Preface
Firstly, we would like to clarify that the term "streaming" in this article refers to streaming media that may not be available on normal channels, not "free unlocked video membership". Also, please use caution when accessing the internet scientifically and comply with local laws and regulations.
In this article, I will be looking at streaming media such as Netflix, HBO (U.S.), Hulu (U.S.), Youtube, DirecTV, and many others such as Amazon Prime Video, iTunes, Twitch, etc. Since I don't need to use them, I didn't review them. But the process of unlocking most services is pretty much the same.
Requirements for unlocking
Obviously, to unlock these services you need to learn the science of surfing the Internet, which means getting past the biggest firewall in the world. Due to some unspecified reasons, this firewall will certainly remain in place for the time being. But if you're just using it for academic purposes to use normal streaming services or to play games on foreign services, there's no problem.
But unlocking streaming services is not the same as other needs, as censorship is a two-way street, and this is mainly for commercial paid streams, as there are often copyright issues involved. Some streamers are particularly strict about Proxy, the strictest of which would be Hulu and Netflix, the two streaming providers known as Hulu, and Netflix. Conversely, streaming services like Youtube don't need to worry about the viability of the scientific internet approach, as Google doesn't censor Proxy traffic. Since the region I use to stream from here is mainly the US, the best pairing to use is a US ladder, and be careful not to choose a larger provider such as a tile mover, as their IP segments are blocked out by the paid streamers, with only a few segments surviving. Of course, the least expensive way is to look for airports that unlock streaming services, as the server traffic you build yourself can easily be detected as abnormal and have your IP blocked.
Common tips:
Streaming services | regions | Proxy detection | GPS detection |
Youtube | Global | None | None |
Netflix | Global | Strictly | None |
Hulu | USA, Japan | Strictly | None |
HBO | USA, HK & Taiwan | Normal | None |
DirecTV | USA | Normal | Needs to be located in the USA |
Youtube TV | USA (selected cities) | Strictly | Need to be located in the city where the service is available |
\Note: Global refers to all but a few countries and regions. GPS detection is generally available for mobile devices other than PCs and TVs that must have GPS enabled and be in a defined area to provide service.*
Youtube
This is probably the easiest one to unlock. It's free and the ads are skipped in 5s (of course there is also Youtube Premium which allows you to watch some independent TV shows and movies released by YouTube without ads). There are also many videos for learning, so it's a must for poor students.
Netflix
Although Netflix is very strict about proxy checks, I'd put it as the second easiest. For what reason? Because Netflix is available almost everywhere in the world, which means you only need the servers of any non-major VPS provider or the unlocked service of a specialist VPN provider to watch it. Of course, what you can see depends on the scope of local rights. There's a blood money doorway here. That is, the region where the account is paid for is not necessarily the same as the region where you are watching. What you watch is the region where your current IP is located, which means that if you subscribe to the service in a cheaper region such as the Philippines, and have a server in the US or Hong Kong, you will naturally save the price difference.
For Netflix packages, it's best to go for at least 1080p. Of course, if you have a 4K TV at home, you can go straight to the 4K UHD or even 4K UHD HDR package, as this allows you to watch on 4 devices at the same time, so you can share the purchase with several people. (And of course, the almighty Sompo monthly package account is cheap too).
Note that if you are an Android user, you will need to crack the Netflix hardware security flag yourself if you are not on the native Google framework (especially from domestic phone manufacturers), otherwise you can only transfer up to 480P videos.
Hulu
Hulu is also an American streaming service provider; but is only available in the US and Japan. Note: US and Japanese accounts do not work together. So make sure you have a ladder for both regions before you try it, and don't get your account in the wrong region. Since I'm using a US account, the next step is naturally the US experience.
If you have the money, you should go to Hulu with Live TV, because for many shows like The Bigbang Theory, the streaming rights are owned by CBS (CBS Access), so if you want to watch them on other streaming services, you have to buy additional packages or subscribe to more platforms, which is a bit of a pain, but there's no way around it. I usually listen to talk shows and sitcoms like Saturday Night Live, The Jimmy Fat Len Show, etc. on Hulu.
Hulu also has its series, but not many, probably because its major shareholders are traditional TV service providers, so they are afraid of self-produced series stealing the limelight. There are, however, great shows like The Handmaid's Tale.
HBO
HBO is divided into HBO NOW and HBO GO, the latter being much more expensive than the former because GO also offers live HBO TV, which is worth a lot of money.
When it comes to HBO, you can't go wrong with its self-produced American series, such as Game of Thrones and West World, among others. It is recommended for fans of HBO. Of course, HBO's power source is a little more complete than the first two, but the experience and user-friendliness of the UI are the worst of the three.
In addition, HBO's detection of Proxy is relatively weak, and I tested that the Vultr nodes in my lab can watch HBO NOW, while the other two are not available at all. So as long as you have a US node, you are probably unlocking the HBO NOW service.
DirecTV
This service is an online TV service provided by AT&T in the USA. The service is not very good personality, to be honest. First of all the experience is extremely poor, the PC side can only be viewed on the web, and since I am using the Cisco Video Guard plugin, I can't find the exe to forward the traffic directly, and I can't find the corresponding port. So you need a scientific router to solve the last step of authorising viewing and the web page is written in a rubbish way. Even when it comes to mobile, whether iOS or Android, the UI is probably entirely HTML5 frameworks from the web, which is cardboard and ugly, and crucially hard to use. But it's better than nothing, so forget it. If you can, you should go to Sling TV or Youtube TV. Note, however, that GPS location verification is required to use these TV services on mobile. I think this is because TV services in the US are monopolised by a few large companies and then partitioned to provide local TV services. If you force the app's location permissions to be turned off, basically only ESPN is available to me when I tried it.
When using these TV services, the Android side can use the fake GPS virtual location to solve the problem, while iOS devices need to swipe the script on the PC side to change the location information without jailbreaking. However, the disadvantage of the non-jailbroken method of modifying iOS is that the device manager cannot turn on or off the virtual location service at any time.
Appendix
Streaming summary
Service type | Name | Degree of difficulty to unlock |
Video and live streaming | Youtube Twitch | None |
Movies and series | Netflix Prime Hulu HBO Xfinity | Normal |
Cable Internet | SlingTV DirecTV YoutubeTV | Harder |
Music | Spotify Pandora Tidal SoundCloud | None |
List of supported streaming service operating systems and shops (Y is supported, N is not supported)
Apple TV | Chrome | MS Store | iOS | Android | Android TV | Linux | |
Spotify | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
Netflix | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N |
Hulu | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N |
HBO | Y | Y | N | Y | Y | Y | N |
DirecTV | Y | Y | N | Y | Y | N | N |
Youtube | Y | Y | N | Y | Y | Y | N |
\ Note: Browser support indicates a PC-based browser and service availability is independent of the PC-based operating system. Also, Netflix can only be used in its licensed Android TV terminal.*
