The wonders of VPNs - How to watch your favourite TV away from home

The lone wolf's best friend

Many of you won’t be interested in this article as even admitting any hint of lone-wolfishness may tarnish your flowering reputation as an BNOE (Big Name on Erasmus). But for those of you, like me, who enjoy your own company, here’s a little something that’ll help you make the most of your precious alone time.

Too scared to stream?

I’m not saying I never do anything at all. Far from it. But after working I love to just turn off for a while, binge watching a Netflix series or watching some football. However, when I first got to Murcia and wanted to wind down after my flight and extremely expensive taxi, I was distraught to find that Netflix ‘had not yet arrived in Spain’. What was supposed to be a relaxing first night in my new apartment quickly turned sour as I trawled through the internet, desperately searching for alternatives.

I’ve never been a big streamer. Unless it’s an Arsenal match, I’m often too nervous to go exploring the dark world of online streaming, the fear of contracting a virus is always too much for me to bear. I know that most of the time, despite the adverts suggesting there are some married women nearby who want to piss of their husbands, they are safe. However, to avoid accidentally becoming someone’s toy-boy whilst trying to watch an episode of Masterchef, I found an alternative that lets me watch Netflix, BBC iPlayer etc. despite not being in the UK.

This wondrous invention is called a Virtual Private Network (VPN) and the one I use is called Hide My Ass (HMA) which given it’s rather bold name, does exactly what it says on the tin.

You have to pay for a subscription, however there are different price plans depending how long you want it for, and let me tell you, it’s worth it. It allows you to encrypt your IP address and then, as if by magic, you can access BBC iPlayer, Netflix and Sky Go without having to explore the dark underbelly of the internet world.

It might seem dodgier than typing in ‘free online stream’ and clicking the first thing you see, the name doesn’t really inspire too much confidence. But the fact you have to pay as well as the efficiency of the programme dispels any of these fears after the first use.

Travel the world... with proxy servers

It doesn’t confine you to accessing content from your native country. You can change your IP to anywhere in the world. For example, you can even access Netflix content from the USA, notorious for having a much wider variety than the UK selection. This means it’s even useful for when you get back home. Should you not finish your new favourite series during your Erasmus downtime, you can keep changing your IP for each Netflix bout at home.

The website explains exactly how everything works and why it is the best choice. It provides 182 different servers worldwide and offers customer support through internet chat or by phone, should you have any queries or doubts. It also guarantees to keep your internet speed high, something I can personally vouch for. Although the internet in my apartment is sometimes awful, no matter where I’m connected to, it stays just as fast (or slow) as if I weren’t.

Cost

There are three price plans available: 1 month, 6 months and 12 month subscription. As I said, depending how much of a social butterfly you are will determine whether you want to spend the money or not.

• 1 month - $11.52
• 6 months - $49.99 ($8.33) per month
• 12 months - $78.66 ($6.55) per month

This 6 month plan saves you 27% whilst the year long plan saves you 43%. Again, depending on how much you’ll think you use it will help you decide, but the 6 month plan is perfect for anyone wanting to have it has a safety net during the start of their year, should the whole making friends plan go tits up.

Forget dogs!

All in all, it’s worth getting. It’s really cheap, so even if you don’t end up using it as often as you thought you would, it’s hardly breaking the bank. The 6 month plan works out at £5.50 a month, less than Netflix. I’m sure you’d be able to squeeze it into your budget.

Also, you’ll be glad you got it should you want to watch a film one evening, whether on your own or with your housemates. It gives you a reliable and safe means to do so, without having to wait for things to buffer or closing pop-ups every 5 minutes.

I enjoy winding down, having some time alone and watching my favourite TV. Anyone that thinks their Erasmus year abroad will be completely full of parties is wrong. You’ll have a lot of things to do, yeah, but in the grand scheme of things, there will be times when you want to have a break from the relentless adventure of the year abroad, or when there is genuinely nothing to do. What better way to spend that time than buying 2 packets of biscuits, a bottle of coke and watching a whole season of Parks and Recreation?

They say a dog is a man’s best friend, but in this internet age we live in, I’d beg to differ. HMA may well have nipped in at number one, and it looks set to stay that way, for a while at least.

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