Static IP Addresses

kah22

I'll soon be looking for a new broadband provider and while at home I can normally watch RTÉ I'd like the ability to do so online.

Are there any ISP operating in the North that will offer a static IP address to their customers or lift the geoblock on RTE. At the moment I'm looking at the Vodafone free line rental package, any body know if they offer static IP addresses?

At the moment all I seem to be able to download is the international RTE Player.

My current provider is BT and I live.in Armagh City

Many thanks

Kevin

Denene

It looks like Plusnet will give you a static IP address on some of their packages for an extra £5 1

Other providers like John Lewis which sell rebadged Plusnet offer static IPs for the same cost 2

Zen Internet will give you a static IP 3

You would need to check with your own details to see if these are available to you; I used a Belfast address to look.

I'm not sure how the RTE app works, but will a static IP do what you want? I would have thought you would need to trick it into thinking you're in Ireland, so a static address from a UK provider won't help, and I don't think there are any Irish companies which provide landline broadband in Northern Ireland (I checked a few).

It's possible if you bought a mobile broadband dongle from an Irish provider (eg. Vodafone.ie), it might give you an Irish IP.

You could use a VPN, although companies that geoblock regularly block these, so you'd need the VPN provider to stay one step ahead of RTE.

A post from April of this year suggests that RTE will let Northern Irish IPs through (4), so you could try to work out which ISPs give out NI IPs. That might be a bit tricky, though.

Heisenbug

A static ip address is unlikely to help you, as pointed out in the April post you need an ISP that gives out IP addresses that are linked to NI. A static IP would only help if it was guaranteed to be linked to NI or if RTE themselves would add it to their system. Most business packages will have a static ip or the option to add one.

RTE are at fault here not the ISP's as you can't use an IP address to determine a users location as they don't represent a physical location. The ISP has nothing to do with the geoblock, its RTE that has placed this restriction.

kah22

Ok guys thanks for the info, I'll do a bit of shopping around. At the end of the day though I still have the telly in the corner ��

Bigcammy

Yep, only BT and Virgin offer a regional IP address, I'm on Vodafone and can confirm RTE doesn't like it