Getting a VPN to Work with BBC IPlayer

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September 24, 2021 at 1:02 pm in News

BBC I Player is a very popular streaming site that lets its viewers explore much free content on the web. It provides the users with a plethora of options to watch right from TV shows to movies to live sports to news. You can watch these contents online on your personal computer as well as on your mobile phone by downloading the IPlayer app. They allow its users to stream online around ten TV channels and they can also stream any one radio channel live and all this for free. But this is only for people who reside in the United Kingdom. The contents in BBC IPlayer is region-locked that is you can watch the content only if you are within the geographical limits provided in the license agreement. The question that is most frequently asked how does the website know whether you are currently residing in the UK or not. To answer this, the website unlocks its content on the basis of the IP address of the device on which is it connected. If the IP address of the device on which is it connected is not of UK then they do not unlock the contents.

So, if you are not a resident of the UK, what do you do? Miss binge-watching your favorite shows? The answer is No. There are some VPNs that can unblock this streaming site. However, not all VPNs can unblock it because BBC I Player has very strict VPN detection features which makes it difficult to unblock it abroad. Having said so, there are still some VPNs that can unblock it. In this article, we shall elucidate the two most popular and recommended VPNs which are very effective in unblocking BBC I Player.

Best VPNs to Work with BBC IPlayer

The following are the two most popular and recommended VPNs which works with BBC I Player from abroad:

• Express VPN

This is the first and the most recommended VPN which unblocks the BBC I Player and helps you to watch the shows available on it. There are two things that make Express VPN the most recommended VPN. The first one is its fast speed and the second one is its consistency in evading blocks. It has servers in almost six locations across the United Kingdom alone.

Express VPN is also called the fastest VPN and it has been said to be the most reliable VPN in terms of speed. Many users use Express VPN to watch their favorite content on BBC I Player. They also provide a money-back guarantee if the user complains within 30 days.

Express VPN also has high-security standards and they ensure that their security systems are updated. They also provide good customer support to the customers. If you face any issue at any stage prior to connection or after connecting then there is a live chat available that offers to help you 24×7. Express VPN also provides streaming in high definition quality. Along with unblocking BBC I Player, it also unblocks other popular streaming sites easily. It is one of the most trusted and reliable VPN.

Read our full review of Express VPN here

• Nord VPN

The second best and recommended VPN which unblocks the BBC I Player and helps you to watch the shows available on it is Nord VPN. They have around 30 servers based in the United Kingdom and a user can choose any one server. You will have to visit the website of Nord VPN in order to understand which servers unblock the BBC I Player currently. Just like Express VPN, it also provides live chat support wherein the user can chat with the customer care executive anytime during the day if he has an issue and gets it resolved.

The speed of Nord VPN is not as fast as the speed of Express VPN but it is a decent one and in most cases, the users are allowed to stream in HD. The security and privacy policy of Nord VPN is very strong. They claim that even the IP address of the user will remain private. A very unique feature that Nord VPN has is automatic wifi protection which is most beneficial for users who connect using public wifi. In Nord VPN, by taking a single subscription, a user can connect with almost 6 devices which makes it the most beneficial to use for small households or for small offices. The only disadvantage this VPN has is that the iOS application does not work in China. So, if you are a resident of China, then you will have to rely on your desktop for connecting Nord VPN.

Nord VPN is affordable as compared to the price of Express VPN which is a little high. It fits into the budget of every household. Just like Express VPN, it also unblocks other popular streaming sites.

If you are not a resident of the UK, then you need to worry and must connect with any of the above-mentioned VPN and enjoy watching your favorite show or movie on BBC I Player.

Read our full review of Nord VPN here

How to Use BBC IPlayer with a VPN?

Now that we have known which VPNs to connect with, the next thing that we need to know is how to use BBC I Player using any of the two VPNs. If you choose a correct VPN then unblocking contents that have got geo-restrictions is not a difficult task. If you are not a resident of the UK, then you must follow the following steps to unblock BBC IPlayer and start streaming to your favorite show from anywhere in the world.

The first step is that you will have to sign in with the most suitable VPN. As already mentioned above, Express VPN and Nord VPN are the two most recommended VPNs to sign in as they are reliable and will definitely remove the blocks from BBC IPlayer.

Now that you have selected a VPN, the second step is to download and install that VPN from the website of the service provider or from an official app store. While downloading it, you must ensure that you download the most appropriate version of that for your device.

