Advice on Roku3 working with Orcon UFB modem or Not!

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agricon

27 posts

Geek

#173440 23-May-2015 14:30

Hi, I have recently bought a Roku 3 HDMI stick to allow my oldish Samsung TV to be used as a smart tv. I bought it from the UK (sent to a family member and then forwarded to me) but soon found out it wasn't going to be straightforward when Roku wouldn't allow me to add the channels I was hoping for by telling me "the channel wasn't allowed to be added from my location". I am aware of the Unblock-us service but I'm unsure if this will fix my problem.

So has anyone using the Orcon (with global mode switched on) had the same problem and if so what did you do it get it going?
Is the supplied VDSL/ADSL WIFI router from Orcon ok to use as I read unblock-US needs a static ip address to work?

Any help appreciated
Thanks

nakedmolerat

4629 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1310417 23-May-2015 14:53

Which channel(s)?

agricon

27 posts

Geek

#1310424 23-May-2015 15:07

I was hoping to get the BBC iplayer, 4oD, ITV, Channel 5 all from the UK. I also have a Netflix US acct which would be good to get. The Roku 3 came from Amazon in the UK and came with 3 months worth of NowTV inc in the price. It would be nice to have but not the end of the world if not.

haywardb

84 posts

Master Geek

ID Verified

Subscriber

#1310425 23-May-2015 15:12

I have a Roku 3 (non-stick model) that was provided on one of the Orcon fibre promotions. When I done the setup I told it I was in the states and via global mode, it thought that I was. I have had no trouble adding US channels but did have trouble then adding UK based ones. I think that when you first create your account it takes into account where you are. If you de-register your Roku o your account and then make a new one with UK details, you will be able to access UK channels, but, you will then lose the US ones.

agricon

27 posts

Geek

#1310462 23-May-2015 16:37

So are you saying that Orcon's "Global Mode" will be enough for me to get the channels without making any major changes to my setup?

agricon

27 posts

Geek

#1310703 24-May-2015 11:00

Just an update. I finally manged to get some programs working on the ROKU 3 e.g. Netflix. However even after getting the likes of iPlayer loaded, they will not work. There must be something in ROKU that knows I am not in the UK even with Global Mode enabled:-(
Anyone have any ideas or suggestions?
Thanks

sultanoswing

814 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1310754 24-May-2015 12:39

As per haywardb... the channels you have available to select and install on your Roku are determined by which Roku account you have linked your Roku to and where that Roku account is based e.g. US or UK.

Basic steps:
1) Use your DNS or VPN service to make it as though you're in the country you want to set up your Roku account for.
2) Set up the Roku account e.g. US or UK. You can of course set up two accounts - one for US, another for UK.
3) Reset your Roku, then link it to your new account, either US or UK.

The Roku can only be linked to one account/country at a time. If you want the US apps/channels you'll need to Roku to be linked with that account, if you want to switch to the UK apps/channels (such as iPlayer), you'll need to reset the Roku and relink it with your UK account instead.

There is a small trick - you can install the PLEX channel, and on PLEX, you can install iPlayer. Even if in the US, you can then use the PLEX channel on your Roku, and then the iPlayer plugin within the PLEX channel/app.

And in case it's not clear to you - even though you've got, for example, Netflix installed and are logged in to your US Roku account, you can use smart DNS switching to change the Netflix region to whereever you want as that operated independently of the Roku's location.

agricon

27 posts

Geek

#1310782 24-May-2015 13:45

The Roku 3 came from the UK and included 3 months of NowTV as part of the price. I have a UK account setup for NowTV and Roku. The installation went ok and the UK channels appeared on the channel selection list. I am able to login to both NowTV and Netflix but can only view Netflix. NowTV and BBC iplayer will not stream. I have a smart TV in a different room that streams iPlayer with no issues. So there seems to be something with Roku that stop Now TV and iPlayer.
Any suggestions?

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sultanoswing

814 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1310808 24-May-2015 14:54

agricon: The Roku 3 came from the UK and included 3 months of NowTV as part of the price. I have a UK account setup for NowTV and Roku. The installation went ok and the UK channels appeared on the channel selection list. I am able to login to both NowTV and Netflix but can only view Netflix. NowTV and BBC iplayer will not stream. I have a smart TV in a different room that streams iPlayer with no issues. So there seems to be something with Roku that stop Now TV and iPlayer.
Any suggestions?

