Watch BBC iPlayer Abroad on an iPad
I’ve had an iPad for a few months now without knowing much about it. The main reason is that my family love it, they use for browsing the web, watching movies, playing games – in fact it’s almost always in use. But I kept getting emails about whether you could use Identity Cloaker on it to watch TV, connect to banking sites safely etc.
So, I checked it out and it’s surprisingly easy to do as the vast majority of the secure servers have VPN functionality enabled. So, all you need to do is to set up a simple connection to one of their servers and enable it whenever you need it.
How to Watch iPlayer in the USA Using Your iPad
So, you’ve probably found anywhere outside the United Kingdom, that the BBC iPlayer application won’t work (unless you get the overseas subscription version). The reason is that the site checks your IP address to see where you are based – all non-British ones get blocked. It happens on most big media sites – non-US are blocked from Hulu, ABC and Pandora for instance whilst non-French can’t use the fantastic M6 Replay channel.
The solution is easy on the PC you just use something like Identity Cloaker to hide your IP address. By routing your connection through a UK based proxy server, you can watch the BBC in the USA without problems.
iPad Configuration for VPN
Here’s how you do it on the iPad (Mac is similar).
- Select Settings
- Select General
- Select Networks
- Select VPN
You should then find yourself here –
You can see I’ve already set one up here for a US connection to access Pandora, but you need to click Add VPN Configuration. You’ll then be presented by this rather technical looking screen but don’t worry it’s very easy to complete.
You need to leave it on L2TP at the top and then fill in the following. You’ll need to get a couple of pieces of information direct from Identity Cloaker as they haven’t published this yet.
- Description – Give it a name like UK VPN, US VPN then you can select quickly which country you need
- Server – Drop Identity Cloaker an email for a list of enabled VPN server names
- Account Name – Your IDC Username
- RSA SecurID – Ignore this
- Password – Your IDC password.
- Secret – Drop Identity Cloaker and email and Ask for the VPN Secret Name
To do this you simply select the VPN configuration you needed, so for a US based iPad you’d connect to a UK VPN to watch BBC News or shows on iPplayer. Just Turn the VPN Button to on and it will connect to the configuration you selected. As long as you put all the details in correctly it should work straight away.
The status will change to connected and in the top left-hand side of your Ipad it will show that the VPN is connected like this.
VPN Connection for UK Sites – e.g BBC iPlayer
Whilst this connection is enabled all your traffic will be encrypted and diverted via the server you are connected to. If you’re just using it watch a media channel like BBC iPlayer or Hulu, then it’s best to disconnect after you’ve finished watching. It works with all the major UK television stations currently in 2023, many people use it to watch ITV abroad for example too.
If you haven’t got Identity Cloaker yet, it’s probably best to try the 10-day trial first to see how you get on with it. Any questions let me know and I’ll try and help although IDC support guys are way better than me!
Which are the Best BBC iPlayer Proxies in 2023?
Unfortunately the vast majority of proxies are now detected and blocked by the BBC so will simply not work. All the free ones stopped working several years ago as well as many of the paid VPN subscriptions. The main issue is the number of people sharing IP addresses and connecting to the BBC at the same time. It makes detecting VPN usage fairly simple, a few companies like NordVPN monitor the usage and rotate the IP addresses being used so they are not detected but it takes a lot of effort so most don’t bother! Other smaller companies like Identity Cloaker don’t have as many users anyway so they tend to fly under the radar!
Hi Belize,
Sorry never used that app, but had a quick look. The app is free but it looks like you'd need to sign up to one of their data plans. If you need the BBC you should make sure the VPN is based in the UK though.
WG
Belize:
I am in a UK citizen in Belize. I have downloaded the VPN EXPRESS App but. Am still blocked by BBC iPlayer and others. Help!!!
Hehe, when I saw the user name 'Norfolk and Good' – I feared the worse. Another set of my easy to follow instructions causing havoc.
Well chuffed that they worked for you – and thanks for letting me know 🙂
Works a treat. The help desk at Identity Cloaker came back with all the necessary info in 10 mins.