Tools

Need a HideMyAss Alternative ? Try This Much Better Proxy

It’s many years since I used Hide My Ass proxy service for my online security.  It was one of the first VPN/proxy services available but unfortunately it became very popular and got overloaded years ago.   There’s no doubt that they were one of the first VPN provider companies to bring a decent VPN service to the ordinary internet surfer, however now there are so many other options.  It’s just a matter of choosing the best hidemyass alternatives that are simply better value all round. The interface has improved but I still find it rather hard to navigate, yet the real issue for many of us is that they are automatically blocked by many of the biggest websites which use geo restrictions.  They also no longer allow access to a free VPN but do have an unsecured free proxy, it’s easy to use but very slow though,  particular when using the popular endpoints in the UK and USA.

HideMyAss Alternative

So what are the options ? What’s the best hidemyass alternative out there? Well as mentioned there’s no shortage of other VPN providers in todays market. What used to be something of a niche requirement is now commonplace. In fact millions of internet users, will depend on their VPN service for all sorts of reasons. Whether it’s the security of bit encryption or simply a way of hiding their IP addresses there’s no doubt it’s one of the most useful internet tools available today.

Yet which of these products you should choose, depends largely on what’s your main focus.  For example a large proportion of VPN users have little concern for the virtual private network component, instead they just use it to unlock sites and content normally blocked by geo restrictions.   This means that the number of servers, their location and speed is arguably more important than the encryption level and the log management policies.  After all if you’re using your VPN to mainly watch the BBC or stream movies from Hulu then speed is vital.

Obviously cost is an issue too for most us, which can be an issue as the cheaper prices are normally associated with slower connections.  This is because most VPN services will lower their prices by  loading more users on their VPN servers.  This enables them to lower their costs (and prices) but the speeds will plummet too as there is more internet traffic being routed through each VPN server.   There’s not much you can do about this, as the more simultaneous connections you route through each server the slower it will become.

The trick is to get the balance right, and unless you’re willing to pay more for a premium product then maximizing speed usually involves an efficient, large scale proxy network like NordVPN.

Which VPN Can Hide My Ass ?

Hide My Ass proxy was originally a FREE proxy server for surfing anonymously, it could hide your IP Address and country with a simple web Page.  You can still access this free proxy setup on their site, although truth be told it’s of very limited use.  Most of the more popular connections through US and UK servers tend to be rather slow in my experience.  Also so many sites can now detect and block internet traffic routed though basic proxies.  Without the encryption protocol and DNS leak protection it’s fairly simple to spot this traffic.   For a few sites it may still work and you can route through some other countries though, if hiding your location is not important.

It’s definitely a slicker product now, and millions use to protect their connections on the Internet.  As it’s a mature product that’s been around many years then you should have limited problems using it in diverse network environments.  You’ll have issues though with locked down environments as with the majority of these products.  It does have some specialist settings to route though routers and Firewalls, although there are better alternatives to Hidemyass in this situation (e.g. Identity Cloaker). There are of course lots of reasons why you would use a Proxy Server so it’s still a worthwhile application to invest in.

Unfortunately this isn’t free anymore and to be frank it’s a long time since HMA was anything like a leader in this industry.   For those looking for privacy and a way to bypass the geoblocks on the internet’s best sites may I make a suggestion?

Click to Check Out NordVPNs’ Latest Discounts

For the geo-blocks on popular specific sites like the BBC iPlayer they constantly monitor specific servers.  This  involves rotating IP addresses and checking data transfer rates against specific sites which obviously requires large customer support teams.  There’s no doubt that they’ve become s more focused on bypassing filters and watching TV stations although they still take security very seriously.  So it probably depends on what your main concern is.

hide my ass proxy

Hide My Ass Proxy for example is probably more concerned with genuine privacy but unfortunately is often rather slow which makes streaming video across the connection a tedious experience.

There is a Better HideMyAss Alternative

If security is your primary concern, then there are certainly  more serious VPN programs available than HMA proxy. One such example is a program which is nearly as old as HMA – it’s called Identity Cloaker. Not only does the VPN have adjustable security levels so that you can upgrade or downgrade the encryption depending on what you’re doing. Hint – you don’t need high encryption if you’re just streaming Match of the Day on BBC iPlayer.

It also allows you switch ports and piggy back other proxies. These functions are probably of no use to the ordinary user, but are essential if you want to encrypt from a corporate network or bypassing some firewall restrictions.

The market for these services are split to some extent, the simple hide my IP programs are becoming fairly pointless as they are easily detected.  Many of the larger websites will actively block or filter traffic directly from proxy servers if detected.   Indeed the best proxy server is probably more likely to be one of the VPN services which perform the same function but add a layer of encryption and are difficult to detect too.

One thing that is for sure, the usefulness of those free proxy servers has long gone  Many of them are used by cyber criminals to steal personal data and accounts.  The legitimate commercial ones finance their free service by turning you into the product, mainly by using your bandwidth and cpu while you’re connected.  If you don’t want some complete stranger routing their web traffic through your internet connection, then stay away from the free VPNs like Hola.

