# What Is A VPN?



## Purwell (Jan 13, 2022)

I'm in the UK and there is a particular programme coming up on Australian TV that I would like to watch.
I have been told that I can stream it if I use a VPN, but I don't understand what one of those is.
Help please!


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## WheatenLover (Jan 13, 2022)

A VPN is a virtual private network.

Here's an explanation: https://us.norton.com/internetsecurity-privacy-what-is-a-vpn.html


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## Chris P Bacon (Jan 13, 2022)

Some shows limit which countries they allow their content to be shown in. Some countries also limit what content they allow to be shown within their borders. A VPN disguises your computer to appear as if its in some country or place where the content that would normally be forbidden to you, is made allowable for you.


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## kburra (Jan 13, 2022)

There are some free ones (Not that good) and also paid versions,I have tried using one to access the BBC (IP address is London) from Australia and does not work,I think more and more country's are a wake up to VPN and add another level of security or something,BTW what was the program you wanted to watch in Australia might be able to point you in the right direction?


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## Purwell (Jan 13, 2022)

kburra said:


> There are some free ones (Not that good) and also paid versions,I have tried using one to access the BBC (IP address is London) from Australia and does not work,I think more and more country's are a wake up to VPN and add another level of security or something,BTW what was the program you wanted to watch in Australia might be able to point you in the right direction?


Thanks, I think I'm getting the plot now.

I'm not sure exactly what the programme is called, it is about working dogs on a Pilbara ranch. 
I think it might be called "Muster Dogs"


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## OneEyedDiva (Jan 13, 2022)

I'm using Nord VPN which was rated one of the best when I first got it a couple of years ago. I like it because it's easy to disable and resume protection. Just know that some streaming services won't work when your VPN is activated. One of the reasons I got Nord was because they touted being able to stream Netflix while using it. That worked for about a year. Now sometimes, according to where in the country they've connected me to (I always use USA), Hulu, Netflix, Prime and Discover+ will not stream when it's activated. So I'll pause it for 5 minutes and even if I'm watching a 30 minute show, the stream will continue until the program is over. At other times, I have no problem streaming when the VPN is active.


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## Purwell (Jan 13, 2022)

I've gone for PureVPN on a 2 year deal for £67.
Not very user friendly but I suppose I'll get the hang of it eventually.


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## JustinCase (Jan 13, 2022)

Went through the easy to understand instructions, up to the point they wanted subscription fees and personal information. 
*Never mind*!


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## Irwin (Jan 13, 2022)

I use the Tor network occasionally if I really need privacy, but that's pretty rare. Most of my activities are pretty innocuous and boring, but on those rare occasions when I work on my plans to overthrow the government, I use Tor!


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## RFW (Jan 13, 2022)

If you only want to get past streaming restrictions, you should look into a good DNS service. The difference is a VPN encrypts your internet traffic and masks your IP address while a DNS service only reroutes it, making it substantially faster than VPN.
I personally use Smart DNS Proxy for this and I have no complaints. Make sure the channels/websites you want to watch are listed there and try their free trial.


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## kburra (Jan 13, 2022)

Purwell said:


> Thanks, I think I'm getting the plot now.
> 
> I'm not sure exactly what the programme is called, it is about working dogs on a Pilbara ranch.
> I think it might be called "Muster Dogs"


Maybe this?
Muster Dogs Series 1 : ABC iview


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## Purwell (Jan 13, 2022)

kburra said:


> Maybe this?
> Muster Dogs Series 1 : ABC iview


Thanks for that but I still can't get it to work.

Yay, got it working on computer but not on TV, that will have to do for now.


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## richard_saunders (Jan 19, 2022)

Hi Purwell.  VPNs have become really easy to use.  Nord is good though I prefer ExpressVPN.    Personally I think everyone should be using a VPN.  There are many benefits, one of which you noted, being able to access country specific streaming. (also very useful with Netflix.)  If you have trouble, please let me know and I can provide some additional advice.


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## Furryanimal (Jan 19, 2022)

Dead handy..with mine set to Australia I watch channel 9.
Set to Luxembourg I can get Eurosport International
To the USA I can get all sorts of American channels.
Doesn’t work for everything....and you may have to look up a countries postcodes.
Channel 9 think I’m in Sydney.


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## Purwell (Feb 20, 2022)

I got it to work on my TV in the end using a VPN called Surfshark.

What I would like to do now is record the programme from the stream to either a hard disc or a USB stick but I can't find a way to do that.


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## Autumn72 (Apr 2, 2022)

What is Signals.com?
Online tells to signup against what?
All these crazy things to do for reasons to keep your phone safe?


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## SeniorBen (Apr 2, 2022)

I've been using VeePN on occasion, which you install as a Chrome extension. It works pretty good. You can choose what country you want to look like you're in, so that should get you around the exclusions for streaming, although I haven't tried using it for that purpose. It should work, though.


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## OneEyedDiva (Apr 3, 2022)

Furryanimal said:


> Dead handy..with mine set to Australia I watch channel 9.
> Set to Luxembourg I can get Eurosport International
> To the USA I can get all sorts of American channels.
> Doesn’t work for everything....and you may have to look up a countries postcodes.
> Channel 9 think I’m in Sydney.


Not that I need anymore programs to watch but I never thought to set my VPN to other countries so I can get their programming. Thank you for this interesting information.


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## JonSR77 (Apr 3, 2022)

Purwell said:


> I'm in the UK and there is a particular programme coming up on Australian TV that I would like to watch.
> I have been told that I can stream it if I use a VPN, but I don't understand what one of those is.
> Help please!



If someone is telling you to access a program using a VPN, I think that means that they are accessing it without permission....illegally that would be.

Someone with better computer knowledge than me, could reign in here. But a quick guess, is that is what they are telling you.

That a normal method of accessing the program won't work, so they are trying to give you a way around that.


In Russia now, the Russian government is banning certain news channels to keep their citizens in the dark.  One of the methods that people in Russia are using to get around the censorship, is by using VPNs..


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## Mr. Ed (Apr 3, 2022)

I have subscribed to several vpns over the years. I use ExpressVPN, fast upload/download speeds, multiple servers worldwide, prívate DNS, Netflix and other streaming platforms.


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