VPNs and BBC iPlayer

[Mattd]

39 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

It sounds like wifi channel congestion, lots of people on the same channels. Very easy to test by connecting ethernet, Get a wifi analizer app for your phone and you will see. If BBC is buffering its probably 100 other connection variables , VPN, UK server, Thai capacity to UK, and not much to do with your local connection speed or equipment.

Agreed, ref. the channel congestion and worth looking at.

I've already suggested to try testmynet with a check to London, this would give a more true download speed and rule out most issues apart from the BBC server.

[Mattd]

5 minutes ago, xylophone said:

Firstly there are only about five of the apartments here which are occupied and most of them would not be using the Internet by all accounts. So not sure if Wi-Fi channel congestion would play a part, but there again I'm a novice in these things.

It is more the number of WiFi routers in your area, so from other locations outside of the block, take a look at the number of WiFi connections available to you, if lots, then this could be an issue, there could be others that are not broadcasting their SSID.

 

8 minutes ago, xylophone said:

Get a wifi analizer app for your phone and you will see......My old Nokia won't take that!! Can it be used on my pc?

You can get a free one from the Microsoft Store.

[xylophone]

9 minutes ago, Mattd said:

I've already suggested to try testmynet with a check to London, this would give a more true download speed and rule out most issues apart from the BBC server.

Hey Matt, sorry I didn't see that and have just tested it and the download speed is 12.1Mbps.

 

Will get on to the Microsoft store now.

 

Also I can see 9 other wifi connections in my range...…...is that a problem? Some are 100mtrs or so away.

[Mattd]

1 minute ago, xylophone said:

Hey Matt, sorry I didn't see that and have just tested it and the download speed is 12.1Mbps.

 

Will get on to the Microsoft store now.

 

Also I can see 9 other wifi connections in my range...…...is that a problem? Some are 100mtrs or so away.

Did you make sure to test to London, by default it tests Japan.

 

Yes, this could be a problem, if you get the analyser, then check to see how many are using the same channel.

[Peterw42]

36 minutes ago, xylophone said:

Peter,

 

Thank you for taking the time and effort to post, really very much appreciated.

 

I believe I understand most of what you have said in your two posts, however there are some factors which I really can't get my head around.

Firstly there are only about five of the apartments here which are occupied and most of them would not be using the Internet by all accounts. So not sure if Wi-Fi channel congestion would play a part, but there again I'm a novice in these things.

 

When I have been connected to the BBC of late (this has only happened over the past week or two) I occasionally get the whole download stop and a notice come up which says that I don't have enough bandwidth to continue this and would I like to try again later?

 

So that is suggesting my bandwidth is at fault, is it not?

 

What I also can't understand is that my bandwidth gets so bad (of late) that even the 20 second video clips in my local newspaper buffer!!

 

As Matt has said, perhaps the speed tests are not a good indication of what's going on, however they do vary considerably and even the 3BB boys were puzzled by their low readings and at least the landlord here had a go at them by saying that he was paying for 100Mbps yet all that they were showing was 20, despite several tries on several different pieces of equipment??

 

The router is outside the block on a pole and inside a sealed box, so running a cable to it is really not possible.

 

Last night I tried a range extender on my PC, but that did nothing.

 

I do believe the landlord is contemplating getting another router which is a 1200mbps (or something similar) model and I'm not sure if this will work or not, but I do need to try something and I have said that I will pay for it.

 

In addition not too sure that keeping it outside in a sealed metal box is going to be the best thing to do, however he seems adamant that it is okay?

 

Get a wifi analizer app for your phone and you will see......My old Nokia won't take that!! Can it be used on my pc?

 

Yes, there would be wifi analizer apps for pc, i have only ever use android ones.

See image below at my condo (2.4Ghz spectrum), as you can see its very congested, its a wonder anyones wifi works. My wifi I have put on channel 7, the (marginally) least congested channel and can get 20Mbps, no were near the theoretical 50 Mbps, if i have my router set to the congested channels 4, 11, I get maybe 5 Mbps. (5Ghz spectrum has 3-4 networks in it)

So run an analizer, it will recommend the best channel, and hopefully get the landlord to change the router channel, should improve things.

