diff --git a/resources/language/resource.language.en_gb/strings.po b/resources/language/resource.language.en_gb/strings.po
index 837ea6d0..77860d4a 100644
--- a/resources/language/resource.language.en_gb/strings.po
+++ b/resources/language/resource.language.en_gb/strings.po
@@ -962,6 +962,26 @@ msgctxt "#30967"
 msgid "Could not retrieve this program list. VRT Search API url is too long. Go to [B]VRT NU settings » Interface » Manage My favorites…[/B] and unfollow older favorite programs to fix this problem."
 msgstr ""
 
+msgctxt "#30968"
+msgid "No connection"
+msgstr ""
+
+msgctxt "#30969"
+msgid "There is a problem connecting to the Internet. This could be related to Kodi, your network, your ISP or VRT NU. Check out the Kodi log for more details."
+msgstr ""
+
+msgctxt "#30970"
+msgid "VRT NU authentication failed"
+msgstr ""
+
+msgctxt "#30971"
+msgid "There is an unknown problem authenticating your user credentials at VRT NU. Please check your VRT NU account at https://www.vrt.be/vrtnu/"
+msgstr ""
+
+msgctxt "#30972"
+msgid "There is a problem authenticating at VRT NU to enable favorites. Please check your VRT NU account at https://www.vrt.be/vrtnu/ or disable favorites in the add-on settings."
+msgstr ""
+
 msgctxt "#30975"
 msgid "Failed to get user token from VRT NU"
 msgstr ""
diff --git a/resources/language/resource.language.nl_nl/strings.po b/resources/language/resource.language.nl_nl/strings.po
index d79af6c5..6fd9a9fb 100644
--- a/resources/language/resource.language.nl_nl/strings.po
+++ b/resources/language/resource.language.nl_nl/strings.po
@@ -962,6 +962,26 @@ msgctxt "#30967"
 msgid "Could not retrieve this program list. VRT Search API url is too long. Go to [B]VRT NU settings » Interface » Manage My favorites…[/B] and unfollow older favorite programs to fix this problem."
 msgstr "Deze programmalijst kan niet opgehaald worden. VRT Search API url is te lang. Ga naar [B]VRT NU instellingen » Interface » Beheer Mijn favorieten[/B] en verwijder een aantal favoriete programma's om dit probleem op te lossen. "
 
+msgctxt "#30968"
+msgid "No connection"
+msgstr "Geen verbinding"
+
+msgctxt "#30969"
+msgid "There is a problem connecting to the Internet. This could be related to Kodi, your network, your ISP or VRT NU. Check out the Kodi log for more details."
+msgstr "Er is een probleem met het verbinden met internet. Dit kan liggen aan Kodi, aan jouw netwerk, aan jouw ISP of aan VRT NU. Bekijk de Kodi-log voor meer details."
+
+msgctxt "#30970"
+msgid "VRT NU authentication failed"
+msgstr "VRT NU-verificatie is mislukt"
+
+msgctxt "#30971"
+msgid "There is an unknown problem authenticating your user credentials at VRT NU. Please check your VRT NU account at https://www.vrt.be/vrtnu/"
+msgstr "Er is een onbekend probleem bij het verifiëren van je gebruikersgegevens bij VRT NU. Controleer je VRT NU-account op https://www.vrt.be/vrtnu/"
+
+msgctxt "#30972"
+msgid "There is a problem authenticating at VRT NU to enable favorites. Please check your VRT NU account at https://www.vrt.be/vrtnu/ or disable favorites in the add-on settings."
+msgstr "Er is een probleem met de authenticatie bij VRT NU om favorieten in te schakelen. Controleer je VRT NU-account op https://www.vrt.be/vrtnu/ of schakel favorieten uit in de add-on-instellingen."
+
 msgctxt "#30975"
 msgid "Failed to get user token from VRT NU"
 msgstr "Ophalen van het gebruikerstoken van VRT NU is mislukt"
diff --git a/resources/lib/apihelper.py b/resources/lib/apihelper.py
index eb3ddda9..b968963e 100644
--- a/resources/lib/apihelper.py
+++ b/resources/lib/apihelper.py
@@ -6,15 +6,14 @@
 
