Unblock Netflix with a VPN

4 min read

Updated: Jan 9, 2020

Streaming video on Netflix is a pleasure most of us have come to take for granted, but as soon as you start crossing borders, you may find it unavailable. With the right VPN, however, you can keep streaming as you hop from country to country.

It's easy to assume that the video streaming services we use every day are the same everywhere on earth, but that's simply not true. What's available on streaming services, in particular, can be wildly different from country to country. That's true not only of Netflix, but also of Amazon Video, Hulu, and Sling.

That's because streaming services like Netflix make agreements with other media companies to supply movies and TV in specific markets. A great example is Star Trek: Discovery. In the US and Canada, you need a CBS All Access account to boldly go where no one has gone before. Most of the rest of the world, however, can enjoy Discovery without signing up for yet another streaming service because it's easily available from Netflix.

That might feel like a bit of a raw deal for Netflix subscribers. They're paying for a subscription, so shouldn't they get all the sweet, sweet video content that Netflix provides? But that's just not the case. As Netflix explains in section 4.3 of its terms of use, you're only entitled to the shows in the country where you created your account.

The content that may be available to watch will vary by geographic location and will change from time to time.

Lets imagine - you're traveling overseas and can't watch a show you were already watching on Netflix. That's a real problem, but I imagine a good many readers are perhaps more interested in accessing Netflix content that's unavailable in their home countries.This raises a thorny question of ethics.

Using a VPN to watch something isn't piracy in the way I've come to understand it, but it still feels like cheating, somehow. I have often been told to vote with my wallet and support the content that I enjoy and that's why I do have an All Access account specifically so I can watch Star Trek: Discovery. Even though I would still be paying to access Discovery if I watched it over Netflix, via VPN, it still feels selfish to me. I want there to be more seasons, and I feel compelled to follow CBS's rules in order to make that happen.You might feel differently and see no issue in using a paid service in ways (slightly) beyond the intent of its creators. That's up to you. If you're using a VPN to watch Netflix inside the region you're paying for access to, you're probably not breaking Netflix's terms of service. But pretty much any other use of a VPN with Netflix probably does break the company's terms of service. We at APMG's are not lawyers, nor are we ethicists, but we definitely advise you to think carefully before you break any terms of service.

VPN: The Master of Unblocking

One way a company, website, or service can determine whether or not you should view content available only in certain markets is by looking at your IP address. IP addresses are assigned geographically, and sometimes with alarming precision. If you're connecting to the internet from the US, the UK, or the Vatican, you'll have pretty different IP addresses at each location.

Other pieces of information, such as your MAC address, cookie data, or specific browser settings may also communicate something about your location. On a mobile device, an app might simply request access to your GPS data. But IP addresses are readily available for inspection, and generally don't require special permissions or tricks to get ahold of.

This is where VPNs come in. A VPN, or virtual private network, does two things: first, it enshrouds your network traffic with encryption that prevents any observers from being able to see what you're up to. Second, it tunnels your information to a remote server operated by the VPN company, effectively hiding your true IP address and making it much harder to correlate online activities directly to you.

There are lots of reasons why you need a VPN, but if you need to appear as if you are in a wildly different location from that of your home country, it's indispensable. For one thing, you don't have to worry about acquiring or reconfiguring your computer or mobile device to use a foreign IP address—the VPN company manages a fleet of servers with numerous IP addresses available. For another, VPN apps make it extremely easy to switch from one location to another. Just click, and your traffic is rerouted.

Here's how it works: if you're from the UK and have been watching a Netflix show at home, when you arrive in the US, you may not be able to continue watching your show. Just set up a VPN, connect to a server near to your home, and you should be able to pick up viewing where you left off.

Of course, you might want to sample the forbidden fruit of foreign Netflix without the above pretense. If you're in the US and want to watch something that's only available on Netflix in another country, just connect to a VPN server in the appropriate country.

It sounds so simple in theory, but in practice, it's a bit more complicated.

Read next: Our VPN-Monster Services

In order to enforce its regional requirements for some Netflix content, the company makes an effort to block VPN use. That's a bit unfair for folks who aren't trying to sneak around digital borders. In fact, I've found that Netflix will block me even when I'm connected to a VPN server within my country of origin. If, say, I'm watching Netflix in a coffee shop over Wi-Fi, using a VPN is just good sense.

VPN companies like us, on the other hand, work hard to keep their customers connected to Netflix, partly out of convenience but no doubt because they understand that unblocking content is a major draw for VPN customers. Likewise, Netflix and other streaming services work hard to block VPNs. It's like a Cold War-era submarine movie, with adversaries slowly circling each other with deadly intent.