It may be a situation where the NowTV and iPlayer software is doing additional geochecks. In the case of Netflix, you have to block public DNS lookups at a router level as per these instructions: http://help.unotelly.com/support/solutions/articles/192836-why-do-i-need-to-block-public-dns-lookups-

Try this and see if your UK channels will work (even though they for Netflix, forcing your DNS through your geounblocker may also work for other apps).

agricon

27 posts

Geek

#1311034 25-May-2015 06:44

I'm now beginning to think the Now TV issue maybe linked to my cc. I had to use it to activate Now TV and unfortunately I only have a NZ card. That doesn't explain why I can watch iPlayer, 4oD, BBC news etc on a smart TV in another room. Here is a summary of what I can view.

Roku 3 - Can view: Netflix
Roku 3 - Cant view: BBC, ITV, 4oD, 5 on demand, Now TV

Samsung Smart TV - Can view: Netflix, BBC, 4oD,
Samsung Smart TV - Can't view: ITV, 5 on Demand. Now TV (no app available for Samsung yet)

PC: Can view: BBC, ITV, 4oD, Netflix
PC: Can't view: Now TV.

It does indicate that some content providers are doing additional checks on location and also through certain devices (Roku).
Any thoughts?

Does anyone have any recommendations on what would be a better solution i.e. unotelly, Unblock-US etc,

pedrogarcia

250 posts

Master Geek

Trusted

#1311403 25-May-2015 16:18

I bought my parents a UK Roku 3 and got iPlayer, 4OD, ITV etc working fine. But I had to use Unblock-Us. Global Mode only supports Roku devices with US firmware.

Was told by Orcon that this would change once their region switcher comes online, but there is no sign they are actually going launch that.

Also had to use a UK address with my Roku account - I used an AirNZ Onesmart card to get it all working.

Hope that helps.

agricon

27 posts

Geek

#1311461 25-May-2015 17:29

pedrogarcia: I bought my parents a UK Roku 3 and got iPlayer, 4OD, ITV etc working fine. But I had to use Unblock-Us. Global Mode only supports Roku devices with US firmware.

Was told by Orcon that this would change once their region switcher comes online, but there is no sign they are actually going launch that.

Also had to use a UK address with my Roku account - I used an AirNZ Onesmart card to get it all working.

Hope that helps.

Hi I appreciate your help and will give it a go:-)
Thanks

sultanoswing

814 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1311465 25-May-2015 17:31

Ahhh - that'll learn me for not reading that you were with Global mode as opposed to a dedicated DNS/VPN solution ;) !

agricon

27 posts

Geek

#1311500 25-May-2015 18:24

It was probably the way I wrote it:)

Anyway I have just had a look at unblockUS. They will allow me a weeks free trial which is great. But before I go and alter my Orcon Genius (white) fibre router settings I thought I should ask if there are any "pit falls" I need to be aware of before I have ago. I should say that I am not a techie and I know "a little bit of knowledge is dangerous" but am prepared to try it with hopefully some guidance from the experts here:-)
Do I need a static ip address? I don't think Orcon give residential customers one as standard (read it here somewhere)

I notice that unblockUS shows 3 DNS settings

Fill DNS server fields with values from the table below:

One:

111.118.175.56

Two:

118.127.33.48

Three:

208.122.23.23

111.118.175.56

In the DNS setup section for the router it only shows a primary and secondary DNS server - which ones do I use?

What else?
Thanks in anticipation

sultanoswing

814 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1311506 25-May-2015 18:33

agricon: It was probably the way I wrote it:)

Anyway I have just had a look at unblockUS. They will allow me a weeks free trial which is great. But before I go and alter my Orcon Genius (white) fibre router settings I thought I should ask if there are any "pit falls" I need to be aware of before I have ago. I should say that I am not a techie and I know "a little bit of knowledge is dangerous" but am prepared to try it with hopefully some guidance from the experts here:-)
Do I need a static ip address? I don't think Orcon give residential customers one as standard (read it here somewhere)

I notice that unblockUS shows 3 DNS settings

Fill DNS server fields with values from the table below: One: 111.118.175.56 Two: 118.127.33.48 Three: 208.122.23.23 111.118.175.56

In the DNS setup section for the router it only shows a primary and secondary DNS server - which ones do I use?

What else?
Thanks in anticipation

Just use the first two DNS numbers. You don't need a static IP address, but with a dynamic IP address you will need to update your IP address with unblock-us from time-to-time or setup an automatic update (if your router supports dynamic DNS services e.g.dyndns, afraid.org et al).

https://support.unblock-us.com/customer/portal/articles/291514-my-isp-only-provides-a-dynamic-ip-addresses-is-this-a-problem-

https://support.unblock-us.com/customer/portal/articles/1016534-why-has-my-service-stopped-working-