 try:  # Python 3
     from urllib.parse import quote_plus, unquote
-    from urllib.request import build_opener, install_opener, ProxyHandler
 except ImportError:  # Python 2
     from urllib import quote_plus
-    from urllib2 import build_opener, install_opener, ProxyHandler, unquote
+    from urllib2 import unquote
 
 from data import CHANNELS
 from helperobjects import TitleItem
 from kodiutils import (delete_cached_thumbnail, get_cache, get_cached_url_json, get_global_setting,
-                       get_proxies, get_setting_bool, get_setting_int, get_url_json, has_addon, localize,
+                       get_setting_bool, get_setting_int, get_url_json, has_addon, localize,
                        localize_from_data, log, ttl, url_for)
 from metadata import Metadata
 from utils import (html_to_kodi, find_entry, from_unicode, play_url_to_id,
@@ -34,7 +33,6 @@ def __init__(self, _favorites, _resumepoints):
         self._favorites = _favorites
         self._resumepoints = _resumepoints
         self._metadata = Metadata(_favorites, _resumepoints)
-        install_opener(build_opener(ProxyHandler(get_proxies())))
 
     def get_tvshows(self, category=None, channel=None, feature=None):
         """Get all TV shows for a given category, channel or feature, optionally filtered by favorites"""
diff --git a/resources/lib/favorites.py b/resources/lib/favorites.py
index f149b364..6fec70ee 100644
--- a/resources/lib/favorites.py
+++ b/resources/lib/favorites.py
@@ -8,11 +8,10 @@
 try:  # Python 3
     from urllib.error import HTTPError
     from urllib.parse import unquote
-    from urllib.request import build_opener, install_opener, ProxyHandler
 except ImportError:  # Python 2
-    from urllib2 import build_opener, HTTPError, install_opener, ProxyHandler, unquote
+    from urllib2 import unquote
 
-from kodiutils import (container_refresh, get_cache, get_proxies, get_setting_bool, get_url_json,
+from kodiutils import (container_refresh, get_cache, get_setting_bool, get_url_json,
                        has_credentials, input_down, invalidate_caches, localize, log_error,
                        multiselect, notification, ok_dialog, update_cache)
 from utils import program_to_id
@@ -24,7 +23,6 @@ class Favorites:
     def __init__(self):
         """Initialize favorites, relies on XBMC vfs and a special VRT token"""
         self._data = dict()  # Our internal representation
-        install_opener(build_opener(ProxyHandler(get_proxies())))
 
     @staticmethod
     def is_activated():
@@ -79,7 +77,7 @@ def update(self, program, title, value=True):
         data = dumps(payload).encode('utf-8')
         program_id = program_to_id(program)
         try:
-            get_url_json('https://video-user-data.vrt.be/favorites/{program_id}'.format(program_id=program_id), headers=headers, data=data)
+            get_url_json('https://video-user-data.vrt.be/favorites/{program_id}'.format(program_id=program_id), headers=headers, data=data, raise_errors='all')
         except HTTPError as exc:
             log_error("Failed to (un)follow program '{program}' at VRT NU ({error})", program=program, error=exc)
             notification(message=localize(30976, program=program))
diff --git a/resources/lib/kodiutils.py b/resources/lib/kodiutils.py
index 4d6f530e..4e0dcf76 100644
--- a/resources/lib/kodiutils.py
+++ b/resources/lib/kodiutils.py
@@ -5,12 +5,19 @@
 from __future__ import absolute_import, division, unicode_literals
 from contextlib import contextmanager
 from sys import version_info
+from socket import timeout
+from ssl import SSLError
 
 import xbmc
 import xbmcaddon
 import xbmcplugin
 from utils import from_unicode, to_unicode
 
+try:  # Python 3
+    from urllib.request import HTTPErrorProcessor
+except ImportError:  # Python 2
+    from urllib2 import HTTPErrorProcessor
+
 ADDON = xbmcaddon.Addon()
 DEFAULT_CACHE_DIR = 'cache'
 
