The Olympic Games 2012 will kick of on the 27th of July in London and NBC will stream over 3500 hours worth of content from the event. The only problem is if you are travelling abroad you won’t be able to stream from NBC – Unless you use the following trick.
Update: If you don’t have an American Cable subscription, then you can alternatively watch the Olympics on BBC outside the UK using this method.
First of all – you need to have an American cable subscription in order for this to work as NBC has announced that you will have to log in with your cable providers credentials on the NBC website. The next problem is that NBC does not have the rights to stream the Olympics coverage outside the US. This is why you will still need to trick NBC into thinking you are located in the US and this is done by getting an American IP-address.
If you access the site from outside the US you will be meet with the following message “NBC is only allowed to show Olympic competition video on the internet to users in the United States and U.S. Territories.”
Thankfully this process is very easy. Simply connect to what is known as a virtual private network (VPN) and you will be able to inherit an American IP-address from the VPN server. It might sound a bit techy but it is actually very simple.
All you need is an account with a VPN provider. I use Hide My Ass VPN as they have servers located in all of the US. Simply sign up for an account and then install the application on your Mac or PC. Then fire up the app and select a server located in the US and click connect. Wait a couple of seconds and a green sign will indicate that you are now connected to the server in the US.
From then on simply reload the NBC websites and log in with you info and the NBC website will now think that you are located in the US and allow you to stream.
This also works with the iPad and iPhone app. Simply follow the instructions on how to setup VPN on the iPad here (works the same on the iPhone).
An added benefit of using VPN is that you data connection will become encrypted and you will have an extra layer of security when staying at hotels abroad. Many open Wi-Fi hotspots are used by hackers to steal private information from users connected. This becomes impossible when connected to VPN – a win win situation if you ask me.
Anyhow enjoy the Olympics it is going to be awesome.
Learn how to share your VPN connection so you can take advantage of VPN on any device. This is a great trick for Game consoles, TVs and the likes. Learn more about the method »
Written by Thomas Fals