I use Linux as my main operating system but still a Chromecast is quite handy for streaming once in a while. I installed Chromium in Linux Mint and played around a bit. That is why I noticed the missing support for Chromecast.

Enable Chromecast support in Chromium

The support is already there, just not activated. But you can change that quickly. Just open this URL in Chromium:

chrome://flags/#load-media-router-component-extension

The flag is set to Default and this is most probably deactivated in this case. If you set the button to Enabled, the software wants a restart.

From the comments (thanks!): As of Brave Version 1.25.73 Chromium: 91.0.4472.106 (6/21), You will also need to enable “Media Router” in Settings. So both in flags and settings.

That’s it. After that you can stream your favourite content from YouTube and other streaming websites via Chromecast. Geoblocking or geographical blocking cannot be bypassed this way. On the laptop it works with a VPN, but the Chromecast might not be in the right country.

If you want to move the streaming device to another country as well, you will need a VPN router. If you have a Raspberry Pi and an empty SD card, you can easily build your own VPN router. A Raspberry Pi 3 does work for streaming via a Chromecast 3 — I have used the setup at home myself.

Works with Brave too

For the Chromium-based Brave* the support is already activated. But here the link is called:

brave://flags/#load-media-router-component-extension

If you want to disable Chromecast support in Brave, you can do so here.

That should work similarly for all Chromium-based browsers. This also applies to Opera, Vivaldi, Microsoft Edge and of course Google’s Chrome. With only one click, the function can be activated or deactivated.

The post Enable Chromecast support in web browser Chromium appeared first on VPN Expert.

Perhaps I will explain briefly the Six Nations’ point system, which can be a bit confusing:

• A team gets four points for a win.
• Two points are given to each team in case of a tie.
• A Try bonus point is awarded when a team scores 4 or more tries in a match.
• A loser bonus point is also awarded if the team loses with 7 or fewer points.
• If a team wins a Grand Slam, i.e. every 5 games, it receives 3 additional points.

The system is clear. It should encourage the teams to play as attractively and offensively as possible and never give up.

How to watch Six Nations Rugby for free from everywhere

I won’t beat around the bush here. In the UK the tournament will be on free TV, but for streaming you need a good VPN, otherwise you’ll run into geoblocking. I always use CyberGhost for bypassing geoblocking. The VPN provider is known to be able to bypass even the toughest blocks. I am sure that CyberGhost will serve me well again in the Six Nations.

VPNs are no longer expensive. For long-term subscriptions you only pay about 3 € per month. The technology is not only good for streaming, but you can also protect your devices with it. I will go into this further down.

Can’t I watch the Six Nations in other countries? Yes, but that most probably costs money … Let me explain for example in Germany.

Rugby Six Nations — not on public TV in many countries

If you want to watch the Rugby Six Nations for example in Germany, this is only possible via DAZN. You need a subscription for that.

In England the BBC and itv Hub broadcast the competition on public TV. The games are shown alternately, as you can find on the website of the organizer.

BBC and itv stream the matches live, free of charge and on public TV, but only in the UK. If you come from another country, the providers will block you. They use geoblocking technology and that prevents watching from other countries.

The streaming providers can tell which country you come from by your IP address. If you use a VPN to connect to a server in another country, it looks as if you are at another location. Now the streaming provider will no longer block you. If you are connected to a server in the UK, you seem to be at the right location.

But you need a good VPN with many servers. Streaming providers work with blacklists and if a server will be added on one of these, you will also be blocked.

However, you have to register with the BBC — you need a television license. But the BBC only asks for a postcode. So, any postcode in Britain… all right?

Are there any other possibilities?

Yes, of course, Zattoo! But only Zattoo Switzerland and Zattoo UK, and they work with geoblocking again. Now we have the same problem again. You need a good VPN with servers in Switzerland or the UK. But there is more to it. I explain what you have to do:

• Get a good VPN
• Connect to a server in Switzerland or the UK
• Set up a free account for Zattoo Switzerland or Zattoo UK
• Have fun with the Six Nations!

There are other VPN providers that offer servers in Switzerland and the UK. They are not bad either. CyberGhost is one of the cheapest providers you can trust. There are currently no limits for simultaneous device connections.

