How does BBC iPlayer know I'm not in UK despite logging into UK server via VPN?

Re:How does BBC iPlayer know I'm not in UK despite logging i... by simonblack on Saturday April 10, 2021 @10:02PM (#26766949)

There are lots of ways.

What is your system time? If it's not British time you're somewhere else.

What is your actual IP? Where is that IP based?

    dig TXT +short o-o.myaddr.l.google.com @ns1.google.com | sed 's/"//g'

What is the return-time between a ping (or similar) from the BBC to you and back? If it's over a certain number of microseconds, you're 'no longer in Kansas, Toto'.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:How does BBC iPlayer know I'm not in UK despite logging i... by godelmachine on Sunday April 11, 2021 @05:15AM (#26768806)

>>What is your system time? If it's not British time you're somewhere else

I am not based in UK. Do you think I should be changing my iPhone timeline to UK? It will be a clunky workaround but doable.

>>What is your actual IP? Where is that IP based?

Would you please tell me how do I use the above command to run in my iPhone to find my actual IP? Please note that I keep my VPN on 24 * 7 so that my real IP is never sent out on the web.

>>What is the return-time between a ping (or similar) from the BBC to you and back?

It should be around 18-20msec when I last did a speedtest with the VPN on. How can I check my ping time to the BBC iPlayer site? Is there a website which will help me do this?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:How does BBC iPlayer know I'm not in UK despite logging i... by quantumofalpha on Sunday April 11, 2021 @01:28PM (#26771949)

> What is the return-time between a ping (or similar) from the BBC to you and back? If it's over a certain number of microseconds, you're 'no longer in Kansas, Toto'.

High latency can be legitimately expected over mobile or satellite connections, it's not a strong signal of a non-local user by itself. UK has real shitty broadband in most places in comparison to 4G/5G, I'd expect a pretty large share of mobile users there.

You could also be using an app like youtube-dl or streamlink to record the stream from a nearby VPS with low latency.

[ Parent | on HN ]