Unblock-US and other DNS servers being blocked on Virgin

[Asura]

Just got an email back from Unblock-US, a VPN service that I imagine many people here use, after their VPN has failed to work on my PS3 for nearly a week.

I don't think it's been widely made known yet, but Virgin are apparently blocking DNS services that aren't either their own or OpenDNS. This isn't some kind of coincidence, it's a specific action they've taken.

The reason, I presume, is to try and shut down services Unblock US to make their own, UK-based versions of services like Netflix seem more attractive by forcing UK customers to use the UK Netflix.

This seems a bit dodgy, seeing as though we (and I imagine many other people) don't use those UK services because the American service embarrasses them in terms of quality and quantity of what I want to watch.

If you've been having with such services recently, and you're on Virgin, this is probably why.

This goes against net neutrality, for one thing, and it suggests something I've always been concerned about - that the ISPs will start getting delusions of grandeur about being anything other than the "dumb pipe" I pay them to be.

Going to look into switching to BT this week.

[EvilBoris]

You wait, they'll spin it to say that people use these services to access banned sites such as pirate bay and they are complying with the regulation that governs them

[VR46]

Going to look into switching to BT this week.

Beware the 40GB a month limit with Inifinity if you're in to streaming stuff in a big way.

I can still access PB via three different proxy's I've just tried so they're still working at the minute.

[EvilBoris]

Beware the 40GB a month limit with Inifinity if you're in to streaming stuff in a big way.

I can still access PB via three different proxy's I've just tried so they're still working at the minute.

Not on their more expensive ones.

[randombs]

Blimey, that's awful.

I guess it was only a matter of time before these ISPs would crack down.

I think your best bet would be to aim for an ISP that isn't in competition with Netflix and other online video services.

[Asura]

You wait, they'll spin it to say that people use these services to access banned sites such as pirate bay and they are complying with the regulation that governs them

I know, and it's frustrating because I started to use these services so I could contribute to the industry, and not use piracy.

[EJG1980]

I'm on Virgin Media and I use the Unlocator smartdns service to access the US WWE Network, as yet I haven't had any problems with it not working (touch wood). They have a page about how to get around ISPs hijacking DNS requests, not sure if this is the same thing that Asura was talking about in the opening post but I thought I'd post a link just in case it helps:

https://support.unlocator.com/customer/portal/articles/1440517-how-to-bypass-dns-hijacking

[Brad]

Microsoft took over no - ip recently and essentially shut it down. This is just the beginning. ..

[EvilBoris]

It's all going to ****, Netflix is paying off some US ISPs to lift their bandwdith restrictions and have higher priority within their networks.

That opens the door to other kinds of capitalistic practices that the internet has been immune to.

[Asura]

Can anyone, then, suggest an ISP that has no direct interest in doing this?

BT, Sky and Virgin are immediately out.

PlusNet, maybe?

EDIT: Plusnet's packages seem very well priced, so looks like I'll be switching come the end of the month.

[charlesr]

If you don't want to be messed about you have to pay ?30+ per month (which I've been paying for years). Zen, Vivaciti.

Also, try UnoTelly

[randombs]

^^ Asura may have the same issue with UnoTelly that there is with Unblock-Us because it's the same system.

They have a page about how to get around ISPs hijacking DNS requests, not sure if this is the same thing that Asura was talking about in the opening post but I thought I'd post a link just in case it helps:


https://support.unlocator.com/custom...-dns-hijacking

Thanks for this! It might come in handy if my ISP does the same thing.

[Asura]

Problem is that I use Unblock-US purely on my PS3, not any other devices - so I'm limited in what I can do. I don't want it on my router/PC because I don't want those devices thinking I'm a US customer, like for MMOs etc.

[EvilBoris]

Problem is that I use Unblock-US purely on my PS3, not any other devices - so I'm limited in what I can do. I don't want it on my router/PC because I don't want those devices thinking I'm a US customer, like for MMOs etc.

Remember , those DNS servers only work for specific sites and traffic, it should not redirect you to US servers for an MMO unless it is a specific feature of the service.

[EvilBoris]

Problem is that I use Unblock-US purely on my PS3, not any other devices - so I'm limited in what I can do. I don't want it on my router/PC because I don't want those devices thinking I'm a US customer, like for MMOs etc.

Remember , those DNS servers only work for specific sites and traffic, it should not redirect you to US servers for an MMO unless it is a specific feature of the service.