For most, watching movies and television on a computer is an uncomfortable hassle. However, with a router VPN you can watch just about any movie or television program on your high definition television. Those living abroad may have missed the recent explosion of new instant, on demand programming that is threatening to put cable television out of business in the United States.
Last year Amazon signed a deal with Viacom, adding 41,000 television programs to the line-up included with Amazon Prime. This is the same deal, which also offers free two day shipping on orders from Amazon.
Expats may be unaware of the sheer volume of entertainment that is going online. This is because access to most media, an in particular the cheap flat rate services like Amazon Prime, Hulu and Netflix are blocked or limited in foreign locations. For example, Netflix offers service to Costa Rica, but the English language library is limited.
Amazon users with billing addresses in the United States can still purchase and view movies abroad, but can not access the large free library included with prime. Also, those outside the U.S. can’t use the cheap $2 to 5 rental (48 hour access) of streaming movies by Internet.
Many expats use VPN (Virtual Private Network) connections to get around the restrictions. These work by securely routing Internet traffic through a host in the United States, and collect a monthly or annual fee. However, most people only know how to install the VPN software on their computer. So, they can not get access for their big screen televisions, tablets and smart phones.
Fortunately you can get access for your entire network if you install the VPN software on your Internet router. I explain how this works in another article.