The right service might depend on your primary objective, if you just want to watch American TV online then you’re going to need something with a fast US proxy to use.  I am still using Identity Cloaker almost 12 years from my first subscription primarily because it’s has the most UK servers for the BBC and UK TV.  It also is one of the best proxy sites for YouTube as there’s very limited contention.

 

Here’s An Identity Cloaker Coupon for You

OK further down the page you’ll find and Identity Cloaker Coupon, basically I get quite a lot of requests for cracks, serials and downloads for copies of my favorite security software Identity Cloaker. Ironically there has been a big upsurge in the use of these products, not particularly for the anonymity but because an IP cloaker is needed to bypass lots of geotargeting restrictions.

That is people want programs that can hide their IP address so that they can access stuff like BBC Iplayer, Hulu and Pandora no matter which country they’re in. One thing you instantly notice is that you can forget using free products for streaming video down – although for just audio like Pandora it’s probably ok.

identity cloaker coupon

Which brings me back to the title and these requests for a cracks for Identity Cloaker, I haven’t got one because it’s a subscription – it has to be every MB downloaded has a cost to it – they’re called bandwidth charges. So you either use advertising to recoup your costs and enter the security nightmare of something like AnchorFree or Hola which then riddles your computer with adware, spamware and goodness knows what or you have to pay for the service. Which is why you need an account to logon to these services, the software is free but access to servers can never be.

So please stop looking for cracks, serials or gens for any of the commercial VPN services because you won’t find any. But I appreciate everything in the world worth having now seems to cost a fortune as my children’s christmas lists are a horrifying example of.

So I’ve nagged the Identity Cloaker guys and they let me have an Identity Cloaker coupon thing that gives you 15% off .  It works on everything but the trial subscription (the ten day one).

Here’s the Code – 3E9E264B you just add it to the coupon section to get the discount – .

And just so everyone knows – it is a security product, the best available in my opinion. But it can be used to access all the media sites like BBC Iplayer, Hulu, NBC etc using either a proxy or the VPN function, although it’s not advertised on their site as they don’t wish to be the target of legal letters from those companies.

So if you’re feeling fed up on arriving at this page and not finding a free version I’m sorry.  But there is a purpose to the subscription, not only does it pay for the many servers across the world – it also allows the company to invest.

There is a new version which will be released soon which is the result of several years of development work – from a security side it introduces some amazing features but there’s more…….The new version of Identity Cloaker is speed optimized and will actually boost the speed of your internet connection for many people!

Try out the 10 Day Trial of Identity Cloaker.

BBC Iplayer Overseas – How it’s Done

Everywhere you look online there are ‘solutions’ to the problem of watching BBC iPlayer overseas. There are proxies, VPNs for sale on hundreds of web sites promising a solution to watching British TV online.  However do they really solve that rather annoying block you get when you try and connect to iPlayer when outside the UK.  Or indeed that disappointment when you try and watch ITV player abroad too! The solutions have changed over the years and unfortunately now none of the methods to watch UK tv abroad free work anymore.  However there are still some options – so how do you choose which is the best one?

Well first the reason you can’t connect, which is basically due to your IP address. When you connect to BBC Iplayer – the application does a simple look up to see where your IP address is registered. If it’s in the UK it lets you in, anywhere else then you get redirected to a polite message saying that you can’t connect.

What Happens when you watch BBC Iplayer Overseas

So you’ll be informed that you can’t watch BBC Iplayer but you can listen to BBC Radio.  It’s called geotargeting and it is happening more and more on the internet.  Of course it’s great when Google uses it to make sure that you get local results for your search for a plumber, but on the whole it’s used to block access to stuff.   You see websites like to control what they charge in different places – the market in USA might support one price but they can charge much more in the UK.  It’s online price discrimination and personally I find it rather annoying.

How to Watch BBC iPlayer Overseas

So anyway all these firms supply proxies and VPNs based in various countries across the world.  These are servers which you can use to relay your requests to any website you like, the advantage is that you ‘adopt’ the IP address of the server.  So if the proxy is in the UK then you’ll have a British IP address and so you can watch UK TV or sites you need, including BBC iPlayer.

It’s not rocket science – so how should you choose between these companies – well here’s my little list of things to check.

What countries are available ?

Now you might only be interested in watching the latest Dr Who series on BBC Iplayer or maybe the BBC News Live online – so you just need a UK server.  However I’d advise looking at the companies who supply you access to lots of servers in different countries.  For instance if you have access to the US, France or Canada then you can access lots of websites with all the latest shows by using the right country server.   Check that you get access to  a few countries included in your subscription.

Prices of Subscription

Don’t pay a lot, the prices seem to have come down quite a bit with the increased competition.  You should definitely not be paying more than 10 Euros/14 dollars a month  for a UK proxy service and the very most and that would be for a large selection of different servers.  There are a few floating around that charge much more particularly if you want a dedicated IP address which you don’t need to watch most online media.  Be very careful of the free ones, they either don’t work and install nasty adware on your computer or are just so slow are unusable.

VPN or Proxy?

