One of the main reasons why average people use VPNs is to circumvent regional content limitations, particularly Netflix’s enormous regional libraries.
There are numerous reasons why you should use a VPN: they are a vital aspect of internet security and can assist you in bypassing censorship controls in countries such as China. However, one of the main reasons why average people use VPNs is to circumvent regional content limitations, particularly Netflix’s enormous regional libraries.
Although Netflix released an upgrade in 2021 to better detect and block VPNs, ExpressVPN is the best VPN for getting over the Netflix block. We’ll go over how to use a VPN with Netflix in greater detail below, but first, let’s speak about regional constraints.
What Are Netflix’s Regional Restriction Policies?
The episodes and movies available on Netflix vary by nation, sometimes dramatically. The United States, for example, has by far the largest collection, including shows that many people in Europe have never heard of. However, Netflix in other countries has shows that American subscribers are unable to watch.
It may appear strange that some shows can be viewed in one region but not in another, but this is due to the diverse distribution agreements Netflix has established with the creators of these shows and films. If a major studio, for example, has a profitable agreement with a network in one nation, neither party wants Netflix to undercut that agreement.
How to Use a VPN to Watch Netflix
However, there is a very simple solution to circumvent these restrictions: use a VPN. A virtual private network (VPN) is a service that redirects your internet connection through one of its own servers, allowing you to appear to be somewhere you’re not.
In summary, when you regularly connect to a site, you do so by sending a connection request from your computer to the site you wish to view via your ISP’s server. When you use a VPN, the connection is routed from your ISP to the VPN’s server before reaching the desired site.
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When you do this, your IP address (the series of numbers that indicates your approximate geographical location) is replaced with that of the VPN server. As a result, if you’re in Canada and want to stream German Netflix, simply connect to a VPN server in Germany and you’ll be fine.
Netflix VPN Restrictions
At least, you would be if Netflix didn’t like what you were doing and built up a system to prevent you from doing it. It’s unclear why Netflix began restricting VPN users, but the most likely reason is that distributors recognized many customers were circumventing Netflix’s geographical limitations and so put pressure on the firm to implement some form of VPN filter.
There’s no way to tell exactly how the block works; all we know is that it does. What’s more plausible is that Netflix recognizes specific IP addresses as belonging to a VPN—it doesn’t have to be difficult; all it has to do is keep track of which IP addresses connect more than a residential IP should—and then prevents that IP address from streaming.
VPN users are likely to be familiar with Netflix’s “Pardon the interruption” prompt.
Netflix proxy error message
Not only does Netflix have a similar restriction in place, but so do Hulu, Amazon Prime, Disney+, and a slew of other entertainment platforms.
VPNs have begun to circumvent Netflix’s restrictions.
VPNs, of course, were not going to stand by and watch this happen. People using VPNs to access other countries’ Netflix collections account for a sizable portion of their revenue, and you can’t let that amount of money slip through your fingers without a struggle.
Following that, there was an ongoing war in which VPNs switched IP addresses and Netflix banned them. Some VPN services, such as ExpressVPN and NordVPN, fared really well in this game, while others fared poorly. This is most likely owing to the fact that these two behemoths have greater resources to throw at the problem.
We’re not sure how this happened exactly, but over the last few years, certain VPN servers would operate perfectly until they didn’t, and then they’d work fine again. It could be aggravating at times, but by cycling through several VPN servers, you could eventually gain access to the Netflix collection you want.
The Netflix Crackdown in 2021
However, it appeared that Netflix had finally gained the upper hand in August 2021 when, in one fell swoop, servers all over the world ceased to function in what we at GlamSquad Magazine named the VPN crackdown.
One method VPNs used to avoid Netflix was to use residential IP addresses. These are IP addresses that are not tied to rented server space, as most VPNs do, but rather to home addresses. Netflix had caught on to this and blacklisted them as well, generating considerable anger among those who were not using a VPN yet were still blocked.
Netflix, on the other hand, now allows you to watch Netflix Originals if it detects you’re using a VPN. You are not barred from streaming; you can only watch shows for which Netflix has a worldwide license (in other words, the shows and films Netflix itself created.)
Overall, it was a fairly elegant solution that worked to block VPNs… for about a week. Some VPNs immediately caught on to Netflix’s strategy, and it appears that ExpressVPN and NordVPN, to name a few, are once again offering servers that can connect to Netflix libraries in other countries.
The cat-and-mouse game appears to be continuing.