So what is a VPN? I had heard a lot of people mention them while planning my move to Australia. It seem like a VPN would  be needed to be able to access certain services while outside my home country, but I never really got my head around what they did. That is until i needed too and it turns out VPN software has turned out to be one of the more important technologies I have had to get my head around since making the more to Australia.

I have also spent a bit of time working out which is the best VPN to use in OZ. But if you are trying to do the same that's not really the question you should be asking yourself, you should instead be asking which VPN allows me to do what I want to do (i.e. use/watch the services I want etc) in the fastest most reliable way.

It doesn't help that you have probably read reviews where some people say certain services work and some say they don't! Surely they cant both be right. Well actually if you don't really know the basics they actually can be.

If you don't want to read any more about VPN's after my research I would go for ExpressVPN, although Tunnelbear and NORD VPN could be good options too. Express and Nord are the more complete services, have access to 24 hour live chat and come with a 30 day genuine money back guarantee so there isn't really much to lose. Tunnelbear is definitely the easiest less complicated to use . Check out this article for a detailed comparison of each VPN service compares. Also reading the rest of this article will hopefully give you a better understanding of what a VPN is, how it helps you and what you need to consider when choosing one that suits your needs best.

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So why are streaming services blocked in the first place. Using the BBC iplayer as an example, It is massively successful not only in the UK but around the world. I am not sure of the figures but it's huge the number of people watching outside the UK. The BBC will argue that they need to restrict the iplayer to those in the UK that fund the service through the TV license. 

...But hang on a minute there are millions of UK citizens who own a valid TV license who are visiting other countries for work/holidays each year who are being restricted from watching the BBC iplayer(which they are paying for)...is this fair?? Surly one of the benefits of an internet based TV service is that you can watch it anywhere in the world, the same goes for sky go who use the licensing excuse, but if you have a sky subscription in the UK surly its's just wrong that you can't watch it where you want...

When we did our 1 month in Thailand and 3 months on Oz walkabout we still had a valid Sky subscription for the whole time, but wasn't able to watch the F1 via it because of licensing issues. I was obviously still a UK citizen paying my money to Sky UK for a service I still wanted to use, but I wasn't able to because I was in another country... Really??? In today's age it is shocking how un-global the world really is.  

Lets start with what a VPN is! At first I thought a VPN was something a bit complicated and didn't really understand what it was. It's quite simple and is actually just a bit of software that first and for most adds a level of security to your PC, laptop, phone, TV or other internet connected device.

Because everyone refers to it as a VPN I imagined a physical product like small box/router type device which I connect too. But from the users point of view you are not buying a VPN you are buying access to a VPN via its software client, which you install on your device. 

...for a very simple example of what it does, think about when you connect to a public WiFi connection in a cafe, airport or wherever. Depending on how and who has setup that WiFi Hotspot it means that all the data you send across this network (including passwords you type into a web browser etc) and in some cases the data on you your device, is available to anyone else who connects to that network, assuming they know  what they're doing i.e. a hacker.  

If you install some VPN software on your device it creates a theoretical bubble around your device meaning as far as the hacker is concerned you are no-longer on that network. Also any data leaving your bubble is encrypted so when it reaches the WiFi network they are unable to see your data. I think if I had fully understood this I might actually have purchased a VPN (sorry i mean purchased access to a VPN) years ago.  

Well this doesn't fully become clear until you actually take the plunge and purchase access to a VPN and install the software. Once it is installed, to make the secure connection you have to choose an IP address to connect to. Think of an IP address as the address that is assigned to your current connection to the internet. 

So within the VPN software you will have a list of locations (IP addresses) you can connect to from all over the world and for the better services such as Nord you will actually have multiple addresses within each country. So to create the secure connection, you simply choose your IP address from the list, for example one based in the UK and then click connect...Hey presto as a famous Pony might say. 

...What has happened now is that the IP address assigned to your device is now this UK based one, so when the hacker on the public WiFi described above scans the network he won't see your data as you are not connected directly to the WiFi network in summers cafe Melbourne anymore, but connected via a network in the UK which encrypts the data before sending it onto the WiFi hotspot. Hope you now see how this could help you use various streaming services. Think of the service (i.e. iplayer) as the hacker, they can't see where you are and what data you are sending. In theory you can now connect to the internet from the UK so should be able to use any service that requires you to be based in the UK!!! You will have to look at the terms of each service individually to find out if they allow this!

So why don't all VPN's work all of the time....   

In simple terms every so often streaming services block specific IP address. Imagine if a VPN provider has a single IP address in the UK and all it's customers were connected via this one IP address. Lets say 500 customers are connect (obviously all located in the UK but using for security reasons) to this IP address watching iplayer the guys at the service may look at this and make the decision that this would not constitute a normal household, maybe 5 or six devices connected to a single WiFi network but not this many. Therefore at times rightly or wrongly they block specific IP address or a range of IP address so they act as if they were outside the UK.

This is why you need to choose a provider that has multiple locations (IP addresses) based in your desired country or at least is constantly checking their servers to make sure they still work. Multiple servers helps in two ways by spreading the users out and reducing the risk of them being blocked in the first place, but also if some do get blocked you can try different ones. I don't think people always appreciate that connecting to a different location within the same VPN service can make all the difference. They just assume it's the VPN service as a whole that no longer works.    

There are lots of things to consider when choosing  a suitable VPN service. One of the main considerations is what streaming services they support as well as what hardware they support (i.e. windows pc, ipad, android etc). If you need it to run on an iPad there is no point getting a VPN service that does not have a iPad iOS app. The services recommend below are all available on the most common devices such as iPhone, iPad, Android phone, other android devices, windows PC , Mac, chrome browser etc. There are also other consideration like cost, support, money back guarantees which is all cover in the what to look for when choosing a VPN article   

So basically you need to find a service that works for the service you want, has a large number of IP address locations within the country you need and has a software/app version for the device you want to use. Here are my picks and I will also be adding a more detailed review of each soon. Also please free to ask any questions in the comments below.

If you want the best most flexible VPN that will work from day one choose  ExpressVPN or Nord VPN. These both come with a genuine 30 day money back guarantee and live chat. I.e. If something has stopped working you can login to the live chat and you will get an update of the situation and when it will be fixed straight away.

•  ExpressVPN - Probably just scraps the best overall and most complete reward because of it compatibility list 
• Nord VPN - Another fantastic VPN, slightly less devices supported but a little cheaper and had a bit more downtime than ExpressVPN  regarding iplayer but never for very long 
• Tunnelbear - Beautiful VPN experience which makes using a VPN very very easy, without really restricting the functionality too much. There are just a few times that I could have done with a bit more complexity, control or a live chat. Read here for more details..
• PureVPN - Also worth a mention as another excellent alternative that is worth considering, supports all devices, 7 day money back guarantee and touted as the worlds fastest VPN

..a service that might also be worth a look is Hidden24 who are focused on privacy and don't even require a name or address for signup. I have not tried Hidden24 myself so would grateful of any feedback anyone might have on them.