What is a VPN, we hear you ask? Well, the clue is in its full name – Virtual Private Network – a way in which to connect to a network anonymously, or indeed more securely, and is a popular internet security method used every day by millions. Of course, when it comes to the entertainment world people are subscribing to VPN providers in their masses – usually for a few dollars per month – to gain access to Netflix in a different territory to that in which they are physically located.
Why would you want to do that? Well, Netflix in the UK, for example, has very different content to that in the U.S., Canada or any one of the 200 other countries that it is available in. So, if you find yourself abroad, you may not be able to stream your favourite show or movie from your UK Netflix account, but a VPN can change all that.
Each country will have content licensed for that specific territory so that content owners can control where consumers can access their material. For example, the film Star Wars: The Last Jedi is not available to stream in the Uk on Netflix, but is available in Canada. Rights are granted to different territories to different outlets, and each country and film distributor has their own structure for making content available.
Some countries completely block Netflix – China, for example, so you can watch Netflix movies from anywhere in the world with these VPN services.
There are many available online – it’s a bit of a minefield as there are dozens, if not hunders and thousands available, but there are various guides like the one at the end of the link above to guide you through it. These will allow you to access the internet using a very secure connection and potentially access online content you would not have been able to without it. This is very usefully if you’re a frequent traveler who relies on your content to be readily available at your fingertips wherever you find yourself in the world.
We will immediately add that accessing Netflix through a VPN is strictly against their terms and conditions, so users access content unblocking at their own risk.