If you can switch all your devices to 5Ghz (as the landlords apple appears to be) would improve things, but involves buying new equipment, or maybe a 5Ghz usb dongle etc. 

 

 

[Mattd]

6 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

If you can switch all your devices to 5Ghz (as the landlords apple appears to be) would improve things, but involves buying new equipment, or maybe a 5Ghz usb dongle etc. 

His WiFi is an ac type, so should be able to use the 5GHz no worries. depends if he knows the password though.

[janclaes47]

4 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

See image below at my condo (2.4Ghz spectrum), as you can see its very congested, its a wonder anyones wifi works. My wifi I have put on channel 7, the (marginally) least congested channel and can get 20Mbps, no were near the theoretical 50 Mbps, if i have my router set to the congested channels 4, 11, I get maybe 5 Mbps. (5Ghz spectrum has 3-4 networks in it)

 

I don't understand?

 

So you use your own router to receive the wifi signal from the condo router, then connect your devices to your router?

 

So your router receives the signal on the channel the condo router is set, and changing channels in your router can not increase the signal output from what you receive.

 

So why would you need a own router, since the devices in your room will receive the same signal as your router?

 

 

[Peterw42]

14 minutes ago, Mattd said:

His WiFi is an ac type, so should be able to use the 5GHz no worries. depends if he knows the password though.

 

12 minutes ago, janclaes47 said:

 

I don't understand?

 

So you use your own router to receive the wifi signal from the condo router, then connect your devices to your router?

 

So your router receives the signal on the channel the condo router is set, and changing channels in your router can not increase the signal output from what you receive.

 

So why would you need a own router, since the devices in your room will receive the same signal as your router?

 

 

I have VDSL(telephone line) modem router, then my own wifi. (not recieving the condo wifi, competing with it, lol) but as you can see, so does everyone else, and many use the same router default channels 4 or 11 for wifi. There are also lots of inhouse wifi rental routers. The channels are all congested.

GF puts the microwave on and that the end of it, lol

 

[Mattd]

10 minutes ago, janclaes47 said:

So why would you need a own router, since the devices in your room will receive the same signal as your router?

Probably because his internet connection and therefore router is directly to his condo, as is the one I have in BKK, each unit there has their own direct separate internet connection, independent of each other, the OP's is different, as the landlord is providing one router for all the units to share.

[xylophone]

51 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

Yes, there would be wifi analizer apps for pc, i have only ever use android ones.

Thanks again Peter and Matt...………….

 

It never rains, just pours cos I don't have the Microsoft store app on my W 10 and apparently it "went missing" on some updates and it's proving bloody hard to install, impossible as some users have said...……….but I am persevering!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Mattd]

Try clicking on the link to the store once on this page https://wifi-tool.com/

 

[xylophone]

27 minutes ago, Mattd said:

Try clicking on the link to the store once on this page https://wifi-tool.com/

 

Thanks Matt, but that just goes thru to the Microsoft store and I cant download anything from there at the mo!

 

Been non stop on this since about 5 am this morning and need to get out of the room to clear my head...…..back soon!

[xylophone]

On ‎6‎/‎5‎/‎2018 at 12:20 PM, Mattd said:

Probably because his internet connection and therefore router is directly to his condo

Thought I would give an update to the kindly folk who have endeavoured to help me here - - - Mattd, PeterW42 and others:

More fraught times with the landlord and seems to be going round in circles with him calling me stupid and the computer sh1t and Bill Gates an idiot and so, all the time I'm not getting any straight answers, however I did ascertain a few things which will probably nail it.

 

When he connected his apple in his room to get 96 Mbps, he plugged directly into the modem from a wire which he had hidden in his room, but he didn't tell me this.

 

Having said that he had no idea as to why if 3BB was delivering 100 Mbps, then why he was only getting 26 in my apartment, apart from calling me an idiot and everything else that goes with it (already mentioned).