@@ -80,6 +87,15 @@
 }
 
 
+class NoRedirection(HTTPErrorProcessor):
+    """Prevent urllib from following http redirects"""
+
+    def http_response(self, request, response):
+        return response
+
+    https_response = http_response
+
+
 class SafeDict(dict):
     """A safe dictionary implementation that does not break down on missing keys"""
     def __missing__(self, key):
@@ -861,10 +877,10 @@ def wait_for_resumepoints():
     update = get_property('vrtnu_resumepoints')
     if update == 'busy':
         import time
-        timeout = time.time() + 5  # 5 seconds timeout
+        time_out = time.time() + 5  # 5 seconds timeout
         log(3, 'Resumepoint update is busy, wait')
         while update != 'ready':
-            if time.time() > timeout:  # Exit loop in case something goes wrong
+            if time.time() > time_out:  # Exit loop in case something goes wrong
                 break
             xbmc.sleep(50)
             update = get_property('vrtnu_resumepoints')
@@ -1034,43 +1050,45 @@ def ttl(kind='direct'):
     return 5 * 60
 
 
-def get_json_data(response, fail=None):
-    """Return json object from HTTP response"""
-    from json import load, loads
-    try:
-        if (3, 0, 0) <= version_info < (3, 6, 0):  # the JSON object must be str, not 'bytes'
-            return loads(to_unicode(response.read()))
-        return load(response)
-    except TypeError as exc:  # 'NoneType' object is not callable
-        log_error('JSON TypeError: {exc}', exc=exc)
-        return fail
-    except ValueError as exc:  # No JSON object could be decoded
-        log_error('JSON ValueError: {exc}', exc=exc)
-        return fail
-
-
-def get_url_json(url, cache=None, headers=None, data=None, fail=None):
-    """Return HTTP data"""
+def open_url(url, data=None, headers=None, method=None, cookiejar=None, follow_redirects=True, raise_errors=None):
+    """Return a urllib http response"""
     try:  # Python 3
-        from urllib.error import HTTPError
+        from urllib.error import HTTPError, URLError
         from urllib.parse import unquote
-        from urllib.request import urlopen, Request
+        from urllib.request import build_opener, HTTPCookieProcessor, ProxyHandler, Request
     except ImportError:  # Python 2
-        from urllib2 import HTTPError, unquote, urlopen, Request
-
-    if headers is None:
+        from urllib2 import build_opener, HTTPError, HTTPCookieProcessor, ProxyHandler, Request, URLError, unquote
+
+    opener_args = []
+    if not follow_redirects:
+        opener_args.append(NoRedirection)
+    if cookiejar is not None:
+        opener_args.append(HTTPCookieProcessor(cookiejar))
+    proxies = get_proxies()
+    if proxies:
+        opener_args.append(ProxyHandler(proxies))
+    opener = build_opener(*opener_args)
+
+    if not headers:
         headers = dict()
     req = Request(url, headers=headers)
-
     if data is not None:
+        req.data = data
         log(2, 'URL post: {url}', url=unquote(url))
         log(2, 'URL post data: {data}', data=data)
-        req.data = data
     else:
         log(2, 'URL get: {url}', url=unquote(url))
+
+    if method is not None:
+        req.get_method = lambda: method
+
+    if raise_errors is None:
+        raise_errors = list()
     try:
-        json_data = get_json_data(urlopen(req), fail=fail)
+        return opener.open(req)
     except HTTPError as exc:
+        if isinstance(raise_errors, list) and 401 in raise_errors or raise_errors == 'all':
+            raise
         if hasattr(req, 'selector'):  # Python 3.4+
             url_length = len(req.selector)
         else:  # Python 2.7
@@ -1079,25 +1097,64 @@ def get_url_json(url, cache=None, headers=None, data=None, fail=None):
             ok_dialog(heading='HTTP Error 400', message=localize(30967))
             log_error('HTTP Error 400: Probably exceeded maximum url length: '
                       'VRT Search API url has a length of {length} characters.', length=url_length)
-            return fail
+            return None
         if exc.code == 413 and url_length > 8192:
             ok_dialog(heading='HTTP Error 413', message=localize(30967))
             log_error('HTTP Error 413: Exceeded maximum url length: '
                       'VRT Search API url has a length of {length} characters.', length=url_length)
-            return fail
+            return None
         if exc.code == 431:
             ok_dialog(heading='HTTP Error 431', message=localize(30967))
             log_error('HTTP Error 431: Request header fields too large: '
                       'VRT Search API url has a length of {length} characters.', length=url_length)
-            return fail
-        json_data = get_json_data(exc, fail=fail)
-        if json_data is None:
-            raise
-    else:
-        if cache:
-            from json import dumps
-            update_cache(cache, dumps(json_data))
-    return json_data
+            return None
+        if exc.code == 401:
+            ok_dialog(heading='HTTP Error {code}'.format(code=exc.code), message='{}\n{}'.format(url, exc.reason))
+            log_error('HTTP Error {code}: {reason}', code=exc.code, reason=exc.reason)
+            return None
+        if exc.code in (400, 403) and exc.headers.get('Content-Type') and 'application/json' in exc.headers.get('Content-Type'):
+            return exc
+        reason = exc.reason
+        code = exc.code
+        ok_dialog(heading='HTTP Error {code}'.format(code=code), message='{}\n{}'.format(url, reason))
+        log_error('HTTP Error {code}: {reason}', code=code, reason=reason)
+        return None
+    except URLError as exc:
+        ok_dialog(heading=localize(30968), message=localize(30969))
+        log_error('URLError: {error}\nurl: {url}', error=exc.reason, url=url)
+        return None
+    except (timeout, SSLError) as exc:
+        ok_dialog(heading=localize(30968), message=localize(30969))
+        log_error('{error}\nurl: {url}', error=exc.reason, url=url)
+        return None
+
+
+def get_json_data(response, fail=None):
+    """Return json object from HTTP response"""
+    from json import load, loads
+    try:
+        if (3, 0, 0) <= version_info < (3, 6, 0):  # the JSON object must be str, not 'bytes'
+            return loads(to_unicode(response.read()))
+        return load(response)
+    except TypeError as exc:  # 'NoneType' object is not callable
+        log_error('JSON TypeError: {exc}', exc=exc)
+        return fail
+    except ValueError as exc:  # No JSON object could be decoded
+        log_error('JSON ValueError: {exc}', exc=exc)
+        return fail
+
+
+def get_url_json(url, cache=None, headers=None, data=None, fail=None, raise_errors=None):
+    """Return HTTP data"""
+    response = open_url(url, headers=headers, data=data, raise_errors=raise_errors)
+    if response:
+        json_data = get_json_data(response, fail=fail)
+        if json_data:
+            if cache:
+                from json import dumps
+                update_cache(cache, dumps(json_data))
+            return json_data
+    return fail
 