Can I watch the Six Nations on free TV from anywhere?

Yes! However, you will have to use a VPN if you are not in the UK or another country where the event will be broadcasted on free TV. I’m glad that I can unblock BBC and itv Hub with my VPNs.

I have tested both CyberGhost and ExpressVPN. Both deliver enough speed for a hassle-free streaming of the Six Nations. With my little trick you can watch your favorite sport for free and from anywhere.

Is that legal?

VPNs are legal in the UK and most other countries as well. However, this does not mean that you can do illegal things with it. It’s your responsibility what you do with it. Even with a VPN, you have to abide by the laws of the country you are in.

Bypassing geoblocking is not illegal, but it probably violates the usage guidelines of the operators. Broadcasters block viewers from other countries for licensing reasons – so it’s all about money and broadcasting rights.

For this reason, streaming operators use technology to detect VPN usage. Only the best VPNs can bypass this technology because they constantly change IP addresses, use camouflage modes, and so on.

if you download copyrighted torrents or other protected media with a VPN – that is illegal. With youtube-dl, it’s probably quite a grey area.

Can I watch the Six Nations with a free VPN?

Possibly – however, it is not advisable. Providers of free VPNs often limit bandwidth and data usage. You don’t need that much bandwidth for streaming, but if you only have a few hundred MB of data, the fun ends rather quickly.

Some free VPNs have also been caught selling users’ data. Others show advertisements and so on.

Services like CyberGhost* or ExpressVPN* are really not expensive and cost less than a beer per month. If you consider all the other advantages of the services, then such a VPN is absolutely worth the money. So, I’d rather pay 3 bucks per month for unlimited bandwidth plus infinite data and know for sure that I won’t run out of juice in the middle of a game.

Many free VPNs also throttle the speeds so much that trouble-free streaming is not even possible. I don’t bother with such things because of the few bucks – you probably don’t either.

There is a little trick that allows you to use high-quality VPNs for free. Most providers have a money-back guarantee of 30 days. This is also true for CyberGhost and ExpressVPN. In this case, you can use the service free for 45 days. If you don’t like the service, you can request a refund. Note, however, that you have to do this in time. You will usually get your money back within a few days. I have tested this with both and it worked. No annoying questions were asked, and they didn’t try to upsell me anything.

Can I watch the Six Nations on my phone or tablet?

The services presented here also offer excellent apps for Android and iOS. You can also use your smartphone to connect to a server of your choice and watch Six Nations Rugby.

If you have enough mobile data, you can watch Six Nations Rugby on the go with your smartphone or tablet. Of course, you can access BBC and itv on mobile devices. Watch Rugby as much as you want and where you want. When you want is limited to the live games, of course. I probably didn’t need to mention that, did I?

In any case, have fun! Six Nations Rugby is always a great show. I’m already very curious to see who will take the crown this year.

The post Six Nations Rugby 2023 Live / Public TV – watch from everywhere! appeared first on VPN Expert.

In some countries most connections provide unlimited bandwidth. This is a great thing and I don’t really have to worry about it. But there are also connections where the data usage is limited. For example, you could use your smartphone as a hotspot and it would be interesting to know how much data you are using. In any case, I would simply like to determine how much data I use.

Wondershaper helps

Under Linux there is a small and beautiful command line program called Wondershaper. The source code is available at GitHub and in popular Linux distributions you find the program in the repositories. Under Linux Mint or Raspbian (Raspberry Pi) you can install it this way:

apt install wondershaper

The program allows me to control network interfaces. So I tell my Wi-Fi or Ethernet interface, i.e. the network card, how much upload and download it may use.

As you can see in the screenshot, the syntax is very simple:

sudo wondershaper Downlink Uplink

It’s not hard, is it? But what if I want to regulate the internet speed for my Android device, smart TV and so on?

Control the Internet speed on a VPN router!

It is really not very difficult to make a VPN router out of a Raspberry Pi. The Pi’s wireless interface serves as an access point to connect your devices. The wired network card (eth0) forwards the data traffic to the Internet. If I put Wondershaper on eth0, I have control over the internet speed and thus it’s up to me how much bandwidth the apps can use. The command

sudo wondershaper eth0 2048 512

gives me 2 Mbps download and 0,5 Mbps upload. Once you have done that, you can test your internet speed. The method works and I can prove it.

