It’s the holiday season, and with multiple lockdowns in action, TV and streaming movies online are the only possible solution to get through this time. But by now, you must have scrapped the bottom of your current library in search of some new content to stream.
Sadly, all the useful libraries like the US Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+ use heavy methods to guard their content with geo-restriction technologies.
The good news is that there are no laws in America around geo-restrictions, which means that we can use alternative methods to bypass them at any stage without interfering with that region’s regulations.
Only the European Union has a strict law regarding geo-restriction and takes legal action against those who use it. But before getting into that, we will enlighten you about what geo-restriction is and how it works on multiple streaming sites.
What is geo-restriction, and what is its purpose?
A lot of the time, you must have come across websites and streaming services like Disney+ and Hulu which prevent access on their platform and display a message stating the service is not available in your region, which is due to geo-restriction.
Geo-restriction is an invisible wall surrounding your IP address that prevents users from accessing international content or content that is blocked in their country. This restriction is based on your location; hence your internet IP address plays a vital role here.
You may even find geo-restriction on Netflix but in a different form. As you know, Netflix has a separate catalog for each country due to copyrights and licensing issues. And of all the libraries, American Netflix is currently the best of the lot; sadly, it is unavailable for users worldwide.
Your IP address reveals your location, and with this set of information, the website determines whether you are a local or from abroad. Usually, Netflix redirects you to your local library. This measure is to restore and regulate the websites’ content as they have to pay up a considerable amount to purchase these rights legally.
However after extensive research, we found a solution on an entertainment website called ScreenBinge that provides guides and videos to access geo-block streaming services from anywhere, including American Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and others.
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Use a VPN to mask your IP address
A VPN or Virtual Private Network is currently the best tool used in bypassing any geo-restrictions imposed by any website. It conveniently hides your IP address and turns your online identity completely anonymous for anyone to detect.
There are numerous VPNs out there, but only a suitable and the most reliable VPN will help you get past any restrictive barrier.
Since a VPN is compatible with a browser and other technical devices, you can stream it anywhere, anytime.
Proxy Server
A proxy server acts as a gateway for users to access any specific website they want to visit. It is referred to as an intermediary between the device and the site. This one on one connection is possible due to its own IP address that it uses to access the page that is requested by the client or the user.
The only setback that the proxy server suffers is overcrowding. Numerous users are trying to access restricted sites, which makes the speed of your connection suffer, and most of the time, it does not work effectively with Netflix and Hulu.
Use Smart DNS
A SmartDNS is an alternative method for a VPN. Most of the VPN services provide users with a SmartDSN service for devices that do not support a direct VPN connection due to the unavailability of their app on its system.
It changes your original DNS address and replaces it with the one your service has provided based on the location of your choice. But unlike a VPN, SmartDNS does not encrypt your traffic, maintaining your internet speed as per usual.
Use a Tor Browser
Tor is free, open-source software that allows people to connect to the internet while maintaining their anonymous identity. The Onion Routing enables multiple layers of encryption while transferring your data from one relay to another, all while keeping your identity anonymous.
Tor Browser is free, with around 6k-7k relays, and while the user population is in millions, this leads to users experiencing a slow connection speed altogether.
