# Watching ITV Hub in Spain



## Terry Stephens (Sep 5, 2021)

At the moment I get British TV via a satellite dish but would like to access things like the BBC iPlayer and ITV Hub by the internet. Does anyone know if this is possible via a VPN or Smart DNS and if so what are people using?

TIA


----------



## Barriej (Jul 23, 2012)

Terry Stephens said:


> At the moment I get British TV via a satellite dish but would like to access things like the BBC iPlayer and ITV Hub by the internet. Does anyone know if this is possible via a VPN or Smart DNS and if so what are people using?
> 
> TIA



We have an Amazon fire stick (purchased here in Spain) and Ive side loaded Nord to it and we can (well the wife) watches, BBC, ITV, Channel 4 etc and loads of other stuff. My son has a Netflix sub scripting in the UK and we watch that here as well. The Nord auto connects to a Uk server and off we go.
Was €100 when it rented earlier last month for the year. 
This allows 6 devices, so the phones, fire stick, laptop and my old iMac are included.

No issues, if the BBC comes up with a message, we just go to the Nord app and it connects to another server.
Other good thing with Nord is, you can set it to US servers and then you can get US internet TV. 
I connect the IMAc to Australia cause I like some of the programs there.

You will need a reasonable speed though or it tends to buffer.

Others will be along in a minute with different solutions.


----------



## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

We also use Nord VPN but on an Android TV box (€30 one-off purchase). Works well with iPlayer, haven't tried ITV though.


----------



## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Of all the streaming services I use with my PC connected to fibre broadband and Nord VPN, ITV Hub is the poorest with lots of buffering. I often go through Sky Go to watch ITV.


----------



## Barriej (Jul 23, 2012)

Joppa said:


> Of all the streaming services I use with my PC connected to fibre broadband and Nord VPN, ITV Hub is the poorest with lots of buffering. I often go through Sky Go to watch ITV.


The wife watches the soaps and sometimes has to close the app on the fire stick and restart it for ITV, BBC is fine except when it tries to figure out where we are for the local news. 

It was Sunderland the other day but normally London?

I tend to watch Youtube and setting the Nord for the UK gets everything in English (although Ive been watching art tutorials in Spanish and its helping with the language).


----------



## sat (Jul 20, 2008)

It can also depend onthe device you are using, as not all devices, with all VPNs work with ITVHub.
Also, if you are using a Freesat box, and want to access the uk catchup services on that, then the VPN needs to be used at router level, as it cannot be installed on the device.
Firestick and Nord seems to work well - but note that a lot of VPNs are having issues with Netflix UK...so just turn off the VPN and use Netflix Spain


----------



## Terry Stephens (Sep 5, 2021)

Thanks everyone for the replies - that is really what I wanted to hear that's it's possible to do.

I did some experimenting last night on my Android phone with a trial version of Surfshark and got iPlayer & ITV Hub to work.

I also sideloaded iPlayer on to my Spanish FireStick but it just says "App not owned" - the problem seems to be that none of the UK TV apps are available in Spain, so maybe an Android box will be an easier solution.


----------



## Turtles (Jan 9, 2011)

Getflix (Smart DNS) works for ITV, BBC and US Netflix (the latter with most but not all devices). It's cheaper than a VPN and does not slow down the connection.


----------



## MataMata (Nov 30, 2008)

ALL VPN's and DNS services slow the delivery of whatever is being accessed through them, it's just a fact of how they work.


----------



## Turtles (Jan 9, 2011)

MataMata said:


> ALL VPN's and DNS services slow the delivery of whatever is being accessed through them, it's just a fact of how they work.


Not in my house. VPN= slow, Smart DNS = no effect on speed.


----------



## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

MataMata said:


> ALL VPN's and DNS services slow the delivery of whatever is being accessed through them, it's just a fact of how they work.


Not a problem unless you've got a very low speed to start with. I just did a test, 38 mbps without the VPN and 29 with it on. Not enough to affect streaming quality.


----------



## Barriej (Jul 23, 2012)

Terry Stephens said:


> Thanks everyone for the replies - that is really what I wanted to hear that's it's possible to do.
> 
> I did some experimenting last night on my Android phone with a trial version of Surfshark and got iPlayer & ITV Hub to work.
> 
> I also sideloaded iPlayer on to my Spanish FireStick but it just says "App not owned" - the problem seems to be that none of the UK TV apps are available in Spain, so maybe an Android box will be an easier solution.


You need the VPN on the fire stick as well. Ours is a Spanish one and we have no problems with BBC iplayer. 
Set the VPN to auto connect to the UK and then the other stuff should load.


----------



## trotter58 (Feb 8, 2017)

Terry Stephens said:


> At the moment I get British TV via a satellite dish but would like to access things like the BBC iPlayer and ITV Hub by the internet. Does anyone know if this is possible via a VPN or Smart DNS and if so what are people using?
> 
> TIA


It depends what set top box/smart TV you're going to be using. Smart DNS uses less transmission overheads than VPN, allowing better reception with a slower broadband. Smart DNS is fine for normal free to air TV broadcasts and works very well with a smart TV set up with UK apps and is also cheaper than VPN.

VPN is safer if you're downloading/streaming illegal material, such as copywrite material or "free" subscription sports channels

Firestick, as far as I know, cannot use Smart DNS and will only work with a VPN


----------



## Turtles (Jan 9, 2011)

trotter58 said:


> Firestick, as far as I know, cannot use Smart DNS and will only work with a VPN


Smart DNS on Firestick works well for Amazon, BBC and ITV, but the 4k model can't be fooled when it comes to Netflix and Channel 4. Older models work fine for those services.


