How to stream YouTube channels which are restricted in your country?
Not all YouTube videos can be viewed in your home country. Often times, one is annoyed by the message which says that a particular video is not available in your country. This can be due to a number of reasons related to censorship laws, inappropriate content etc.
However, if the video you want to watch contains something really essential like your favorite football match or a talk show that you love, then it becomes quite difficult to resist.
Playing YouTube videos that may be blocked in your country is not that hard as long as you know how to get your way around it. You can easily do so by using various tools that will allow you to unblock videos.
Here you will find two ways and their pros and cons in terms of unblocking YouTube videos.
Using a VPN
A virtual private network or VPN for short is the most secure and convenient way of unblocking geo-restricted content on YouTube.
As you may already know, a VPN is a set of protocols that reroutes your entire internet traffic so that it passes through the VPN server and not through your original server of your Internet Service Provider (ISP)
Benefits of a VPN
A VPN, as you may have already realized, offers anonymity to a greater extent as your ISP cannot track down your activities. Also, you are protected from being watched by other third-parties who may be monitoring what you search, for advertising purposes.
As such, a VPN grants you immunity from spam and allows you to freely surf the web. You need not worry about being watched by agencies or potential criminals who are on the lookout for vulnerable victims.
In addition, since a VPN server may be present in another country, it implies that once you are connected to that VPN, you will appear as if you are in another country. This, in turn, will let you browse through all the content that is available in that particular region.
Hence, with a VPN, not only are you able to unblock YouTube Videos but are also able to watch any type of content anywhere without any restriction.
Furthermore, given that no one can track your original IP address, you can easily surf the web while being connected to a public Wi-Fi hotspot.
Public Wi-Fi spots are usually insecure and people connected to them may run the risk of having their system hacked by a lurking cybercriminal. However, a VPN allows you to connect to such hotspots securely.
Lastly, a VPN is a great tool for those who are conducting SEO. This is because you can run search queries on search engines of other countries.
For instance, by being connected to a VPN server in Australia, you can easily run search queries on Google Australia despite being in another country.
Is VPN legal?
VPN is completely legal to use as everyone has the right to protect their privacy in digital space. However, provided that you are not streaming any copyright content, a VPN is completely safe to use.
Dangers of VPN
Although it has been stated earlier that you become anonymous when you connect to a VPN, this is however only to the extent of your own ISP. That is, your VPN service provider can track your activities if it wants to.
This is especially true if the provider keeps user logs. It is recommended that before buying a VPN, you ensure that the provider does not keep any logs.
Furthermore, it is highly recommended to stay away from free VPNs.
This is because there is no guarantee to the legitimacy of such free services. The providers might as well be selling your private information to third-party agencies in exchange for money that they might be using to run their operations.
Using Proxies
Proxies, quite similar to VPNs, also allow you to change your IP address. That is, with a proxy server, your IP address will be changed so as to allow you to watch restricted content that may not be available in your country.
Proxy servers are usually meant for low-end tasks and not for network-level operations.
Benefits of a proxy server
Just like a VPN, a proxy allows you to surf the web without being restricted. Furthermore, you may find that proxy servers are cheaper than VPNs as they are not meant for high-end functions.
Moreover, you will not be tracked by websites monitoring your activities as your IP address is hidden.
Dangers of a proxy server
A proxy server, unlike a VPN, does not encrypt your traffic. This means that your traffic can easily be intercepted and identified using sophisticated hacking methods.
Also, even though a proxy hides your IP address, malware that involves JavaScript or Flash can easily filter out your true identity. As such, you cannot use proxy servers with Wi-Fi hotspots.
In addition, just like VPNs, it is advised to stay away from free proxies since there is no guarantee as to their credibility.
Types of Proxies
There are essentially three types of proxies; HTTP, HTTPS, and SOCKS.
HTTP proxies are widely available but they can be quite insecure as there are no built-in security protocols.
On the other hand, HTTPS and SOCKS proxies are much more secure but will be costly than HTTP.
Conclusion
To sum up, streaming YouTube videos that might be blocked in your region can be done very easily and securely with a safe and reliable VPN or Proxy.
Rachael Chapman
A Complete gamer and a Tech Geek. Brings out all her thoughts and love in writing blogs on IOT, software, technology etc