 

I worked through a lot of things and came to this conclusion – – that the modem he had put in the box outside of the apartments to supply them all, was supplying a very weak signal, hence me not being able to pick it up, being the furthest away. I came to this conclusion because when the 3BB guys opened up the box, it turns out that he had either taken off the antenna or had folded them across the modem and stuffed it into this box, part surrounded by aluminium foil telling me that this would directly frequency towards the apartments.

 

I tried to explain that having the antenna tucked away flat (if indeed they were there because it wasn't obvious) and the aluminium just lining the box, would probably not be delivering the best signal strength. He has obviously looked on the Internet and seen diagrams whereby people do provide aluminium backdrops to the antennae, in an effort to direct the waves, but his effort falls woefully short of this and I suspect that's why I'm getting a weak signal, which gets even weaker when more people use the 2.4 GHz frequency, as I witnessed in the early hours of this morning, achieving 0.03 and 0.75 mbps on a number of speed tests!

 

I was at a loss because I had tried everything and the arguing was really getting me down, so my question to him was that I wanted to watch programmes and what was he going to do about it. Then in his anger he dragged me over to a type of conduit which he had running along the side of the building and explained that there was a direct line going to just outside of my apartment which would be connected by 3BB for a cost of about 690 baht per month!!!

 

Why on earth he didn't tell me about this some time ago is a mystery, however for him, in a way, it proves his point that my computer is crap and his setup is great so I have got to go outside of that to be able to get my crap computer to work. Whereas the truth is probably just the opposite.

 

I have asked his lovely Thai wife if she will get in touch with 3BB and ask if they would connect it for a trial of just a few hours, and if it worked I would enter a contract to have it a permanent fixture and would also by the modem from them.

 

There is nothing else I can do but to try this as I want to watch the football as well as the BBC channels and I want some independence from this idiot by way of my own Internet connection.

 

I will report back on progress, and wish to thank everybody for their input.

[Mario666]

20 hours ago, xylophone said:

Thought I would give an update to the kindly folk who have endeavoured to help me here - - - Mattd, PeterW42 and others:

More fraught times with the landlord and seems to be going round in circles with him calling me stupid and the computer sh1t and Bill Gates an idiot and so, all the time I'm not getting any straight answers, however I did ascertain a few things which will probably nail it.

 

When he connected his apple in his room to get 96 Mbps, he plugged directly into the modem from a wire which he had hidden in his room, but he didn't tell me this.

 

Having said that he had no idea as to why if 3BB was delivering 100 Mbps, then why he was only getting 26 in my apartment, apart from calling me an idiot and everything else that goes with it (already mentioned).

 

I worked through a lot of things and came to this conclusion – – that the modem he had put in the box outside of the apartments to supply them all, was supplying a very weak signal, hence me not being able to pick it up, being the furthest away. I came to this conclusion because when the 3BB guys opened up the box, it turns out that he had either taken off the antenna or had folded them across the modem and stuffed it into this box, part surrounded by aluminium foil telling me that this would directly frequency towards the apartments.

 

I tried to explain that having the antenna tucked away flat (if indeed they were there because it wasn't obvious) and the aluminium just lining the box, would probably not be delivering the best signal strength. He has obviously looked on the Internet and seen diagrams whereby people do provide aluminium backdrops to the antennae, in an effort to direct the waves, but his effort falls woefully short of this and I suspect that's why I'm getting a weak signal, which gets even weaker when more people use the 2.4 GHz frequency, as I witnessed in the early hours of this morning, achieving 0.03 and 0.75 mbps on a number of speed tests!

 

I was at a loss because I had tried everything and the arguing was really getting me down, so my question to him was that I wanted to watch programmes and what was he going to do about it. Then in his anger he dragged me over to a type of conduit which he had running along the side of the building and explained that there was a direct line going to just outside of my apartment which would be connected by 3BB for a cost of about 690 baht per month!!!