It is no secret that the download speed is decisive for streaming. Many streaming portals deliver an acceptable quality from 2 Mbps. Some need a bit more. But we are flexible and can also set our VPN router to 4 Mbps.

With such a VPN router you can also connect a Chromecast to a VPN easily.

Wondershaper – think of your fellow men!

If several parties in the house use the Internet, you can also let your fellow men use some bandwidth as the streaming apps cannot hog all data. You use only a small part of the bandwidth and streaming in HD is still possible.

In my second example the apps can’t grab more than 4 Mbps, no matter how hungry for bandwidth they are. Wondershaper simply controls the flow of the data. I think it’s a very elegant way to give streaming apps a feature that they don’t have — I don’t know why but most are lacking in this area.

With a little patience, you can quickly build your own VPN router. With a VPN, you can not only avoid the annoying geoblocking, but also control the Internet speed for some streaming Apps. Great, isn’t it?

The post Wondershaper and VPN Router: Internet speed under control appeared first on VPN Expert.

Those who have once visited the National Museum of Egypt in Cairo will probably not get out of amazement. There is so much to see and so little time. You can easily spend the whole day in the museum and you will not get tired of it. The famous mask of Tutankhamen is of course a must and if you are there you have to visit the Pyramids as well. But in the digital age you should not travel to Egypt without the right VPN. I use the VPNs in this article myself and explain why you should use a Virtual Private Network in Egypt.

Tip: The obfuscated VPN servers of NordVPN (big discounts NOW)* work in Egypt very well! With this provider you can use up to 6 devices at the same time and NordVPN is perfect for beginners and professionals alike. The applications and apps for Windows, macOS, iOS and Android are very user-friendly and there is even a client for Linux. Not so many VPN providers have that in their portfolio.

Sometimes the websites of the VPN providers are not accessible. Therefore, it is a very good idea to get a VPN before you start your journey to Egypt. Better safe than sorry!

30 day money-back guarantee!

There is no risk in testing this provider because it offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. You could even get the service just for the holiday and then … well …

Test NordVPN 30 days!*

Thanks to the already mentioned 30-day money-back guarantee, you have nothing to lose. Below I will tell you some more providers and methods that work, but the most convenient for Egypt really is NordVPN. The provider’s stealth mode bypasses the VPN blocks and you also get CyberSec for all applications and apps. This feature protects your device from malware, tracker and phishing. It also blocks annoying ads.

Be smart as a tourist!

Here is an additional tip: If you spend several days in Cairo and want to see the mask of Tutankhamen relatively undisturbed, you should try it at noon. Often tourists visit the Pyramids and the museum on the same day. In the morning one thing and in the afternoon the other. Therefore, it is often relatively quiet at noon when the hordes are moving from A to B. I got the tip from a friend who lived in Cairo for quite a while.

Bathing, snorkeling, scuba diving, sunbathing

For sun lovers Egypt has a lot to offer. It rains actually hardly in the country especially on the Red Sea and you can spend your vacation any time of the year there. The heat in summer is however extreme and the months of June, July and August are not suitable for people who don’t like it that hot.

If you want to escape the wet and cold autumn and the grey and dark winter in Europe, you can get plenty of sunshine in Egypt. October, November and December are actually the best time to travel. In those months, the water is still quite warm because the summer heated it up. But in the evening it cools down enough that sitting outside is quite comfortable. I would recommend these months.

Spring is not bad either, although the water is a bit colder, but still over 20 degrees. In any case Hurghada, Sharm El Sheikh or also Dahab are definitely known to the sun lovers from Europe. It is only a few hours flight to escape the wet, dark and grey season. The Red Sea is also famous for its fauna and flora.

Under water as its best

If you like snorkeling, you can enjoy great coral reefs and colorful fish. The biodiversity is not quite as high as in some areas of Indonesia, but the Red Sea is one of the best diving areas in the world. You can just look at fish, but also dive the most famous wreck in the world. Of course I am talking about the Thistlegorm, which was sunk by the Germans during the Second World War. In the Red Sea you can find turtles as well.

