If you’re dying to watch your favorite Netflix content, only to realize that your Internet connection is not allowing you access to the Netflix streaming service in your location, we feel your pain.
A Netflix streaming error can be the biggest buzz-kill of all!
Watching Netflix no longer feels like a privilege — it is a necessity. If you want to watch your favorite streaming service in certain locations, however, you will only be able to unblock geo-restricted Netflix libraries using a reliable VPN.
That is why ExpressVPN is so valuable. You see, ExpressVPN is the best VPN — and certainly the best Netflix VPN — on the market. When it comes to unblocking Netflix, and all of your favorite streaming services right from your computer in any location in the world, ExpressVPN is #1.
If you are wondering just how to watch Netflix with ExpressVPN, keep on reading!
How to Stream Netflix with ExpressVPN in 2021
Why Netflix Blocks VPNs
Netflix’s streaming content is only legal for distribution in certain regions. If you are accessing its content from a region that is not permitted, Netflix will attempt to block you from viewing the TV shows and movies on its site.
As more people have begun using VPN providers to outsmart Netflix’s geo-restrictions, Netflix has also become smarter at trying to block this hack and maintain the integrity of its restrictions. Some VPNs claim to be able to unblock it, but the reality is that services like Avast, Windescribe, and Tunnelbear do not work with Netflix.
To block VPNs, Netflix keeps a list of IP addresses that are known to be connected to VPNs. If someone tries to use one of these IP addresses to connect to Netflix, Netflix rejects the DNS request from this IP address and blocks these blacklisted IDs.
Because Netflix is working hard to shoo away any uninvited IP address, you never know at any given point if your IP address is going to be blacklisted and blocked.
Thankfully, ExpressVPN has over 3,000 servers around the world, so if you are trying to connect to Netflix US, or Netflix in almost any other country, all you have to do to get around the issue of a blacklisted IP address is to switch to a different server in the same country.
Why You Should Use ExpressVPN to Watch Netflix
While there are many good VPNs on the market, not all of them will be able to access US Netflix or other Netflix regional site content. Like I mentioned above, Netflix is working hard to block VPN services, so a VPN service has to work even harder to stay a step ahead of Netflix and circumvent those blocks in the US, or any country.
ExpressVPN has over 3,000 high-speed servers that are spread throughout 94 countries around the world. This VPN is able to easily access Netflix in many different countries and, because it offers unlimited bandwidth and no caps on data usage to users, you will never experience any throttling or any buffering when using ExpressVPN.
Will ExpressVPN Affect Your Connection Speeds?
It is good to acknowledge that all VPNs can slow down your speeds (at least slightly) because your connection is being routed through a VPN server, and your activity and data go through the extra step of encryption.
ExpressVPN is renowned for its super-fast connection speeds, so the chance of any user sensing any slowdown is unlikely.
There are cases in which using a VPN can actually increase your connection speed. Even if you are paying your Internet provider for unlimited data, some ISPs continue to throttle your activity on streaming sites, like Netflix. This causes slower connections, buffering, and a lower quality video streaming experience. A VPN encrypts your activity so your ISP doesn’t know you are streaming your TV shows, and can’t throttle users’ connections.
If you use ExpressVPN’s MediaStreamer on your router, you can gain access to your blocked Netflix TV shows and movies without the extra step of encryption that a VPN typically provides — leading to even faster streaming speeds.
ExpressVPN Built-in Speed Test
ExpressVPN has a built-in Speed Test option that helps you test the speed of the server you want to connect to just by clicking on “Speed Test” in the ExpressVPN app menu, and then “Run Test.” The results you will see will give you a score for Latency (lower is better), Download Speed (higher is better), and Speed Index (higher is better).
I happen to love this built-in Speed Test feature because it is almost like ExpressVPN is saying to customers, “Yes. We are fast, and we are not afraid to back that claim up with proof! See for yourself!”
If you get the results from your speed test and are not really sure what the implications are, Netflix provides a great chart that lists the recommended speeds for different quality streaming.
Here is a breakdown of what these speeds mean in practicality:
- 3 Mbps = SD quality streaming
- 5 Mbps = HD quality streaming
- 25 Mbps = Ultra HD quality streaming
Connections of less than 3 Mbps may be sufficient, but not good enough for quality streaming. If you want to find a server that works with Netflix without buffering, you will want to make sure your speeds are always at least 5 Mbps, which should never be an issue when using ExpressVPN‘s fast servers.