 
 def delete_cache(cache_file, cache_dir=DEFAULT_CACHE_DIR):
diff --git a/resources/lib/resumepoints.py b/resources/lib/resumepoints.py
index 3391b655..8b1013b4 100644
--- a/resources/lib/resumepoints.py
+++ b/resources/lib/resumepoints.py
@@ -7,13 +7,12 @@
 
 try:  # Python 3
     from urllib.error import HTTPError
-    from urllib.request import build_opener, install_opener, ProxyHandler, Request, urlopen
 except ImportError:  # Python 2
-    from urllib2 import build_opener, HTTPError, install_opener, ProxyHandler, Request, urlopen
+    from urllib2 import HTTPError
 
 from data import SECONDS_MARGIN
-from kodiutils import (container_refresh, get_cache, get_proxies, get_setting_bool, get_url_json, has_credentials,
-                       input_down, invalidate_caches, localize, log, log_error, notification, update_cache)
+from kodiutils import (container_refresh, get_cache, get_setting_bool, get_url_json, has_credentials, input_down,
+                       invalidate_caches, localize, log, log_error, notification, open_url, update_cache)
 
 
 class ResumePoints:
@@ -22,12 +21,11 @@ class ResumePoints:
     def __init__(self):
         """Initialize resumepoints, relies on XBMC vfs and a special VRT token"""
         self._data = dict()  # Our internal representation
-        install_opener(build_opener(ProxyHandler(get_proxies())))
 
