IP Address

[geminibanjomen]

I get a problem when trying to use the BBC iPlayer, for example, I get a message saying that I need to be on a Vodafone Contract, well I am.

I was wondering whether this has anything to do with where that site detects my location as being. Using ip-adress.com my IP Address is shown as being in Norway (IP-Only Telecommunication AB) and last week it was in Poland

Not sure how accurate this is!http://forum.vodafone.co.uk/style_emoticons/default/excl.gif

Can anyone help me with this? I can't see another post relating to IP Addressing, if this is actually he problem however?http://forum.vodafone.co.uk/style_emoticons/default/huh.gif

[DPH]

IPaddress.com is wildly inaccurate here. The BBC iPlayer may not work because no matter where you are in the world using your mobile broadband dongle the IP Address it picks up is from the Vodafone GGSNs (Gateway GPRS Support Node) in the UK - hence giving you an appearance of being in the UK. The BBC don't have worldwide right on most of the programmes available on iPlayer so they may block access to programmes from Mobile Broadband so they don't get in trouble with the licensing authorities.

[Retired-Jon_V]

Hi Geminibanjomen,

The problem is as DPH describes. Since the BBC have no way of knowing if a Vodafone Customer is abroad or not, they've taken the decision to block all Vodafone customers just to be on the safe side.

We do have some specific handsets which have been designed in a way to allow the BBC to accurately tell where the customer is, and on these handsets there is a dedicated iPlayer application available for that purpose. Unfortunately it is not available on all phones, and there is no equivalent service for Mobile Broadband.

Jon

eForum Team