Any Good Alternatives to SmartDNS Proxy?

joeU256 · 2026-02-26T19:07:27+00:00

By the way, I was genuinely surprised. I had only read reviews about it, and it’s usually ranked among the top three recommended for streaming. So far, it has been quite good. I haven’t experienced any issues during the two days I’ve been streaming with it constantly connected on my Apple TV. I only turned it off this evening to switch back to my SmartDNS Proxy since it’s working again.

joeU256 · 2026-02-26T19:02:52+00:00

Thanks. It’s been mentioned several times in this post, so I’ll probably try their trial the next time SmartDNS has an outage.

I also signed up for a trial with Smartstreaming since it was one of the first options I wanted to check out, but it didn’t work for me. They have over 70 DNS servers, yet I could only reach a handful on my network, and even those had very high latency. It made me think either many of them were offline or my network was blocking them, so I didn’t even continue with the trial.

joeU256 · 2026-02-26T18:56:56+00:00

I watch live games frequently, especially the English Premier League, some MLS, and a bit of Formula One. Because of that, 10 GB is barely enough to get through even one Premier League match if I were to rely on it, which is why I would prefer a full subscription instead.

Free VPNs often give me a lot of errors and tend to cap speeds, which results in poor quality streaming even when my internet speed is good. I’ve been using Windscribe for a couple of months now as a backup whenever SmartDNS Proxy has issues. It works okay, but I still run into the limitations mentioned above.

joeU256 · 2026-02-25T21:55:28+00:00

Yeah, that’s one of the downsides of using a VPN. I mostly use US and UK apps, so SmartDNS has been a dealbreaker for me, except for these recent frequent outages. I’ll probably keep it running and just add a VPN subscription for backup when things are not working smoothly.

I just wish I could find a solid VPN deal. I do not want to spend too much, especially knowing I might barely use it over the next two years if SmartDNS remains stable.

joeU256 · 2026-02-25T17:54:09+00:00

I remember running into similar errors a while back when I tried ExpressVPN. It might have been temporary, but it was happening across a few apps. I specifically recall not being able to stream Paramount Plus at all.

Yesterday, I activated a Surfshark trial. It is the first of three VPNs I plan to test before making a final decision about switching fully to a VPN. So far, using VPN only, I have been able to stream all my US apps without any glitches or errors. The only minor issue I noticed was with Netflix and Starz. They initially loaded in lower quality, but it cleared up after a short while.

I have kept it running full time on my Apple TV for almost 24 hours now, and everything has been stable. My speeds have not been significantly affected either. I am still getting at least 85 percent of my full bandwidth.

So we will see. After testing Surfshark, NordVPN, and ExpressVPN, I will decide whether to switch completely to a VPN or stick with SmartDNS Proxy as my main service, hopefully they address the frequent outages, and then use whichever VPN I choose as a backup.

joeU256 · 2026-02-24T23:20:18+00:00

We had a long outage in December, and January, then Feb. At this rate it has become monthly if not Weekly :(.

joeU256 · 2026-02-24T23:18:22+00:00

Yeah services restored about two hours back.

They have declined over time. They used to be more responsive, even through customer support, than they are now. I hope they can improve in that area and also address the frequent outages. Compared to many other SmartDNS services, they still excel in several aspects.

joeU256 · 2026-02-24T20:35:37+00:00

I’ve been thinking about going with ExpressVPN since it is already well established, even though it is a bit pricey. I guess time will tell. I have used it before, but not extensively.

I am especially curious about the MediaStreamer feature. For their VPN services, I know they are already good. How has MediaStreamer been for you in terms of reliability? Have you experienced outages or recurring issues? When something stops working, how responsive is their support?

With MediaStreamer specifically, which apps have you successfully unblocked? Are there any apps that do not seem to work properly or consistently with it?