 

Why on earth he didn't tell me about this some time ago is a mystery, however for him, in a way, it proves his point that my computer is crap and his setup is great so I have got to go outside of that to be able to get my crap computer to work. Whereas the truth is probably just the opposite.

 

I have asked his lovely Thai wife if she will get in touch with 3BB and ask if they would connect it for a trial of just a few hours, and if it worked I would enter a contract to have it a permanent fixture and would also by the modem from them.

 

There is nothing else I can do but to try this as I want to watch the football as well as the BBC channels and I want some independence from this idiot by way of my own Internet connection.

 

I will report back on progress, and wish to thank everybody for their input.

Hi Guys....Sorry I missed all the fun, but recovering from a Motorbike "Incident" from a few days ago!

 

Sounds as if we have got a <deleted> Landlord here who talks BS.

 

At the end of the day it should not make any difference whether you are running Windows, IOS or Android,

 

But, what a dick to stick the router in a metal box....I said very early on in this thread that the only solution is to

 

get a dedicated line....and for optimum performance connect with an Ethernet cable.

 

If the landlord doesn't allow you to drill holes in his walls.....Make him an offer he can't refuse!....He is Italian

 

after all!

 

??

[xylophone]

1 hour ago, Mario666 said:

Hi Guys....Sorry I missed all the fun, but recovering from a Motorbike "Incident" from a few days ago!

 

Sounds as if we have got a <deleted> Landlord here who talks BS.

 

At the end of the day it should not make any difference whether you are running Windows, IOS or Android,

 

But, what a dick to stick the router in a metal box....I said very early on in this thread that the only solution is to

 

get a dedicated line....and for optimum performance connect with an Ethernet cable.

 

If the landlord doesn't allow you to drill holes in his walls.....Make him an offer he can't refuse!....He is Italian

 

after all!

 

??

Hi Mario666,

 

I hope you are fully recovered from your motorbike "incident" and thank you for posting.

 

Yes you've probably read my posts and as I recall you did mention getting a dedicated line some way back, however this was going to be impossible because he did not want any holes drilled or attachments to his building, and anyway it was getting to a point whereby I couldn't talk to him without fear of getting into a screaming and shouting match, as before.

 

He was right and I was wrong and an idiot and my computer and everything that went with it was sh1t etc, etc.

 

However I was extremely surprised when he angrily showed me a dedicated line which was already installed and luckily enough it came to a halt just outside of my room, so I will get 3BB to connect it up. Unfortunately they will not do it for a trial period so that I can ascertain its signal strength and usefulness, so I will have to sign a six-month contract and buy the modem and hope for the best.

 

If it all works okay I will have my own dedicated line and no interaction with him as regards the Internet, which is fine by me. Outside of that, apart from being grumpy from time to time, he's okay, but you never know when he is going to fly off the handle and sometimes when he does it with his delightful Thai wife, I get really embarrassed.

 

It was getting to the stage where I would have liked to have made him an offer he couldn't refuse, and I was practising with the cotton wool stuffed in my cheeks, but didn't need to go through with it!

 

 

 

[Mattd]

15 hours ago, xylophone said:

If it all works okay I will have my own dedicated line

This should work well and resolve your issues, I commend you on your patience with your landlord!

[Mario666]

On 6/10/2018 at 11:31 AM, xylophone said:

Hi Mario666,

 

I hope you are fully recovered from your motorbike "incident" and thank you for posting.

 

Yes you've probably read my posts and as I recall you did mention getting a dedicated line some way back, however this was going to be impossible because he did not want any holes drilled or attachments to his building, and anyway it was getting to a point whereby I couldn't talk to him without fear of getting into a screaming and shouting match, as before.

 

He was right and I was wrong and an idiot and my computer and everything that went with it was sh1t etc, etc.

 

However I was extremely surprised when he angrily showed me a dedicated line which was already installed and luckily enough it came to a halt just outside of my room, so I will get 3BB to connect it up. Unfortunately they will not do it for a trial period so that I can ascertain its signal strength and usefulness, so I will have to sign a six-month contract and buy the modem and hope for the best.

