If you’re trying to view the latest Netflix show while traveling overseas, or you want to watch a show Netflix only provides on the other side of the globe, you’re in for a tough time. But with a VPN service and a bit of persistence, you might be able to see most of what you want to watch, no matter where you are.
Your Netflix Is Not My Netflix
It’s easy to assume 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 can be wildly different from country to country. 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. Much of the rest of the world, however, can enjoy Discovery on 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 Netflix provides? That’s just not the case. You’re only entitled to the shows in the country where you created your account.
To enforce regional restrictions for content, Netflix 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 Netflix will sometimes block me even when I’m connected to a VPN server within my country of origin.
Writing this article, I tried to focus on a particular scenario: 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 unavailable in their home countries.
This raises a thorny question of ethics. Using a VPN to watch Netflix (or any other streaming service) that you aren’t eligible to see isn’t exactly the same as downloading copyrighted content without paying for it, but it still breaks rules—even when the content you want isn’t available in your country at any price. I have often been told to vote with my wallet and support the content I enjoy. That’s why I do have an All Access account specifically so I can watch all the great new Star Trek shows. I want there to be more seasons of what I like, and so feel compelled to follow CBS’s rules in the hope that my subscription will help fund more seasons.
Perhaps I am naïve, or perhaps there is no ethical consumption under capitalism. Regardless, if you feel differently and see no issue in using a paid service in ways beyond the intent of its creators, that’s up to you. We at PCMag are not lawyers, nor are we ethicists, but we do advise you to think carefully before you break any terms of service.
VPN: The Master of Unblocking
Every device on the internet has an IP address assigned to it, and these addresses are generally handed out geographically. All the IP addresses for people in the New York City area should be similar, but different from the IP addresses in London. By looking at a device’s IP address, it’s pretty easy to roughly determine where a device is located.
This is where VPNs come in. A VPN shrouds your internet traffic with encryption that prevents observers from being able to see what you’re up to. It then tunnels your web traffic to a remote server operated by the VPN company. If that server is in a different country, you can effectively use the web as if you were sitting within that country. Your device will even appear to have the IP address of the VPN server, 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. VPN apps make it extremely easy to switch from one location to another and send your traffic around the globe. Just click, and your traffic is rerouted.
Here’s how it works in practice: Imagine you’re from the UK and have been watching a Netflix show at home in London. Now you’re taking a trip to New York City (this assumes a pre- or post-COVID-19 reality). When you arrive in the US, you may not be able to continue watching your show because it’s not available to US Netflix subscribers. If you set up a VPN, connect to a server near your London home back in the UK, you should be able to pick up watching your show 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 to spoof your location.
Keep in mind that IP addresses aren’t the only ways to figure out someone’s true location over the internet. Other pieces of information such as cookie data, specific browser and device settings, or even your connection latency 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 see.
While Netflix actively works to block VPN use, VPN companies work hard to keep their customers connected to Netflix, partly out of convenience but no doubt because they also understand that unblocking content is a major draw for VPN customers. It’s like a Cold War-era submarine movie, with adversaries slowly trying to outmaneuver one another.
The Great VPN Crackdown of 2021
In the summer of 2021, news broke that seemed to indicate Netflix was taking a harder line on VPNs accessing its streaming content. I wanted to see how this worked out in practice and so gathered a list of 15 VPN products, drawn from an older version of this article, our list of the overall best VPNs, and our list of the best VPNs for accessing Netflix in the US.
To do this testing, I installed each of the VPNs one at a time and attempted to access Netflix while connected to different servers. In these tests, I looked at VPN servers in the US, Australia, Canada, Japan, and the UK.
For each service, I tried my best to use all the unblocking tools each company provides. I gave each country five attempts to load the content and tried to use a different IP address each time. Sometimes, this meant switching to a different server in the same location, and other times it meant having to try an entirely different location within the same country. If the VPN provides servers specifically for streaming, I tried those in the same manner.
Not all VPNs let you select specific servers or server locations beyond the country level, and others don’t make it easy to manually change your IP address. In those circumstances, I simply disconnected and then reconnected. This will sometimes shunt you into a different server, but it’s not a sure thing. In each case, I tried to use as many unique IP addresses as I could.
Blocked, Open, and Limited
In my testing, I found Netflix seemed to function in three different ways. The first state was as if I was connected normally within a given country. I could see all the content available in that region, and successfully watch any of it. I called this Open. The second state was simple. Viewing content would generate an error message, usually one referring to the use of VPNs or proxies. I called this Blocked.
