Unblocked Streaming: What Speedify Can and Cannot Unblock
Unblocked streaming usually means one of two things: a school, office or hotel network blocks streaming sites, or a site says the content is not available in your area. Speedify gets you past the first, and can help with some of the second.
Speedify is an app that encrypts your traffic and sends it through a Speedify server, so the network you are on cannot see or block the sites you visit, and sites see the server’s location instead of yours. With two or more internet connections, such as Wi-Fi and 4G/5G cellular, Speedify also combines them so video keeps loading.
Below you will find how network blocks and region filtering work, what Speedify can and cannot unblock, and four steps to set it up. Each streaming service’s own terms still apply.
Why Streaming Is Blocked: Network Filters and Region Restrictions
You are not the only one who has hit this: a school, office or hotel network blocks streaming sites, a streaming service that works at home shows as unavailable when you travel abroad, or a video on YouTube is blocked in your area.
Network blocks come from the network you are on. Schools, offices and some hotels filter which sites their Wi-Fi allows, usually by checking the site names your device asks for, so the block sits on the network, not on the streaming service.
Region restrictions typically work by determining your physical location based upon your IP address or DNS. The restrictions are usually put in place by the developers of different apps and websites. Once your physical location is determined, a filter is applied to the content you can access. Companies such as YouTube, Netflix, and Hulu use region restrictions.
While region restrictions are usually based on the country you are in, sometimes content is restricted inside of the same country. For example, many sports games may not be accessible to you in certain regions of the United States and Canada.
Some countries also block whole services, usually social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and Telegram.
Why Streaming Services Use Region Restrictions
The main reason for restricting streaming video and music platforms is licensing. Netflix, for example, offers TV series and movies in many countries and pays media companies for distribution rights country by country. As a result, the same title is often available in one country and missing in another.
Other reasons for restricting content:
- Compliance with local laws: local governments may consider certain content inappropriate.
- Protecting marketing partners: some movies, TV shows and sports events are licensed to be shown only in certain countries or regions by specific providers.
What Speedify Can Unblock, and What Stays Regional
Speedify is a mobile VPN that encrypts your traffic, so a school, office or hotel network cannot see or filter which streaming sites you open. It also masks your real IP address and DNS and gives you an IP address in the server country you choose. Streaming libraries such as Netflix, Hulu and BBC iPlayer still show the catalog of the country you are in, but some other location-restricted sites and videos may work through a server in another country. Unlike most VPNs, Speedify can do this without slowing down your internet connection, by combining 2 or more internet connections at the same time; on a single internet connection it works as an encrypted VPN and can be a little slower.
Using 2 or more connections also cuts buffering on your streaming video or music and protects you from disconnects. If you connect to a dead Wi-Fi hotspot, for example, Speedify’s Internet failover protection moves your traffic to your other connections, such as Ethernet or 4G/5G cellular, until you are back on working Wi-Fi.
Four Steps to Unblocked Streaming with Speedify
Here is how to get past a network that blocks streaming video and music:
- Download Speedify on the device you want to watch on. Speedify runs on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android and Linux.
- Open Speedify and pick a server (paid plans include servers in more than 50 locations). Speedify is not designed to unblock geo-restricted content: Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer and other streaming libraries still show the catalog for your own region, but for other location-restricted sites and videos, a server in another country may work.
- For the best streaming quality, connect a second internet connection while Speedify is running, for example Wi-Fi and 4G/5G cellular, Ethernet and Wi-Fi, or two Wi-Fi networks.
- Open the streaming site or app. On a school, office or hotel network that blocks it, it now loads. If a streaming app refuses to play over a VPN, turn on Bypass for it in Speedify (menu, then Privacy, then Bypass): its traffic then goes around the VPN and plays the catalog for the country you are in, so use it only on networks that do not block that app.
With Speedify, a blocked network cannot filter your streaming, sites see the server country you choose, and two or more internet connections work together to keep video playing smoothly.
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