USA Custom and Classic Car Streaming TV Shows in Australia

An easy-to-use system for watching USA or UK streaming TV in Australia on a TV that defeats geo-blocking. The Roku remote controls the whole system. Wife-friendly! I use an Nvidia Shield box for local TV and streaming on a Panasonic TV downstairs, and a Sony TV upstairs.

Specific streaming services for custom and classic cars/trucks and motorsport include Motortrend (USA) and Lucus Oil TV (USA). Both have dozens of shows. Other channels of interest are Britbox (USA not UK), Hulu, and the Roku channel. All are paid subscriptions for the full service at ~$10 per month each.

UK TV includes the BBC and ITV plus many others.

The components are a Roku streaming box (~$100 plus ~$10/month subscription), a secondary VPN router (~US$150), and a VPN service (~$10/month). Not cheap but way less than car bits!

I have tried about every other way possible to do this and the Roku with a secondary ExpressVPN router is by far the best. I won't discuss all the other ways here.

Roku TV streaming box

Roku TV streaming boxes can be hard to get outside of the USA or the UK. I bought mine on eBay but there aren't many sellers on eBay. Amazon has them but won't ship them to Australia. Get the most modern possible, 4K and 2020 or later. Roku boxes from the UK work for the USA. The best is the microphone button and volume controls on the remote as per the photo.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/223270910515 (Working Nov 2020)

The Telstra Roku boxes don't work and can't be made to work with new firmware, so avoid.

Roku boxes can only work with VPN WiFi as they don't have a VPN app.

Roku registration needs a USA address and a USA credit card. (or UK)

A free MyUS account, the freight forwarder, gives an address in Florida. https://www.myus.com/
American Express, even if issued outside the USA seems to work (Australian Visa and Mastercard don't). Make sure you are using a USA VPN when you register or access your Roku account. A free trial account is available for checking setup. (or UK)

Streaming TV channel subscriptions

Some of the shows are on Channel 9 Rush live, and 9Now streaming. Motortrend and Lucus Oil TV are available in Australia on Android and Apple TV but don't include all the shows or series, whereas they do from the USA.

Motortrend and Lucus Oil TV will work with an Australian Visa or Mastercard for local and USA streaming. You can use a computer with a software VPN to access the USA versions. The trick is to do it on a TV.

Britbox USA and Hulu need an American credit card or American Express.

Roku channel is included with the Roku box account.

Some channel subscriptions can be billed through Roku.

There is a huge number of free and paid TV streaming channels on Roku, including some live network TV. We use Hulu a fair bit.

ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN is the only VPN service I would recommend for sufficient speed and flexibility. I use it daily for TV streaming with very few problems. It is very rare to get a buffering break in the video. ExpressVPN offers OpenVPN support and any other feature needed. The cost is about $10/month.

ExpressVPN is best used on a router with ExpressVPN firmware, discussed next. ExpressVPN can also be used with a router that supports Open VPN. It works but isn't as good as an ExpressVPN router. Either way, you need a secondary router.

ExpressVPN router

ExpressVPN routers are ordered from https://www.flashrouters.com/vpn-types/expressvpn The cheapest one works ok in most houses. About US$159. The more expensive ones may give more range.

Setting up is easy. Just follow the included instructions. Connect a network cable from the modem port on the secondary VPN router, the single socket with a different colour to the four others, to a network socket on the main primary router, one of the four ports with the same colour. Then start a browser page as per instructions.

The secondary VPN router then appears as a new WiFi router. Connect the Roku to it. Any other device can use it as well. Change the VPN as needed to find a sufficiently fast one. I use Seattle for the USA and Wembley for the UK.

I use two secondary VPN routers and two Roku boxes, one for the USA and one for the UK. The microphone remotes are dedicated to each Roku box and don't interfere with other. The older ones do and it is a pain. The modern remotes with a microphone can switch the TV on and off, as well as control the volume, so it is single remote control. Switching between Roku boxes is very easy, just press the home screen button of the other Roku remote or another TV box remote, like the NVIDIA Shield I use for Australian TV.

OpenVPN Asus WiFi router

The ExpressVPN router is the best way to use a VPN for streaming TV. Using OpenVPN is possible, I used it first, but not as simple or stable.

Setting up the secondary router is a bit technical but achievable by someone with experience with networks and routers. It is way easier the second time around. There are a couple of detailed guides available.

The only secondary routers to use are Asus routers that support OpenVPN. There is a list in the guides. The cheapest and one I used is an Asus RT-N66U. They are readily available in Australia and cost about $150.

The secondary OpenVPN router will work with most modern routers in Australia, including routers for NBN. The secondary router must be connected with a network cable to the main router through one of its ordinary black network connectors, not the yellow one. There will be four WiFi signals, the main two (2.4 and 5 GHz) and two from the secondary router. Many Roku boxes are only 2.4 GHz, so only two are visible to it (main and secondary 2.4 GHz).

In use, any computer can connect to either router, however, with the secondary router, it will appear to be in the USA or wherever else the VPN is set up for.

Do not use the ExpressVPN firmware upgrade on the secondary router.

First, set up the secondary router and check that it works.

Connect a computer to the secondary router's login page in browser; 192.168. 1.1 with default username and password; admin, admin.
Change its LAN IP to something else if needed so it doesn't conflict with the main router IP (192.168.0.1 for my Telstra router). I didn't need to change it but did anyway to 192.168.4.1. Apply.
Change wifi name as needed, I use "Drew USA".
Most other defaults are ok. Check with a guide if necessary.

https://www.vpnuniversity.com/routers/setup-two-routers-with-dedicated-vpn-router

Connect a network cable between the main and secondary routers, connect to the secondary router's wifi and check the internet works.

Second, set up OpenVPN on the secondary router.

Connect the computer to secondary router wifi.
Log on to the secondary router and go to the VPN page and VPN client tab. See screenshot below.
Set up ExpressVPN account and follow guide:

https://www.expressvpn.com/support/vpn-setup/manual-config-for-asus-router-with-openvpn/

Most other defaults are ok but check the guide if needed.

https://www.vpnuniversity.com/tutorial/how-to-setup-openvpn-asus-routers-asuswrt

Check IP location is consistent with the VPN server used, somewhere in the USA.
Browse to a streaming TV channel like Motortrend and select "Wheeler Dealer" and check all series (22 series) are available.

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