Tunlr DNS: Watch Hulu, Pandora, Netflix and Others Without VPN

Many services based on the entertainment industry, viz. the music and movies, are geographically restricted because of licensing issues. The video streaming service Hulu, movies on demand service NetFlix and Internet radio service Pandora, for example, are available only within the United States. Similarly, BBC iPlayer and Channel 4 are only for the U.K. audience. But the global Internet population couldn’t be easily kept away from such treasures. Many Internet users are getting around the geo-location block using proxy, and VPN services in particular.

A large number of VPN providers have sprung up in a short period of time to meet demands. Unfortunately, they are all paid services and for students and for those without a regular paycheck, even $5 a month is expensive. Besides, they're are already paying for Internet connectivity. Free VPN services are available but they are always subject to abuse because of which they either become slow, restrictive or shut down entirely.



Recently, a new free service called Tunlr has emerged that allows users to access services blocked outside the United States. But Tunlr does not provide VPN service. It is a DNS unblocking service that uses a combination of a DNS server and a collection of proxies in various countries to go around the geographical block. The user simply change their DNS servers to those provided by Tunlr. After doing this, they are able to bypass the block and access Hulu, Netflix, Pandora and any of the supported services.

Unlike VPN, where the content is routed through the VPN servers, with Tunlr users are able to stream directly from the blocked service with no intermediary servers in between. Besides, Tunlr is free.

Tunlr can unblock the following services:

• US video streaming services: Netflix, Hulu, CBS, ABC, MTV, theWB, CW TV, Crackle, NBC, Fox, TV.com, PBS, Vevo, History, Lifetime TV,
• US audio streaming services: Pandora, Last.fm, Turntable.fm, Mog.com, iHeartRadio,
• Non-US services: BBC iPlayer (UK), Channel4 4oD (UK), iTV Player (UK), and Zattoo (Germany).

How Does Tunlr Work?

Tunlr uses two main components - a DNS server and a collection of proxies located in different countries. When your computer sends a DNS query for a blocked website, for example, hulu.com, instead Hulu’s real IP address, the Tunlr DNS server returns the IP addresses of a proxy server operated by Tunlr in the US.

When your connection is received by Tunlr’s proxy in the correct country, it is forwarded to the service provider e.g. Hulu. For Hulu, you appear to be in the correct country because it sees the IP address of the proxy server located in the US.

Once the IP address check is passed, and your connection established, Tunlr re-introduces your true IP address into the data stream so that the video content is streamed directly to your computer and not through Tunlr’s proxy server.

In order not to overwhelm their DNS servers with request, Tunlr strongly recommends that you switch to their DNS servers only when required to access the blocked services. You can do this easily using tools such as Public DNS Server Tool or DNS Changer. If you are using an alternative router firmware such as DD-WRT and Tomato, it is also possible to use Tunlr DNS for only the supported sites and use ISP’s for all other sites.

Unfortunately, many people are using their DNS servers in a permanent fashion, which forced Tunlr to introduce restrictive measures. Tunlr wrote in their blog.

Since too many users are using our DNS servers in a permanent fashion, we have to introduce some form of traffic shaping in order to make the permanent use of our DNS servers less attractive with the ultimate goal to keep Tunlr a free service. We’re going to implement artificial response delays and tighten the existing request rate-limiters on our DNS servers. This is going to slow down internet surfing a lot (!) for anyone who’s permanently using Tunlr’s DNS servers.

And from their FAQ:

We’re not aiming to provide a professional 24/7 service. Tunlr is up when it’s up, and is down when it’s down.

If you want to use Tunlr, please pay heed to their request otherwise you are going to kill an amazing free service.

Kepard VPN Accounts Giveaway

How protected are you when surfing the Internet? How often do you expose your sensitive information to spyware or malware? How often does the government see what you’re transferring? If you’re like most people, you really don’t know. The actual answer is pretty stunning – the amount of risk on the modern Internet is staggering. For 10 lucky readers, that won’t be a problem, though, thanks to Kepard’s awesome giveaway.

Kepard is a new VPN service provider that has servers located in 5 different countries: the US, the UK, Germany, Canada and the Netherlands. Additionally, each server has multiple IP addresses and the client program actually allows you to choose your preferred IP address.

Kepard supports all the three major VPN protocols: OpenVPN, L2TP and PPTP. It is possible to use Kepard without installing their client software. L2TP and PPTP protocols are natively supported by Windows. If you want to connect through the more secure OpenVPN protocol and if you already have the OpenVPN software installed then you can simple download the OpenVPN certificates from the website and connect through OpenVPN. However, using Kepard’s own client software is recommended as it allows you to quickly change VPN server locations, VPN protocols and IP addresses.

