is Netflix worth getting?

[HewManHeMan]

OH and there's 5 seasons of Community and that's pretty much the best thing on telly.

The first series comes with 25 episodes! And you'll want more. If only for Alison Brie and Gillian Jabobs.

[TheAngryDog]

Thanks guys, I think I will at least sign up for the free trial and go from there. Unblock-US sounds like a sensible addition.

Can you believe I have never seen Breaking Bad!

We have 60 meg Virgin Fibre so that shouldnt be a problem (hopefully) to get HD all of the time (where available).

[Rick101]

I use unblock us. Works out at £2.78 pm iirc.

Usually a no stings free trial for a week. Don't always use it but nice to have the option for not a massive amount more.

[mp3manager]

davegreg said:

I just wish Netflix would revise their menu system - it's like reading it through a letterbox, you can spend most of the night trawling through it all! A list that you just scroll down would be a lot simpler and quicker.

You need Netflix God Mode.

http://bit2pixel.com/netflix-god-mode/

http://techcrunch.com/2015/03/19/fix-netflixs-user...

[JohnStitch]

Should do, all you have to do to use it is change the DNS in the network settings, it should work on any device

[Sea-Doo]

Can someone give me a non technical overview of what unblock-us actually does?

Am I correct in saying that it presents a USA IP address to allow you to create Netflix/Amazon etc accounts from that country?

Are there any other benefits.

[Fas1975]

mp3manager said:

You need Netflix God Mode.

http://bit2pixel.com/netflix-god-mode/

http://techcrunch.com/2015/03/19/fix-netflixs-user...

You utter, utter legend!

[JohnStitch]

Sea-Doo said:

Can someone give me a non technical overview of what unblock-us actually does?

Am I correct in saying that it presents a USA IP address to allow you to create Netflix/Amazon etc accounts from that country?

Are there any other benefits.

In a nutshell, they give you some different DNS settings to configure either into your router, or into whichever device you want to use Netflix on - (they have step by step instructions on their website for pretty much any device, so is very user friendly). This doesn't affect anything else that you might want to do on the internet.

You can then use a drop-down box on their website to select whatever region of Netflix you want to watch (not just USA). So literally with a click of a button you can change the region, log back into Netflix then get to see all the content for that country. (There's also a handy unblock-us app to do the region switching from your phone).

You can also get the option to switch off subtitles on english films in foreign regions.

As part of the subscription they also throw in a free VPN if you want to use one.


As for content on different regions, so far I have found that:

USA best for box sets / TV / documentaries
Canada one of the better regions for films
South American regions (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia) tend to get a lot of films before they come out on DVD over here (sometimes even when they're still on at the cinema, although not that often).


If you want to check what region a particular film is on, use moreflicks.com - Although not always completely up-to-date, you can just search for a film and it will tell you what region of Netflix it is on.

Best couple of quid I've spent in ages...

[toon10]

I have it but I'd not pay for it if I had to. The movies are terrible bar the odd one or two which you will watch in the first week of membership and from then on it's just TV box sets which you can get on iPad apps for free (providing you have a smart TV to watch them on).

I have a combination of Sky, BT vision on free trial, Netflix and apps. Sky gets used the most and is the one I pay for, the rest are just fillers and I wouldn't pay to have them.

[Sea-Doo]

JohnStitch said:

In a nutshell, they give you some different DNS settings to configure either into your router, or into whichever device you want to use Netflix on - (they have step by step instructions on their website for pretty much any device, so is very user friendly). This doesn't affect anything else that you might want to do on the internet.

You can then use a drop-down box on their website to select whatever region of Netflix you want to watch (not just USA). So literally with a click of a button you can change the region, log back into Netflix then get to see all the content for that country. (There's also a handy unblock-us app to do the region switching from your phone).

You can also get the option to switch off subtitles on english films in foreign regions.

As part of the subscription they also throw in a free VPN if you want to use one.


As for content on different regions, so far I have found that:

USA best for box sets / TV / documentaries
Canada one of the better regions for films
South American regions (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia) tend to get a lot of films before they come out on DVD over here (sometimes even when they're still on at the cinema, although not that often).


If you want to check what region a particular film is on, use moreflicks.com - Although not always completely up-to-date, you can just search for a film and it will tell you what region of Netflix it is on.

Best couple of quid I've spent in ages...

Perfect thanks.

So just to confirm I only need 1 Netflix account to log into any Netflix region using Unblock-US?

[JohnStitch]

Yep.

[P-Jay]

What's the advantage of unblock-us over say Hola which is free?

[CAPP0]

So if you have an existing Netflix account, then sign up to unblock-us and change the router DNS settings, will you automatically get more options displayed, or do you have to do something else to find them?

[p1stonhead]

CAPP0 said:

So if you have an existing Netflix account, then sign up to unblock-us and change the router DNS settings, will you automatically get more options displayed, or do you have to do something else to find them?

The US netflix will just appear instead of the Uk one.

[JohnStitch]

CAPP0 said:

So if you have an existing Netflix account, then sign up to unblock-us and change the router DNS settings, will you automatically get more options displayed, or do you have to do something else to find them?

You won't see any difference on Netflix itself. You just go onto the unblock-us website (or the phone app), where there is a drop-down box for selecting any Netflix region. Once you've selected a region, re-open Netflix, and it will display all the content from that region rather than from UK.

Me personally, I just change the DNS settings in each device that uses Netflix rather than in the router. This way I can use unblock-us from anywhere on my iPad / phone / whatever, rather than being restricted to my home network.

Edited by JohnStitch on Friday 22 May 14:48

[JohnStitch]

P-Jay said:

What's the advantage of unblock-us over say Hola which is free?

I might be wrong, but can't you only use Hola on an internet browser, therefore if you use Smart TV / console to watch Netflix you can't switch countries?

[P-Jay]

JohnStitch said:

P-Jay said:

What's the advantage of unblock-us over say Hola which is free?

I might be wrong, but can't you only use Hola on an internet browser, therefore if you use Smart TV / console to watch Netflix you can't switch countries?

Ah I see, so it works within the router to change your entire connection!

Yes - Hola is a Firefox / Chrome plug-in so doesn't help with Smart TV or devices.

[ajprice]

JohnStitch said:

P-Jay said:

What's the advantage of unblock-us over say Hola which is free?

I might be wrong, but can't you only use Hola on an internet browser, therefore if you use Smart TV / console to watch Netflix you can't switch countries?

I use the Hola app on my android phone or pad. Set to whatever country, open the android Netflix app, you get that catalogue, Chromecast it to the TV.

[JohnStitch]

P-Jay said:

Ah I see, so it works within the router to change your entire connection!

Not if you just change the DNS setting in the device (TV/console/whatever). You can leave the DNS in the router alone, that doesn't need to be changed

[CAPP0]

JohnStitch said:

CAPP0 said:

So if you have an existing Netflix account, then sign up to unblock-us and change the router DNS settings, will you automatically get more options displayed, or do you have to do something else to find them?

You won't see any difference on Netflix itself. You just go onto the unblock-us website (or the phone app), where there is a drop-down box for selecting any Netflix region. Once you've selected a region, re-open Netflix, and it will display all the content from that region rather than from UK.

Me personally, I just change the DNS settings in each device that uses Netflix rather than in the router. This way I can use unblock-us from anywhere on my iPad / phone / whatever, rather than being restricted to my home network.

Edited by JohnStitch on Friday 22 May 14:48

Pardon the (continuing) ignorance but how does that work on the Apple TV? the Netflix "app", or applet, or whatever it is, is already there? So if I select a region from my Mac, the Apple TV won't know I've done that surely?