Blocked WiFi Apps

Firstly, I hope your son is receiving the attention he needs and that he makes a good recovery.

With regard to VPN, the theory is good, although the providers of the Wi-Fi may well also try to block VPN traffic, which can be done with varying levels of success so it's hard to recommend a product - you'll need to try it and see - some won't be able t work, while others may be configurable in ways the wifi provider didn't think of, or is unable to block due to the effect on what it may consider "genuine" traffic.

Hopefully someone will be along shortly with the name of a product that has multiple configuration options, of which at least one will allow SkyGo to, how do I put this, go.

I would certainly try a VPN. I use ExpressVPN, which works on a wide variety of platforms including iOS. There is a free trial period, so you can see if it works for free. Downloading the app and signing up is straightforward. 

They could also limit the available bandwidth on each connection, so a VPN may or may not work, even if you can tunnel through the hospital's network with a VPN.

But it's still well worth trying.

This seems a very short-sighted measure when mental health is so important to recovery, particularly for conditions like stroke and brain injury.

You might struggle with VPN in this instance. Is there good mobile connectivity in the hospital, 4G?

You could buy a wifi access dongle from the likes of EE around 15 a month I think, and connect the tablet to it.

If the iPad has mobile networks access as well as wifi then you can use mobile internet directly and get an account with whichever mobile provider has the best 4G coverage there. Three has good data-only packages and I used my iPad and Sky Go in France this year with no problems. (But keep an eye on the download limit.)

best

David

I suspect this is done by the hospital to limit the loading on the hospital Wifi and internet access and so they ask the provider to block higher bandwidth external data traffic. Almost certainly most VPN tunnels will be blocked too... quite easily to usually do. I am afraid the most likely option for success is use the local intranet services or external 4G... although not cheap..is a lot cheaper than it used to be and assuming 4G coverage can be very effective. Most carriers offer good 4G data packages these days and good prices. 3, Voda and EE had good options last time I looked. A 4G dongle can be good as it effectively provides local Wifi via 4G internet access and is small, clutter free and neat as long as you can plug into a mains socket... I know a few who do this.

I use such WiFi services for internet access quite a lot, albeit not in hospitals, and a VPN does seem to help with some services. Downloading of any sort is often blocked, and with a VPN running, I find I can often download things like app updates and iPlayer radio programmes. 

Thank for the posts and the good wishes. I tried VPN but without any success in unlocking the sites. I am now looking to implement the mobile network solution suggested by Simon.Three do a reasonable unlimited simm only package to use with a dongle. The problem here is that the mobile signal in the hospital may be too weak. I am however working on it.

Thanks

Philip

Maybe best to check a few phones first to see which networks have a decent signal.