My Expat Network - Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Connection Speeds

The speed of your VPN connection depends on your location and traffic on the internet. Our servers are based in the UK, and the connection speed you get can only be as fast as the slowest connection on route, so roadblocks and peak times may slow down your connection. However these issues are usually temporary, and can change a bit like the weather.

Our subscribers generally find that downloading video content, listening to Radio and using VOIP services such as Skype, all work well even with slower connection speeds. It is only video streaming that can be difficult in certain locations, usually at peak times. Remember you will always have a secure 128 bit encrypted connection to safely send bank details and personal information wherever you are in the world.

We do everything possible to ensure our servers are running well within capacity, and bring new servers online whenever they are required.

I have some technical knowledge, but what is a Virtual Private Network hosting?

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is an increasingly popular form of proxy for security and to stay private on the net. VPN Hosting is about creating a private network or tunnel over the public network "internet". Each VPN tunnel is totally private on the public internet and it helps to keep your activities private and safe. VPN hosting is an attractive option for people concerned about their security and privacy.
A VPN is also useful to users who are looking for a UK IP. By using our VPN hosting package you can get a UK IP on you PC, so it will be appear to rest of the world as if you are from UK.

I have no technical knowledge, so what is a Virtual Private Network?

A VPN is basically a self contained bit of the internet that a group or company can use to securely send information. Our VPN servers are based in the UK, so wherever you are in the world your computer will always have a UK identity.

My local internet connection is too slow to stream video media. Will the VPN help?

Many of our customers don't get a sufficiently fast local internet service to watch streaming video. Downloading the video content to your computer and watching it from your hard drive resolves this problem. Live radio programmes stream well even with poor internet speeds.

How can I watch programmes on my TV rather than my PC?

It depends on which cables you require but http://www.pc-tv-connect.co.uk/ have all the solutions. A basic cable kit can be bought from http://www.tvcables.co.uk/cgi-bin/tvcables/PCTOTV4.html And once you're connected the quality of the picture is exactly like your TV at home.

What does a VPN connection give me?

Provides a layer of security and privacy.
Prevents local Internet Service Provider from regulating your connection.
Prevents harassment from people tracking you by your IP address.
Safe/encrypted connection between your computer and the Internet.
Access blocked sites and bypass proxy and content filters.
The ISP won't know you are using it.
Your office or school won't know you are using it either!
Bypasses Skype/MSN blocks.
Skype sound quality may improve with a VPN connection.
Get access to UK web-sites that offer TV and radio catchup services and other media.

Do you offer a free trial?

No we don't - sorry. We will however provide a full refund if you have any issues with the service, or change your mind in the first few weeks.

What protection do I have?

We only accept PayPal Subscriptions. This means that a) we never get involved with any of your personal information, credit card details or bank accounts and b) you are protected by PayPal, if you are in any way unhappy with the service and feel we are not responding, simply dispute the payment in PayPal. This immediately removes the payment from our account.

I'm having problems subscribing via Paypal?

Sometimes people have problems using Paypal because they haven't verified certain information on their personal Paypal accounts, such as bank details or a full postal address. Make sure that you have completed all the verifications required by Paypal before subscribing to My Expat Network.

I've signed up but have not received my email

When you subscribe to My Expat Network you are sent an email with your link to download the VPN client software. Unfortunately some email services pick this email up as SPAM and drop it into your junk mail folder. Chances are that if you've not received your email then it's been swept away into your junk mail folder. Just move it back into your main mail folder and click on the link.

I'm being asked for a login and password to download the VPN client?

When you subscribed through Paypal you were given a unique login name and password. This can be found by logging into your Paypal account and looking at the details of your subscription to My Expat Network. Use that name and password to allow access to the VPN Client download.

I'm having problems downloading/installing the VPN client

If you are having issues with downloading or installing the VPN client software there are a few things you can do. Firstly to install software on most computer systems you need to be an Admin user. The VPN client needs to write files to the system folder which normal users are not permitted to do. So if you log into your PC as an Admin you will be able to install the VPN client software. Secondly there are a few antivirus software packages (McAfee being one of them) that can block driver changes, so the other thing you can do is disable your antivirus software during install. If you continue to have problems then get in touch with us and we'll do our best to help sort them out.

I get a window appear during installation regarding "Win TAP 32" drivers not being certified, should I continue to install?

This is absolutely normal and you can continue with your installation. All this is warning you about is that the Win TAP 32 drivers haven't been certified by Microsoft because you are using an Open Source VPN client.

I no longer require the service as I am moving back to my home country.

As all of our financial arrangements are managed via PayPal, you have to log into PayPal and cancel your subscription. But don’t worry this is very straight forward.

Cancellations

When you cancel your subscription via Paypal you also cancel your connection with immediate effect. If you wish to cancel but still make use of the service for the remainder of the month we would advise you to cancel just before your next payment is due.

I’m unhappy with the service you provide, can I get a refund?

If you’re unhappy with this service for any reason, please contact us describing the problem and we will do our best to correct it. If you are still unhappy we will, at our discretion, gladly refund your last month’s subscription.

Is the performance of my internet connection affected, are there any bandwidth limits?

No the performance of your existing connection in unaffected. In fact it maybe enhanced if you are accessing data from our UK servers, as many countries filter content, which can have an adverse impact. VPN will by-pass this. We have no bandwidth restriction however, do reserve the right to introduce one if the service is abused.

How can I be sure the service will always be available?

We are using fault tolerant rack mounted servers provided by BlueSquare Data Group in the UK and their SLA with us is to provide 99.9% uptime and unlimited bandwidth, which we in turn, pass on to our subscribers.

How can I tell if it's working?

There are many sites on the internet that you can use to verify how you have connected to the internet. Here is a selection for your use:

http://www.ipaddresslocation.org/
http://whatsmyipaddress.co.uk/
http://www.whatsmyip.info/

So exactly what can I access using your service?

More and more media is being made available on line every day. MyEasyTV.com has a good list of UK media available and it should be reasonably up to date.