We’re excited to share a new promotion from our friends over at OverPlay.  They are celebrating the NFL season with a special giveaway.  Enter the OverPlay Bowl promotion for your chance to win a free NFL Game Pass and a year of free OverPlay SmartDNS and VPN service.  You can enter for free by visiting the OverPlay Bowl page.  You can enter from October 2nd through October 17th.  The winners will be notified by email on October 20th.

OverPlay is a leading provider of SmartDNS and VPN services.  We’re particularly fond of their SmartDNS solution.  It’s perfect for watching live events like NFL and college football games.  Along with streaming services like Netflix and Hulu.  While a VPN will work it’s really overkill for that purpose.  You give up some speed when using a VPN versus getting close to your maximum throughput with a good Smart DNS service.

SmartDNS is easy to use.  You simply change your DNS settings to those provided by OverPlay.  If you’re not comfortable doing that the OverPlay team has a client you can use to connect as well.  Either way you’ll have access to content in other countries that would otherwise be blocked.  A good example is BBC content.  If you want to watch BBC programming from outside  the UK you can with OverPlay’s Smart DNS.

The OverPlay NFL Game Pass promotion is currently under way.  They launched the giveaway page earlier today so I suggest you head on over and enter to win.  Along with the chance to win a free NFL Game Pass the OverPlay team is offering some nice discounts on SmartDNS access.  You can enjoy unlimited SmartDNS for $4.95 a month or a full year of access for just $49.95.  Visit OverPlay.com to save on SmartDNS or VPN.

You can visit vpnsp.com to learn more about Smart DNS and follow us @VPNSP for the latest promotions.

UnoTelly is a Smart DNS service funded by Unovation, Inc.  Their team is based in Toronto, Canada.  One of my favorite towns.  The Unovation team came up with a solution to help break down the barriers posed by online geo-restrictions.  They created a technology called UnoDNS.  UnoTelly uses the UnoDNS technology to help users gain access to channels like Netflix, Hulu and BBC iPlayer from anywhere in the world.

One of the first things you’ll notice when you visit the UnoTelly site is their free trial offer.  If you’re new to UnoTelly they offer an 8 day premium trial.  The free trial will give you full access to the Smart DNS service.  The only thing you won’t have access to is their VPN service.  The gold plan which includes VPN is available for $7.95 a month.  The Premium plan which is Smart DNS without the VPN is available for $4.95 a month.  We’ll be covering the Premium (Smart DNS) plan in our review.  You can compare both plans at unotelly.com.

Once you sign up for the free trial you’ll receive a confirmation email.  Simply click the link to activate your account.  From there you’ll receive a welcome email.  The email makes it clear that you can use the service free for 8 days during the trial period.  From there you can either purchase a membership or let the trial expire.  There is no commitment necessary for the trial.  You just need to provide an email address to set up the account.

When you first log into the UnoTelly site with your new trial account it will walk you through the process of updating your DNS settings.  I tested Unotelly on Windows 8.  Changing DNS settings is very simple.  UnoTelly offers step by step guides for several platforms including Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone, iPad, Android, Kindle Fire HD, gaming consoles, smart tv’s, media boxes and several router brands.  Just to name a few.

Now that I’m logged in and switched my DNS settings let’s take a look at the UnoTelly quickstart screen:

As you can see my account status shows that everything is good.  Meaning that I set my DNS servers to point to UnoDNS servers in the US and Canada.  Here’s a brief explanation of some of the other quickstart options.

• Global Servers – view a full list of UnoDNS server addresses.  You can select any two servers.  In general you’ll want to choose servers near your current location for the best performance.
• Channels – full list of channels around the world that UnoTelly will help you unblock.
• Devices – list of supported devices along with step by step set up guides for each device.
• Channel Request – this is where you can request a channel that’s not already on the list.
• Dynamo – this feature let’s you set the region for services like Netflix.  Giving you access to different content based on the country you select.  They offer 20 UnoDNS Dynamo region settings for Netflix.

Once you get the DNS settings in place you can fire up your favorite web browser and connect to your desired channel.  For testing purposes we used BBC iPlayer.  Here’s what iPlayer looked like when we tried to use it without the UnoTelly UnoDNS service.  As you can see we’re blocked since we’re outside the UK.

