Alternative to HideMyAss

Following on from my previous blog post about HideMyAss VPN I have also been testing another subscription based service which allows Australian devices to access region restricted content such as Netflix and Hulu.

This happens in Australia

It is called unblock-us it calls itself a VPN however it doesn't behave like a standard VPN. When you sign up for the unblock-us service you are given a username and password and a DNS address to put in the network settings for your device (usually within a home network DNS is obtained automatically by the router from the ISP). When you log into the unblock-us website with a username and password the system must add your WAN IP to the allowed IP's on the DNS server.

So these two steps give you access same as if you were on a standard VPN and you can access content region restricted from the US.

Why use unblock-us instead of HideMyAss?

• Speed.
• Can be set up on any device which allows DNS settings to be configured. So devices without a VPN client, like a Nintendo 3DS, PS3, Xbox360, Wii etc can be used with it happily.

When you use a service like HideMyAss the speed is slowed depending on the VPN server you connect to, with unblock-us you 'should' be able to maintain your internet connection speed without seeing a significant loss in speeds.

Why use HideMyAss instead of unblock-us?

• Seeing as though unblock-us is not a standard VPN I would be hesitant to direct people to unblock-us if they are concerned with protecting their internet traffic. Your ISP can still see the information sent through to the DNS server at unblock-us's end so HMA is much better in this regard as traffic is protected at all points.
• If you want to be able to connect multiple devices to access region restricted content then I would be leaning towards HMA and configure as discussed. Unblock-us does not allow multiple simultaneous device connections on the one unblock-us subscription. For example if you had two iPad's wanting to access Netflix at the same time then you would need two unblock-us subscriptions.
• Flexibility, since HMA is a standard VPN there are ways you can use other hardware in order to segment and extend you VPN subscription in your home or work network as discussed last time. Lots of devices and appliances support VPN connections out of the box.

SSD cannot be detected

I have been a huge advocate of Solid State Drives (SSD), for my clients and my own computers I have been quick to jump on the bandwagon of putting an SSD in every computer I can.

OCZ SSD

Since they started being affordable back in 2010 - 2011 I have since upgraded multiple clients to these blistering fast components, as a way to ensure no bottlenecks in new computers and a way of resuscitating old ones. However, out of the multitude of installs performed I have had a few of these components fail usually after a restart of the computer or on boot.

Hopefully you do not see this as much as I have

If you see the error message above or similar and your computer has an SSD as the primary drive, your computer is pretty much screwed. The drive is probably not visible in BIOS, and if you manage to take the drive out and into another computer to double check, you will probably see the drive but it contains no data and is essentially inaccessible. So start digging around for the receipt or proof of purchase to check if it is warranty.

I have mainly been using OCZ, Patriot and Kingston SSD's and have had failures across all brands, I would assume the more expensive Intel produced SSD's will be of higher quality, but it is something to be wary of, in my experience a standard mechanical hard drive purchased today will be more reliable then a low to med quality SSD. In saying that SSD's definitely have their place, if you are going to use in an office environment where no user content is stored on the SSD then happy days, but I would not be storing family photos on one until I am convinced they have become as reliable as the mechanical brethren.

DD-WRT and Linksys E2000 awesomeness

Having recently found out the many benefits a VPN service provider adds to my internet connection I have  signed up with a Pro VPN account from HideMyAss. Mainly for protecting my internet connection from potential snoops but has the added benefit of accessing content that could be IP region locked.

One of the main services I and many others want to access is Netflix, and this and other video services Hulu are not available services in Australia at this time.

Region locking on US based services is all too familar for Australian internet users.

With a VPN service like HideMyAss (HMA) you can simply connect to a server in the US and then services such as Netflix see your connection as a US connection so you can access the service just like you are in the US. Now when you sign up HMA they give you access to the HMA software which will create a connection for your Windows, Mac or Linux box. This software works great and has heaps of configurable options, but what if you want to connect a device through this VPN that does not have a VPN client configuration available. For example a PS3 or Nintendo 3DS.

This is where DD-WRT steps in, its essentially a custom firmware that is supported on a handful of routers which will allow your router to maintain the connection to HMA and share the secure VPN connection to any device on your network.

Cisco Linksys E2000

There are multiple routers which are supported by DD-WRT so I picked one and ordered the Linksys E2000 and attempted to set it up with DD-WRT. The setup was so simple, as the process was detailed on the DD-WRT Wiki including links to the latest firmware. The guys at DD-WRT really value documentation and have lots of information about the supported routers and how to install.

After downloading the firmware you just login to the standard E2000 interface then upgrade the firmware as you normally would. After that upon reboot of the router you will be running DD-WRT. This interface now gives you a plethora of options along with the ability to create the PPTP connection to a HMA VPN server with your HMA username and the PPTP password from HMA.

Since DD-WRT is a standard across routers that support it you can follow the guide to get it up and running. Once you have done it now all you have to do is hook up the PS3 to your new wireless router and your PS3 will think its in the US, so that means secured internet and access to Netflix. Not to mention a lot more control over your Linksys E2000 router.

Nice DD-WRT, nice work.