Using Unblock-us without switching DNS Server (Watch Netflix outside the US)

[Nimrod]

Just came across this thread doing a Google search on this topic. It looked like too much manual effort though, so I kept looking and came across this:

Acrylic DNS Proxy

It's a DNS proxy that runs on Windows. In the configuration, you can set it up so that it redirects certain requests to certain DNS servers; you can set it so *.netflix.com and *.netflix.net go to Unblock-us' server, and everything else goes to your normal DNS server, for instance.

Pretty much every non-Windows OS has an available DNS server that you can set up to do the same, and apparently OS X's DNS client can do this itself.

Now that is an excellent find. With this you can run it on a Windows box then use the DNS server in other devices you want on the local network like AppleTV's. I mostly use a Mac box so I'm going to take a look at the inbuilt DNS server to achieve the same result. But with most users using Windows it sounds like you found the perfect tool for them.

 

[jimbot33]

Thank you Dashieler and Nimrod. I am using Amazon VOD and Netflix also, can you let me know what their DNS entries are? Thank you.

 

[six]

i've been using this workaround (putting the long list of entries into my hosts file) only using netflix on my laptop. it worked for months, daily usage. but thismorning when i went to go use it i was confronted with a unblock-us page saying "we need your email to verify server status" or something along those lines. so i guess unblock-us has upped their security or something? i came looking for this thread and saw that no one else has posted about it, am i the only one? this method is no longer working on either of my laptops and changing the dns directly on my router didn't work either. is anyone else having this issue? is there a fix?

 

[Nimrod]

i've been using this workaround (putting the long list of entries into my hosts file) only using netflix on my laptop. it worked for months, daily usage. but thismorning when i went to go use it i was confronted with a unblock-us page saying "we need your email to verify server status" or something along those lines. so i guess unblock-us has upped their security or something? i came looking for this thread and saw that no one else has posted about it, am i the only one? this method is no longer working on either of my laptops and changing the dns directly on my router didn't work either. is anyone else having this issue? is there a fix?

It might be because your IP changed and you need to login to unblock-us so that it whitelists your new IP. Give it a try and let me know. I just checked mine now and this workaround is still working perfectly on my Apple TV and PC.

 

[pddd]

Hi All,

Does anyone know what the ad servers IP addresses are?

I am using these DNS entries provided here however I am forced to sit through this for about 4-5 minutes during adbreaks.
image of error in chrome/firefox

Note I dont have any adblockers its a DNS issue. If I am using unblock-us dns servers I can see the ads and they are only about 2 minutes long.

I have tried sniffing DNS but am not having any luck working out which servers are causing me issues.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

[johnny_jogger]

@Nimrod - Thanks for the great article, very useful. I have a question though, is it possible to manually change the DNS settings on my PS3 so I can access Netflix whilst not subscribing to Unblock-us?

 

[bui501]

How can I get the same domain and ip info for Amazon Prime video (and others)?

never mind... I stumbled across the original post through a web search and didn't see that the info I wanted was already posted in a reply in this thread.

Great thread -- great info. Very useful.

 

[bui501]

This has been a very useful thread/article. Thanks, Nimrod, for the instructions. I used wireshark to sniff packets between my blu-ray player and iOS device and my router and got the following ip addresses for amazon prime video. I was also able to get a couple of the ip addresses for Hulu plus and vudu on demand, but I have only tested amazon prime video since I do not have accounts with the other services. Here are the ip addresses to program into your router's dnsmasq table:

#amazon prime video
address=/www.amazon.com/204.12.200.32
address=/atv-ps.amazon.com/204.12.200.71
address=/fals.atv-ps.amazon.com/204.12.200.71
address=/atv-ext.amazon.com/204.12.200.23


#vudu on blu-ray player
address=/startup.vvond.net/204.12.200.68
address=/apicache.vudu.com/204.12.200.94


#hulu app on blu-ray player
address=/app.hulu.com/204.12.200.91
address=/play.hulu.com/204.12.200.33
address=/secure.hulu.com/204.12.200.19
address=/m.hulu.com/204.12.200.19

 

[iceberg]

Thanks for the very informative post Nimrod.
I have a slightly different question.
I use a similar service (Overplay's Smart DNS) to access a Middle Eastern service which streams European soccer matches. Normally this would be geoblocked but, using SmartDNS, I've been able to get around this...Until now. The service has now started aggressively seeking out and blocking SmartDNS' server/IPs. This has led to a "cat and mouse" game of IPs being blocked, Overplay setting up new ones, and those being blocked a short time later. Hence, no stability/surety of service.

I have a friend living in the middle East, who (obviously) has an internet connection. Is there any way I can use his DNS or connection to access this service without
1) slowing down his connection
2) making it very obvious to the streaming company, where I'm located (Europe)

If not, can you suggest any other work-around? Eg. a reliable, fast, middle-eastern VPN?

Thanks so much for your help.

 

[shuns]

Hi Thanks for the info - I had been successfully using:

204.12.200.61 movies.netflix.com
204.12.200.65 cbp-us.nccp.netflix.com

Up until about a week ago and all was good. Suddenly wont stream my location anymore unless I follow the settings of unblock-us and change DNS. Even if I do that its ridiculously slow and buffering for 5-10 minutes at a time now every few minutes - un useable. Internet is still exactly the same for everything else. Unblock-us is useless for help - saying its on my end - yet everything is the same here and fine on any other website I visit.

If I revert to those lines in hosts file I can login ok - just can't stream anything. I tried adding all of the lines listed in your post, clearing cache/cookies etc and re-trying but still doesnt work.

Any ideas? Is this still a valid way of streaming Netflix?

Thanks!