Subsequently, you need to connect the device to the VPN that you have downloaded. After connecting, you will see that you got the IP address of the United Kingdom.

The next step is to clear all the caches and cookies as they can store the information from the previous sessions used.

After connecting with the VPN, you are required to create an account in the BBC IPlayer streaming site. For creating an account, inserting your postal code is mandatory. But here is a catch, you can enter any valid postal code because BBC actually doesn’t check whether you actually live there or not.

Finally, you are all ready to start watching the content on the BBC IPlayer.

After following the above steps, generally, all users get connected with BBC IPlayer and are able to watch their favorite shows. But if you can’t watch your favorite show or the content on BBC IPlayer has not been unblocked yet, then you should try reloading the page. If after that also you can’t watch then you must contact the customer care as they would help you to resolve the issue.

Frequently Asked Questions

The most frequently asked questions are as follows:

1. Why does my VPN not work with BBC IPlayer?

BBC IPlayer is one of the largest broadcasters in the United Kingdom and it has spent a huge amount on blocking people of other countries to watch the content available on this streaming site. Therefore, it becomes difficult for all the VPNs to unblock the BBC IPlayer.

The following are some of the reasons why your VPN doesn’t work with BBC IPlayer:

• BBC IPlayer has blacklisted many VPN servers and your VPN might be one of it. In this case, you won’t be able to watch any content on BBC IPlayer.
• In many cases, the device’s GPS location and the location on the IP address don’t match. If that is the case with you, then you won’t be able to watch any show on BBC IPlayer.
• A cookie has been stored on your device by BBC IPlayer telling its services that you are not residing in the UK.
• The VPN that you are using might be might a virtual server and BBC IPlayer can see the exact or the actual location of your server.
• The real IP address of the device you are using might be leaking.
• The VPN or the server you are using is not able to unblock the BBC IPlayer.

The above-mentioned list is not an exhaustive list but there may be several other reasons why your VPN is unable to connect with BBC IPlayer. Most VPNs fail to unblock the geo-restrictions of BBC IPlayer and therefore, you must try connecting to the two most recommended VPNs to watch your favorite movies or shows on BBC IPlayer.

2. Why do the streaming sites put geo-restriction?

There are some, not all streaming sites which have permission to telecast their shows worldwide. They are bound by a contract which doesn’t provide them with the exclusive right to broadcast their shows globally. For example, BBC IPlayer has the right to telecast a particular show in the United Kingdom, whereas, right to telecast the same show in say, the United States might be with some other streaming site. To tackle this problem, several streaming sites use geo-restrictions and lock their content so that people residing in other countries are not able to watch those contents.

3. What is the potential solution to fix your VPN problems with BBC IPlayer?

As we have already mentioned above, BBC IPlayer has spent huge money on preventing users of other countries from watching its content, so, it is very difficult to unblock the content. But here are some potential solutions which you may follow and try unblocking it.

• Switching to another VPN

As already stated above, you may switch to another VPN, like Express VPN or Nord VPN which are two of the most reliable VPN.

In case you don’t want to switch to a different VPN then you may go for the following options:

• Clearing your caches and cookies

You must clear your caches and tracking cookies as they save information about your previous sessions. You can do so by clicking on clear all cookies option in cookies setting in your browser setting.

• Restart your browser

The next way you can try watching content on BBC IPlayer is by closing all web pages and restarting your browser.

• Leak Protection

The third way to try watching content on BBC IPlayer is by enabling leak protection. In order to enable this, you may open a VPN setting and enable leak protection setting. However, this setting is not available in all VPNs.

• Switching the time zone

To watch content on BBC IPlayer you can even try changing your time zone. You can set the time zone as per the time zone of the UK. There are many locations which have a drastic time zone gap from the UK, so if you belong to any such place then you might try changing the time zone.

Conclusion

BBC I Player offers a plethora of movies and shows to its users but also, they have a geo-restriction imposed on them. If you are residing at any place outside the UK then the contents of BBC I Player might be blocked in your system. There are many ways in which you can try to unblock those contents. One of the best ways is by switching to a different VPN. There are two VPNs which are the best and the most recommended VPN for this purpose and they are Express VPN and Nord VPN. These VPNs provide speed and security along with unblocking the contents on BBC I Player. So, if you are not residing in the UK and still want to watch the contents available on BBC I Player then you might try the methods mentioned in this article.