VPN for Starlink?

[Chris Summers]

Nord VPN worked perfectly for me watching sport using a Starlink mini for the last three months in Europe.

Hi,

How do you actually connect through Nord vpn? Do I have to download an app and if so is that on a fire stick? Sorry but I am not that technical

 

[Chris Summers]

Me too. We use it with it Firestick and it works brilliantly..

Hi how do you actually get connected?

 

[MrPG]

Hi,

How do you actually connect through Nord vpn? Do I have to download an app and if so is that on a fire stick? Sorry but I am not that technical

I don’t use a TV, I only watch some big sports events while away on a MacBook.
So yes for me it’s through an app.

 

[Fat Albert]

Hi how do you actually get connected?

You need a NordVPN account then download the NordVPN app from the Firestick apps library. Open the Firestick app and enter your account details. I do have to start the VPN first, make sure it's connected to a UK server before watching any UK programs.

 

[AladinsaneUK]

Interesting thread, but a couple of observations of my own

Used a 3 based data sim last summer in France and Spain with no problems - that son our own mi-fi router that then feeds the other devices.... BUT the results could be hit and miss depending on where you were for coverage. (Same as the UK tbh - there are parts of Norfolk that have only just got used to the Infernal Combustion Engine let alone mobile coverage.....

Re using a fire stick - please be aware that if you want to run anything that amazon don't want you to run - the old side loading trick - that's being stopped so just be aware! (I switched to a google TV box and an equivalent stick for my slightly interesting way of supporting Leeds United.....

VPNs - I use one, partly due to my interesting habit watching football - they are very very necessary. As a free standard VPN you have togo a long way to beat ProtonVPN. However, that's limited in some ways, so I elected to pay for Surfshark. I chose Surfshark over Nord simply because Nord is limited in how many devices you can connect to, where as Surfshark is unlimited in real terms. (Wife and myself both have iPhone, iPad, MacBook and we then have the two slightly dodgy bits of kit - so that's 8 devices with out even thinking of it....

It's also worth considering / exploring what country you select as your VPN - sky sports seems to be able to manage the German VPN choices if you are streaming sky's sports streams..... currently, I seem to live in Antwerp an awful lot of the time!

Re mobile Mi-Fi vs starlink... to me its a no brainer now - I don't like the company owner, but for sheer ease of use, and pretty much guaranteed reception starlink every time
(And yes, sod the expense - give the cat another canary)

 

[starquake]

Re using a fire stick - please be aware that if you want to run anything that amazon don't want you to run - the old side loading trick - that's being stopped so just be aware! (I switched to a google TV box and an equivalent stick for my slightly interesting way of supporting Leeds United.....

Luckily you don't need anything dodgy for UK tv, just the VPN client which amazon fully support (it's on their app store for all the major vpn providers). Small VPN providers won't be though, and things like Wireguard needed side loading.

The way I watch sport abroad isn't anything"dodgy" and should continue to work just fine unlike those using the dodgier firmware tricks.

 

[starquake]

You need a NordVPN account then download the NordVPN app from the Firestick apps library. Open the Firestick app and enter your account details. I do have to start the VPN first, make sure it's connected to a UK server before watching any UK programs.

This is how it works for all the major VPN providers.

Some of them (like ExpressVPN) allow to select which apps USE the vpn, so you can have NEtflix not using it, with iplayer using it as an example, as Netflix works quite well without a vpn in most places if you watching Netflix (originals) at least.

Should caveat with one thing you should know -> don't start any app before starting the vpn. Otherwise you may need to force restart the app you watching on as it'll think you not in uk from the previous attempt. On a firestick you do this with the cog on the remote from memory in the app list (force close I think it is). ALternatively you can reboot the firestick.

 

[coopc]

We very rarely watch any live TV anymore and use catch up or record stuff using a network based TV tuner (a HDHomeRun tuner circa £100) I hate adverts so we record any show we like via a small dedicated PC (Lenovo mini pc circa £70 from ebay) and use Plex to watch on any TV at home and away
Like others have said a direct connection to home via something like Tailscale or direct home VPN is relatively easy to set up
I like being able to log into my home network from anywhere and do admin stuff if needed

As my set has been operational for at least 10 yrs our only additional setup for travel was to turn on the VPN on our router and use wireguard on our devices
The home router option has the added benefit of secure wireguard wifi connections when using other wifi systems
Ok the cost to set up will set you back circa £250 but the beauty of this kind of system is that anything recorded can be watched anytime anywhere and if you have the system for a while you end up with a huge library of stuff to watch on TV, iPad, Phone any device which supports plex.
Even without plex you can still stream stuff free with apps like Tvheadend and Kodi or bulid a system using the Raspberry pi TV hat or a PC with a Hauppage tuner dongle

Sims like the tesco sim is great for unlimited data. Starlink for almost Gteed data
A few search's on the net will take you to many options I just wanted to highlight the system I use that works from home or abroad and keeps my other half happy that every day away she can watch her soaps at her leisure and I can keep up with the junk I watch
Everyones needs are different, hopefully you will find a system that suits your needs

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[MrPG]

Soaps, films etc can be watched anytime on a variety of devices. The OP specifically asked about sports which heavily guard their revenue streams.

 

[GeeCee]

You must have been luckier than me because I’m always getting poor 5G on campsites abroad . I’d say it’s 50:50 poor and good . My experience of VPNs admittedly is even worse .

5G isn't as that widely avaialable. 4G is everywhere

 

[starquake]

5G isn't as that widely avaialable. 4G is everywhere

5g isn't that widely available on a UK sim when roaming (5g roaming can be restricted by roaming partners).. On a French one, in France, we got 5g at all bar two places on a month tour last year.

And in UK cell towers are being upgraded at at rate of 10-100's per day to 5g. It's not 1000's, but it's notable even North Norfolk coast has 5g now, well unless you are on a O2 sim. O2 are NOT upgrading when compared with EE and Three/Voda. Three and Voda have already reused some 900mhz and 800mhz gains for 4/5g dual mode operation from recent experiences.

In reality 5g is in a lot more places than even the carrier maps are showing at moment (the maps are lagging behind reality).

 

[StillGoing]

5G isn't as that widely avaialable. 4G is everywhere

It depends who your carrier is and where you are as to the availability of 4G. It certainly isn’t everywhere where I live, e.g. the centre of Warwick is hopeless for 4G or 5G on O2. I moved from O2 to EE because O2 4G is so poor around my home location. O2 have since upgraded the local tower to 5G but they haven’t extended the coverage.

 

[starquake]

It depends who your carrier is and where you are as to the availability of 4G. It certainly isn’t everywhere where I live, e.g. the centre of Warwick is hopeless for 4G or 5G on O2. I moved from O2 to EE because O2 4G is so poor around my home location. O2 have since upgraded the local tower to 5G but they haven’t extended the coverage.

O2 have materially less 5g frequency space available than any of the other carriers, as such have considerably more challenge in expanding coverage (as you can't have neighbouring frequencies in use to avoid interference). Three before Vodafone merger had the most. EE was 2nd worse, following Merger, VodaThree have > 50% of the frequencies, until ofcom redistrubute at least!

Should add the above is why I can't reccomend Tesco mobile in UK, theres a visual somewhere I'll try to dig out showing just how small their allocation is, but it's roughly 10% of what Three have BEFORE the merger.

 

[robscriven]

Me too. We use it with it Firestick and it works brilliantly..

Now TV worked for me on Sunday on. Netgem Freely puck using NordVPN