Free Wi-Fi is basically available everywhere

You don’t have to worry about general internet access. Actually, every hotel, café, bar, restaurant and so on offers free Wi-Fi. The first coworking cafés and coworking spaces are already opening and as a digital nomad you should always have a VPN in your luggage anyway. The internet is not as fast as in Europe, but it has become much better in the last years. 16 to 21 Mbps is more and more common and in some areas there is 4G available for those who prefer a mobile Internet connection.

SIM cards for tourists are actually available at the airport, and a data volume of 40 GB currently cost just over 25 Euro. If you only need 8 GB on your mobile device, it will only cost about 5 Euro. However, Skype or Viber quite often does not work with mobile data packages and other VoIP services are a bit bumpy. The VoIP services via WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Telegram or Threema usually work, but not all the time. To be honest, it’s hard to say where the problem lies.

Protect your devices!*

But I can confirm that calling home with a VPN works much better. For example, I had the problem that Skype always ended the call after exactly 30 seconds. With VPN, a call of over an hour was possible without any problems. With WhatsApp and Telegram there were also strange dropouts and malfunctions, but via Virtual Private Network it is much more stable.

PayPal and streaming in Egypt

You may be on vacation, but with VPN it’s still possible to watch some live TV from your country. That’s allowed even when you’re on vacation, isn’t it?

By the way, if you want to use PayPal in Egypt, you also need a VPN. I can only log into PayPal if I am using a server in Europe. It is very possible that other western countries work as well, but from a network with Egyptian IP address PayPal does not work.

The Egyptian government blocks VPNs

The use of a VPN in Egypt is not so simple. Presumably the government started censoring the Internet on May 24, 2017. Presumably? Yes, there is somehow no official statement until today. Of course, many people immediately switched to proxies, VPNs, and Tor (The Onion Router), and that’s why all popular VPN providers and Tor have been blocked.

However, there is every indication that the OpenVPN, PPTP, L2TP, and IPSec VPN protocols are blocked. Whoever is responsible for blocking seems to be monitoring which protocols are running and then blocking them accordingly. But I know that VPNs with obfuscation techniques are not blocked.

If you use stealth technology, NordVPN (big discounts NOW)* and [AirVPN] work fine. In this case OpenVPN traffic will be made unrecognizable looks like normal web traffic. For example, AirVPN offers OpenVPN over SSH, OpenVPN over SSL, and OpenVPN over Tor. NordVPN calls the servers to circumvent censorship obfuscated. With those methods you can get around the VPN blocks!

I can also tell you that SSTP via port 443 still works. For example [PureVPN] offers SSTP as protocol. By the way, Tor also works if you use bridges. However, Tor is not as fast as a VPN. With a free VPN you probably won’t get far in Egypt. They usually only offer standard OpenVPN connections, and those are blocked.

By the way, WireGuard works quite good. NordVPN offers WireGuard in their Linux client. They call the technology NordLynx and it is faster than OpenVPN.

CyberSec from NordVPN is great!

Do not underestimate CyberSec by NordVPN. It is included in all applications and apps for Windows, macOS, Android, iOS and also Linux. Especially in foreign countries and foreign networks you may need any additional protection! CyberSec protects your devices against malware, tracker and phishing. It is also an ad blocker and guarantees uninterrupted browsing.

[su_service title=”Quick reminder!” icon=”icon: lightbulb-o”] A VPN works in Egypt, if the provider offers a technology to hide the traffic or a Stealth VPN![/su_service]

Why should I use a VPN in Egypt?

Egypt censors more or less. This applies to both websites and VPN services. The AFTE provides further information on this topic. As part of the fight against terrorism, laws have also been passed to control the media and the Internet. What does this mean? Well it’s basically monitoring and censorship of the Internet!

Protect your privacy!*

New anti-cyber crime law in Egypt

Heads up! In August 2018, the above-mentioned Anti-Cybercrime Law was passed. The government reserves the right to block websites that distribute fake news and the like. The use of a VPN to access such websites is illegal, as they underpin national security. This is punishable by up to 1 year in prison or a fine of 100,000 Egyptian pounds.

