UnoTelly SmartDNS Tears Down Virtual Borders & Opens Up a World of Content

If you took a big step back and really looked at the world, you'd see how downright silly our nations look when they put up fences to separate themselves from one another. Creatures big and small roam free while respecting each other's space, but humans create borders and physical barriers to delineate their cultures.

This concept is beginning to show its age in the modern era of the World Wide Web, where ideas and digital creations flow freely without boundaries. Well, for the most part, at least.

Larger media companies and service providers still cling steadfast to an antiquated notion of demarcation that they'd like to apply to our internet. This is where services like UnoTelly come into play—by providing a SmartDNS function that essentially moves your virtual address around the globe at the click of a button, you are free to roam about the world exploring content from all cultures.

So if you find region-locked media as irksome as I do, UnoTelly is right up your alley. While the service normally starts at $4.95 a month (which is a great deal, by the way), we have a few promotional codes to give away to our lucky readers, so stay tuned below for more info on that.

What's a DNS Service & How Does It Help Me?

A Domain Name System (or DNS, for short) gives common-language names to numerical IP addresses. Think of this like an automated phone book for computers, where you type in a friendly name like Google.com, then you're automatically redirected to the actual address (http://74.125.224.72 ).

The same holds true for your own computer and its outbound connection. Keeping with the phone analogy, when you establish a connection with a website, your IP address is sent over like a Caller ID of sorts. The DNS service that your internet provider uses provides geolocation information for this number, letting sites like Netflix know to show you content for your specific location only.

A DNS service like UnoTelly can basically change the location data attached to your outbound IP address. Unlike the default DNS servers from your internet provider, UnoTelly offers an interface to switch your DNS geolocation data at will. So as far as websites are concerned, your connection is coming from the location you set on your UnoTelly dashboard, and region-locked content is now freely accessible.

But Aren't There Free Alternatives?

Yes, but these are not without their drawbacks. Every request made to a DNS service takes up bandwidth, and this comes at a price. Slower DNS lookups mean slower connections, so your expensive broadband internet gets bottlenecked before it can even establish a connection.

When services like Tunlr (RIP) and Hola Unblocker get hammered by DNS requests during peak traffic hours, they buckle under the heavy workload. But UnoTelly, by charging a nominal fee, can afford more bandwidth than the alternatives. In the end, this assures that your connection is always as fast as it would be without a DNS service.

Is UnoTelly Safe?

If you're worried about the legalities behind DNS services, don't be. Think of it this way—you pay for Netflix, then you travel to another country and sign into your account. Your subscription still grants you legal access to the Netflix library in that country, even though you started your membership in a different location. All UnoTelly does is virtually transport your computer's connection to a different location—it is not piracy.

As far as privacy is concerned, all traffic routed through UnoTelly's DNS servers is encrypted for security. UnoTelly does not disclose any information about you or your web traffic to any third parties.

How Do I Use UnoTelly?

When you create an account with UnoTelly (which has an 8-day free trial, by the way), you'll be greeted by a setup wizard in the Quickstart dashboard. Click the Account Status button to begin.

After that, select the device you're using from the list provided to configure your connection. Supported devices include Windows PCs, Mac OS X computers, iPhones and iPads, Android devices, Chromecast, PlayStations, XBoxes, Nintendo Wiis, and many more.

After that, you'll be shown the DNS servers to use for your system. If you're not sure how to configure this, click View Setup Instruction.

From here, you'll be provided with clear-cut instructions on how to set UnoTelly as the default DNS provider on your particular device.

With that taken care of, you'll get a nice guided tour of how to use UnoTelly to unblock region-locked content.

This will highlight various functions of the UnoTelly Quickstart dashboard (the interface you see when you log into UnoTelly). One of the more important features here is the Dynamo, which allows you to set the country you want to use for individual websites and services.

Here you can unblock content from many different websites and services. These include Netflix, Hulu, Pandora, Spotify, HBO, and BBC iPlayer, but the list is far too long to show in its entirety.

Just select the country whose library you wish to view on a certain service, then all of the content will be made available the next time you visit the website from this device.

If you don't want to use Dynamo, you can still choose any of the over 330 channels that are unlocked for viewing. Just head to Channels in the Quickstart dashboard, search for the channel you want, and click on it. You'll be automatically directed to that channel to start watching.

In some cases, like with iTV Player, you will need to sign up and enter in a local zip code (in iTV Player's case, a UK postcode) to stream anything. Personally, I've used UnoTelly for awhile now, and the connection is faster and steadier than any free service I've ever used—or any service for that matter. That also means you get HD content without the lag!

WonderHowTo Giveaway

UnoTelly's Premium DNS service plan normally runs $4.95/month, and all features discussed here are included. Their Gold Plan normally costs $7.95/month and adds a rich VPN service.

But, we at WonderHowTo are happy to inform you that we have 20 UnoTelly Gold Subscriptions to give away. These subscriptions are good for 1 year and give you full access to a world of content.

If you'd like to give UnoTelly a try, just drop us a comment below—the first 20 people to reply will receive a private message on WonderHowTo with a redemption code good for 1 year of UnoTelly Gold service.

NOTE: As of 1/13/15, all one-year promo codes are all gone, but you can still use the discount code below until it expires.

If you were too late to make the cut, we've still got quite a deal for you—use the code wonderhowto at checkout to receive 20% off any UnoTelly subscription package! This code is good for anyone who wants it, and will be available for 30 days starting from the publishing of this article.

For more help on redeeming either the free year of Gold or 20% codes, check out UnoTelly's instructions here.