The Roku good TV platform is an accessible strategy to watch your favourite streaming content material in a centralized location – both built-in to TVs, or by including reasonably priced dongles or set-top packing containers to older televisions. One huge benefit of the Roku platform is that it is all the time getting free software program updates to maintain it present — just like the cool new function that turns your TV right into a type of digital artwork museum by displaying well-known work as a screensaver. Nonetheless, Roku is much less adept with regards to fixing one frequent frustration of the streaming age: The lack to entry fashionable exhibits, motion pictures and sporting occasions due to geographic restrictions.
Utilizing a VPN is a standard strategy to deal with this challenge, however not like Hearth TV, Apple TV and different rivals, Roku methods don’t have native VPN help. However that’s not the top of the story: You possibly can nonetheless use a VPN to entry a wider vary of programming by way of a Roku — you simply want to make use of a workaround. We’ll present you ways.
The advantages of utilizing a VPN
With regards to streaming, a VPN has one fundamental profit: altering your IP deal with — the distinctive quantity that identifies the overall location of the gadget and community you are utilizing to entry the online. A VPN tunnels your connection by its servers to obfuscate your IP, making it appear to be you’re watching from elsewhere. In consequence, a service like Netflix will see your location as, say, the UK versus the US. You’ll then have entry to a unique set of programming. For instance, the TV present Buddies is obtainable on Max within the US, however it’s solely obtainable on Netflix within the UK.
VPNs have a number of different advantages associated to privateness and safety. VPN servers have military-grade AES 256-bit encryption, which means they’re safer than connecting to the Web usually. So, because you’re looking the Web by tunneling by the VPN, your Web service supplier can’t see your entire looking locations (and promote your viewing habits to information brokers).
The best approach to make use of a VPN on Roku
Though Roku doesn’t natively help VPNs, there are a number of workarounds. You possibly can, as an illustration, arrange a VPN on your private home’s router. That means that you can defend the entire community and each gadget that connects to it, protecting everybody in your family nameless on-line. However it could possibly additionally trigger confusion if you wish to entry native providers — and it requires a really high-level of technical information, and solely works with sure routers.
As a substitute, we advocate a far simpler technique: connecting a VPN to your Roku by way of AirPlay or screencast. To do that, subscribe to a VPN and set up it in your smartphone or laptop computer. Then, stream content material on that gadget and AirPlay or screencast it to your Roku TV. The icon to do that ought to appear to be a TV with Wi-Fi rays.
We want this technique as a result of it’s easier general. You possibly can entry any geo-blocked content material in your smartphone or laptop computer first after which forged it in your good TV.
You may make certain your Roku mannequin is AirPlay-compatible by checking this useful resource on Roku’s website. If it isn’t, you may all the time simply immediately patch your cellphone or laptop computer to the TV utilizing an HDMI cable or an applicable dongle.
Selecting the perfect VPN
When you’ll be utilizing a cellphone or laptop computer as the last word supply on your VPN-routed streams, that truly offers you a wider checklist of providers from which to decide on. Though every VPN has the identical fundamental functionalities, their worth and further options range. Earlier than deciding which one is correct on your wants and the units you might have, take a while to have a look at what every one affords and see what different customers need to say. Begin by testing our checklist of greatest VPNs — and glad streaming.