     @staticmethod
     def is_activated():
         """Is resumepoints activated in the menu and do we have credentials ?"""
-        return get_setting_bool('useresumepoints', default=True) and has_credentials()
+        return get_setting_bool('usefavorites', default=True) and get_setting_bool('useresumepoints', default=True) and has_credentials()
 
     @staticmethod
     def resumepoint_headers(url=None):
@@ -179,10 +177,9 @@ def delete_local(self, asset_id, menu_caches=None):
 
     def delete_online(self, asset_id):
         """Delete resumepoint online"""
-        req = Request('https://video-user-data.vrt.be/resume_points/{asset_id}'.format(asset_id=asset_id), headers=self.resumepoint_headers())
-        req.get_method = lambda: 'DELETE'
         try:
-            result = urlopen(req)
+            result = open_url('https://video-user-data.vrt.be/resume_points/{asset_id}'.format(asset_id=asset_id),
+                              headers=self.resumepoint_headers(), method='DELETE', raise_errors='all')
             log(3, "[Resumepoints] '{asset_id}' online deleted: {code}", asset_id=asset_id, code=result.getcode())
         except HTTPError as exc:
             log_error("Failed to remove '{asset_id}' from resumepoints: {error}", asset_id=asset_id, error=exc)
diff --git a/resources/lib/streamservice.py b/resources/lib/streamservice.py
index 004e2976..d87e63f7 100644
--- a/resources/lib/streamservice.py
+++ b/resources/lib/streamservice.py
@@ -6,17 +6,16 @@
 
 try:  # Python 3
     from urllib.error import HTTPError
-    from urllib.parse import quote, unquote, urlencode
-    from urllib.request import build_opener, install_opener, urlopen, ProxyHandler
+    from urllib.parse import quote, urlencode
 except ImportError:  # Python 2
     from urllib import urlencode
-    from urllib2 import build_opener, install_opener, urlopen, ProxyHandler, quote, unquote, HTTPError
+    from urllib2 import quote, HTTPError
 
 from helperobjects import ApiData, StreamURLS
 from kodiutils import (addon_profile, can_play_drm, container_reload, exists, end_of_directory, get_max_bandwidth,
-                       get_proxies, get_setting_bool, get_url_json, has_inputstream_adaptive,
-                       invalidate_caches, kodi_version_major, localize, log, log_error, mkdir, ok_dialog, open_settings,
-                       supports_drm, to_unicode)
+                       get_setting_bool, get_url_json, has_inputstream_adaptive, invalidate_caches,
+                       kodi_version_major, localize, log, log_error, mkdir, ok_dialog, open_settings,
+                       open_url, supports_drm, to_unicode)
 
 
 class StreamService:
@@ -32,7 +31,6 @@ class StreamService:
 
     def __init__(self, _tokenresolver):
         """Initialize Stream Service class"""
-        install_opener(build_opener(ProxyHandler(get_proxies())))
         self._tokenresolver = _tokenresolver
         self._create_settings_dir()
         self._can_play_drm = can_play_drm()
@@ -309,14 +307,14 @@ def _select_hls_substreams(self, master_hls_url, protocol):
         hls_audio_id = None
         hls_subtitle_id = None
         hls_base_url = master_hls_url.split('.m3u8')[0]
-        log(2, 'URL get: {url}', url=unquote(master_hls_url))
         try:
-            hls_playlist = to_unicode(urlopen(master_hls_url).read())
+            response = open_url(master_hls_url, raise_errors=[415])
         except HTTPError as exc:
-            if exc.code == 415:
-                self._handle_bad_stream_error(protocol, exc.code, exc.reason)
-                return None
-            raise
+            self._handle_bad_stream_error(protocol, exc.code, exc.reason)
+            return None
+        if response is None:
+            return None
+        hls_playlist = to_unicode(response.read())
         max_bandwidth = get_max_bandwidth()
         stream_bandwidth = None
 
diff --git a/resources/lib/tokenresolver.py b/resources/lib/tokenresolver.py
index d0634d36..ad3aef2d 100644
--- a/resources/lib/tokenresolver.py
+++ b/resources/lib/tokenresolver.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 """This module contains all functionality for VRT NU API authentication."""
 