 

All Kepard accounts feature unlimited traffic, unrestricted speeds and even allows torrents and P2P downloads. You are also allowed to access Kepard’s services simultaneously on 2 computers.

Generally, people use VPN services either to access geographically restricted services such as Hulu, Pandora, BBC iPlayer and so on, or to remain anonymous in such a way that that their online activities cannot be linked to their true identity. If your primary reason to use Kepard is to protect your identity then you should be aware of their logging practices.

This is what Kepard says about connection logs:

Considering all the frauds happening on the internet we do have to keep logs in order to protect our business from the abuse of using our services. But this should be not a concern for you because we keep the logs just for 3 days. If during this time there are no official complains regarding any illegal activity, the logs containing your IP addresses are automatically deleted. We would like to make clear that no third party can get access to your logs. The reason of keeping the logs is just to protect everybody’s business.

But information in their privacy policy is contradictory:

The way Kepard Applies Collected Data From Kepard VPN Sessions:

This data is preserved for usage with billing, troubleshooting, service offering evaluation, TOS issues, AUP concerns, and for managing violation achieved over the service. We keep this information on a per-session base for a minimum of ninety days. We may continue upload and download bytes at total extended periods of time.

Update: Kepard told me that the 90-days period was an error in their privacy policy, and the actual log retention period is indeed 3 days.

However, Kepard assures us that they “will not provide any personal data - minimal information rationally intended to recognize and no more - or activity information to investigators, attorneys, or agencies in case when we are forced to do it by a court of competent jurisdiction in the domain. If there is a trial in court, the customer will be informed so they will have an occasion to contest the surrender of private information.”

The Giveaway

We have 10 3-months accounts of Kepard Premium VPN for this giveaway. If you are interested in entering the sweepstake, leave your name and email ID in the form below and also tell us what you intend to do with your VPN account. Winners will be selected by a random draw. The contest closes on 21 August, 2012.

Tunlr DNS: Watch Hulu, Pandora, Netflix and Others Without VPN

Tunlr DNS: Watch Hulu, Pandora, Netflix and Others Without VPN

Many services based on the entertainment industry, viz. the music and movies, are geographically restricted because of licensing issues. The video streaming service Hulu, movies on demand service NetFlix and Internet radio service Pandora, for example, are available only within the United States. Similarly, BBC iPlayer and Channel 4 are only for the U.K. audience. But the global Internet population couldn’t be easily kept away from such treasures. Many Internet users are getting around the geo-location block using proxy, and VPN services in particular.

A large number of VPN providers have sprung up in a short period of time to meet demands. Unfortunately, they are all paid services and for students and for those without a regular paycheck, even $5 a month is expensive. Besides, they're are already paying for Internet connectivity. Free VPN services are available but they are always subject to abuse because of which they either become slow, restrictive or shut down entirely.

Recently, a new free service called Tunlr has emerged that allows users to access services blocked outside the United States. But Tunlr does not provide VPN service. It is a DNS unblocking service that uses a combination of a DNS server and a collection of proxies in various countries to go around the geographical block. The user simply change their DNS servers to those provided by Tunlr. After doing this, they are able to bypass the block and access Hulu, Netflix, Pandora and any of the supported services.
Unlike VPN, where the content is routed through the VPN servers, with Tunlr users are able to stream directly from the blocked service with no intermediary servers in between. Besides, Tunlr is free.
Tunlr can unblock the following services:

• US video streaming services: Netflix, Hulu, CBS, ABC, MTV, theWB, CW TV, Crackle, NBC, Fox, TV.com, PBS, Vevo, History, Lifetime TV,
• US audio streaming services: Pandora, Last.fm, Turntable.fm, Mog.com, iHeartRadio,
• Non-US services: BBC iPlayer (UK), Channel4 4oD (UK), iTV Player (UK), and Zattoo (Germany).

How Does Tunlr Work?

Tunlr uses two main components - a DNS server and a collection of proxies located in different countries. When your computer sends a DNS query for a blocked website, for example, hulu.com, instead Hulu’s real IP address, the Tunlr DNS server returns the IP addresses of a proxy server operated by Tunlr in the US.
When your connection is received by Tunlr’s proxy in the correct country, it is forwarded to the service provider e.g. Hulu. For Hulu, you appear to be in the correct country because it sees the IP address of the proxy server located in the US.
Once the IP address check is passed, and your connection established, Tunlr re-introduces your true IP address into the data stream so that the video content is streamed directly to your computer and not through Tunlr’s proxy server.
In order not to overwhelm their DNS servers with request, Tunlr strongly recommends that you switch to their DNS servers only when required to access the blocked services. You can do this easily using tools such as Public DNS Server Tool or DNS Changer. If you are using an alternative router firmware such as DD-WRT and Tomato, it is also possible to use Tunlr DNS for only the supported sites and use ISP’s for all other sites.
Unfortunately, many people are using their DNS servers in a permanent fashion, which forced Tunlr to introduce restrictive measures. Tunlr wrote in their blog.

