Since our recent invite bonanza, we've enjoyed the heck out of our Hulu membership. But, since its inception, Hulu has been a US-only party. And, while OPENHulu or TVparadise opened up Hulu to a crowd of non-invitees, international users were still out of luck.Of course if you're willing to trick Hulu into thinking your non-US computer is actually connected to a US internet connection, you can get around that restriction. One way for non-US residents to watch Hulu videos is by using a program called Hotspot Shield. We say "it seems" because, since we are inside the US, we don't have a method of testing whether or not this works.
Here's how it done:
Hotspot Shield is a free program which creates a virtual private network between your computer and a wireless router. While its focus is mainly on protecting your private information from hackers (you've seen them before: those shady characters sunk deep into a comfy chair at Starbucks, a Dell on their lap, a dark beanie almost covering their eyes, a decaf java chip mocha Frappucino melting silently on the table next to them), in this case, it keeps Hulu from recognizing that you are outside the US. Therefore, because Hulu doesn't know where you are from, it assumes the best and gives you full, unadulterated access to all content.
The best thing is, if this works, it will work for all US-only sites (Hello, Pandora)!
International Download Squad readers, please let us know if this works for you in the comments.
[Via profit42.com, thanks Denis!]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
1-07-2008 @ 3:38PM
Filip Norrgård said...
Well, they don't mention that some driver the program needs to install can't get installed in _64-bit_ Vista with the result that the whole program doesn't work for me right now... :(
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1-28-2008 @ 2:12PM
Eugene said...
We are testing the x64 bit version and it should be out in the next few weeks.
1-07-2008 @ 3:46PM
emmzee said...
Works for me in Canada using Windows XP Pro. I'm now able to view movies on Openhulu.com movies whereas I couldn't before, even when I tried using a regular http proxy server.
Hotspot Shield isn't something you'd want to leave running all the time since it puts banner ads on every web page that you view ... but as a temporary solution it works fine and is easily turned on/off via the systray icon.
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1-07-2008 @ 4:17PM
Marc Walker said...
now what we need is something like this for winmo so i can use opera to listen to Pandora on the go
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1-07-2008 @ 4:23PM
Fabian said...
A W E S O M E !
works with pandorajam in OS X too!
love it, thanks
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1-07-2008 @ 4:38PM
James said...
Is there an equivalent that will let us Yanks get past the deflector shields on the BBC player? I would really love to have access to a couple of BBC shows that I otherwise can't find here in the States...
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1-07-2008 @ 5:23PM
x20mar said...
I was wondering that myself. My dad works abroad all the time and Torchwood starts next week.
As I've said before that it doesn't work for NBC Direct so I doubt that it will work for the BBC iplayer. Maybe a proxy server?
1-08-2008 @ 8:17PM
OC said...
Would also love to know how to watch the BBC from the USA.
1-28-2008 @ 2:12PM
Eugene said...
we will be introducing a solution for you to be able to use it and be in the UK.
:)
1-07-2008 @ 4:51PM
x20mar said...
News from the UK:
OpenHulu works with this software however NBC Direct Does not, so I guessing it works for Streaming sites that doesn't require you to download additional browser Ad-ons or Software
Hope That Helps
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1-07-2008 @ 4:55PM
Thomas Huxley said...
I've been using this for a few works now and works a charm.
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1-07-2008 @ 4:58PM
Joern said...
thanks for,
works fine here from Hamburg, Germany
installed on MacOS 10.5.1
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1-07-2008 @ 5:51PM
Erez said...
Is this legal?
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1-07-2008 @ 7:08PM
krishna said...
from UK:
it doesnt work for me:( XP when i launch hotspotshield it doesnt comeup and it doesnt connect when i am trying tu connect, can anyone help
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1-07-2008 @ 8:52PM
Geoff R said...
Hey Simon,
Anchorfree is a good option, but a much better and faster option is to use something called UltraSurf, which is a program developed to bypass the Great Firewall of China. (http://www.ultrareach.com/company/download.htm)
It automatically connects to the fastest possible US proxies. You can also set it up to route only one browser (IE for example) or tunnel other traffic such as BitTorrent.
We students come up with great ways to bypass the school's firewall.
www.gearfire.net
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1-08-2008 @ 5:05PM
Gon said...
Man! Ultrareach works great!! I can now use Pandora. I can't try Hulu, cause I need an account... waiting list here I come!
Thank you Simon and Geoff for such good tip!! :)
1-07-2008 @ 8:59PM
Tom said...
yeh, hotspot shield WORKED for me...
then i went past its 10gb monthly bandwidth that they don't tell you about, and its not working anymore
all i was doing was watching Hulu videos,
tip to everyone outside the states watching Hulu through Hotspot shield, connect to hotspot, start watching the movie, and then disconnect, it should work just fine...
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1-07-2008 @ 11:16PM
Diego Garcia said...
@krishna try to disable your firewall.
Works good, greetings from Mexico City.
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1-07-2008 @ 11:24PM
ks said...
Works perfectly in Tokyo, Japan at Mac OS X Leopard. And fast!
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1-07-2008 @ 11:45PM
IsNoGood said...
Well sorry to be the one that say so, however I have no idea how its to be able to "VPN" anything from a any WIFI router to you client software to me that's just gas you cant make a VPN link using only client software and I don't remember seeing any of the Linksys or D-links, Cisco AP supporting something like this,
And personally I don't trust a company that under products also have "Rewards Bar"
If you don't have a "real" VPN solution don't use a Hot spot for anything other than Websurf, don't access you Pop3 or Google mail, that's my 5 C,
Anybody know better her is you cue.
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