 from __future__ import absolute_import, division, unicode_literals
-from kodiutils import (addon_profile, delete, delete_cache, exists, get_cache, get_cache_dir, get_proxies, get_setting,
+from kodiutils import (addon_profile, delete, delete_cache, exists, get_cache, get_cache_dir, get_setting, open_url,
                        get_url_json, has_credentials, invalidate_caches, listdir,
                        localize, log, log_error, notification, ok_dialog,
                        open_settings, set_setting, update_cache)
@@ -11,23 +11,14 @@
 
 try:  # Python 3
     import http.cookiejar as cookielib
-    from urllib.parse import urlencode, unquote
-    from urllib.request import build_opener, install_opener, ProxyHandler, HTTPCookieProcessor, HTTPErrorProcessor, urlopen, Request
+    from urllib.error import HTTPError
+    from urllib.parse import urlencode
 except ImportError:  # Python 2
     from urllib import urlencode
-    from urllib2 import build_opener, install_opener, ProxyHandler, HTTPCookieProcessor, HTTPErrorProcessor, unquote, urlopen, Request
+    from urllib2 import HTTPError
     import cookielib
 
 
-class NoRedirection(HTTPErrorProcessor):
-    """Prevent urllib from following http redirects"""
-
-    def http_response(self, request, response):
-        return response
-
-    https_response = http_response
-
-
 class TokenResolver:
     """Get, refresh and cache tokens for VRT NU API authentication."""
 
@@ -41,8 +32,6 @@ class TokenResolver:
 
     def __init__(self):
         """Initialize Token Resolver class"""
-        self._proxies = get_proxies()
-        install_opener(build_opener(ProxyHandler(self._proxies)))
 
     @staticmethod
     def _create_token_dictionary(cookie_data, cookie_name='X-VRT-Token'):
@@ -110,6 +99,8 @@ def login(self, refresh=False, token_variant=None):
         while login_json.get('errorCode') != 0:
             # Show localized login error messages in Kodi GUI
             message = login_json.get('errorDetails')
+            if not message:
+                message = login_json or localize(30951)  # Login failed!
             log_error('Login failed: {msg}', msg=message)
             if message == 'invalid loginID or password':
                 message = localize(30953)  # Invalid login!
@@ -146,18 +137,16 @@ def _get_new_token(self, name, variant=None, url=None, roaming=False, login_json
             return self._get_playertoken(variant, url, roaming)
 
         if name in ('vrtlogin-at', 'vrtlogin-expiry', 'vrtlogin-rt', 'SESSION', 'OIDCXSRF', 'state'):
-            return self._get_usertoken(name)
+            return self._get_usertoken(name, roaming=roaming)
 
         return None
 
-    def _get_usertoken(self, name=None, login_json=None):
+    def _get_usertoken(self, name=None, login_json=None, roaming=False):
         """Get a user X-VRT-Token, vrtlogin-at, vrtlogin-expiry, vrtlogin-rt, SESSION, OIDCXSRF or state token"""
         if not login_json:
             login_json = self._get_login_json()
         cookiejar = cookielib.CookieJar()
-        opener = build_opener(HTTPCookieProcessor(cookiejar), ProxyHandler(self._proxies))
-        log(2, 'URL get: {url}', url=unquote(self._USER_TOKEN_GATEWAY_URL))
-        opener.open(self._USER_TOKEN_GATEWAY_URL)
+        open_url(self._USER_TOKEN_GATEWAY_URL, cookiejar=cookiejar)
         xsrf = next((cookie for cookie in cookiejar if cookie.name == 'OIDCXSRF'), None)
         if xsrf is None:
             return None
@@ -169,8 +158,12 @@ def _get_usertoken(self, name=None, login_json=None):
             _csrf=xsrf.value
         )
         data = urlencode(payload).encode()
-        log(2, 'URL post: {url}', url=unquote(self._VRT_LOGIN_URL))
-        opener.open(self._VRT_LOGIN_URL, data=data)
+        destination = open_url(self._VRT_LOGIN_URL, data=data, cookiejar=cookiejar).geturl()
+        usertoken = TokenResolver._create_token_dictionary(cookiejar, name)
+        if not usertoken and not destination.startswith('https://www.vrt.be/vrtnu'):
+            if roaming is False:
+                ok_dialog(heading=localize(30970), message=localize(30972))
+            return None
 