There are two type of service available one is a proxy server which you simply connect to via software or by configuring a manual connection or a VPN (Virtual private network).  In practical terms for watching TV all you need to know is what works for which channels.  The BBC used to work with either of these, but now will only work with few of the VPN services.  A proxy is pretty much useless now because the majority of media companies block them automatically.  Which is a shame as this removed the final possibility that you can watch BBC iPlayer abroad free using a simple proxy.

It must be a VPN now, for example most of the US channels like Hulu require a VPN to connect with.  Mainly this is due to a VPN being much  harder to detect.  It’s advisable all things being equal to choose either a service that provides both just in case unless you know that you definitely only want to access the BBC Iplayer.  Make sure the service is adaptable, you don’t need complicated software.  In fact, the facility to set up the VPN manually adds a lot of flexibility meaning you can use it on other devices and watch UK TV abroad on ipad, smartphones and media streamers.

A quality and secure VPN should work with pretty much any media service in the world as long as the server is based in the right country.   You should be able to watch anything in the UK with a British server, you can watch Sky Go abroad if you have a valid subscription too.

Anyway I hope that helps clarify some points – there are lots of great services out there with fast, well run servers so by all means shop around.  I actually use the Identity Cloaker as although it’s not advertised as a way of watching BBC iplayer or bypassing these blocks it works perfectly.  It has both modes VPN and proxy and has servers in about a dozen countries including UK, US, Canada and Australia to name a few.  It also has easy to use software so that you don’t have to set up the connection like you do with a lot of the other services.  It’s also primarily a security software which keeps your connection safe but the added advantage is that it won’t get pursued by legal departments like all the other firms who advertise as TV VPN/proxy services.   It’s also one of the cheapest!

Anyway you can try the trial version for 10 days to watch BBC iPlayer overseas for just a few bucks – ..

So what’s in my internet log files?

It’s a fair question that anyone who wants to protect their privacy should be asking. What’s in my Internet Log files and who can access them? Well I’m afraid, and you’re not going to like this, is just about everything you do online is stored in logs files.

In fact even just the phrase internet log files is confusing as there are so many of them.   Let’s focus on the main ones which contain the most information about you online and that’s the ISP logs.

You see when you connect to the internet every thing you do is routed through your ISP, they have a complete record of everything you do pretty much. One of the main problems is that we use HTTP to surf the internet, that’s Hyper Text Transport Protocol – which has helped the internet to develop so amazingly fast.

There is a problem with HTTP though, and that is because it is in completely clear text. So anyone who has access to this data like the ISP can instantly read it and see exactly what and where you go on the internet.

It’s why Governments and organisations access this information when searching for terrorists, criminals and even just people who downloaded materials under copyright.  It’s all there in the internet log files stored at your local ISP.  There’s no technical knowledge needed to learn how to view .log files as the vast majority of it’s in clear text with no encryption.  It’a all recorded at that central point simply because all your data has to go through an ISP, which is recorded and saved to the .log file extension of their choice.

Internet Log files

Who Has the Right to Access My Internet Log Files ?

You might argue that any law abiding individual has nothing to fear from having their online activity recorded.  After all normal citizens shouldn’t care even if they are engaged in a little anonymous torrenting to download a few films, that’s nothing to the Government is it? However just consider how much information there actually is stored there in those log files.  Everything web site you visit, every video you watch, every message you send or receive it’s all there in your log files.   Would you be happy to hand over a comprehensive list of everything you’ve done online?   It’s a huge intrusion to your privacy, imagine a step further one made likely by the Governments latest piece of snooping legislation – the Investigatory Powers Act.  It’s been passed in Parliament but hasn’t got Royal Assent yet, but it’s likely to become law in the near future.  It would mean a whole host of Government agencies have access to these records for a variety of reasons.

Imagine you’re sitting in an interview for a Government job?  Across the table the interviewer sits with a booklet containing every web site you’ve visited in the last 12 months.  How would that make you feel?  Does this feel like an open, democratic situation or something like the KGB or Stasi would have done?   Perhaps you have medical conditions, something about your health or sexuality, perhaps private political affiliations.  All this is likely to be known from anyone’s web history and hence the person sitting across from you with your internet log files.

Even if this information was restricted to a select few agencies, we know this would spread.  The data once out would get into more and more hands, usually under some pretext of criminality or preventing terrorism.

The solution is actually quite simple but it does require some effort – encryption.  If you use a VPN service, you can encrypt your connection so that your logs contain no useful information. Here’s one in action –

The only information accessible in your logs as long as you keep encryption enabled will be the time you are online and the IP address of the VPN server you’re connected to. there will be no other data that is legible as it will all be encrypted and no record of the web servers you visit as all requests will be channeled through the VPN server. The added benefit of this is that you can also use the VPN service to bypass the myriad internet blocks that exist online.

For example, you may have found that certain sites particularly media companies block access based on your location. It’s called region locking or geo-targeting and it’s becoming increasingly common. For example if you try and access your Hulu subscription from outside the US you’ll get blocked, or similarly if you try and watch the BBC iPlayer from outside the UK. However if you switch to a VPN server in the correct country you can bypass these blocks irrespective of your location. I use mine every single day when travelling to watch the BBC News when I’m travelling.