Using Hulu in Costa Rica

[DavidCMurray]

With the rainy season and the constant rain-caused interruptions in our satellite TV signal, I’ve been mulling over the alternatives. Is anyone using Hulu here in Costa Rica or, for that matter, in the U.S? If yes, I’d love to hear your reaction to it.

I know that Hulu is only available to U.S. subscribers but I’m pretty sure I could get to it via a VPN. (For the uninitiated, a “virtual private network” is a service that lets you appear to be accessing the Internet from a U.S. location. A good VPN will permit you to appear to be in any one of several U.S. locations.)

And if not Hulu, then what?

[costaricabill]

David
We use Hulu through a VPN and it works great. We originally got our Netflix through the VPN as well, but now that is not necessary. We also use Roku, but the int’l selection is not great.
Crb

[pranaspakeywest]

I use a “blocker” to be able to use both Hulu and Netflix.
I find the new locally available Netflix to have far less offerings then the US version.
A new discovery for us which has been pretty great is ustvnow.com
You must NOT use a blocker, since it remarkably seems to be for those of us outside of the US.
For free you can watch the three networks live as well as a few other channels.
For pay, you can access many more.
The downside is that you get all of the commercials as well, but hey, it’s free.

[DavidCMurray]

What is the “blocker” you’ve mentioned? Is there a name for it? What does it do?

[pranaspakeywest]

Maybe blocker isn’t the real term to use.
I am on a Mac, and the one I use is Netshade, and IP Blocker.
Sounds like the same thing that you are already using.
It costs around $20 per year. I tried the free ones, but none of them would work with my Mac.
I have had the service go down for a day here and there, other then that, it has been great.

[costaricabill]

[quote=”DavidCMurray”]What is the “blocker” you’ve mentioned? Is there a name for it? What does it do?
[/quote]

David – I think he is referring to things like “HideMyAss” or maybe even a VPN. I just went to it, answered their 3-4 simple questions, entered an email address and password, signed in and badabing – there is the program guide, clicked on a channel and there it is. It looks like you can record programs as well.

It works – so far!
crb

[costaricabill]

[quote=”costaricabill”]David – I think he is referring to things like “HideMyAss” or maybe even a VPN. I just went to it, answered their 3-4 simple questions, entered an email address and password, signed in and badabing – there is the program guide, clicked on a channel and there it is. It looks like you can record programs as well.

It works – so far!
crb[/quote]

OK, it does work but as he said you only get the “terrestrial” channels (+ a few more) for free. They have several monthly plans that include more channels.

Also looks like the programs air at eastern time zone times – that’s good, my wife won’t have to stay up so late to watch her favorite shows! (My slingbox resides in California) so this will be much better for the few network offerings we choose to watch.)

Thanks for sharing, pranaspakeywest! This is a great find.

David, please let me know if you find any flaws. Thinking about this a bit more, I think you may resist it. Not being in the witness protection program I had no hesitation to answer their questions, but realizing your situation I can understand if you choose not to sign up.

[DavidCMurray]

Thanks for the update, guys. Since I last wrote about this, I’ve been in touch with my friend who is also my Internet provider here in Grecia. For technical reasons that would put you to sleep in a heartbeat, we’re going to try a slightly different approach to get to the same end.

As soon as a piece of hardware comes in, I’m going to enroll in Netflix because their programming seems to be more akin to our interests than Hulu’s. Then I’ll subscribe to a VPN, install a second small electronic frammis (a technical term) and see what happens. I’ll let you know.

In the meantime, please know that it is not I but the bearded dude in the picture who’s in the witness protection program. I’m on the lam from Animal Control.

[sprite]

In the States, I gave up TV several years ago. Dump the dish or cable, trash the antennae and move up to the 21st century. I watch HULU sometimes and rely on other internet options for other viewing and listening. Virtually any movie, documentary or even corporate media crap can also be found online. HULU carries most of the popular corporate media stuff.

I pay a few bucks a month for the HULU PLUS with opens up more movie options and lets me use the iPhone for viewing as well but most everything online can be had for no cost.

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