         # Cache additional tokens for later use
         refreshtoken = TokenResolver._create_token_dictionary(cookiejar, cookie_name='vrtlogin-rt')
@@ -183,8 +176,7 @@ def _get_usertoken(self, name=None, login_json=None):
             from json import dumps
             cache_file = self._get_token_filename('vrtlogin-at')
             update_cache(cache_file, dumps(accesstoken), self._TOKEN_CACHE_DIR)
-
-        return TokenResolver._create_token_dictionary(cookiejar, name)
+        return usertoken
 
     def _get_xvrttoken(self, login_json=None):
         """Get a one year valid X-VRT-Token"""
@@ -203,9 +195,7 @@ def _get_xvrttoken(self, login_json=None):
         )
         data = dumps(payload).encode()
         headers = {'Content-Type': 'application/json', 'Cookie': login_cookie}
-        log(2, 'URL post: {url}', url=unquote(self._TOKEN_GATEWAY_URL))
-        req = Request(self._TOKEN_GATEWAY_URL, data=data, headers=headers)
-        setcookie_header = urlopen(req).info().get('Set-Cookie')
+        setcookie_header = open_url(self._TOKEN_GATEWAY_URL, data=data, headers=headers).info().get('Set-Cookie')
         xvrttoken = TokenResolver._create_token_dictionary(setcookie_header)
         if xvrttoken is None:
             return None
@@ -214,25 +204,18 @@ def _get_xvrttoken(self, login_json=None):
 
     def _get_roaming_xvrttoken(self):
         """Get a X-VRT-Token for roaming"""
-        vrtlogin_at = self.get_token('vrtlogin-at')
+        vrtlogin_at = self.get_token('vrtlogin-at', roaming=True)
         if vrtlogin_at is None:
             return None
         cookie_value = 'vrtlogin-at=' + vrtlogin_at
         headers = {'Cookie': cookie_value}
-        opener = build_opener(NoRedirection, ProxyHandler(self._proxies))
-        log(2, 'URL get: {url}', url=unquote(self._ROAMING_TOKEN_GATEWAY_URL))
-        req = Request(self._ROAMING_TOKEN_GATEWAY_URL, headers=headers)
-        req_info = opener.open(req).info()
+        req_info = open_url(self._ROAMING_TOKEN_GATEWAY_URL, headers=headers, follow_redirects=False).info()
         cookie_value += '; state=' + req_info.get('Set-Cookie').split('state=')[1].split('; ')[0]
-        url = req_info.get('Location')
-        log(2, 'URL get: {url}', url=unquote(url))
-        url = opener.open(url).info().get('Location')
+        url = open_url(req_info.get('Location'), follow_redirects=False).info().get('Location')
         headers = {'Cookie': cookie_value}
         if url is None:
             return None
-        req = Request(url, headers=headers)
-        log(2, 'URL get: {url}', url=unquote(url))
-        setcookie_header = opener.open(req).info().get('Set-Cookie')
+        setcookie_header = open_url(url, headers=headers, follow_redirects=False).info().get('Set-Cookie')
         return TokenResolver._create_token_dictionary(setcookie_header)
 
     def get_token(self, name, variant=None, url=None, roaming=False):
@@ -271,10 +254,10 @@ def _get_fresh_token(self, refresh_token, name):
         cookie_value = 'vrtlogin-rt=' + refresh_token
         headers = {'Cookie': cookie_value}
         cookiejar = cookielib.CookieJar()
-        opener = build_opener(HTTPCookieProcessor(cookiejar), ProxyHandler(self._proxies))
-        req = Request(refresh_url, headers=headers)
-        log(2, 'URL get: {url}', url=refresh_url)
-        opener.open(req)
+        try:
+            open_url(refresh_url, headers=headers, cookiejar=cookiejar, raise_errors=[401])
+        except HTTPError:
+            ok_dialog(heading=localize(30970), message=localize(30971))
         return TokenResolver._create_token_dictionary(cookiejar, name)
 
     def _get_playertoken(self, variant, url, roaming=False):
diff --git a/resources/lib/tvguide.py b/resources/lib/tvguide.py
index 6c775d4e..65422c53 100644
--- a/resources/lib/tvguide.py
+++ b/resources/lib/tvguide.py
@@ -8,15 +8,10 @@
 import dateutil.parser
 import dateutil.tz
 
