What would we ever do without online streaming services? Remember a time when we used to schedule everything around our favorite TV show so we don’t miss it?
And if we missed an episode, we’d be out of our mind thinking what must have happened in the said episode and those bloody battles for the remote over whose favorite show the whole family would have to watch tonight. Oh, those were some really hard times!
With the onset of Netflix, YouTube and other similar video sites, life couldn’t get any easier. We can watch our favorite shows anytime, whenever we want for free.
Now we can watch entire seasons in a single night and the best part: no more battles. However, Netflix, HBO, Amazon Prime Video, iTunes and various other streaming services come with restrictions of their own.
The Lock on Geolocation
One of the most annoying nuisance we face with streaming services is their region-based restrictions. Of course, back then on television, things were a lot more restricted, but then we didn’t have ubiquitous high-speed internet availability and therefore, we were unaware of any interesting shows being broadcasted in other regions.
But now that we know, we have to watch them. Everyone’s gossiping about Doctor Who and Star Trek: Discovery, but frustratingly, we cannot watch these shows because Netflix doesn’t have any licensing agreement with their content provider.
The problem is that publishing content can be quite costly in some countries for the content provider. With skyrocketing taxes and a tiny customer base in a particular country, it doesn’t make good business sense to go for a licensing agreement over there.
On the other hand, there’s the matter of price differential due to the cost of living. So when a streaming service offers cheaper rates in a country, it cannot deliver all the content that is available in a country that pays a relatively higher price.
These snags preclude us from unlocking the potential of our streaming service, and it’s thoroughly annoying when the streaming service provider doesn’t leave us any other option.
Can We Unlock the Potential?
Here are certain ways you can bypass the nuisance of geolocation restriction and enjoy your streaming service to its fullest potential.
VPN (Virtual Private Network) is the Key
If you are a pro at unlocking treasures for yourself, you might be aware of the effectiveness of VPN services helping access a deluge of entertainment content and social networks. But if you aren’t, read on.
Virtual Private Network has many uses; it not only creates a private encrypted network between your computer and the website, but the said encrypted network protects you from all kinds of online threats such as hacking since it safeguards your private information.
Also, the biggest use of a VPN is to hide your location and show it in another country as its server is located in that country, enabling you access to that entertainment website you have been wanting to since forever.
Utilizing VPN is not illegal, but it is against the terms of use for most streaming services, so we suggest you exercise caution during this instance.
There are a number of VPNs available but make sure you keep these things in mind before choosing one:
- Make sure your VPN has a server located in a country of your choice. Many VPNs offer only a limited amount of location access due to server limitations. E.g. if you want to access CBC, which is only available in Canada, the VPN you use must have a server for Canada. Also, it’s important for your VPN to have multiple servers since the streaming platform you want to access might block one of your VPN’s server.
- Streaming requires high-speed internet connectivity so there are no irritating pauses while the show is buffering, make sure you utilize Cox internet service for a seamless experience.
- There are many VPNs that limit your bandwidth allocation. For streaming purposes, ensure that the VPN plan lets you remove bandwidth cap so you can stream in peace.
- Most VPNs support major platforms like Mac, IOS, Android, and Windows, but there are some that can be incompatible with your preferred OS. If you utilize Mac and an Android phone, see if your VPN lets you connect to both platforms and that too simultaneously.
- Your VPN must be touted for its secure encryption and doesn’t maintain logs in order to protect your privacy.
- There are plenty of free VPNs available, but avoid using one since they only offer dubious protection and subpar streaming quality.
- Unlocking that inaccessible streaming service might become a tad stressful when the service provider’s VPN block is a formidable opponent. So ensure that your choice of VPN can bypass that said provider e.g. NordVPN and ExpressVPN have a greater success rate in beating Netflix’s VPN block.
Mission Accomplished
Your streaming services might restrict you from enjoying your entertainment experience to its fullest, but don’t let that put you in the doldrums. Activate your VPN, and watch tv shows and movies from all over the world.
ricky.p says
When I was reading about this for the first time, I thought to myself, that it would be too easy if you only had to get a VPN to bypass all the geo-restrictions, but once I got it, to make my data and connections more secure, I decided to try it out. It worked. It still surprises me every time I’m able to watch more content while on Netflix. This article was really helpful for me to understand how it actually works