Which ISP and globalmode yes or no

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Nikoftime

103 posts

Master Geek

#160395 5-Jan-2015 14:07

I am currently with WXC in a fibre only subdivision (Chorus network).

I think my ISP options are:

WXC

Snap

Slingshot

Myrepublic.

We currently use only 20-25 GB per month.

We currently pay $73/month for 20GB of data, this includes a phone line and voicemail.

We have recently purchased a Samsung smart TV and are now expecting our useage to increase significantly as we adjust to using streaming TV services.

We would like to access the UK on demand tv apps such as BBC iplayer, ITV and 4OD etc so I will either need to subscribe to a Geo unblock service or sign up to an ISP that has a similar system (global mode thingy).

My initial thoughts are to choose one of the ISP’s that do a global mode. I could subscribe to Uno telly or something similar but doesn’t that bring in another layer of complexity and potentially cost more?

I am confused about:

How does Geo unblocking work – do I need to select which country I want access to and does my IP address then only get recognised as a UK IP address for example.
Would this then prevent me from accessing TVNZ and TV3 on demand app?
Is there any difference between using ISP’s global mode to using the paid for a geo unblock service
How complicated is setting up of these Geo unblock systems
Can the geo unblock systems be set up differently for each device.
Which ISP is likely to provide the “best” service. If I need technical assistance is any one ISP more or less likely to be able to help and help in a timely manner.

I have read through a few threads from both Myrepublic and Slingshot and both seem to have potential issues!!

I appreciate that my current $73/month expenditure will have to increase. I’m comfortable with up to a max of $99/month.

plambrechtsen

1948 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1208571 5-Jan-2015 14:20

You may find you may not be able to switch regions on your TV to install the UK apps. Most of the unblock services have a trial. So why not try them out?

Athlonite

1828 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1208577 5-Jan-2015 14:23

Answer for Q? 1 and 2
geo unblocking works like a VPN exit node to the country your accessing ie: say you want to view content from NetFlix in the US your ISP see's this and automatically routes your packets through an VPN in that country whilst all other packets go normally about the web

anwers to Q? 3

No the both perform the exact same thing but a paid VPN like UnblockUS likely require all you traffic to go through them unless you turn it on and off as you need it

answer to Q? 4

most will have an installable client which does the work for you some require a little more nous to set it up within your router

answer to Q? 5

No Idea.. ISP based GEO Unblocking is an automatic thing depending on where and what your trying to access

answer to Q? 6

any ISP that has its tech support center based in NZ and have you tried your address in Orcons address finder to see if they can service you
https://www.orcon.net.nz/external/genius/combined.php

trig42

Banana?
4947 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#1208606 5-Jan-2015 14:44

You will need to set your Samsung SmartHub to UK to get 4OD and BBC iPlayer. This will also get the Netflix App if you want it.
Doing this means you will NOT have the NZ OD services (TVNZ, TV3, Quickflix and Lightbox).
When Netflix begins its service here in NZ, you will also have Netflix amongst the NZ apps.

What I do at home is have an AppleTV (and a FireTV in another room) for Netflix (used to have Hulu too but cancelled that). and use the Samsung SmartHub for the NZ services - OnDemand is quite handy. I don't use Quickflix, but Lightbox is good.

I am not sure about Global modes form certain ISPs, I use Unotelly and it works great. You can tell it what regions you want to appear in for different services (eg. UK for iPlayer and 4OD, US for Netflix) and it will work. You can't have different regional settings across different devices. Nothing stopping you using two geounblockers though I suppose.

Nikoftime

103 posts

Master Geek

#1208949 6-Jan-2015 09:03

Thanks guys for your comments

I have successfully managed to change the Samsung smart hub to the UK apps.
I tried Orcon address finder and oddly Orcon says that they can provide ADSL and VDSL but not fibre. - So I assume Orcon is not an option for fibre, although they wouldn't be able to provide the copper services either because there is no copper telecommunication network in the street.
I have decided to give Slingshot (with global mode) a try.

rb99

1544 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#1208961 6-Jan-2015 09:29

If you're interested in Orcon, it might be worth emailing them to do a proper check for fibre availability. I've had fibre available for over a month, but if I scout around a few ISP address checkers quite a few still say fibre not available.

rb99

Nikoftime

103 posts

Master Geek

#1209050 6-Jan-2015 10:57

I just phoned Orcon and they advised that they can't provide fibre yet as they are still working on an agreement with Chorus. Funny how Slingshot does have an agreement though!! Perhaps I'll post a question in the Orcon forum just to double check as Orcon do seem to offer the best deal for me

rb99

1544 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#1209055 6-Jan-2015 11:06

Its certainly worth a try. If they're working on an agreement, maybe you could try and get an ETA out of them......

rb99

n4

956 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1209074 6-Jan-2015 11:23

2 people support this post

My 2c on this is that you might as well pay for a DNS service instead of relying on globalmode offered by an ISP. The reason for this is that I change region quite often to get Netflix content from different countries - quite often a movie or TV series I'm looking for isn't available on Netflix in the USA, but is available in Canada, the UK, Germany, or the Netherlands.

Once Netflix comes to NZ I think this will be even more important - ISPs with globalmode will then need to make a choice - do they default everyone to the NZ region (and content), or to the USA? Either way someone is going to be unhappy. Add to the mix that no doubt some Oz content will be available in Australia Netflix region, I think the ability to change region for Netflix is (and will be) well worth the $2-4 a month a DNS service costs, not to mention the other benefits of accessing other geo-restricted services your ISP may not cover with their globalmode implementation.

That will also free you up to consider the best ISP/plan available without having to take globalmode into account.

Huawei Mate 7, on 2degrees