leak test shows intermediate server (Lisbon) not just chosen server (London)

BBC iplayer immediately detects I am not in the UK (sorry not available in your country" blah blah…

Secureline VPN shows me in London (I’m in Spain) but a leak test shows an intermediate server in Lisbon - that must be the one the BBC sees.

Just taken out a trial subscription - not a good sign

Hi, Bob provided a video: https://youtu.be/8ScYK34Dz70

Hi arjay,

If connecting to the Wonderland streaming server in SecureLine as in Bob’s video posted by Asyn doesn’t resolve the issue, do you have a paid version of Avast Antivirus installed on PC where you are trying to watch BBC iPlayer?

If so, the issue may be being caused by the Real Site component. Due to the way that Real Site protects against D.N.S hijacking attempts, the BBC website may be able to detect that you are outside of the UK. If Real Site is causing the issue, you would need to add an exclusion for the BBC website. To do this:

  • Please open your Avast Antivirus application > click “Menu” in the top right corner > click “Settings”
  • Make sure that “General” is selected on the left hand side > click “Exceptions” in the middle column
  • Click the “Add Exception” button
  • Type in dns://.bbc.co.uk and click “Add Exception”
  • Please see the attached screenshot for how this should look once completed
  • Restart your computer (the exception may not be applied correctly until the system is restarted)

Well done!!. I switched to Wonderland streaming as per the video but that did not work. However, adding the exception as per your post above seems to have done the trick.

I am on a 7-day trial but iplayer is the main reason why we need a vpn. The Beeb are very aggressive these days and a couple of other providers seemed to go well for a bit but then we had days at a time without a connection.

Let’s hope that Avast is a bit more reliable re uptime

Thanks again

Well - that didn’t last long. Just long enough to pay for a year’s worth of cover. Had to reboot for the installation and now iplayer says"Content not available in your Country" Grrr.

I checked and the exception is in place and the server shows up as Wonderland …

What now??

Hi arjay,

I’m sorry to hear that the BBC website immediately started detecting your location again.

If you are still experiencing the issue, can I ask you to try the following actions in the following order:

[ol]- Open Avast SecureLine and connect to the Wonderland server.

  • Open a new window in your web browser in Private/Incognito mode, and then try loading BBC iPlayer again.[/ol]

If iPlayer still detects as outside the UK, can I ask to close the browser window, disconnect from Avast Secureline, and then reconnect and try accessing BBC iPlayer again?

Please let me know if this prevents the detection.

The BBC is getting very aggressive as to view the BBC iPlayer, you now have to be a UK TV License payer.

I haven’t got a clue how they achieve this as technically they would have to check UK License payers also to access iPlayer, not just be in the UK.

My experience is that they don’t try to achieve this technically; they simply show a pop-up box asking if you are a license payer, and if you select that you are, it lets you proceed to the view the content.

That said, they are very aggressive with identifying and blocking IP addresses associated with VPN providers, so we are always playing a game of cat and mouse with them.

Sorry - followed these instructions to the letter. Did them twice just to be sure. Just says “This content is not available in your location”.

I still have a strange finding on ipleak.net which I have not seen before. The test clearly shows my server address as in the UK (London) but there is also an entry for Lisbon?? This is not my normal ISPs ip address which should show Malaga or Madrid in Spain. But I am thinking that the bbc sees this Lisbon address so it won’t connect me. I attach a screenshot.

Second, I am sure the bbc does not check for licenses. I also have a NordVPN which works pretty well except for going down 2-3 times a month or so for at least a day It can’t be checking for my licences…

I was hoping that Avast SecureLine might be a bit more reliable. No chance apparently as I cannot get connected at all!!

BTW - I just installed Secureline on a Samsung Android phone and got exactly the same message from the bbc - content not available in your location blah blah.

A leak test shows I am connected to a London server, but there are 2 intermediate leaked WebRTC requests. One is for a “Shared Address Space 100.120.85.196” and the second refers to an “IANA Private or Special Address” whatever that means.

That would be enough to put the bbc off I am sure.

If you run Firefox, see if this tool helps: https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=228103.0

Tried this but just get the same problem as pointed out in that thread. Namely that the FF extension demands that I first sign up for Secureline even though I already have. :frowning: :frowning:

Sick of this software

OK - found that I need Secureline version 5.4 or higher for Windows to get the browser extension to work. My version is only 5.2.438. How can Avast sell me a version which is miles behind the latest one. How do I get the latest version. Amazing cheek don´t you think??

Never mind found a way to get it.

My point still stands - Avast supplied me with a seriously out of date version for my money which has wasted me several days in trying to log on to a site that denies my connection because of leaking intermediate ip address (WebRTCs).

Outrageous really

Did you enable the WebRTC Blocker…!?
https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=228103.msg1513849#msg1513849

Yes I did. Didn’t seem to make any difference. Also - and this has got to be the biggest joke of all - the intermediate server (based in Lisbon) that appeared in the leak test seemed to be an Avast server 185.201.188.1!! Ho Ho (not). I still reckon that the bbc could see this server and denied me my connection request even though the final destination was a UK-based server.

I think I posted a screenshot of this leak test earlier in this topic but can’t see where (Reply 8#??).

Anyway - I have uninstalled Secureline and will be asking for my money back. I suggest that anyone looking to connect reliably to IPlayer from overseas does the same and tries another VPN supplier.

Luckily I still have my NordVPN contract and their connections do still work most of the time - unlike Secureline where I never got a connection in repeated attempts over several days…

did you ever attempt to contact customer support with your problem?
Request help from Avast - https://support.avast.com/en-ww/contact/