Need help unblocking NOW TV? You came to the right place. We’ll discuss the best ways to bypass the site’s geo-restrictions in this article and also answer any other relevant questions you might have.
If you’re in a hurry, feel free to skip to this list of the best VPNs for unblocking NOW TV. If you have a few minutes at your disposal, keep reading.
Three Simple Ways You Can Unblock NOW TV Anywhere in the World
We ran numerous tests, and these seem to be the best options:
1. Use a VPN
This is an online service that hides your IP address and encrypts your traffic.
“Hiding” your IP address means you’ll use a VPN server which will route your connections to NOW TV. It will act as a middleman between you and the site, basically. Your connection requests will first go to the VPN server, which will then send them to NOW TV.
Due to that, NOW TV only sees the IP address of the VPN server. And since it doesn’t see your real IP address, it won’t know what your geo-location is.
So you just need to use a VPN server in the UK, and you should unblock NOW TV easy-peasy.
Picking a really good VPN can be hard, though. There are hundreds of them on the market, and not all of them can successfully unblock the site.
Luckily, ProPrivacy has an excellent guide to the best VPNs for unblocking NOW TV. Check it out, and you’ll likely find the right VPN for you in a matter of minutes.
2. Use a Proxy Server
A proxy server is pretty similar to a VPN. It also intercepts your connection requests to NOW TV, and forwards them to the site on your behalf.
So it “hides” your real IP address too, meaning you only need to use a British proxy server to bypass the geo-blocks.
Proxies do have an extra feature, though: local caching. Basically, they can save requested web pages, and retrieve them from their local cache when users request them again. That way, you get faster load times because the proxy doesn’t need to forward the requests to NOW TV anymore.
3. Use a Smart DNS
A Smart DNS is an online service that hides your geo-location by tweaking your DNS settings and routing your traffic through different proxy servers.
While it doesn’t hide your IP address, it’s usually pretty good at unblocking NOW TV. There’s also a chance the site doesn’t focus so much on blocking Smart DNSs as much as it does on VPNs and proxies.
VPN vs. Proxy vs. Smart DNS – What Are the Best Ways to Unblock NOW TV?
Not sure which service to pick? Well, it doesn’t need to be just one. And no, we’re not talking about buying multiple subscriptions.
Many VPNs actually offer Smart DNSs and proxies as additional services (some VPN servers even double as proxies). So by getting a VPN like that, you get a three-in-one deal.
But what situation is each service most suitable for? Here’s our take on this:
When You Should Use a VPN
The VPN should be your go-to option for unblocking NOW TV. We always use it first because it can prevent bandwidth throttling by encrypting your traffic. Your ISP won’t know you spend so much data on NOW TV specifically, so they won’t be able to throttle your connection to the site.
Besides that, you should also turn to VPNs when you need to unblock NOW TV at work or school during your lunch break. By changing your IP address, they help you bypass the network firewalls that block the website.
When You Should Use a Smart DNS
We recommend using this service when you get very slow speeds with the VPN. That normally happens due to VPN encryption and when you’re too far away from the British VPN server — like in Asia, for example.
With a Smart DNS, you won’t deal with slowdowns in that scenario because the service doesn’t encrypt your traffic. True, the speeds might go down a bit since there will still be a big distance between you and the Smart DNS’s proxy servers. But, overall, you should be able to binge NOW TV with your original ISP speeds most of the time.
Just don’t use the Smart DNS if you’re dealing with bandwidth throttling. Since it doesn’t encrypt your traffic, it can’t stop it. Also, don’t try using a Smart DNS to bypass firewalls. It won’t work since it doesn’t hide your IP address.
When You Should Use a Proxy
We can only recommend using a proxy when the VPN and Smart DNS can’t unblock NOW TV.
Other than that, it’s not really useful. It has weaker encryption than a VPN, so it can’t prevent bandwidth throttling 100% of the time. Also, the local caching ability can backfire because it often delivers outdated content.
Wait a Minute – I Thought I Could Watch NOW TV Abroad
You can, but only in a few EU countries. And you can only do it up to 30 days. Once the time is up, you need to watch NOW TV in the UK again before you can watch it abroad.
So that’s only a good solution if you’re a Brit planning a quick two or three-week trip to countries in the EU. If you want to stay for a longer period, need to move abroad for work for a few months, or want to visit countries outside the EU, you’ll need to use a VPN to unblock NOW TV.
Know Any Other Ways to Unblock NOW TV?
Other than the ones we already discussed, of course. If yes, tell us about them in the comments.
