The usage of streaming services is growing exponentially over the last few years. Not only Netflix but other services like Hulu, Amazon Prime, HBO Go along with hundreds of other service providers which have joined the race in this streaming oriented journey. The rise of streaming has made many users around the world to cut their cable services and move towards more manageable and diversified streaming options.

Netflix offers a myriad of contents, which may take an entire lifetime for users to complete. However, accessibility of materials may be limited for users based on their geographical locations. Availability of programs at Netflix varies from region to region as per their licensing. Users will be delighted to know that with the help of technology, they can access any restricted geographic content at Netflix. The secret lies in tricking Netflix to think that the users reside in a different country. Netflix detects a user’s geographical location by identifying the IP address. Using a good VPN, Users can disguise their IP address and make it look like they belong to a different region.

What is Netflix?

When it comes to streaming services, Netflix is the king. 20 years ago, Netflix Started as a subscription-based DVD service that involves delivering DVD to peoples home. Even though Netflix continue this service, it indeed changes the landscape of TV when it debuted its first streaming service in 2007. Providing thousands of on-demand TV shows and movies, Netflix became an entertainment giant within ten years by producing its show. Some favorite Netflix shows include House of Cards, Daredevil, Luke Cage, Stranger Things, Narcos etc. Apart from that it also produces movies and hosts original comedy specials.

Netflix has the most substantial library including new and old classic films. Apart from movies Netflix also offers contents from all genres. From blockbuster movies to full seasons of hottest TV series, Netflix has it all.

With the growth of the streaming industry and the emergence of competitors like Amazon Prime, Hulu etc., owning exclusive rights to movies and TV shows became more expensive for Netflix. Therefore, Netflix started producing its content by investing a tremendous amount of money. Netflix, over the year, has produced award-winning and critically acclaimed contents to Its Users such as House of Cards, 13 reason why, Orange is the New Black, Marvel’s Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Punisher etc.

The reason behind the restriction of contents in specific regions

The budget for producing a TV show and movies requires a substantial amount of monetary resources. Hollywood movies especially blockbuster film like Pirate of Caribbean: Stranger Tides had a production cost of $378.5 million. Also, each episode of Game of Thrones Season 7 has a production cost of $10 million. As there is a lot of money at stake, a studio has to do its best to earn as much as possible from it. Therefore, they enforce strict copyrights law on their property.

The primary aim of every studio is to earn big returns of their hard work and investment at the box office. Before the digital age, piracy was not much of an issue as people used to have VHS tapes. Before, Replicating a VHS tape and reselling them at the black market was not so prominent. With the emergence of the Internet age, piracy became a major hurdle for production studios. With a shift of piracy from VHS to DVD, then from there to online streaming, has hampered the profits of studios.

Studios have adapted by offering movies for sale through outlets including Apple’s (AAPL) iTunes Store and Amazon.com (AMZN). As Netflix has shifted from a DVD by mail service to a streaming service, its budget for digital content has increased and become a significant revenue source for the studios.

Every market has its demand for specific contents, which makes studios enforce copyright as per country. People of Columbia might not like a movie most demanded in the United States. Besides, a British comedy might not be too appealing for people of the United States and vice versa.

The negotiation for broadcasting specific content in a different country based entirely on the demand of the audience. As a result, some studios ask more price from Netflix to stream a particular content in some countries compared to others. It’s up on Netflix if it chooses to pay the price offered by the studio to broadcast a show in a country.

Issues with Netflix while traveling to a different country

The rules of restricting content according to region apply to global travelers as well. To avoid the legal problems from the studios, Netflix blocks the accessibility of a user when he/she travels to a country where Netflix does not operate.

A traveler moving to a Netflix-operated country can access Netflix’s library of that country only. A resident of The United States during his/her stay in England will get different contents compared to the contents that he/she was getting in the US. However, using a VPN like LimeVPN often solves the issue.

As per the statement of the CEO of Netflix, it is the interest of audiences, and the territorial license is what determines the variation of the Netflix library in the different region. Netflix officials confirm that they are trying hard to make their content available on a global scale and want the geographical restrictions to go away. The step is not easy and will take a lot of time to be implemented. As of now, different countries will have different Netflix libraries.

How to watch Netflix in any country

Use a VPN to disguise your IP address

Using a VPN is the best way for a user to access geo-restricted contents in Netflix. A VPN or Virtual Private Network is a network of computers that let a computer to connect itself before the computer is connected to the Internet. The VPN act as a medium when a user sends or receive data through the internet. Whenever a user sends any data, it first goes through the VPN, and the receiver will never know it was the user who transmitted the data. The receiver will consider the address of the VPN as a true sender of data.

For example, suppose a user who lives in Japan wants to access the Netflix U.S library. All he/she have to do is connect through his/her internet through a VPN with an IP address of the United States. Therefore, when Japan’s User access Netflix, then Netflix will give him/her access to the US library thinking he/she is from the United States.

How to connect through a VPN:

Using a VPN is not rocket science. It’s as easy as installing and uninstalling an application. However, finding the right VPN is the main obstacle one can ever face. Some people often complain that VPN tunnels are insecure and sometimes Netflix blocks the VPN.

The issues lie in choosing the right VPN. There is ample free VPN available on the Internet. Sadly, many of them are not reliable enough to use as they often sell users private data to the third party, to generate revenue. IP address provided by a VPN service often lapses out with an average of 20 minutes. As a reason, Netflix automatically detects the location of the user and block the VPN.

The best way to ensure security while using a VPN is to subscribe to a premium VPN service which offers high-speed connection. Currently, LimeVPN is the most used VPN among users. Apart from providing a significant speed, it also provides unlimited bandwidth, 24X7 customer support with a robust user’s privacy policy.

To combat geo-blocking users have to use a VPN service which provides a dedicated IP address. Netflix is well known for blocking VPN connections to its active.

How Netflix detects VPN?

Most VPN service offers already used VPNs. Netflix analyses the VPN and blocks it if it detects a random large number of connections from any individual IP address. If a user uses virgin IPs, which will only be used by him/her, then Netflix cannot detect any irregularities in the IP address.

However, a dedicated IP may work like a charm for Netflix, but it’s not good for protecting anonymity as Users might use the same IP to do their other works as well. So it’s better to subscribe to a VPN which offers multiple dedicated IPs or connections.

Never Use TOR Network for Netflix

Tor or The Onion Router is a favorite free tool for geoblocking, but it can’t bypass Netflix or any other streaming services. The reason behind is because Tor passes data through multiple nodes and use multiple layers of encryption. As the data get frequently encrypted and decrypted while browsing, it results in a slower internet.

Never Use Browser Extensions

Many browsers like Chrome, Firefox, etc. offer free browser extensions that claim to mask the IP address of the Users. There are various free as well as subscription-based apps available on the internet, which claims to route the user’s traffic through a proxy server. However, Netflix is quite aware of such services and has an active technology to crack those fake connections. Also, such apps are often malicious and sell confidential browsing information to third parties.

No doubt that studios are losing a tremendous amount of money due to piracy but restricting contents will only further push people towards piracy. Countries with more restricted contents are more into piracy. Hope the situation will get better in the coming years. As of now, a dedicated IP is a way to go for Netflix users.

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Neha Shelar