Rating: ★★★★½

PROS:

• Easy, practical way to reverse geographic restrictions
• Cost effective at $4.95 for DNS alone package
• Clever interface with easy configuration
• Fast VPN servers

CONS:

• VPN is a good extra to have, but don’t rely on it for security

Price: $4.95 (~£3.50) per month for DNS package, $7.95 (~£5.75) per month for DNS + VPN, discounts available on pre-payment

A hotly debated issue on the internet is the use of geographic restrictions on online multimedia. Some believe it’s a necessarily evil that protects rights holder’s interests while others think it simply restricts the concept of the internet. Whichever way you look at it, in most jurisdictions it is legal to use a VPN or “smart” DNS to circumvent geographical restrictions. It is normally down to the rights holder or streaming service to clarify whether using the service outside of its intended country of delivery is allowed or not. Just to be clear – I’m not condoning or protesting the use of these techniques to access services abroad – this is a review focused on the benefits of using UnoTelly.

This is by no means the first service I’ve tried with this objective. There are several ways of covering or manipulating your online location to access foreign services, but UnoTelly’s offering is an attempt to simplify the process and allow access to services not only on your PC or Mac, but also on devices such as the PlayStation 3 & 4, Apple TV and iPhone/iPad.

Using the UnoTelly website is a piece of cake. If you’re using the site from your desktop computer or laptop, you’re automatically prompted to set up DNS (and Dynamo if necessary) to be able to access your desired service. Once you’ve done that, there’s a built in directory of services that you can use. If there’s any specific guidelines for accessing a certain service, these are provided with clear simple instructions.

Using UnoTelly one other devices is a little more complicated but still relatively easy to do. First of all, you need to activate your network’s IP address against UnoTelly’s firewall. This can either be done manually on demand or automatically via a dynamic DNS setting on your wireless router. Once that’s done, you simply set the DNS server address on the device you’d like to use, configure the Dynamo setup to match the region of each service you’d like to use, and then fire up the relevant app! Thankfully, once you’ve done this the first time, settings are always preserved so you should only have to configure it once (unless you wish to change regions).

The service works seamlessly and made mince meat of my heavy demands and frequent server changes. The online interface is very easy to use and serves as a useful service guide.

All of the above is covered under the primary UnoDNS offering. The second offering that UnoTelly has is their UnoVPN service. A VPN is another way that geographical restrictions can be avoided, as all of your internet traffic is routed through a foreign server in the country you’re intending to view from. For some users, the VPN service will be simpler and quicker to use – particularly if you’re primarily going to want to benefit from UnoTelly on PC or Mac. For most people, however, the UnoDNS service will more than suffice and if you’re using set-top boxes or smart TVs you’ll find the DNS service much easier to set up.

That’s not to say the VPN is bad at all, though. Once you’ve got it set up (instructions are provided for many devices but the service is mainly aimed at PC and Mac users), it’s permanently configured on your device and can be switched on or off on demand. Speeds from the UnoTelly VPN servers were very impressive, with consistently high speed test results across all of their servers. However – be warned – if you’re intending to use your UnoVPN service as a security measure (as many VPN users do), you’ll be disappointed. The PPTP authentication method that UnoVPN uses is very basic and widely regarded as insecure. UnoTelly does stress, however, that their service is designed to be used for performance and not security – so don’t get your hopes up.

In conclusion, UnoTelly provides a very simple and user-friendly method of accessing international multimedia services and gives you the ultimate choice between DNS redirection and VPN routing. The service functions flawlessly, even if it does need a little time to set to optimal settings. As the saying goes, it “does exactly what it says on the tin”!

You can get a free 8-day trial here.