Hi guys,

I got an Apple TV for Christmas and I've managed to get Netflix working on it, and am able to rent TV shows using a US account. I figured it might be worthwhile sharing how I did it for those who don't know how.



US iTunes Account
I've had my US account for quite a while now. It will really come into its own now I have the ATV because, unlike Australia, you can rent TV shows for 99c each. There's plenty of forum posts on how to do it, and here's a link: Get a U.S. iTunes Account Anywhere In the World [How To] | Cult of Mac

I used Google to find a residential address in Manhattan. NY, USA so my account won't get closed for being a fake address.


iTunes Credit
Since I don't have a US credit card, I have to buy prepaid vouchers for the US iTunes store. I use offgamers.com for this: Apple iTunes Gift-card (US), Buy iTunes Code (US), Cheap Apple iTunes Point (US), iTunes Gift-card (US).

They're really fast with delivery after the initial setup, and you get a scan of a real iTunes card, not just a computer entered number. Buying credit will let you rent movies and TV shows straight from the ATV.


Netflix
There's two parts to getting Netflix working in Australia. First, I used USVideo.org to fool Netflix into thinking I am in the USA: Access video and audio available only to US residents from anywhere in the word US Video for the World. I just followed the setup for MacOSX and made note of the DNS settings, then added them like it says on my Mac computer.

Once the DNS are put in and it's verified as working, I went to netflix.com (in Firefox; it crashed in Safari) and set up an account. It accepted my HSBC Visa no problems at all, and didn't ask me for a residential address. I subscribed to the download only plan, which is roughly $8 a month.



Once I had done all that I set up my ATV. Firstly, I updated to the latest firmware. The second thing I did was login with my US iTunes account, and made sure my region was set to USA. This enabled Netflix in the menu.

I went into the network settings on the ATV and manually added the network settings, including the US DNS address (it'll only let you put in one, so I put in the first one). I could then sign into Netflix and watch movies and TV shows through it. Before I forgot, I deleted the US DNS from my actual Mac.

For my own account, I also logged into MobileMe, Flickr, YouTube and setup Photo Sharing (you can enable photo sharing in the 'advanced' menu in iTunes).

For home sharing I used my US iTunes account, but it really doesn't matter so long as it's the same on all devices you connect including the ATV. That way your movies, tv shows and music will stream across.

Ummm...I think that's all I did. So for roughly $A15 per month being Netflix and the DNS subscription I'm getting a lot more out of my new toy than most ATV users. Netflix streams perfectly (I connect with ethernet) and the quality is really good on my Optus Cable connection.

Any questions, I'll try to help.

Edit: I recently discovered instantwatcher.com - Streaming Movies and TV to watch instantly on Netflix and finding it great to keep on top of the range of things showing and expiring on Netflix. You can sort by NYT Critics and Rotten Tomatoes Fresh, so that's pretty cool!

Edit: My mate who just settled into a new job at Napier, New Zealand confirmed that he could sign up and get it working there too. It looks like it works for any country at all.

Fantastic post...

thanks heaps...

first question, what sort of content is available...?
says on the netflix website that u get unlimited movies and TV shows for 7.99,
- how extensive is the library of content?
- when do current DVD releases become available...?


cheers

first question, what sort of content is available...?

Movies and TV series as far as the eye can see.

- how extensive is the library of content?

From what I've read there is over 100,000 movies available. I'm not sure the number of TV series there, but trust me when I say there's just about everything you can think of. I'm currently watching the entire series of Skins; I also see Dexter there, Bones, Boston Legal...many more that interest me.

- when do current DVD releases become available...?

It looks like new releases are 'disc only' meaning you can't watch them through the streaming service straight away. But recent releases you can. For example, The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus is available as a stream, but Scott Pilgrim Versus the World isn't.

Having said that, if you buy the US iTunes credit, you can rent HD new releases for $3.99 from the iTunes store...so it's kind of covered anyway.

The way I have been using it is if there's something I want to rent and it's not on Netflix, I'll find it on iTunes. And because I use prepaid iTunes cards, my iTunes credit will stay there until I want to use it.

You are running through a Proxy, how well is the stream? any hiccups or buffering issues?

Originally Posted by Balthazar

You are running through a Proxy, how well is the stream? any hiccups or buffering issues?

Buffering is around 15 seconds at startup, and then no more; no hiccups at all along the way. Great quality video too.

Originally Posted by landog

dumb question...why do you need to set up the DNS on the mac. doesnt the apple tv just access the internet direct?, or did you just do it to enable you to sign up to netflix?

You need to put it on your Mac so you can actually sign up for Netflix. Once you've created an account, you can remove them from your Mac and just have them on the ATV itself.

Originally Posted by tate1984

Would I therefore be correct in assuming that I should be able to get both of these to work in a similar fashion by using USVideo.org?

Yes, that's correct from my understanding.

Originally Posted by landog

The Apple TV, 1 hour old, constantly reboots itself. Ive tried wired / wireless connection, same, ive tried default DNS, same.

Has anyone else noticed this / had this issue?

I haven't had any issues at all. Is everything plugged in nice and tight? Are you sure you've upgraded to the latest firmware?

Originally Posted by landog

Now streaming Dora to the Ipad for the 5 year old and Matrix to the apple tv.

The Apple tv, which is connected via ethernet, is flawless.

The Ipad pauses occasionally. Not sure what the deal is as its connected to an airport extreem which is directly connected via ethernet to the optus modem. Something is astray with optus firmware im sure....

Maybe it's just a wifi bandwidth issue. Whats the resolution of the content being streamed? Do you have a lot of other devices on WiFi at the same time?

Thanks for taking the time to write this up. I'll grab an Apple TV version 2 and give it a go.

Originally Posted by brendo

Hi
I have followed your steps and opened a US iTunes account, entered the DNS into my computer and opened a Netflix account.

But even when I have entered the DNS into the ATV I still get the 'you cannot watch Netflix from this location' error message.

Are there any other steps I have missed? What about the ip address on the ATV? should that be changed?

Thanks, Brendo

Somewhere in the ATV settings is your iTunes account. I bet your location is still on Australia.

You only need to change DNS. IP shouldn't need to change.