Slate 7 (GL-BE3600) and BBC iPlayer?

Routers
1

I just bought a Slate 7 travel router (GL-BE3600). One of the main usage scenarios is to provide a VPN connection for our Samsung TV in order to be able to use it as if it was a UK-based TV - so it needs to be able to play the iPlayer app.

My VPN provider is PureVPN. I installed the two WireGuard profiles available for download from PureVPN on the router, but I don't consistently get access to the BBC iPlayer via these connections on my Mac. In fact, it only worked the first time round, but never since then - and I have in the meantime also reset the router twice to start from scratch. I also tried a few OpenVPN profiles - again, no luck.

If I use the PureVPN app on my Mac, I have no trouble accessing iPlayer content. They also offer a specific “BBC” option, for which I couldn’t find a WireGuard version. I have now opened a ticket with them to find out more.

But maybe there’s someone here who can help?

3

OK - PureVPN has now answered my question as follows:

“Thank you for reaching out to us and sharing your query. Allow us to inform you that BBC streaming is generally not recommended at the router level, either via Wireguard or OpenVPN, which means the general connection would work through the router, but there can be certain complications when using it for streaming BBC.

The alternative is to use PureVPN directly through the app on all of your devices, including your Mac and Samsung TV if it is Android-supported.”

4

Hi

PureVPN seems to use DNS for BBC iPlayer geo-unblocking instead of the VPN server’s own IP geolocation.

We tested this locally, and the following configuration worked for us: