The availability of Netflix grows, but so does the need of VPN for Netflix!
Last updated on January 13th, 2016 in VPN
Netflix is the premier service for streaming the best TV shows and movies from all over the world. It won’t be too farfetched to call it the holy grail of movies and TV shows for it is the largest repositories of movies and TV shows from all parts of the world. Be it the latest movies or the latest and most trending TV shows, one can find everything on Netflix.
For a small fee, you get access to your favourite TV shows like House of Cards as well as movies from all over the world, all in excellent print quality. Millions of people use it already, and with the growth of its area of availability, Netflix is fast becoming one of the most popular services in the world, if it is not so already. However, there are some problems with the service.
Netflix is available in many parts of the world. They have recently been introduced in 130 countries as well. However, the content that is available on Netflix in the different countries it is available in varies greatly. A Netflix user in the UK may have access to Breaking Bad on his Netflix account while not Friends or House of Cards, while a Netflix USA user may find it the other way round.
Also, if you are an expat who travels abroad frequently, you may be unable to stream Netflix content when outside your country, even though the place you are in has Netflix. This is the problem of geo-restriction. Different parts of the world have different Netflix directories, owing to the international regulations as well as copyright laws. More regional shows appear on Netflix than international ones because of television rights being owned by some broadcasters. This can be quite problematic.
Geo-restriction works by finding your location using your IP address. Each internet connection has a unique IP address, tied to which is information like the location of the user. If you are found to be accessing Netflix from an area where it is not available or you want to access content that is not available in your area then you are denied access even if you have a Netflix account.
However, if you use a VPN service, you can get around this issue easily. VPNs mask your true IP address with that of their own server and encrypt your internet connection. This has two benefits.
We discussed here how VPNs can help you access all of Netflix from anywhere in the world, provided you have a Netflix account (it can be arranged easily). One must note that although VPNs hide your activity from everyone, they can very well see all that you do. Therefore, you should choose a VPN that does not keep any sort of activity logs and respects your privacy.