International use

[jhoucke]

Does anyone know if it is possible to use the Roku overseas? I would love to get my husband one for Christmas, however he is in Switzerland indefinitely. Does it have dual current or would I have to use a transformer? Also ... would there be a problem downloading the content to a foreign ip address? Any help would be appreciated (I would love to be able to watch something when I am trapped over there!!

[kc8pql]

The Roku only works within the US because of restrictions by the content copyright owners (movie studios).

[jhoucke]

pity, I have the same problem with DVDs that are zone coded. When is Hollywood going to realize how small the world is... and that i should be able to watch a video i have purchased anywhere I would like to watch it!

[kc8pql]

Well, it works both ways. I'd love to be able to stream content from the BBC website but they don't allow it from outside the UK.

[mkiker2089]

Part of the issue is that people would use the currency fluctuations to speculate media. The dollar is down so buy from the US, when it's up buy from Cuba.

Piracy is also a concern.

Either way Netflix is US only, Amazon I'm not sure of. Does anyone know about the other announced channels and if you can use them internationally?

[wonderbird]

I suspect that if you set up a VPN connection the Roku player / XBox / PS3 / etc may still work for NetFlix....
It would probably add a bunch of extra latency and you'd have to have pretty solid internet connections all the way around...

I'm pretty sure it would violate the terms of the service though so recommend against it... Hopefully the content providers will eventually allow international licensing so Netflix could provide the service internationally. (I am pretty sure it is a political / legal issues and not technical ones preventing it.)

[billc124]

You could also use a Slingbox to control the Roku and watch the video feed from it, but that would again require a fast internet connection on both ends to get decent enough quality. You could also sign up for one of the paid US proxy servers to connect through, then you could just stream Netflix right through your computer. There are lots of ways around it, they are just all a PITA.

[philsoft]

pity, I have the same problem with DVDs that are zone coded. When is Hollywood going to realize how small the world is... and that i should be able to watch a video i have purchased anywhere I would like to watch it!

There used to be a format called HD DVD that was entirely region free, but it no longer exists, it was nice while it lasted though.

[jinj]

You can pay for a VPN account, about $10 per month, that will allow him to use the netflix roku box plus watch other networks online.