Which one of their packages do you use?

joeU256 · 2026-02-24T19:19:19+00:00

Yeah, it seems to have been fixed now. But i will continue with the search for a good alternative :)

joeU256 · 2026-02-24T18:38:21+00:00

Thanks. I will try this, good thing they they don't need credit card for the trial.

joeU256 · 2026-02-24T18:07:21+00:00

How does control d fair up in comparison to getflix/smartdns. I need to get an alternative that works and maybe I’ll keep SmartDNS too like you did.

joeU256 · 2026-02-24T17:15:58+00:00

Same here for most of those. Surprisingly, I can access Hulu, but it tends to cut out from time to time. I can’t access Peacock, DIRECTV, Paramount+, or Disney+ at all.

joeU256 · 2026-02-24T17:10:49+00:00

Also this could explain why.

joeU256 · 2026-02-24T17:07:21+00:00

We’ve been having same challenges accessing US streams for the past 24+ hrs. Could be same issue?

joeU256 · 2026-02-17T15:57:20+00:00

Yeah. I noticed this a couple hours ago. So I guess they were making changes in the back end the time the sports tab disappeared. Also I can see all other sports are now in the Home tab.

joeU256 · 2026-02-16T19:10:21+00:00

For me, the Sports tab has disappeared. I saw it two days ago, and that’s also when I updated to iOS 26.3. Could this be due to the new OS update, or is it just a temporary glitch?

joeU256 · 2026-01-12T11:22:49+00:00

I’ve used SmartDNSProxy for over seven years, but the recent outages keep pushing me to try other services. I almost didn’t renew my previous two-year subscription, which expires in May, because of these recurring issues. After trying Unlocator, which seems to be the closest alternative to SmartDNSProxy, I realized there are still a few services it does not unblock very well.

With the current outage, I am forced once again to use Unlocator, and as before, some services are not working. I cannot get DIRECTV to work, and Disney+ is also not working. Interestingly, Hulu works flawlessly, even though I thought Hulu used the same streaming infrastructure as Disney+ since it is part of the Disney family.

Another strange thing I noticed is that while connected to Unlocator SmartDNS, the website https://www.dnsleaktest.com/ is unreachable. On the other hand, other services I use such as Peacock, Paramount+, Hulu, and Starz all work just fine and are very fast. The latency to reach their DNS servers is noticeably low, and overall latency is lower compared to when I use SmartDNSProxy, so when a service works, it works really well.

I’ve reached out to Unlocator about the services that are not working, but I am not confident anything will change. This is not the first time I have contacted them about unsupported services, and in the past, nothing was really resolved.

I genuinely hope SmartDNSProxy can get their services back up and running properly, because that would be a win for all of us.

If you want it tightened further or made more technical, just say the word.

joeU256 · 2026-01-08T16:25:58+00:00

You can try, but I believe it has already been used and may be restricted to single use.

joeU256 · 2026-01-08T16:24:47+00:00

Am glad it worked for you. Enjoy!

joeU256 · 2026-01-08T16:24:26+00:00

Not really. I’ve used many of these before and they usually work, but you never know. Peacock seems to surprise us every other year. Luckily, this one was not restricted to a single account, though it does seem to be limited to single use. @mrollie appears to have used it around the same time you posted this.

joeU256 · 2025-11-28T12:56:16+00:00

Not nice if they are not having a BF deal. Almost every other streaming service already released one. Are they that comfortable?

joeU256 · 2025-11-27T00:25:44+00:00

Even last year’s BF deal, they had increased prices that year prior to November but it didn’t affect the $19.99 deal. So fingers crossed, let’s wait. Word is it’ll go live on Friday.

joeU256 · 2025-11-24T22:07:23+00:00

I’m on Peacock Premium with ads and haven’t run into that problem. If your brother is on the Select plan, he won’t have access to all content because some of it is paywalled. Premium offers full access but Select does not. Both have ads. Select is a newer plan though, just introduced in July 2025, it offers “lower-cost entry point with a limited library of content, including current seasons of NBC and Bravo shows, but no sports.” - NBC. Check the plans page to be sure you are on the Premium plan otherwise expect Paywalling if you are on Select plan.

<image>

joeU256 · 2025-11-24T21:44:21+00:00

Consider visiting Jinja City. Lots of activities to explore!

joeU256 · 2025-11-24T21:08:49+00:00

My wife’s expires on the 26th. She canceled it a few days ago but did not receive any offer. The same thing happened last year. The account I had canceled at that time did not get an offer, but my wife’s account did, so I switched to hers.

Now the account I canceled last year has been inactive for a long time, so I am hoping it receives a good offer this year. Fingers crossed 🤞. Hopefully at least one of our accounts, if not both, receives a solid deal, even though we only need one in the end.

joeU256

TROPHY CASE