Best VPN for BBC Sounds downloads & iPlayer

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sampedrena
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Best VPN for BBC Sounds downloads & iPlayer

Postby sampedrena » Thu Jun 25, 2020 10:59 am

I am looking for some advice, please. I have been using Smarty for vpn access to all the above services on my Samsung Tablet - but it has just today stopped working for me and is not seeing me as being in London! Smarty have just said that I should use the DNS - and I switched to that on the Android App, but that didn't work either!
Does anyone have any good recommendations for a reliable VPN that I can use on my Samsung tablet - I don't want to "mess with" the router and prefer to do it via the Tablet.
I have found Smarty very good until now - and the fact that they have an Android App makes it very easy to use.
Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you
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Enrique
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Re: Best VPN for BBC Sounds downloads & iPlayer

Postby Enrique » Thu Jun 25, 2020 12:49 pm

Hi sampedrena,
Hopefully Mark and other TV buffs will see your Post.......... :D

I use Smartydns but only for Testing.........have in the past had to switch to another one of their servers. i.e. London2 etc....

In the meantime.......Clear DNS and Cache from your Samsung..............reboot/restart Samsung..........

https://beebom.com/how-to-clear-dns-cac ... d-devices/

Added:: BBC Sounds runs OK on Android without any DNS or VPN needed..........
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Re: Best VPN for BBC Sounds downloads & iPlayer

Postby sampedrena » Thu Jun 25, 2020 1:45 pm

Thanks Enrique - I'll give all that a try. Agree BBC Sounds works okay with no VPN - except for downloading programmes, which is what I prefer to do.

I think it will be sensible to trial some other VPN Services - because I find that none of the TV catch up services will work with Smarty now (itv hub, Channel 4 etc) Also I have the Smarty App on my Win10 laptop and can't get iPlayer to work on laptop either. Gives me the message that 'not in your location' message.

So - any suggestions for good VPN services from the "TV buffs" would really be useful, if anyone has any they would recommend.
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Re: Best VPN for BBC Sounds downloads & iPlayer

Postby markwilding » Thu Jun 25, 2020 1:50 pm

It seems that SmartyDNS is not working today on my iPhone either. It was definitely working yesterday as I downloaded a few programmes.
I also have SmartDNS and it works sometimes using the Hull virtual routing sever. Once a program fails, I can't get it to download again

For TV it works with
Iplayer
All 4
ITV

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Re: Best VPN for BBC Sounds downloads & iPlayer

Postby Beachcomber » Thu Jun 25, 2020 2:26 pm

I have been using Pure VPN for about ten years and currently have a subscription until 2024. It sometimes fails but they are very quick on the uptake to rectify matters.

For downloading BBC programmes I use Applian Reply Media Catcher to which I have a lifetime subscription along with the rest of the Applian suite. It also works for most other audio downloads including You Tube and no VPN is required for any of them.

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Re: Best VPN for BBC Sounds downloads & iPlayer

Postby fyfin » Sun Jun 28, 2020 9:58 am

Oh Dear, seeing this I tried my Smarty and on the VPN on London I can't get BBC iPlayer. When I try Smart DNS I get a message something has gone wrong. I only recently purchased Smarty because Freedome had stopped working (actually they say it's working fine as a VPN, but they never said they'd allow us to watch BBC etc and they suggested I contact the BBC lol)

I will raise a ticket with Smarty and see what they have to say. Unfortunately I persuaded my friend who is not tech minded that Smarty was one of the better ones and reasonably priced. Incidentally, they had a problem recently and sent out bills from 2014 to people who had taken out a trial, apologies followed but makes me wonder if they have a problem.
I'll see what they say.
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Re: Best VPN for BBC Sounds downloads & iPlayer

Postby fyfin » Sun Jun 28, 2020 10:21 am

UPDATE - I got the DNS option on the android box to work with iPlayer. All I did was change a couple of settings unless, of course, it was just co-incidental. I changed the setting DNS server t Europe, it was on USA and I changed the update VPN to every 15 minutes although that shouldn't have made any difference to the DNS I think.
I've now just switched back to VPN and London 3 and lo and behold that is working now too so my suspicion is that Smarty have fixed it, perhaps someone could check and confirm.
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Re: Best VPN for BBC Sounds downloads & iPlayer

Postby sampedrena » Sun Jun 28, 2020 11:08 am

Very interesting Fyfin. Thanks for letting me know your experiences.
I have just tried using Smarty London 3 VPN and managed to download a programme from BBC Sounds (I prefer to download & that's only allowed if in UK. However on the second programme I got "Failed" - so that's not a permanent solution).
I can't get VPN London 3 to work with iPlayer, All4, itvHub or Ch 5. I can get all the TV stations to work with DNS Europe, including Sounds - but, certainly for BBC Sounds, it is much slower than the VPN.
I'm not happy with the way Smarty works at present - and, like you, I renewed for a year from March and have been recommending the service! I won't be recommending in future! I've had a ticket in with them since Thursday and their support staff try to be helpful - but it seems that sometimes they change one small thing and it stops it from working how it was previously. (We had the same thing years ago with another service - they made it so people in Australia could use it, but after that it never worked for us here!)
Smarty told me that I should never be using VPN for BBC etc - but I have been doing that for several years with no problem and so they say that BBC must have changed something - but, to me, it's a big coincidence that all the broadcasters made changes on the same day!
That's why I'm looking at other services - and spoke to ExpressVPN yesterday via Chat. They say that they definitely guarantee iPlayer, ITV, Ch4 & Ch5 - but he didn't know re Sounds (which is one I use a lot!). So I'm still looking for recommendations.
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Re: Best VPN for BBC Sounds downloads & iPlayer

Postby El Cid » Sun Jun 28, 2020 11:12 am

I don't think BBC Sounds is geo-restricted. I get all the BBC stations in my car without DNS or VPN.