 

If it all works okay I will have my own dedicated line and no interaction with him as regards the Internet, which is fine by me. Outside of that, apart from being grumpy from time to time, he's okay, but you never know when he is going to fly off the handle and sometimes when he does it with his delightful Thai wife, I get really embarrassed.

 

It was getting to the stage where I would have liked to have made him an offer he couldn't refuse, and I was practising with the cotton wool stuffed in my cheeks, but didn't need to go through with it!

 

 

 

 

Well at least now you're in a potentially much better situation.

 

Hope it works well for you.

 

As regards the motorbike incident mostly recovered thanks!

[Mattd]

For those interested, I have finally got the SmartDNS setup to work in the condo using True as the ISP!

 

Not particularly easy or cheap in the end, however, as I stay in most weekday evenings, then it is worth it, here is how I did it.

 

1. Purchased a new Linksys WRT1200AC router, although this could be any router that is easy to flash DD-WRT firmware on, Linksys WRT ones are very easy to do and easy to recover if it goes wrong.

2. Downloaded the correct DD-WRT firmware for the above and then uploaded it in to the new Linksys router.

3. Initial setup of the now DD-WRT router, which involves setting the connection to a fixed IP and gave it an IP address that was within the True modem router's range (192.168.1.35 in my case)

4. Made the Linksys router IP address 192.168.0.1 (it has to be on a different subnet to the True router)

5. Followed the instructions to the letter on the SmartDNS support site on how to enable bypassing a transparent proxy using the Linksys router running DD-WRT, this involves changing a few DHCP settings, putting some DNS settings in and running a start up  / firewall command in the DD-WRT settings Administration/Command Shell (Linksys router)

6. Login to the True DOCSIS Modem Router (Humax HV100-02) and enable DMZ and add in the LAN IP address of the Linksys router (192.168.1.35), so that the Linksys router is now bypassing the True firewall.

7. Hard wire the True router to the Linksys router, using the ethernet port on the True to the Internet port on the Linksys.

7. Reboot everything router wise.

8. Connect the computer to the Linksys WiFi network.

8. Enable the IP address in the SmartDNS login.

 

BBC iplayer working just fine on the computer, changed the Amazon Fire TV box to use the DD-WRT WiFi and all the geo-blocked channels work perfectly on this.

 

Tonight I plan on modifying the script so that it uses the Singapore and Japan DNS servers, as opposed to the US ones that are in the original script, as this should make the DNS solution quicker and see if I can disable to radio on the True router to avoid any unnecessary contention on the WiFi channels etc.

 

Took a while to get there, but happy now, although it would probably have been easier to swap ISP to 3BB!!!! Lucky I like a challenge ?

[xylophone]

35 minutes ago, Mattd said:

Purchased a new Linksys WRT1200AC router,

Got lost after this...……………….

[Mattd]

2 minutes ago, xylophone said:

Got lost after this...……………….

5555, only way around my particular issue, so hopefully might be of use for others using True and getting around their Transparent Proxy.

[Mario666]

9 hours ago, Mattd said:

For those interested, I have finally got the SmartDNS setup to work in the condo using True as the ISP!

 

Not particularly easy or cheap in the end, however, as I stay in most weekday evenings, then it is worth it, here is how I did it.

 

1. Purchased a new Linksys WRT1200AC router, although this could be any router that is easy to flash DD-WRT firmware on, Linksys WRT ones are very easy to do and easy to recover if it goes wrong.

2. Downloaded the correct DD-WRT firmware for the above and then uploaded it in to the new Linksys router.

3. Initial setup of the now DD-WRT router, which involves setting the connection to a fixed IP and gave it an IP address that was within the True modem router's range (192.168.1.35 in my case)

4. Made the Linksys router IP address 192.168.0.1 (it has to be on a different subnet to the True router)

5. Followed the instructions to the letter on the SmartDNS support site on how to enable bypassing a transparent proxy using the Linksys router running DD-WRT, this involves changing a few DHCP settings, putting some DNS settings in and running a start up  / firewall command in the DD-WRT settings Administration/Command Shell (Linksys router)

6. Login to the True DOCSIS Modem Router (Humax HV100-02) and enable DMZ and add in the LAN IP address of the Linksys router (192.168.1.35), so that the Linksys router is now bypassing the True firewall.