The law is probably deliberately worded a bit woolly, but you should know it. It doesn’t say anything about avoiding geoblocking for example. Nevertheless, you should be careful and only use high quality VPNs, which also safely protect your anonymity.

I have already mentioned two more reasons to use a VPN. These are VoIP services and public Wi-Fi. In an open Wi-Fi you should always use a VPN. It doesn’t matter if you are in Airbnb or on a plane. You never know who is running the network and who is trying to access your data.

With a VPN, your data is transported via an encrypted tunnel and the operator of the Wi-Fi cannot even see what websites you are using. If a government blocks VPNs, you can strongly assume that the Internet is monitored. Now you could say that you have nothing to hide anyway. However, I don’t like people snooping on me. It’s nobodies business what websites I am visiting. I don’t care it the prying eyes are from a government, an ISP (Internet Service Provider) or any agency.

Egypt is most likely monitoring the Internet

If the traffic between you and the website is encrypted (HTTPS), the parties mentioned above cannot actually read your data. However, they know which websites you are visiting, which DNS queries your device makes and all unencrypted traffic is basically open.

Another reason for using a VPN while on vacation is if you don’t want to miss TV from home. For example Zattoo or BBC iPlayer work great with a VPN, even abroad, as long as your IP address is not blocked. If you want to use streaming in Egypt, you need an IP address from the country what content you want to watch.

Streaming from abroad!*

If the content provider uses geoblocking technology, you need a VPN that can go around those restrictions. One of the best VPNs for streaming is NordVPN. Most of the times the provider is one step ahead of geoblocking. BBC iPlayer works great and also Netflix US and other libraries are no problem.

NordVPN is really great for setting up your own VPN router on a Raspberry Pi by the way. The device is so small that you could take it on vacation. Take your Chromecast as well and you can watch TV from home on the TV of the hotel.

The post Does my VPN work in Egypt / Cairo / Red Sea? appeared first on VPN Expert.

In this article, I’ll take BBC iPlayer as an example if you are outside the UK. Why? Because you can find the some really nice content. Also, ITV is working this way where you can find some rugby games and so on! If you have a VPN installed on your smartphone, tablet, Android TV and so on, access is easy. You log on to a server in the UK, register with BBC iPlayer and start watching.

Why can’t I simply stream BBC iPlayer to the Chromecast?

Unfortunately it is not that easy. The app recognizes that the Chromecast is located in another country. Now the geoblocking of the respective provider kicks in and streaming to the TV does not work.

To stream geoblocked content from your smartphone to the Chromecast, both devices must be in the same network. In other words, the streaming provider must look like they are using the same IP address.

The only way to make this happen is to use a so-called VPN router. The device serves as an access point and gateway to the Internet. So you connect both the smartphone and the Chromecast via Wi-Fi to the VPN router and the router establishes the connection to the VPN network. If the VPN router is connected to the UK, the digital location of Chromecast and smartphone has now moved to the UK. Both use the same external IP address and therefore the stream is possible.

By the way, it does not matter from which device you want to stream to the Chromecast. Whether it is via Windows, Chrome, iOS, Android – irrelevant. As soon as you want to stream via VPN and geoblocking is in play (Netflix US, BBC iPlayer, Zattoo Switzerland …), the streaming provider wants to see both devices in a location where it is allowed to watch the content!

Isn’t using a VPN router complicated?

Actually, it’s not. There are VPNs that offer software for certain routers. But you are more flexible if you build your own VPN router with a Raspberry Pi. It is really not difficult.

The most powerful is a Raspberry Pi 4, which has both a Wi-Fi and an Ethernet interface. The Wi-Fi interface becomes the access point and the Ethernet interface is our gateway to the Internet.

How to build a VPN router – in a nutshell

I have written a lengthy article that shows you step-by-step how to turn your Raspberry Pi into a VPN router. It works like that:

• Install Raspbian on your Raspberry Pi.
• Register with a VPN provider. I recommend NordVPN* because the service provides a CLI client for the Raspberry Pi. The subscription is quite cheap and costs just a little over 3 Euro per month!
• Configure RaspAP and turn your Pi into a VPN router — the article explains in detail how to turn your Raspberry Pi into an access point first. After that we install the NordVPN client and use the Pi as a VPN router.
• Connect your smartphone to the VPN router.
• Configure your Chromecast that it uses the VPN router as an access point as well. It works exactly the same then connecting it to any other Wi-Fi router.

