School's out, the cases are packed, and you're off abroad — a villa in Spain, the grandparents' place, or back at your own bolt-hole in Europe for the summer.
Anyone travelling with children knows the truth: a familiar episode of Bluey or Hey Duggee can be the difference between a calm afternoon and a full-blown meltdown.
The trouble is, you land, open BBC iPlayer for the kids… and get: “This content isn't available in your location.” The big-name VPN you installed the night before? Blocked mid-episode, endlessly cycling servers while a toddler wails.
Here's the calm, reliable way to keep UK children's telly playing wherever the summer takes you.
UK broadcasters block the shared data-centre IP addresses that big-name VPNs (ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark) run on. They get detected and drop out — often right in the middle of a programme. Hopping between servers to find one that still works is nobody's idea of a relaxing holiday.
A pre-configured SmartHub VPN router is different: it connects through a genuine UK residential IP, so streaming services see an ordinary UK home rather than a VPN. It's far harder to block — and there are no apps to install or settings to fiddle with. It simply works.
With your own UK connection, the children get the shows they know from home — free, and exactly as they'd see them back at Nana's:
Netflix, Disney+ and YouTube Kids are global and usually work abroad anyway — this is about the British telly they'd otherwise miss, ad-free on iPlayer. And because you're using subscriptions you already pay for, there's nothing extra to buy: you're simply watching from abroad as though you were at home.
The Netgem PLEIO Freely box comes with a wireless controller and kid-safe cloud gaming built in — 300+ games, no console and nothing to download, with 12 months of cloud gaming included.
It's genuinely useful on the days that test a parent's patience: travel days, rainy afternoons, and the “I'm bored” gap between shows. One little box does the UK telly and keeps them busy. (Both the PLEIO and the Manhattan Aero give you the live UK channels — the games are a PLEIO extra.)
Villa, apartment, hotel or the family's spare room — the setup travels with you. And you don't need to go rummaging behind someone else's router:
It's the same whether you're at your own place abroad, visiting family, or heading back to Europe just for the holidays.
Because we ship physical hardware, the trick is to order before you travel. Send it to your UK address (DPD, usually next-day) and pack it with the cases, or have it sent by UPS Express to your destination.
Either way it arrives set up and tested, working the moment you land — peace of mind before a holiday, not a job to sort out once you're there. The school holidays fill up quickly, so give yourself a week or two.
Not sure which to choose? The SmartHub Travel is purpose-built for trips — compact, and happy connecting over Wi-Fi. The Home or Pro suit a second home you keep coming back to. Our quick guide to the SmartHub range walks through it.
A family holiday is enough to organise without the telly becoming one more thing that breaks.
Familiar shows keep little ones settled on long travel days and lazy afternoons, the PLEIO's games fill the gaps, and everything behaves exactly as it does at home.
Sort a pre-configured VPN router before you leave and it's genuinely plug-and-play — wherever you're spending the summer.
We've country-specific guides for Spain, France, Italy and Portugal if you'd like the local detail.
