Netflix is full of quality content. From TV series to movies and cartoons. It really offers content for everyone. Unfortunately, there is a lot of content on Netflix which is limited to specific regions and countries. This means that if you are in the UK, you might not be able to see the content available for the US audience. It is a bit of annoying as you have subscribed to the same platform, but you are unable to see some content. VPN is a great workaround for such cases.
VPN is a medium through which you can access the content without any restrictions. It opens an international catalog of Netflix which means that you can access all movies and TV shows that are available on Netflix for all countries. The country of operation is regardless in this case.
Netflix, however, has put a VPN ban which means a success rate of VPNs which work with Netflix is quite low. If VPN and Netflix have left you frustrated, then you are not the only one on the street facing this issue. There are many customers who are struggling to set up their virtual private networks for using Netflix. It is actually a big battle between customers, VPN providers, and the Netflix platform. Netflix is constantly shifting and tweaking its code and servers that makes it difficult for VPN providers to work smoothly. But thankfully there are few VPN providers who always work smoothly.
Using VPN with Netflix
Follow the below steps to continue watching Netflix with a VPN
- Open the VPN app which you might already have. If not, download it on your device from the App Store or website of your service provider.
- From the list of servers available, select the one which unblocks NetflixSince Netflix requires an extra layer of unblocking, not all servers can unblock the content. You need to choose the designated server. If you are unable to find, reach out to customer service to choose the appropriate one.
- Connect to VPN through your device Establish a connection and once it is connected successfully, open Netflix in your browser and enjoy binge watching.
- If there are any issues (for instance, some content is still blocked) then reach out to the help desk of your VPN service provider. They can guide you on tweaking few settings related to IPv6 or DNS on your device for smooth functioning.
Why do some VPNs can overcome the Netflix ban and others cannot?
You might be wondering how few VPN servers are managing to work with Netflix while most of them fail. Netflix blocks the users of VPN through their IP address but still, some are able to seep in. This is because the firewall of Netflix platform is smart enough to block the range of IP addresses from a known host. Hence, most common (and mostly free) VPN service providers fail to win this battle.
VPNs that bypass this security are also sometimes blocked but they keep on changing their IP addresses and adding new servers. This means users get an uninterrupted service while these VPN service providers are investing more resources and manpower to replace the blacklisted IPs. This obviously requires more effort, time and manpower and you will see that the plans offered by some VPN service providers might be expensive if they are able to overcome the Netflix ban. It is not easy to keep new servers up and running every moment, but they are prepared to handle those issue and offer enhanced customer experience.
Is it ethical to use VPNs with Netflix?
VPN is the only means to protect your privacy online. People think that it is just a means to access restricted apps and websites. Using a VPN is recommended to ensure the safety of your presence online.
Netflix’s policy of banning VPN is not appreciated throughout the globe. It is unfair to ask people to switch off their VPNs on a platform which has more than 125 million subscribers. There are users who are connected to unsecured public wi-fi networks or traveling to countries which are heavy on surveillance. These users can never use the Netflix platform (which they paid for) if they are not on VPN and thus Netflix should not block VPNs after detecting proxies.
Netflix should allow their customers to make the choice between VPN and non-VPN instead of strictly forcing non-VPN policy. Nonetheless, few VPN service providers are coming up with ways to beat this hard struggle and we might see some more additions in the coming months.
Netflix and smart DNS proxyDuring Netflix war with proxies, smart DNS proxies were the talk of the town. Many users switched to such services like Overplay, Unotelly, Unlocator or Unblock-US once Netflix blocked most VPN server connections.
A smart DNS proxy observes DNS requests from your device and can detect which domains are associated with which servers. If it finds a DNS request for Netflix, it sends all the traffic for it to the USA Netflix server, in turn changing both the IP address and the DNS server.
In due time, this approach caught the attention of Netflix and succeeding enforcement blocked most smart DNS proxy users. Some smart DNS proxy services are still able to unblock Netflix.Do I use the Netflix app or what it with a web browser?
A VPN that is able to unblock Netflix in a web browser might not be able to do so in the Netflix app on your mobile, or smart TV. This is due to the fact that a web browser uses DNS servers as specified by the OS. Most VPN apps consider this scenario and route all the DNS requests to their in-house DNS servers. This helps in matching the requests to your VPN server.
The Netflix app can override DNS settings on your device and hence send the requests to either a public DNS server or default ISP server. This creates a discrepancy between the user’s IP address location and where the DNS request comes from. This is considered a red flag and it denotes that the user is accessing over VPN resulting in the Netflix proxy error message.
