Netflix

If you're using an OpenVPN service (very likely), try to connect to the US server from a Mac (for example your iMac) and then execute the following shell script:

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#!/bin/sh

natd -interface tun0 ipfw -f flush ipfw add divert natd ip from any to any via tun0 ipfw add pass all from any to any sysctl -w net.inet.ip.forwarding=1

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This script will share the VPN tunnelled connection on your iMac to your LAN. On your Sony player set as router address the local IP address of your iMac. No proxy needed.

To close the VPN sharing execute the following shell script on your iMac:

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#!/bin/sh

killall natd ipfw -f flush sysctl -w net.inet.ip.forwarding=0

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These are guidelines for Mac. I think that you can arrange a similar configuration on you Linux machine.

Let me know.

Bye.

Cool, thanks for the thought. It doesn't work (still the DNS), but it gives me an idea where to start. I can work with iptables too, on my proxy machine. Thanks again!

Hmm, strange.

Just a naive question: have you tried to reboot the Sony player after setting the new router address?

Bye.

Yes indeed (thanks again, though). I'll mess around with iptables on my Linux machine.

And what about using Google DNS: 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4? Just an idea...

Bye.

Oh yes. Set up in my router (well, I have 208.67.222.222 (OpenDNS) as my main DNS and Google as secondary). I dunno. The BD seems to know where the DNS is being resolved.

My VPN provider sell a cloaked router that supposedly works, but they won't ship it to my country. Any rate, I could probably set the same thing up with a machine with 2 nics and dnsmasq and so on.

It could be that the Sony player is checking the region it is authorized for and that nothing you do, including importing it to the US, would allow it to play Netflix content.

Get a VPN via a third location, VPN from provider two into the first VPN provider and place the order that way...

But seriously, once you've told your Blueray player to use the linux box as the gateway, all the traffic [including DNS] should be going over the VPN. A packet capture might help you see what's going on. Or your Blueray player might be crippled to stop you using it in the way you want to.

Wouldn't this affect the connection speed?

Here're some DNS for a similar issue:

From what I have read, it seems that US unlocking DNS services are indeed a solution.

Hope Buster Friendly will eventually fix this with dnsmasq.

Bye.

How about running wireshark and seeing if you blueray player reveals your location other than by IP address. I only set up a blueray once on netflix, so I don't recall the procedure. But in the process, did you have to reveal your time zone?

I just use a HTPC, mostly because you can do everything with one.

Yes it would, however that was a sarcastic suggestion, addressing the question of not being able to order a piece of hardware because he's in the wrong country. I was attempting to draw a parallel between that and not being able watch US Netflix from the 'wrong' country.

Google Public DNS is anycast, so if your DNS queries to GPD are coming from your US endpoint, then they're going to go to the GPD servers in the US, and wherever GPD forwards the requests to will think the request has originated in the US.

Ah, OK I got it. :-)

Interesting, thanks.

Bye.

Thanks to everyone here. I've played with re-registering the BD player from my VPN on a US address. They (Sony) have to let you de-register it so you can sell it or donate it or whatever. The dns-proxy places say that you can get it working with their services, but I haven't had any luck. Maybe you're right, though, maybe the machine is just registered to my country and that's all the fat lady sang.

Like I say, if I connect my old MacBook Pro through the VGA port, connect to my VPN, launch Firefox, and go full-screen, I get a pretty nice USA Netflix.

Hmm. A headless Mac Mini in the living room would be fun. A bit expensive; I can probably get a Winders machine cheaper. (Linux I've got for XBMC, but there's no Netflix on Linx).

I use an AppleTV outside USA. I watch almost any US content except those services which require cable subscriptions of course.

Just don't buy it now in case you're interested: there're rumors saying that an updated AppleTV is due for an update in spring.

Bye.

I have just tried the Chrome extension "Hola" and I have been pleasantly surprised at just how well it works. It might not be the answer for your Sony BD, but it certainly gives you another way to sneak across borders. I just took in a few BBC UK programs not available via BBC America, all streamed in HD without a hitch. <

In theory there is Netflix on Linux via pipelight. I haven't tried it since I built my HTPC with win7 about 3 years ago. However, a mac mini isn't all that overpriced if you are doing to build a HTPC, mostly because of the windows tax (i.e. the price of the OS). In my case, I had a windows program I needed to run 24 and 7 anyway, so a mac mini wasn't in the cards. Rolling your own HTPC today will be just about $400 with windows. The Mac Mini is $600, but I think that is not with SSD.

I put my DVDs and music on a server, then feed it to the HTPC running XBMC with mediatomb and squeezebox server. You could also use Plex, but it is not open source. It does have a RPM. Plex has a hook to talk to the mothership that in theory you can turn off. As we all know, those features are often placebos.

XBMC is great. It has all sorts of plugins. The community is active enough that things get fixed. A wireless keyboard is simpler, though there are phone apps.

Thanks for that. I don't have a problem with a computer, only with the set-top boxes. Once I enable my VPN in the US or the UK, I can get Netflix or the iPlayer, and I can connect the computer to my big screen tv, through vga at the moment, but a newer computer would have a better video card and more sophisticated output options. I mean, the MacBook Pro is an older one (2008), and it drives my 50" tv screen in HD quite happily. Doesn't do a 1920x1080, but. Looks good though.

I also have a Zotac HTPC hooked up; it comes with a very good plug-in for the iPlayer if I need the beeb live. Most of the American plug-ins work but they're as flaky as hell. It runs Linux (the Zotac) so I can't drop into a WM and use a browser for Netflix on it. There's something called "YIFY HD movies" as a plug-in that can't possibly be legal -- streams up-to-date stuff.

It's the set-top boxes that cause problems. I don't understand it, really. I could hook a BD player to my computer and sell the damned Sony thing on ebay; it's crap anyway -- needs a hard reset every time I turn it on.

I do a lot of downloading anyway, and certainly for the British stuff. One can't pause live BBC ...

I serve up my tv shows over Samba or whatever Growl is called in the real world. Watched a pretty turgid BBC Wales cop show last night -- it beat the Grammys.

I'm sure the Roku is on some BSD or Linux, but has secret sauce for Netflix.

You can always do the VPN or proxy at your router, but then that routes everything. That would stop the dumb machines from getting confused on the location.

I looked up Growl and they don't indicate the transport mechanism. I am a bit alarmed in that it works over the internet. I sure as hell would have a VPN if you use it. I just don't trust any of these programs to be hacker proof, so I keep all the streaming in the local zone. Mediatomb IIRC uses a protocol similar to SMB, but does not require SMB to be enabled on the server since it has it's own daemon. You really need to be careful with back doors.

I dropped plex simply because it was a closed source daemon. There is an OSX version of mediatomb, but I have no first hand experience since I own no Apple products.

I played with mediatomb, and serviio and I finally just used Samba and/or Avahi (on an old Mac Pro 10.7.5). I run XBMC (on Openelec) which has never choked on any file format I've presented it with while the "streaming servers" can get quite picky. It's all inside my LAN and I can password the shares so my guests and their children can't access my spanking videos and like that.