Best ExpressVPN Servers to Stream Netflix
After testing hundreds of Express’s VPN servers around the world, our experts were able to pinpoint a handful that was consistently able to unblock Netflix. The servers listed below were not only able to access Netflix every time we tested them, but they were also able to deliver streaming with no buffering, in HD (over 5 Mbps) or UltraHD (over 25 Mbps).
- When connecting from England, the fastest local server we found was in London, with a speed of 58.94 Mbps.
- From England, the fastest server we found in the USA was in Tampa, which gave us a connection speed of 58.64 Mbps.
This was extremely impressive!
If you are looking for servers in Canada, its Toronto server worked best for us. In Japan, the Tokyo 1 server connected us with the fastest speeds, allowing us to watch the Japanese version of Netflix; and in the USA, while Tampa was definitely the fastest, LA was a great second choice.
While these were the best servers we found, many more servers had excellent speeds for seamless streaming.
Why ExpressVPN Is a Great VPN for All Your Needs
While some people might simply see ExpressVPN — or any VPN, for that matter — as a quick fix to get Netflix, using a VPN like ExpressVPN serves many more purposes.
Here are some of the benefits of ExpressVPN:
Security — If you are looking to secure your Internet connection with military-grade encryption, ExpressVPN gives you AES-256 bit encryption. This means that anyone who tries to hack your connection will never have access to any of your activities because it is all encrypted and unreadable. This VPN is an especially great tool to make sure you are secure and protected when torrenting or P2P sharing.
Privacy — If privacy is a priority, signing on to ExpressVPN before using the Internet guarantees that your activity is always private, and never logged or shared with third parties. ExpressVPN has a strict no-logs policy that ensures that it will never keep any identifying information or any of your online data. On top of this policy, ExpressVPN is located outside of the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliance in the privacy-friendly British Virgin Islands.
Speedy Streaming — If your Internet Service Provider is like most, it will not happily let you stream your Netflix (and other streaming content) to your heart’s content. It will try to throttle your connection. Connecting to ExpressVPN will keep your steaming hidden from your ISP, so your speeds will remain fast and they will never be able to intentionally slow you down.
Bypass Geo-restrictions and Censorship — ExpressVPN’s 3,000 servers in 160 server locations in over 94 countries ensures that you will be able to connect to a server in any country in which you are trying to access geo-blocked content. If you are trying to avoid government censorship in certain countries (looking at you, China!), connecting to ExpressVPN will keep your activity hidden from their surveillance.
Compatibility — ExpressVPN lets you use as many as 5 simultaneous devices on one user account. If you connect ExpressVPN to your router, you can connect an unlimited number of devices to your VPN just by connecting to the wifi on the router. You never have to worry about whether your device is compatible with Express because it has apps for really every device you can think of — Android, iOS, Mac, Windows, routers, Linux.
Support — If you’ve subscribed to ExpressVPN and, for some reason, can’t get it working with Netflix, you will need somewhere to turn. ExpressVPN has great 24/7 live-chat customer service that can help you with technical issues, billing issues, recommending servers that give you the best VPN connections, and any other troubleshooting. If you decide after all of this that ExpressVPN isn’t for you, you have 30 days to cancel for a full refund.
How to Try ExpressVPN for Free
You can, essentially, use ExpressVPN for free if you take advantage of its 30-day money-back guarantee. All you have to do to get started is choose a subscription plan and use this VPN as normal for the month. If you are not ready to commit to paying, or if you find ExpressVPN not working for you, you can cancel within 30 days. You can use its 24/7 live-chat customer support to troubleshoot any issues along the way or to cancel at any point in the first month.
FAQs
If you want to get technical, it is against Netflix’s terms of use to use a VPN, so you could get banned from using their service, but I have never heard of anyone actually getting kicked off of Netflix for using a VPN.
Conclusion
If you want to watch Netflix in the US, or any blocked location, using a VPN is the key. When using ExpressVPN, Netflix works every time with the fastest speeds, the best security, and no limits on data or bandwidth.
And remember, if you need to test it out for yourself — risk-free — you can do that with its 30-day money-back guarantee.
Bottom line: If you are looking for a VPN that works with Netflix, ExpressVPN is the best VPN option, hands down. Give it a try today!
