By Mashum Mollah
While the primary purpose of a VPN is assuring security and privacy, it turns out that they can do a lot more because of these underlying characteristics; like, say, enhancing your streaming subscription on online services like Netflix.
How?
In order to ensure security and privacy, VPNs reroute your online requests through their servers. Initially, without a VPN — your ISPs, government agencies, and numerous third parties could track your online activities and location with the help of your IP address. However, when using a VPN — trackers will see the VPN IP addresses instead of yours.
How can this bypass Netflix restrictions?
Since a VPN masks your original IP address with a fake one — Netflix perceives your location as different; thus, giving you access to the restricted content. All you have to do is change Netflix region utilizing the VPN servers and get access to that particular region’s Netflix library.
Why does Netflix have regional restrictions?
Netflix has license agreements with the content creator to not stream the content outside a particular jurisdiction for a variety of reasons that is a story for some other time.
And these contract stipulations and copyright laws with content restrictions force Netflix to impose geographical limitations.
Is it illegal to bypass Netflix restrictions?
Long story short — NO!
Netflix user agreement, in all, does not include any guidelines that suggest otherwise. Also, note that, since you are not downloading any forbidden material nor distributing it — even the copyright act (of almost many countries) doesn’t infer.
However, it is an illicit act if there is a restriction for using a VPN in your country. Not for bypassing Netflix restrictions but because you are breaking the country’s legal guidelines.
With that said, let’s see the five best VPNs to unblock Netflix.
Short on time? Here’s a quick view of the best VPN to Unblock Netflix:
- IPVanish: Supports 4K, 16+ several locations unblock Netflix, unmetered connections with one subscription.
- ExpressVPN: 30+ locations unblock Netflix, supports 4k, navigable interface; however, it has hefty subscription rates for only five simultaneous connections.
- NordVPN: Industry leader — best in terms of speed, security, and even bypassing restrictions. Several of the NordVPN servers (across all locations) bypass Netflix restrictions successfully. Easy-to-use and offers only six simultaneous connections with one subscription.
- CyberGhost: Supports uninterrupted streaming in 4K, 18+ locations support Netflix (US, UK, and India included)— no server issues whatsoever.Simple interface with a reasonable subscription rate.
- SurfShark: Good as others, but only a few locations unblock Netflix regional restrictions.
Here’s the detailed review:
1. IPVanish:
- 40000+ individual IPs on a network of 1600+ servers in 75 locations — US, UK, and 13 other countries
- Unlimited bandwidth ensure no buffering when streaming in 4K
- AES 256-bit advanced encryption
- 24/7 customer care — email, live chat, and phone
- Supports all major devices, including Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Chrome, Fire TV, Linux
- Unmetered simultaneous connections
IPVanish, based in the US, is among the top VPN providers across the world, and for a reason — IPVanish remade itself after being embroiled in the logging scandal of 2018.
Today, IPVanish can very well stand against NordVPN and ExpressVPN, be it anything — speed, security, anonymity, or anything else. Moreover, when it comes to the number of simultaneous connections — it stands atop them. The same is the case with its customer service.
2. ExpressVPN:
- Over 3000+ servers in 160 locations across 94 countries; 30+ locations unblock Netflix
- High-speed and Unlimited bandwidth for seamless streaming
- AES 256-bit encryption ensures complete anonymity
- 24/7 live support — email and chat
- Supports all major platforms including Windows, macOS, Android, ios, Linux, Router
- Five simultaneous connection with one subscription
- 30-days 100% money-back guarantee
Based in the British Virgin Islands (not a member of the 5/9/14 eyes alliance), ExpressVPN is one of the world’s leading VPN service providers, and it certainly is better than the rest when it comes to unblocking Netflix. Of course, it also bypasses restrictions of other streaming services like Amazon Prime Videos, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, etc.
Although ExpressVPN lists numerous server locations capable of unblocking Netflix, only 30 servers did the deed. Nonetheless, these include countries like the US, UK, India, Japan, Australia, Canada, Germany, Brazil, France, Liechtenstein, etc., meaning it allows you to get hands-on with the world-prominent content libraries.
Being the fastest VPN provider, you can access the stream even 4K (if your personal connection rate allows it). Plus, it also incorporates the MediaStreamer feature for streaming on SmartTV and gaming consoles.
3. NordVPN:
- 5300+ servers across 59 countries — many capable of unblocking Netflix
- Self-developed NordLynx technology allows uninterrupted streaming
- Next-generation military-grade encryption
- 24/7 customer service — chat plus email
- Compatible with Windows, Android, iOS, macOS, Chrome, Linux, Routers, etc.
- Six simultaneous connections with a single subscription
- 30 days money-back guarantee
NordVPN is the market leader; still, it sits back to ExpressVPN when the fight is for unblocking Netflix. Though NordVPN has a more extensive server chain than ExpressVPN, it does not unblock as many server locations as ExpressVPN. Nonetheless, you can access content from countries like the US, UK, India, Australia, Turkey, Canada, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, and etc.
Praised by the New York Times, Huffington Post, and numerous other services for its high speed, NordVPN does not throttle the rate even when streaming in 4K. Besides Netflix, you will also have access to restricted regional content on 400+ (claimed by NordVPN) streaming services, including all the major ones.
Moreover, with military-grade encryption and dedicated IPs (to individual users), NordVPN also promises world-class security and anonymity. NordVPN also has split-tunneling technology — for accessing your local content without turning the VPN off.
4. CyberGhost:
- 7100+ servers across 94 countries — many unblock Netflix successfully
- Unlimited bandwidth and lower latency rate promises seamless streaming
- AES 256-bit RSA encryption key
- 24/7 customer care — live chat and Email
- Supports all major devices including Windows, Android, iOS, macOS, Chrome, Linux, Routers
- Seven simultaneous connections with one subscription
- 45 money-back guarantee
While CyberGhost gets its fame for the dedicated torrenting characteristics, it also can unblock Netflix restricted content from influential locations, including the US, UK, India, Australia, France, and many more.
Like torrenting, CyberGhost also provides high streaming speed, and you can uninterruptedly watch in 4K. Plus, military-grade encryption means you do not have to worry about security and anonymity.
5. SurfShark:
- 3200+ servers across 65 countries — six can bypass Netflix restrictions
- High-speed connection rate
- Industry-leading AES-256-GCM encryption
- 24/7 customer care support — email, phone, live chat
- Supports all major devices, including Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Chrome, Fire TV, Linux
- Unlimited simultaneous connections
While only the US, Australia, Canada, India, Japan, and the UK servers were able to unblock Netflix, the streaming speed of Surf Shark is better than other VPN servers, which (claims) to unblock many regions.
Nonetheless, other factors like speed, connection rate, compatibility are good as any other reliable VPN.
How to use a VPN on Netflix?
The process is straightforward:
- Sign up for a VPN provider of your choice (from their official page).
- Download the VPN, install it on your device(s), and connect to a server of the desired location.
- Open Netflix and start watching.
Note: If you see an error message, clear browser cookies. If the issue still persists — contact the respective VPN’s technical support.
Conclusion:
Regardless of the VPN, you choose (on this list), you can change the Netflix region and watch uninterrupted as all these providers are reliable not only for streaming Netflix but also in terms of security, speed, and privacy.
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