7. Hard wire the True router to the Linksys router, using the ethernet port on the True to the Internet port on the Linksys.

7. Reboot everything router wise.

8. Connect the computer to the Linksys WiFi network.8. Enable the IP address in the SmartDNS login.d the Amazon Fire TV box to use the DD-WRT WiFi and all the geo-blocked channels work perfectly on this.

 

Tonight I plan on modifying the script so that it uses the Singapore and Japan DNS servers, as opposed to the US ones that are in the original script, as this should make the DNS solution quicker and see if I can disable to radio on the True router to avoid any unnecessary contention on the WiFi channels etc.

 

Took a while to get there, but happy now, although it would probably have been easier to swap ISP to 3BB!!!! Lucky I like a challenge ?

 

Wow.....Congratulations......Finally got there mate!....Hat's off for achieving "Mission Impossible"......Not sure I would have lasted that long ?

 

Think I would have moved house....easier solution!?

 

Well done!

[xylophone]

I thought I would apprise all those kind folks who tried to help me with my VPN and Internet problems with an update, however I will have to keep it short because it would probably fill about four pages.......

 

The 3BB guys came to install my modem and associated stuff, only to inform us that they weren't able to use the existing cable and they wanted to install fibre-optic, which the landlord was against (don't ask me why because he's already got it). He then told them to eff off quite a few times and eventually they agreed to leave him some cable to install (not fibre-optic) because he wanted to do it himself. This after much shouting and many arguments.

 

However the next day they came back and said that they couldn't give him the cable and wanted it back, which again angered him and lots more eff offs to all and sundry, me included for just standing there offering to help.

 

I have to cut this short because it goes on forever, anyway suffice it to say that yesterday and today I helped him to install a new socket outlet on the wall, move some existing conduit and replace it, and also to put everything in place to be able to take the modem and its associated wiring, which we got hold of a bit later and now it is done – – finally.

 

Of course I thanked him profusely for his help although there were times when I could have easily knifed him and thought nothing of it.

 

Anyway I got round to speed testing my new 3BB modem and lo and behold I was able to get around 30Mps and it was steady, so I was/am very pleased with that. However I did try it last night on the BBC website in order to watch some football, and I have to say that I was not over enamoured with the quality I was getting because it was fuzzy at times and I would only watch that source if everything else failed. Never mind, at least I got my Internet and normal iPlayer stuff.

 

Something which I didn't mention was that two days ago his modem started playing up and when the guys came to look at the installation they suggested putting a bigger modem in with the antenna sticking outside of the box which he had installed, however he wouldn't have any of it (maybe it's because I had said that it will operate better with the antenna doing what they should do and not be folded against the modem itself) and not only that they broke the modem trying to get it into the box.

 

So he bought a new box and still put the new modem in it with its antenna folded across itself, and when I tried to test the speed of this thing, it ranged anywhere from 25 to .0 05 in rapid successive peaks and troughs, so it certainly is not stable – – so I had to smile about that, although secretly of course, because I've got my own now!

 

Thanks again to all who helped and I hope I never have to go through this again.

 

PS. Was having trouble accessing my SmartDNS account and found that my Bitdefender was blocking it, so I added the address as an exclusion in BD and it connects immediately now...….just in case anyone's having similar problems!

[willieaames]

I use Express VPN. Has been excellent in the past. Now very difficult to access iPlayer. Anyone else with same problem ? Suggested solutions? Thanks

 

BBC simply auto-blocks IP adresses with too many users. Just 6 or more different user logins from the same IP address would not happen from a real household. Might be UK dedicated ip vpn works but some hacks in this guide will be helpful for you:

https://www.bestvpn.co/bbc-iplayer-vpn/