Now take a look at iPlayer after I set my DNS to the UnoTelly UnoDNS server addresses.  As you can see iPlayer is no longer blocked.  I’m free to watch BBC content using the UnoTelly service to unblock iPlayer streams.

That’s really all there is to using the UnoTelly Smart DNS (UnoDNS) service.  You simply sign up for the free trial and change your DNS settings as instructed.  From there you can access sites like Netflix, Hulu and BBC iPlayer.  Along with media sites from around the world.  Don’t forget about the Dynamo feature if you’d like to check out Netflix content in other countries.  The Dynamo page has some other channel options as well.

I enjoyed testing the UnoTelly Smart DNS service.  It was very straight forward and easy to use.  In the days to come I’ll test out their VPN service and share the results.  In the meantime you can visit unotelly.com to learn more.  Remember you can sign up for the 8 day free trial without any payment information.  No obligations.  A perfect way to test UnoTelly.  From there you can sign up for $4.95 a month or add VPN for $7.95 a month.

You can visit vpnsp.com to learn more about Smart DNS and follow us @VPNSP for the latest news and deals.

Last week we wrote about a new SmartDNS service called DNS Eraser.  Since then we’ve had a chance to put DNS Eraser through the paces and wanted to share our impression of the service.  Anytime we test a VPN or Smart DNS while it’s in beta the bar isn’t set too high.  With that said DNS Eraser did a fine job of unblocking content in other regioins.  We were able to use the service to unblock and watch media in other countries.

When it comes to Smart DNS I’ve been using OverPlay for a long time.  It works well so I haven’t spent much time using other services outside of testing them for our site.  Trying out Smart DNS services isn’t like testing a new VPN.  There just isn’t that much to test.  With most services including DNS Eraser you simply authorize your IP address and change your DNS settings.  From there the service will unblock sites in other regions.

Since we normally write about VPN I want to explain some of the differences between VPN and Smart DNS.  With a VPN your data is encrypted.  You can still access sites in other countries by connecting to a VPN server in that country.  For example you would connect to a server in the UK to watch BBC iPlayer.  VPN adds a layer of privacy protection but the encryption can impact your speed.  A Smart DNS service on the other hand isn’t meant for privacy protection.  It’s sole purpose is to unblock content in other countries.  It will do so without the speed loss of encrypting your data. So it really comes down to which type of service better meets your needs.

Let’s give a quick example of how a Smart DNS can help you unblock channels in other regions.  In this case take a look at what BBC iPlayer looks like when you connect from outside the UK:

Now take a look at BBC iPlayer while connected through a Smart DNS service.  While you’re still physically located outside the UK the Smart DNS service will take care of unblocking the geographic restriction.

As you can see we now have access to watch Dr. Who through BBC iPlayer.  The same is true for a number of channels in different regions.  DNS Eraser has a supported channels page with an extensive list of channels that their service supports.  The DNS Eraser service is currently in private beta.  We have a few invites to share if you would like to test the service for free.  If you’d like an invite please follow us on Twitter @VPNSP and send us a tweet.  We’ll follow up with a direct message that includes the invite code.

I can just smell football in the air as we near the beginning of the 2014 season.  The summer break might be over but OverPlay is giving away some goodies to help you get started this semester.  During their Back to School Bash, OverPlay is giving away SmartDNS access plus your choice of a Roku streaming stick of ChromeCast.  The contest is live and weekly winners will be chosen between Aug. 25th and Sept. 28th.

OverPlay is a leading provider of SmartDNS and VPN services.  We’re particularly fond of their SmartDNS solution.  It’s perfect for watching live events like college football games.  Along with streaming services like Netflix and Hulu.  While a VPN will work as well it’s really overkill for that purpose.  You give up some speed when using a VPN versus getting close to your maximum throughput with a good Smart DNS service.

SmartDNS is easy to use.  You simply change your DNS settings to those provided by OverPlay.  If you’re not comfortable doing that the OverPlay team has a client you can use to connect as well.  Either way you’ll have access to content in other countries that would otherwise be blocked.  A good example is BBC content.  If you want to watch BBC programming from outside  the UK you can with OverPlay’s Smart DNS.