The third state was a kind of Netflix purgatory where I could only see and stream a subset of movies and shows, most of which were branded as Netflix originals. It was as if Netflix recognized I was a paying customer, but wasn’t sure which region I was in, so it just presented the content available in every region. While nothing was blocked in this state, the choices were limited, so I called this state Limited. Note that in previous versions of this article, I referred to this state as “Netflix Originals.” However, closer inspection revealed that some of the content available is licensed internationally from Netflix (such as the film Uncut Gems) in addition to shows and movies produced by Netflix itself (such as She-Ra and the Princesses of Power).
Comparing my 2020 and 2021 results, it’s interesting to note that VPNs are now rarely blocked outright. Far more common is Limited mode. While frustrating for people trying to access region-restricted content, I think this is an improvement for customers. Netflix seems to be acknowledging it cannot stop people from using VPNs. Providing Limited Access mode lets VPN users see something.
That said, it’s frustrating that customers who use VPNs to improve their privacy must sometimes choose between security and their favorite shows.
From years of testing VPNs, I know using one is often like working with a black box. You provide an input, observe the output, and make a guess at what happens in between. Testing VPNs and Netflix is like testing two black boxes at the same time. When I did this testing last year, I encountered baffling scenarios where it wasn’t always clear what was happening with Netflix. This time, I’m relieved to say the results were much more straightforward. That said, I still took great pains to check and recheck my work whenever possible. Despite that, it’s unavoidable that my results come without any specific knowledge of how Netflix operates on the inside.
The following chart breaks down my results. Below, I report the best outcome for each VPN service in each country. That means if I find I am blocked a few times, but manage stream from Netflix at least once, I report it as unblocked.
The last time I updated this article, I was impressed at how well VPNs had done since 2018. This time, the situation is very different. In 2021, no service successfully streamed in all five regions I tested. ExpressVPN and ProtonVPN had the best performance, but still only functioned in three out of five countries. Eight of the 15 I tested didn’t work in any of the countries I tested.
Hotspot Shield exhibited some unusual behavior in this testing. It’s listed as being the only service that never did better than Blocked in a region, but the actual situation was complicated. I could see all the content available, as I do in the Open state, but when I clicked the videos just resulted in a never-ending loading screen. I called this Blocked on the chart because even content I knew was available in Limited mode also would not load. Resetting my internet connection had no effect, and other internet activities worked fine, suggesting it was an issue with Netflix and Hotspot Shield.
But What About Speed?
Streaming video can take up some serious bandwidth, especially if you want HD quality or better—which you should, because this is the 21st century, after all. Speed, in case you’re new here, is just the other side of the bandwidth coin.
With a faster connection, you can get more data, and theoretically a better viewing experience. Keep in mind, however, that Netflix is extremely good at providing high quality video on extremely limited connections. The following chart shows the results of my VPN speed test results thus far. This shows the percent change I found between speed test results taken with the VPN and results taken without the VPN. Again, note that your results will likely differ from these.
COVID-19 dramatically changed how I test VPNs, which I recently outlined in a column. Do read that for more context on these figures. Also, this list will be updated periodically with new results and new products.
Is That All I Can Do?
When trying to stream Netflix via VPN, there are a few things you can do to help make a connection. Most important is to be persistent. There were several instances during this testing where Netflix started working only on the final attempt.
Also, be aware of the tools at your disposal. Try multiple servers, and protocol settings. Try different times of day. While the vast majority of my testing was very consistent, some services took several attempts. VPN companies know their subscribers probably want to stream content. There may be servers specifically for streaming, or settings that can be helpful. Look through the VPN’s documentation and see what the company recommends.
Many VPN services will sell you a static IP address. This means that instead of having your IP address changed to whatever IP address has been assigned to the VPN server, you’ll have the same IP address every time you switch on your VPN. The downside is that you’ll lose some anonymity. The static address is yours and only yours. Savvy observers will have an easier time correlating online activities to you directly. But Netflix and other services may not block static IP addresses. These can be pricey, so it’s a bit of a risk if you only are concerned about streaming online content. This risk is only magnified with the recent reports of a Netflix crackdown, which included the residential IP addresses often sold by VPN companies.
On the subject of cost, we recommend using a short-term subscription for VPNs until you are certain it will work well for you. Just about every VPN offers steep discounts for long-term commitments, but if you start with a month-to-month plan, you can try out a service before lock yourself in.
Watch From Anywhere…Possibly
For now, it seems that the battle between Netflix and VPNs has shifted in Netflix’s favor. While it’s not all-powerful or all-seeing, Netflix is more effective than ever when it comes to blocking VPN users. Perhaps that will change. In the meantime, for more Netflix hacks and tricks, you can also read our story on the best Netflix tips to boost your binge-watching.