Since too many users are using our DNS servers in a permanent fashion, we have to introduce some form of traffic shaping in order to make the permanent use of our DNS servers less attractive with the ultimate goal to keep Tunlr a free service. We’re going to implement artificial response delays and tighten the existing request rate-limiters on our DNS servers. This is going to slow down internet surfing a lot (!) for anyone who’s permanently using Tunlr’s DNS servers.

And from their FAQ:

We’re not aiming to provide a professional 24/7 service. Tunlr is up when it’s up, and is down when it’s down.

If you want to use Tunlr, please pay heed to their request otherwise you are going to kill an amazing free service.
[via Raymond]

Spotflux: Free VPN With Encryption, Anti-Virus Protection and Ad Blocking

Spotflux is a new VPN service that adds something new and unique to the VPN market for consumers to choose. Aside from tunneling all traffic through their VPN servers, Spotflux will also encrypt your traffic which rules out wire-tappers and middle-man attackers from learning all your secrets. Furthermore, Spotflux employs anti-virus scanners and “millions of real-time and automated calculations to remove tracking cookies, malicious viruses, and other nasty things from your internet connection.” Spotflux protects your privacy by hiding your IP address, it protects you from malicious programs/persons who might be reading your outgoing traffic and it also protects you from Internet malware.

Spotflux is available as a desktop application for Windows and Mac. Simply install and connect - there is no account setup. The interface totally lacks complexity, save for a big green button to connect and disconnect and a smaller button at the top to bring up the Settings window. The settings dialog doesn’t contain much either - you can set the UI language, define how updates are to be installed and configure an optional proxy.

Spotflux doesn’t reveal how many servers they own, their capacity and where they are located. This might not seem unimportant for many users, but once the service gains users (it’s free, after all) these factors are going to affect every user of Spotflux. There is already a noticeable lag when surfing. This is definitely not for HD streaming, but if you just need to hide your IP and a secure connection Spotflux should fit your bill.

According to TechCrunch, the service used to be called RaptorVPN but is now rebranded as a simpler, cleaner offering. It’s not known why RaptorVPN closed shop and if the same fate awaits Spotflux, but they sure managed to convince some angle investors to cough up $1 million in seed funding.

Checkout some Spotflux alternatives.

Giveaway: CactusVPN’s P2P/Torrent Supported VPN Accounts

Not many VPN service providers allow downloads through Bittorrent and other P2P file sharing network on their servers, but new entrant – CactusVPN - does. CactusVPN has servers on three countries – the US, the UK and the Netherland. Torrents and P2P downloading is allowed on the Netherlands server, a country which has always been tolerant to file downloading. However, after the recent change of heart of the Dutch government, CactusVPN might want to review their decision of placing servers in the Netherland.

Depending on why you want a VPN account, you can choose from one of the 4 VPN packages CactusVPN offers. If you want to gain access to sites restricted to only the US and the UK such as Hulu, Pandora, ABC, NBC, BBC iPlayer, Spotify and recently, Grooveshark which is now blocked in Germany, you can take the package containing the US or the UK servers. If downloading torrents anonymously is your plan, then the servers on the Netherland is what you should go for. Each of these packages contain only one country server and are available on a fixed rate of $4.99 a month. A fourth plan with all three servers/countries is also on offer at $9.99 a month.

With every package you will get OpenVPN, PPTP, L2TP/IP Sec protocols. Download bandwidth is not metered and no connection logs are kept. CactusVPN also does not monitor the communications of its clients, unless it becomes aware of harmful activities in which case CactusVPN may shutdown your account. CactusVPN doesn’t support downloading of copyrighted materials.

CactusVPN offers their own connection software which makes it easier to connect to their servers, than set up a PPTP connection by yourself or download OpenVPN certificates to configure with your OpenVPN client. Those alternatives are still available for those who prefer that way.

The VPN username and password required to connect is available on your account page. Enter the login information in CactusVPN’s software and then choose a server to which you want to connect.

The Giveaway

CactusVPN is offering 10 accounts of the P2P/Torrent package for our readers. Each of these account will remain valid till 3 months. If you are interested in grabbing an account, leave your name and email ID in the form below. Winners will be selected by a random draw. The contest is closed.