The IPTV block has been escalated to a new level. In some countries, Server IPs and domain addresses are blocked. In some, the internet bandwidth is throttled. In this article we want to show you how you can Bypass these obstacles with the best free VPN. We will explain why we thing it's a good solution and take a look over installation on various devices and platforms.
Depending on the country you try to stream content in, and which ISP (Internet Service Provider) you are using, the fight against Internet Protocol Television is done in different methods. We will first talk about few examples from different countries, see what they have in common and what they do differently and then will head over the solution.
How does IPTV block happen in different countries
As explained, the strategy and method used to combat this in different countries may vary depending on their copyright and freedom of internet law. But they all have one thing in common: their ultimate goal is to take it down. Let's name few countries to shed more lights on this:
The U.K is very well known for their EPL Block, a procedure that during Premier League events, the UK ISPs start running DPI (Deep Packet Inspection) on users' internet data to ultimately detect streaming servers to which users are connected. Any IP which is confirmed to be an IPTV server gets banned. As a result, clients of that service face an the block.
In Portugal, some ISPs (Like MEO) apply ridiculous network throttling on clients' bandwidth during big football events. Many servers get blocked during this time.
Spain is another good example. They even block and shutdown websites domains by court order. A similar throttling method as explained above is also happening here.
Last but not least, Italia! We all know the actions Italian authorities have taken to fight against this and they have once again in the front row in this battle: They have introduced a new system called Piracy Shield by which streams can be detected and blocked.
How to fix the block and throttling
There are for sure methods and steps that providers and users can take to tackle these issues:
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Leading CMS Systems, like NXT, Stream Creed and others, which are basically the softwares making the service possible and manageable for Providers, have counter-measures to bypass these data inspections and stay clear of the throttling and blocks. This is done on servers side so clients do not need to do anything. However it does not make an it service bullet proof.
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HTTPS Streaming is something that still has not yet found it's place in this market. It is also known as SSL Streaming. It basically encrypts the data between the server and user and it remains undetectable as a broadcasting content. However, some devices, especially the old ones, have compatibility issues with this format of streaming.
- Ultimate solution to bypass IPTV block would be VPN. It completely obfuscates the connection so the preying eyes can not detect anything. From this point on, we will focus on this.
Why users should use VPN
Virtual Private Network encodes the traffic you send and receive, hence the data is not traceable and can not be affected, meaning when you watch something, your ISP will never know that. Some ISPs eavesdrop on your traffic if you use the default DNS server of your ISP and that is also taken care of by the Virtual Private Network if it has DNS Leak protection which almost all of them do.
Even if you are using an streaming service which is blocked by your ISP or in your region, a VPN will bypass that thanks to the encrypted tunnel you are passing the data through.
Which VPN is good for bypassing the block
Since 2019 when users realized how unstable their service can be if they rely on bare HTTP streaming, the attention turned towards VPN providers. Some of them were daydreaming apparently, oversold without managing resources and not doing proper load-balancing, which resulted in many streaming users suffering from bad buffering due to the fact that the protection server they are connected to is out of resources.
Some providers, however, did and still doing a great job. The names which shine in that regard would be SurfShark, Proton and PrivateInternetAccess.
Note that this article is not sponsored by any company or brand and the above names are mentioned based on feedbacks from real users who are using those 3 companies to stream Internet Television.
The right protocol to go through the block and throttling
In most countries with most ISPs you can use the well-known OpenVPN protocol and play your content just fine. In some countries, and this is spreading among many as well, it is throttled, especially during hot live events. For instance, if you are from Portugal and using MEO as your ISP, you literally can feel this.
Wireguard! which is the most recent protocol is the best choice when it comes to streaming. It is known to be a lot faster than it's predecessors thanks to the much more modern coding structure used in it.
Another great feature of this Protocol would be the advanced Data Compression it uses. Packets which are transmitted from client's end to the server (and vice versa) are compressed. This helps achieving a faster communication speed as well as reducing the bandwidth usage. Therefore it is also helpful for those who are on limited data internet packages.
These features that Wireguard delivers altogether makes it the right candidate for any user to choose this protocol.
So, if you want to subscribe to any protection provider, having Wireguard as a protocol must be one of your concerns. If your current VPN provider does not have it, please switch!
How to use Proton Free VPN to fix IPTV block
Proton has been one of the leading providers throughout the years. They have a free program which actually is true to the word. There are pros and cons about it although the cons would never change your mind from using this great free service.
