Finding a UK Video Proxy Fast Enough for Streaming

Fast UK proxy TV for Video

If you’re reading this post, looking for some guidance about bypassing all those annoying region blocks used by the BBC, ITV and all the other UK TV channels well you’ve come to the right place. You may have even tried a few and had problems finding a UK proxy fast enough to cope. However I should first point out two very important points that may aid you in your search:

  • Proxies Don’t Work Anymore
  • Slow VPNs don’t work well with video

The first point is obviously important, as many people still believe you can use proxies to bypass the various filters and blocks that exist online.  Much of the problem is thousands of outdated websites and articles listing proxy server addresses.  In reality none of these will work for very long and even the proxy server list pages will be outdated very quickly as the servers are fixed or taken offline.  Anyway, unfortunately they don’t work anymore certainly with regards to the main media sites like the BBC.  Proxies are very easy to detect and now all the sites block them automatically when you connect through one, irrespective of your location.  So even the best UK proxy you find from the proxy list will be of little use.   The only way to get a free UK IP address that will work with these sites, is by connecting remotely to someone’s home PC or server with their permission.


uk proxy fast

Next is speed, it’s essential – indeed crucial, if you try and watch any sort of video using a slow internet connection you’ll know what I mean. Stuttering freezes and endless buffering means that using any sort of slow VPN service is a complete waste of time.  The only caveat is that some of the TV channels like the BBC will allow you to download shows to watch offline which is perhaps an option if your connection is too slow.

Remember however fast your internet connection is, using a VPN or proxy server is going to add another step to the journey which will inevitably have some impact on your overall  speed.

A VPN or UK Proxy Fast Enough for Video?

There are lots of VPN services out there, varying hugely in both quality, security and price. It’s arguable that if you just want to stream video then security is not that important however generally a secure server is better configured and more likely to be optimized for speed too.

The following video demonstrates what you should be looking for in a fast VPN – basically one that has as little impact on your connection speed as possible. Just watch this video for a quick example –



If you watch the video then you can see there’s only a very small impact on the original internet connection speed, and it’s certainly much faster than even the best proxy server you could find.  The three main components in measuring the speed of a connection are as follows:

  • Ping
  • Download
  • Upload

Fast Proxy from England for UK Streaming

Any VPN service will have some impact on these three metrics simply because you’re adding an extra step in your connection, just the same as if you used a UK proxy online from one of those web redirects sites.  The critical factor however is that if the VPN server is hosted on a fast machine and connected to a high-speed line the damage will be limited.  If the server is on outdated hardware and a throttled connection, then expect your internet speed to plummet big time.

The reality is that you speed will usually default to the lowest common denominator and that’s normally the VPN server unless you find a really fast one.   This is especially relevant if you’re located a long way from the server, so using a VPN to watch BBC in Ireland will have less of an impact than trying to watch from Canada for example.

Unfortunately, the cheaper the subscription generally the slower the VPN service will be, although that’s not always the case.  Beware of any VPN service which offers a free subscription as it might seem a good deal, but when you subscribe those ‘free users’ will be slowing down your paid connection.  If you’re really struggling with speed, then check out some of the DNS methods to watch BBC which work in a similar way but allow more direct connection.

Free users of these trial subscriptions also tend to abuse the VPN service by downloading torrents and videos constantly which will bring most VPN connections to their knees.

If you just want a simple, reliable and straight forward way to watch ITV and BBC iPlayer, ITV and Channel 4 from anywhere in the world then Identity Cloaker is the software you need.   I’ve tried them all there’s very few which provide a UK proxy fast enough to watch video properly.  The one I have used for over a decade now is called Identity Cloaker.

Identity Cloaker

Try the 10 day trial for the cost of a sandwich, to see how easily it works.