But it's fine for sky and BT channels. So I'm looking to install vpn for smart TV or xbox. Any help appreciated.
I have Nordvpn running on my Nvidia android box and while I rarely use iPlayer, it worked fine last week. I had ExpressVPN a few years ago and that worked fine for a while but then sometimes I had to change servers numerous times before finding one that wasn't blocked. It's a cat and mouse game between VPNs and geolocked sites like iPlayer. The sites block the ip addresses used by the vpns and then the vpns create new ones. Express and Nord are generally seen as the top 2 and they usually offer free trials so you should definitely check them out before committing to a subscription. There was very little to choose between the two for me but I personally found Nord faster when connected to other countries servers. I had Nord setup on my pc and phone before downloading the app from the Playstore on the android box. Once it's installed on the box you just sign in.
Lot of info. I understand most of it. It's something I'd like for free. Can't actually see me using it that often. Just for the snooker. Apr 17th to May Bank hol. So maybe trial would be best. But dunno how to download
I’ve got Keepsolid VPN. You can usually get a lifetime for less than €20. I’ve had it for a year or so now and no issues. I use it a lot to watch stuff on the BBC and HBO and it works great . The odd time it might stutter. But it’s grand most of the times. Works on a Firestick or a mobile no problem. If you want any help setting up the BBC iPlayer with Keepsolid drop me a PM any day next week and I can help if you need help.
On the hunt for a good reliable vpn myself, trialling pure vpn at the moment for a week so will see how that goes. There's so many of them out there it's hard to know which one to go with.