----------



## Terry Stephens (Sep 5, 2021)

Barriej said:


> You need the VPN on the fire stick as well. Ours is a Spanish one and we have no problems with BBC iplayer.
> Set the VPN to auto connect to the UK and then the other stuff should load.


I've tried that (VPN connected to the UK on the FireStick) but it still says iPlayer not owned.


----------



## garypen (Aug 6, 2020)

Terry Stephens said:


> Thanks everyone for the replies - that is really what I wanted to hear that's it's possible to do.
> 
> I did some experimenting last night on my Android phone with a trial version of Surfshark and got iPlayer & ITV Hub to work.
> 
> I also sideloaded iPlayer on to my Spanish FireStick but it just says "App not owned" - the problem seems to be that none of the UK TV apps are available in Spain, so maybe an Android box will be an easier solution.


Amazon can be real dicks when it comes to sideloading geo-specific apps. When I was using Fire TV devices, I kept separate ones for UK and US, registered to my UK and US Amazon accounts, respectively. I was able to sideload VPN UNLIMITED on both, and kept each one connected to a VPN server in the appropriate country. (My Smart TV's in Japan have streaming apps built-in, so no external device necessary for local streaming.)
I have since ditched the Fire Sticks, and gotten a proper Android TV device, Google's unfortunately named Chromecast with Google TV. (It should be named Google TV with Chromecast, as Chromecast is secondary to it's primary Google TV/Android TV functionality.) Now, I have both US and UK streaming apps on the same device, and only need to use one VPN UNLIMITED slot of the five that come with the $30 lifetime subscription. (FYI, the ALL4 app is not available for any Android TV device, other than Fire Stick, which is a bit annoying as some of my favorite UK content is from Channel 4. But, you can put it on your phone or tablet, and "cast" to the Chromecast device.)
I had tried numerous VPN services before settling on VPN UNLIMITED. I found VPN EXPRESS to be best, but was the most expensive. I settled on VPN UNLIMITED because it works well, and was only $30 for a lifetime subscription. I'm not sure if they still offer that promotion, or how much it might be in £ or €. But, it's worth the Google search to find out.


----------



## garypen (Aug 6, 2020)

Terry Stephens said:


> I've tried that (VPN connected to the UK on the FireStick) but it still says iPlayer not owned.


The Firestick must be registered to a UK Amazon account, to be able to use certain UK-specific streaming apps. It's a dick move on Amazon's part.
No such issue with geo-agnostic Android TV devices like the Chromecast with Google TV, or similar devices running true Android *TV *OS.


----------



## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

garypen said:


> The Firestick must be registered to a UK Amazon account, to be able to use certain UK-specific streaming apps. It's a dick move on Amazon's part.
> No such issue with geo-agnostic Android TV devices like the Chromecast with Google TV, or similar devices running true Android *TV *OS.


But in my experience, in order to download UK apps like iPlayer to an Android device you need to have a Google account with a UK address and bank account, and connect to a UK server with a VPN. Same with Apple.


----------



## garypen (Aug 6, 2020)

Alcalaina said:


> But in my experience, in order to download UK apps like iPlayer to an Android device you need to have a Google account with a UK address and bank account, and connect to a UK server with a VPN. Same with Apple.


Nope. You can create a Gmail account without an address or bank info. I wouldn't have made the recommendation, if I hadn't already done it myself. 
I have separate Gmail accounts for the US, UK, and Japan. No address or payment info required. I may have had to VPN into each country's server when I created the accounts, though. I honestly don't remember. But, it would make sense. I use the country-specific account appropriate for whatever country-specific app I want to install on my android devices - phone, tablet, or Google TV.
You may be thinking of an Amazon account, which obviously requires such info for the account. I remember that one of the UK streaming apps also required a UK payment method, as well, even though the app was free! (Probably All4, as they refuse to make a generic Android TV app, only Fire TV.)
As for the streaming apps themselves, iPlayer, ITV Hub, etc, do require you create accounts. But, IIRC, they only ask for a postcode. You will need to VPN in when creating those accounts, of course.


----------



## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

garypen said:


> Nope. You can create a Gmail account without an address or bank info. I wouldn't have made the recommendation, if I hadn't already done it myself.


Be that as it may, you can't see let alone download iPlayer from Google Play on an Android device in Spain unless you switch your account to a UK one, even with the VPN on. I've just checked!


----------



## garypen (Aug 6, 2020)

Alcalaina said:


> Be that as it may, you can't see let alone download iPlayer from Google Play on an Android device in Spain unless you switch your account to a UK one, even with the VPN on. I've just checked!


Correct, as I stated in my post. Just create a UK gmail account while VPN'd into the UK. 
It's what Americans refer to as "a piece of cake" or "easy as pie". (You can see why we're so fat, with idioms like those.)


----------



## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

garypen said:


> Correct, as I stated in my post. Just create a UK gmail account while VPN'd into the UK.
> It's what Americans refer to as "a piece of cake" or "easy as pie". (You can see why we're so fat, with idioms like those.)


Yes, it's easy - once you know.


----------



## garypen (Aug 6, 2020)

Alcalaina said:


> Yes, it's easy - once you know.


That's why there are forums like this, to help people know.


----------



## sat (Jul 20, 2008)

Or install what you need from an "apk" mirror site...that does not geoblock....
(making sure you get the correct one for your device)
like, for example : 








BBC iPlayer APKs - APKMirror







www.apkmirror.com


----------