-try:  # Python 3
-    from urllib.request import build_opener, install_opener, ProxyHandler
-except ImportError:  # Python 2
-    from urllib2 import build_opener, install_opener, ProxyHandler
-
 from data import CHANNELS, RELATIVE_DATES
 from favorites import Favorites
 from helperobjects import TitleItem
-from kodiutils import (colour, get_cached_url_json, get_proxies, get_url_json, has_addon, localize,
+from kodiutils import (colour, get_cached_url_json, get_url_json, has_addon, localize,
                        localize_datelong, show_listing, themecolour, ttl, url_for)
 from metadata import Metadata
 from resumepoints import ResumePoints
@@ -33,7 +28,6 @@ def __init__(self):
         self._favorites = Favorites()
         self._resumepoints = ResumePoints()
         self._metadata = Metadata(self._favorites, self._resumepoints)
-        install_opener(build_opener(ProxyHandler(get_proxies())))
 
     def show_tvguide(self, date=None, channel=None):
         """Offer a menu depending on the information provided"""
@@ -302,6 +296,7 @@ def live_description(self, channel):
         episodes = iter(schedule.get(entry.get('id'), []))
 
         description = ''
+        episode = None
         while True:
             try:
                 episode = next(episodes)
@@ -323,7 +318,7 @@ def live_description(self, channel):
                 except StopIteration:
                     break
                 break
-        if not description:
+        if episode and not description:
             # Add a final 'No transmission' program
             description = '[COLOR={highlighted}][B]%s[/B] %s - 06:00\n» %s[/COLOR]' % (localize(30421), episode.get('end'), localize(30423))
         return colour(description)
diff --git a/resources/lib/webscraper.py b/resources/lib/webscraper.py
index 6b583352..701f8a6b 100644
--- a/resources/lib/webscraper.py
+++ b/resources/lib/webscraper.py
@@ -6,16 +6,12 @@
 
 try:  # Python 3
     from urllib.error import HTTPError
-    from urllib.parse import unquote
-    from urllib.request import build_opener, install_opener, urlopen, ProxyHandler
 except ImportError:  # Python 2
-    from urllib2 import build_opener, HTTPError, install_opener, ProxyHandler, unquote, urlopen
+    from urllib2 import HTTPError
 
-from kodiutils import get_cache, get_setting_bool, get_proxies, log, log_error, ttl, update_cache
+from kodiutils import get_cache, get_setting_bool, log_error, open_url, ttl, update_cache
 from utils import assetpath_to_id, add_https_proto, strip_newlines
 
-install_opener(build_opener(ProxyHandler(get_proxies())))
-
 
 def valid_categories(categories):
     """Check if categories contain all necessary keys and values"""
@@ -34,8 +30,7 @@ def get_categories():
     # Try to scrape from the web
     if not valid_categories(categories):
         from bs4 import BeautifulSoup, SoupStrainer
-        log(2, 'URL get: https://www.vrt.be/vrtnu/categorieen/')
-        response = urlopen('https://www.vrt.be/vrtnu/categorieen/')
+        response = open_url('https://www.vrt.be/vrtnu/categorieen/')
         tiles = SoupStrainer('nui-list--content')
         soup = BeautifulSoup(response.read(), 'html.parser', parse_only=tiles)
 
@@ -83,9 +78,8 @@ def get_video_attributes(vrtnu_url):
 
     # Scrape video attributes
     from bs4 import BeautifulSoup, SoupStrainer
-    log(2, 'URL get: {url}', url=unquote(vrtnu_url))
     try:
-        html_page = urlopen(vrtnu_url).read()
+        html_page = open_url(vrtnu_url, raise_errors='all').read()
     except HTTPError as exc:
         log_error('Web scraping video attributes failed: {error}', error=exc)
         return None