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Re: Best VPN for BBC Sounds downloads & iPlayer

Postby sampedrena » Sun Jun 28, 2020 11:22 am

That's right El Cid - but to download you need to show as being in the UK
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Re: Best VPN for BBC Sounds downloads & iPlayer

Postby Enrique » Sun Jun 28, 2020 12:52 pm

Hi,
I downloaded a Podcast onto Android with BBC Sounds the other day when we were testing.......... no SmartDNS or VPN

Guess that's not what you mean by no Download......?........Best to give Full Facts of the Problem in your first Post and a link if needed....... :idea:
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Re: Best VPN for BBC Sounds downloads & iPlayer

Postby Beachcomber » Sun Jun 28, 2020 1:29 pm

I think you can download BBC radio programmes which have been released as podcasts but not ordinary programmes which have not been made into podcasts. For example, you can download Moneybox on Radio 4 but not old comedy shows on Radio 4 Extra.

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Re: Best VPN for BBC Sounds downloads & iPlayer

Postby sampedrena » Sun Jun 28, 2020 1:49 pm

Yes Beachcomber - I think that is right. What I have been doing previously is downloading from BBC Sounds Drama plays, comedies, book readings - all sorts of stuff - which I can then listen to anywhere, even if I don't have access to wifi. (or indeed if the wifi is not working) I never listen to programmes Live - so the downloading is very important to me and Smarty used to be great for this - it has worked well for a number of years but since last Thursday it has been terrible and they seem unable to solve it. So I'm looking for an alternative service for the future.
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Re: Best VPN for BBC Sounds downloads & iPlayer

Postby Enrique » Sun Jun 28, 2020 6:11 pm

Hi sampedrena,
Looking around with what the Guys have suggested.......... Pure VPN......Beachcomber's choice would be worth a 7 day trial for $0.99

fyfin:: I also had the"Bill" email from 2014.......... :crazy:

I was "play" with SmartyDNS this afternoon and it was all over the place............unusable.......... :!:
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Re: Best VPN for BBC Sounds downloads & iPlayer

Postby sampedrena » Mon Jun 29, 2020 11:02 am

Thanks Enrique - it certainly seems worthwhile trying Pure to see how it works.
Interesting to find that you also had a problem with SmartyDNS! They have been great until last Thursday - when it all went pear-shaped. But they won't admit that they have any problem.
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Re: Best VPN for BBC Sounds downloads & iPlayer

Postby fyfin » Mon Jun 29, 2020 12:10 pm

Well, I tried again just now and using DNS and not VPN and watching live BBC1 so seems DNS is the way to go. I tried Pure (free version) but found it awkward with all the adverts and it switched itself off now and again.
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Re: Best VPN for BBC Sounds downloads & iPlayer

Postby Beachcomber » Mon Jun 29, 2020 1:48 pm

I subscribe to Pure VPN and I do not get adverts but I have not been able to make it work with downloading BBC Sounds non-podcasts. I have emailed them to ask why.

I find it far easier to download what I want from BBC Sounds onto my PC with a downloader program then transfer to my mobile if necessary.

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Re: Best VPN for BBC Sounds downloads & iPlayer

Postby sampedrena » Mon Jun 29, 2020 3:44 pm

Thanks for the information about Pure - it is really important to me to download from BBC Sounds, so maybe that's not going to be an option for me. I didn't realise that it was possible to transfer items downloaded to a PC and then on to some other device. I use a laptop with Win10 and a Samsung Tablet - If you have any more information about how to go about doing the transfer, I would be really interested to know about it. Do you do the downloading via the Sounds website? I've never known that it was possible to move BBC downloads to another device.
Thanks to everyone for their help.
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Re: Best VPN for BBC Sounds downloads & iPlayer

Postby Beachcomber » Mon Jun 29, 2020 4:11 pm

I download programmes from BBC Sounds to my PC using Applian Replay Media Catcher (no VPN required) then, if I want to transfer the downloaded programme to a mobile device, I do so by connecting the device to my PC with an OTG (On The Go) cable. It ceases to be a 'BBC download' and just becomes an MP3 file. Some older or cheaper mobiles do not have OTG capability.

If you do have OTG you could just copy the files to a USB drive and leave it plugged into the tablet whilst you listen. You can check if your tablet has OTG by downloading and running an appropriate app.

Another method, if your tablet takes an SD card, is to take it out, connect it to the laptop and transfer the files but this can be a bit fiddly.

You could also transfer them wirelessly to the tablet with a program like Send Anywhere or Air Droid but it would take rather longer.

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Re: Best VPN for BBC Sounds downloads & iPlayer

Postby Enrique » Mon Jun 29, 2020 5:14 pm

Hi sampedrena,

Depending on which Samsung Table you have it my just be an easy plug in to your Computer...........Example

https://devicesupport.swisscom.ch/samsu ... ur-tablet/
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