The OverPlay Back to School promotion is currently under way.  They launched the giveaway page a few days ago so I suggest you head on over and enter to win.  Along with the chance to win a free Roky or ChromeCast the OverPlay team is offering some nice discounts on SmartDNS access.  You can enjoy unlimited SmartDNS for $4.95 a month or a full year of access for just $49.95.  Visit OverPlay.com to save on SmartDNS or VPN.

You can visit vpnsp.com to learn more about SmartDNS and follow us @VPNSP for the latest promotions.

Update: we have 10 DNS Eraser beta invites to give away.  If you’d like one please send us a direct message on Twitter @VPNSP.  The invites will go to the first 10 people to send us a message.

DNS Eraser is a new Smart DNS service that recently launched.  They are currently in the private beta testing phase.  With 1,000 or so invites sent out for users to test the new service.  I’ve had a chance to try it out and am impressed by the ease of set up.  You simply log in and add your IP address to your DNS Eraser account.  From there you can choose from a number of channels in the US, UK and Canada.  Thanks to the DNS Eraser team we’ll have some invites to share in the days to come.  We’ll update this post as soon as we receive them.

I’ll provide a quick explanation of Smart DNS for those who might not be familiar with the technology yet.  Smart DNS differs from VPN.  With VPN you encrypt the connection which offers privacy protection but cam also slow down your connection speed.  With Smart DNS there isn’t any encryption.  Instead you simply change your DNS settings so that they pass through the provider’s servers.  In this case you set your DNS settings to send the requests through DNS Eraser.  Do so will help you unblock content in the US, UK and Canada.

Now that you have a better idea of what Smart DNS is and how it works let’s take a closer look at the new DNS Eraser service.  The goal of DNS Eraser is simple.  The service will help you unblock sites in other countries.  In the members area they list some of the domains which include Netflix, Hulu, Pandora, Last.fm, ABC, Disney XD, CBS, Fox, NBC, Crackle, Crunchyroll and Amazon Instant Video.  You can select one of the channels as shown below or select a region which includes the United States, United Kingdom or Canada.

Please remember that DNS Eraser is currently in beta.  That means you might come across some errors or glitches in the service.  If you do please let them know.  Since the service is in beta they are offering it free of charge.  Once again DNS Eraser is in private beta.  Perhaps they will extend it in the future.  If you really want to try it out and don’t get in on one of our invites then I’d suggest you drop them an email or hit them up on Twitter.  It never hurts to ask.  Once the service is live for paying customers we’ll provide the pricing details.

This should be an easy post since we shared a very similar giveaway from another Smart DNS service, OverPlay, last week.  Now you have a second chance to win a Premier League Season Pass plus a year of free Smart DNS Proxy access.  Their giveaway is underway and will last through August 13.  I would suggest entering both giveaways.  Here’s the free entry link for each promotion – Smart DNS Proxy and OverPlay.

I don’t have a lot of experience with Smart DNS Proxy but it testing the service they seem to be getting a good start.  Just like other Smart DNS providers you can use their service to access content in other countries that would otherwise be blocked.  That includes access to the Premier League Season Pass which is only available to those in New Zealand.  In short Smart DNS Proxy helps you gain access to content in other countries.

Let’s take a look at the prizes in the Smart DNS Proxy Premier League giveaway:

• 1st Place – Premier League Season Pass plus a year of Smart DNS Proxy
• 2nd Place – One year of free Smart DNS Proxy
• 3rd Place – Six months of free Smart DNS Proxy

The OverPlay giveaway prizes are exactly the same except it includes their SmartDNS service.  Remember to enter the giveaways by August 13th for your chance to win.  If you’re not one of the lucky winners the team at Smart DNS Proxy is also offering a 14 day free trial and some special offers with discounted pricing.  Giving you a chance to test the service without payment and savings after you’ve had a good chance to try it out.

You can visit vpnsp.com to learn more about Smart DNS and follow us @VPNSP for the latest giveaways.