Pros:
- It's free
- No advertisements
- No traffic/bandwidth limits
- No log keeping on your activity
- Supports all platforms
- Supports all protocols including Wireguard
- The free account is forever
- Accelerator feature which increase the speed up to 400%
- It's swiss-based so you are safe by Swiss laws
Cons:
- Only has 3 locations: Japan, Netherlands and USA
- More than 90x 10Gigabits servers are dedicated to this free service project
- Only 1 device can be connected
As you can see, cons are not much of a reason to change your mind or even thinking that this may not work in terms of going past the blockage. This has been tested by various users and actually works like a charm.
Author request: If you find their service working fine, definitely subscribe to Proton paid service. They are funding the free plans by what they receive from their paid users.
Let's start by doing the most important step first: Registration
How to register an account with Proton
1-Open the following url and click on Create Account : https://account.protonvpn.com/login
2-Since we are looking to sign up for the free service, choose Sign up for Free.
3-Choose Continue with VPN Free
4-Type in your email address
5-At this stage, a code will be sent to your email address, grab that and type it in.
6-A strong password will be generated for you by Proton. If you like that, click the copy-to-clipboard button and save it somewhere.
Otherwise you can click Choose my Own Password and use your desired one.
7-Account is ready and you are now inside your Proton account dashboard.
The dashboard is very neat and everything in it's right place. You can choose an installation file according to your Operating System.
Let's scroll down, there are few things to pay attention to.
8-If you want, you can make manual config files for OpenVPN. You can select your desired platform, Protocol and even choose between japan, netherland and United States which are available server location on free plan and then create the file.
9-Same options for WireGuard. The nicest thing is, you can even create a config file for your network router if it is a recent model with Wireguard support. This way, your whole network environment will be tunneled and secured.
Let's show some examples of the devices and platforms that Proton Free account can be installed.
Resolve IPTV block on Amazon Firestick / FireTV / Fire Cube
1-From the dashboard of your Firestick, go to Find
2-Type down "Proton" and click on Proton VPN
3-Download and install the application
4-Once app launches, click SIGN IN
5-Now browse https://protonvpn.com/tv and login with your account.
6-You can now enter the code which has appeared on your FiireTV and verify it.
7-The application dashboard has loaded on Firestick and we have connected to the Netherlands server. Ready to stream on Firestick.
How to bypass IPTV throttling / block on Android TV Box, phone or tablet
1-The process is the same for almost all android devices. Open up the Play Store, or the available application market on your android device.
Search for Proton and install the application.
2-Open the application.
3-Click Sign In and enter your account details or you can register one if you have not already.
4-The application is ready to connect.
Fux throttling of IPTV on Windows PC
1-Open https://protonvpn.com/download-windows
Click on Download Proton VPN. It will detected your current windows version and downloads the right version.
If you are using Windows 7, 8 or 8.1 or a 32-bit windows, you need to click on the word Here.
2-Double-click the downloaded file, go through the steps and install the software.
3-Now enter the details of the account we registered to log into the application.
After that, Proton will be ready.
How to install Proton connection on MAC
1-For some reason, Proton application is not available on MAC App Store, so you kindly need to download and install it from their website > https://protonvpn.com/download-macos
2-By the time of writing this article, the latest version for MAC is 4.1.7 . Run the .dmg file.
3-Drag and drop Proton icon to the application folder on the pop up window.
4-After short few seconds, the application is installed. You can now head over to launch pad, locate and open the application.
5-Click Open.
6-Enter the account which you registered earlier.
7-The application was installed from outside of appstore so we need to approve it in Privacy and Security section. Choose Open System Settings.
8-Select Details.
9-Enable both.
10-The welcome message should appear. You can keep those two log-sending features enabled but if not interested, then disable them.
Click Continue.
11-Choose quick connect to connect immediately.
12-Your macOS will ask for your permission to add the profiles on the system for Proton software. Please choose Allow.
You can now stream on MAC without any issues.
Fixing block on IPTV on iOS: iPhone, iPAD, Apple TV
1-On any iOS device, you can simply install Proton VPN app through Apple Appstore. Click Search icon.
2-Type in Proton and click on the first suggestion.
3-Install the application.
4-Once installed, Open the application.
5-You can connect either from the Quick Connect button at the bottom or the power sign at the top.
Select Settings to review an important settings before going online.
6-As you can see, by default, the protocol is set on Smart. It's going to measure few factors based on your network environment and connect you through the best protocol. We already know Wireguard is the best thing for our purpose so you can change that to Wireguard just to be sure of the performance.
Conclusion
To fix IPTV block and throttling, you need a reliable VPN with the right configuration, preferably Wireguard protocol on UDP. Any company which provides that feature along with various other options which enhances user experience would be ideal. Among all providers, Proton offers a free and unlimited service with all the necessary tools. We recommend signing up for their paid service if you like their free plan.