Whether you’re interested in the latest movie coming out on Netflix or you’re hoping to binge-watch a TV series to catch up while away, streaming content while travelling is not always easy.
Various obstacles get in your way. These include the quality of the internet connection, the location, restrictions to what can be streamed from that country, and more.
Here are 5 tips for streaming or otherwise accessing content when away from home.
- Resolve Limitations on Content Access
Many streaming services apply limits to what can be streamed when the user is not in their home country. They can detect when you’re travelling in continental Europe, for instance, or have headed off to somewhere even more exotic. When they pick up on your location change, the movies and TV series that you can access change. This is because of troublesome licensing issues for programmed content.
An effective way to fix annoying restrictions to what TV shows or movies you can access while on holiday is to use a virtual private network. VPNs can tunnel across the internet from a foreign location back to your home country. It then appears that you’re accessing the web from home. For many streaming services, this is sufficient to access the same filmed content wherever you are.
One of the better-paid VPN services is PureVPN. They provide solutions to streaming media access for when you’re abroad. It’s possible to explore more about PureVPN reviews through this link to read a review of their service and determine if it’ll suit your needs. It includes an overview, the pros and cons, and a detailed list of the features.
- Avoid Issues with Internet Speed
The speed of the internet connection matters with streamed media. If you’re staying in a hotel where they don’t have a wireless router on every floor, the Wi-Fi signal will be weak. The farther your lodging is from the router, the slower the internet will be in the room, even if the speed in the foyer is relatively fast.
If you’re using a laptop while away, then consider picking up a USB Wi-Fi adapter. Instead of relying on the wireless network card buried inside the laptop, plugging in a separate adapter can help to pick up distant wireless networks and maintain a stronger signal. These adapters might be a tiny USB dongle or come complete with a separate antenna for better results.
Wireless adapters are fairly inexpensive, so it’s a no-brainer. Use a reliable networking brand like Netgear, Linksys, or TP-Link to avoid compatibility issues, and test it before you leave.
- Get a Local SIM card and Data Plan
Where your hotel’s internet proves unreliable, gets overloaded with users dragging the speed down, or simply won’t provide a consistent speed for streaming without buffering, you’ll need a backup plan.
The best backup plan is to pick up a local SIM card and a data plan with enough gigabytes to stream HD content without using all the data too quickly.
In terms of authorization, each country is different. Sometimes, a local sponsor is required to secure a SIM card on your behalf when only locals can purchase one. In other cases, a SIM card can be picked up at a foreign airport before you hop in an Uber or taxi. With data plans, there are often tourist-oriented plans available that cover a week, 10 days, or longer for travellers to enjoy. Look out for those deals.
Whatever you do, don’t rely on roaming from your home carrier. The costs are unpleasant when gobbling up data through streaming media.
- Use Hotel Services
Some hotels will provide free access to media feeds or Netflix direct to the TV in the room. However, the latter will come with regional restrictions.
For modern TVs, or a projector you probably can use Chromecast or another wireless beaming service to send the streamed content from your device to the hotel room TV. Alternatively, many newer TVs will have an HDMI port, so bring a decent HDMI cable to hook up your laptop or tablet that way.
- Save Media on Your Device Before Travel
It’s possible to download approved media to your tablet or smartphone before travel. When you have enough space on your device to do so – or add a microSD card to facilitate it – this is effective. It may get around a slow internet holding up streaming, or at least provide something to watch should the power or internet cut out.
Streaming content services may still restrict saved content without the use of a VPN. However, it is less likely. Accessing unapproved content while in a foreign country may be treated differently by some streaming services compared to watching previously saved media from your device.
It’s helpful to plan ahead with watching streamed content, getting around regional locks, and considering internet access issues abroad. Also, if you save a few favourites for watching later, it can keep the family entertained when it’s raining outside, and everyone is waiting for the weather to clear. Don’t assume everything will work as planned. Many people are disappointed when they do that.
