Filed under: Internet, Video, web 2.0
Watch Hulu videos outside of the US with Hotspot Shield
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!]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Paul said 10:45AM on 1-28-2008
I found this while looking for a way to use a proxy server, which would probably work, but too slow for films etc. It seems to work fine, and got me as far as downloading the plug-in for ABC.com Full Episodes, which was what I was aimimg for. However when I tried to stream any of the full episodes, I got an error message saying 'Episodes are temporarily unavailable. Try again at another time' I get it every time I try, so guess the good stuff is still protected from anonymous users, and it doesn't assume you are in the States just because it can't identify your IP.
On the plus side I got Pandora back, which is good. Anyone else found anythin worth watching that was restricted?
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Linda said 5:36PM on 3-15-2008
Help me please!!!! Im in norway trying to use hotspot, but it dont connect, just says waiting for server for a loong loong time.. something I´m doing wrong??
I would love having this wonder program work :)
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colin said 9:07AM on 3-17-2008
hey this works great with hulu.com however it dosnt seem to be able to do fox on demand :( any1 else tried this its looks well good :D hopefully someone will find a way if they do post it up here cheers
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Brian ADAMSON said 3:03PM on 3-30-2008
It worked fine for me from Ireland, problem I think I left it active. Sometimes it switched itself off then I had to reset it. Now it will not reset. I still dont know on start up what it means by catagory or current sponser. Anyone outthere can help? Brian
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Steve said 2:00PM on 4-03-2008
Its working beautifully here in Berlin Germany.I am using a Windows Vista PC.
Unfortunatly I also got caught in the 10 Giga trap and got thrown out in the middle of Ghosthunters.
Is there a way around this.
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Filip Norrgård said 3:38PM on 1-07-2008
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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Eugene said 2:12PM on 1-28-2008
We are testing the x64 bit version and it should be out in the next few weeks.
emmzee said 3:46PM on 1-07-2008
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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Marc Walker said 4:17PM on 1-07-2008
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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Fabian said 4:23PM on 1-07-2008
A W E S O M E !
works with pandorajam in OS X too!
love it, thanks
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James said 4:38PM on 1-07-2008
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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x20mar said 5:23PM on 1-07-2008
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?
OC said 8:17PM on 1-08-2008
Would also love to know how to watch the BBC from the USA.
Eugene said 2:12PM on 1-28-2008
we will be introducing a solution for you to be able to use it and be in the UK.
:)
x20mar said 4:51PM on 1-07-2008
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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Thomas Huxley said 4:55PM on 1-07-2008
I've been using this for a few works now and works a charm.
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Joern said 4:58PM on 1-07-2008
thanks for,
works fine here from Hamburg, Germany
installed on MacOS 10.5.1
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Erez said 5:51PM on 1-07-2008
Is this legal?
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krishna said 7:08PM on 1-07-2008
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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Pinguy said 10:27AM on 1-08-2008
WOW, thank you alot for this great tip. I am from the UK and even behind a router and it still works fine, it even works with CBS site.
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