By the way there is one more advantage to use NordVPN for this case. You get a 30-day money-back-guarantee and therefore you can try the provider without risk on your Raspberry Pi.

Test NordVPN risk free!*

In case you don’t like the provider you simply get your money back. Of course, all providers who provide OpenVPN files also work. Examples at this point would be [AirVPN] or PIA (very nice client)* . But this makes the configuration a bit more complex. In the article, how you build the router out of the Raspberry Pi, I will go into this topic briefly.

Change the location on your Chromecast

So if you want to stream geoblocked content from your smartphone to your Chromecast, both devices must be connected to the VPN router. We already know that.

The location of the Chromecast depends on which server you are connected to. If you want to change the digital location, log on to your Pi and connect to another server. This will also change the location for all devices connected to the access point of the Pi.

Not only for Chromecast – additional advantages of a VPN router

With NordVPN you are allowed to use 6 devices simultaneously, but in today’s world this can quickly become tight. The VPN router counts as only one device and it doesn’t matter how many smartphones, Chromecasts, tablets and so on you connect to it.

You change the location for all connected devices very quickly. If you switch the VPN router from Switzerland to the UK because you want to stream BBC iPlayer to the Chromecast, you only need one command.

A few more arguments for NordVPN

NordVPN offers not only OpenVPN in its client, but also the VPN protocol WireGuard. The provider calls it NordLynx and it is implemented in the Linux client. Speed tests have shown that WireGuard is definitely faster than OpenVPN. It’s quite easy to change the protocol:

nordvpn set technology nordlynx

You do not need to install anything else. But there is another catch. There are currently only a certain number of locations in NordLynx. Available are Germany, Australia, Canada, Austria, France, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, USA and the UK.

Netflix USA and BBC iPlayer would work with that. Other streaming services outside those countries will not. But to be honest – OpenVPN is quite fast enough as well to get awesome streaming quality. To swap the protocol again use this command:

nordvpn set technology openvpn

NordVPN also offers a very nice client for Android. You will probably have such a device if you are interested in Chromecast. If you are on the road and use public Wi-Fi, you should always activate a VPN.

CyberSec is the ad blocker of the provider. This function blocks advertising, trackers, phishing and malware. This is also very nice when you are on the road. You can also activate CyberSec on your VPN router. All devices connected to it then automatically use the ad blocker. You do not need to install any separate software:

nordvpn set cybersec on

Otherwise you activate CyberSec in the respective client. Here a screenshot of the client on my Android device.

NordVPN is known to beat the geoblocking of the major streaming providers time and again. I can definitely confirm myself that you can watch BBC iPlayer with it.

Use NordVPN with your Chromecast!*

The VPN provider operates well over 5000 servers worldwide. Therefore traffc jams are not likely.

No Logs – Torrents and P2P are allowed

The strict no-logs policy is a further protection. If you don’t store any user logs, you can’t provide any if asked for them. By the way, the provider is outside the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliance and headquartered in privacy-friendly Panama.

Torrents and P2P activities are allowed. There are special servers that you can use for such activities.

The VPN provider’s servers are fast enough that you can easily stream in 4K – if your Chromecast is capable of it. Of course, your internet connection must also be between 15 and 25 Mbit/s, it depends on the streaming provider.

By the way: The provider is currently converting their servers so that the operating system only runs in memory. If the server is switched off, all data will be deleted. So if a server is seized, there is no sensitive data stored on a mass storage device.

As said before, all VPN providers that offer a client for Raspberry Pi (there are really not many) or provide OpenVPN files will work. There are plenty of them. However, you have to have more technical know-how if you want to configure the connection manually and also avoid things like DNS leaks. NordVPN is a very good candidate for this purpose and streaming via Chromecast works perfectly. I know that – I’m using it!

[su_service title=”Chromecast 1st generation!” icon=”icon: lightbulb-o”]This method also works with the very first edition of Chromecasts. Why I know that? Because a friend of mine is using it![/su_service]

The post Chromecast Streaming and VPN? It works if you do that! appeared first on VPN Expert.