How to add VPN to your TV

For decades, the legacy Hollywood studios have made money by slicing and dicing the licenses to their ever-growing vaults of movies and TV shows to as many channels and streamers as possible in as many countries and territories as you can count. That’s why shows available on Max in one country might switch to Netflix in another, and disappear altogether in a third. And savvy viewers have long used VPNs — virtual private networks — to expand their streaming options. Change your location from the US to the UK and, voila, you suddenly have access to Friends and The Office on Netflix again.

That’s great if you’re watching on a phone, tablet or PC, where installing and activating a VPN is as generally as simple as visiting the device’s app store. But streaming through a VPN is a bit more challenging on a TV. Thankfully, there are quite a few ways to get that VPN-filtered content on the biggest screen in your home. Below, we’ll walk you through unlocking geo-blocked content on your TV.

If you don’t already have a VPN subscription, we’d suggest choosing a service from our list of best VPNs. And with the notable exception of Proton VPN, we’d strongly recommend avoiding any free VPN options.

How to stream video to your smart TV using a VPN

The easiest way to install a VPN on your smart TV is to download it from the built-in app store — if your preferred VPN is available. Not all smart TV operating systems support VPN apps. Amazon Fire TV has the best selection, but you can also install any VPN’s Android app on Android TV or Google TV from the Google Play Store. In this section, we’ll explain how to use a VPN on every smart TV model that supports them.

If your smart TV doesn’t support native VPNs (for example, if it’s a Roku or an older Apple TV model), you can use it with a box or dongle from an OS that does. This also has the benefit of being cheaper than a whole new TV.

Fire TV

Amazon’s Fire TV operating system has a wide range of content to binge-watch, as it comes with access to Prime Video’s expansive catalog. Thankfully, its user interface is easy to navigate, making installing a VPN a breeze.

To set up a VPN, navigate to the Fire TV app store and search for the VPN service to which you’re subscribed. Fire TV has multiple options on the app store, including most of the services on our aforementioned best VPNs list.

From there, the process is pretty simple: Download the app, log in, and connect to the VPN. Scroll through the server list and pick a location in the country whose Prime Video library you want to unlock. You can also watch any other streaming service by downloading its app and logging in. Read How to add a VPN on Fire TV for complete instructions.

Google TV

Google TV is a smart TV operating system with a sleek user interface that supports thousands of apps, including VPNs and streaming platforms. As with Fire TV, just download your VPN app of choice, input your credentials and run it before activating the streaming service you’d like to check out. Read How to stream using a VPN on your Google TV or Chromecast for more details.

Apple TV

If you want to install a VPN on your Apple TV directly, you’ll need tvOS 17 or later. If not, you can follow our alternative workarounds with AirPlay or Google Cast.

For those with tvOS 17 and later, setting up a VPN on your Apple TV is simple. However, it doesn’t support many services, so you’ll have to double-check that the VPN you subscribe to has Apple TV compatibility. Read How to use a VPN on your Apple TV for more details.

AirPlay or Google Cast from a VPN-enabled device

The simplest way to use a VPN on any TV is to connect your TV to a phone, tablet, or laptop, then use the VPN on that device instead. You’ve got two ways to do this — screen casting and mirroring.

Screencasting is when you set content on a device to play on your TV, then continue using that device for other purposes while you stream. Mirroring is when you show everything you’re doing on your device on your TV. For example, if you’re streaming a movie and close your browser tab, your smart TV will stop streaming the movie as well.

Apple and Google each have their own flavor of screencasting: AirPlay and Google Cast, respectively. (The latter is basically same digital protocol that works on Chromecast hardware.) In each case, you start by running your VPN of choice on your phone or tablet, then fire up your streaming app and start your movie or TV show. Finally, click the AirPlay or Google Cast icon once you start streaming. If your TV doesn’t have AirPlay or Google Cast built-in, you can buy a set-top box or dongle that supports one or the other.

AirPlay is probably the most well-known casting and mirroring technology, and it currently works on a wide range of smart TVs and set-top boxes. I screencasted from my iPhone XR with a VPN enabled to my Samsung UHD TV and everything worked without a hitch.

On the Google side, click the icon with a TV and Wi-Fi rays to start casting your content to the big screen. Amazon is working on a rival screencasting platform called Matter Casting, but it’s not widely supported yet. Read How to stream via a VPN on Roku for more details on all of this.

HDMI from a VPN-enabled device

If you don’t want to fiddle with wireless protocols, an underrated and lesser-known way to stream video to your TV using a VPN is via an HDMI cable. You’ll need an HDMI cable and (for some devices) an HDMI dongle, such as one that converts a USB-C port to HDMI. Once connected, your laptop, phone or tablet screen should be displayed on your TV’s screen. At that point, just use the source device to fire up your VPN, start your streaming app (or browser) and maximize the window.

Whole-house VPN access: Set up a VPN on your router

The sections above describe ways to get VPN streaming access on a single TV. But if you want a whole-house approach — in which you could, for instance, watch UK Netflix on every device on your home network — you’ll want to investigate accessing the VPN at the router level. Just note this is for advanced users only, and is far and away the most challenging method of the bunch.

Whole-house VPN access requires installing a new router, or making major modifications to your existing one. It generally also requires installing custom firmware on a router, which usually voids the hardware manufacturer’s warranty. Even then, you’ll need an expert user in the household who knows how to engage and disengage the VPN and customize its settings, as leaving it turned on all the time can interfere with non-streaming activities, including simple things like shopping online.

All that said, a more streamlined whole-home option is to try out the AirCove router models from ExpressVPN. (Engadget has not yet tested these routers.) Because they are ExpressVPN’s own hardware, they include warranty coverage and support through the company.

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