VPN for watching US TV

I am interested in that also.  I am hoping to use my Amazon FireTV if possible.

I use a VPN in the U.S at home and I know streaming companies such as Netflix and Hulu will not work with the VPN turned on.  I'm guessing that is true in Mexico as well.  I do have Kodi.  Not sure how that would work for news channels though.  Great for shows and movies!!

Most of the video streaming services are blocking VPNs. They are concerned about delivering content into markets they are not licensed to serve. I find that when my VPN provider adds a new server it is not blocked for awhile. I’ve learned that the streaming services eventually recognize the new server and block it.

Good luck!

I have been doing a little research specifically for the FireTV and a Smart DNS apparently will work by changing some settings on your Amazon account.

What did you find and where?

I personally use NordVPN and it has worked for me in the other countries that I've been to. I won't be in MX until 1 November though, so I can't tell you if it will work there. Most streaming companies do use VPN blocking, but it is so rudimentary it is pathetic. The trick is getting a VPN server that they don't know about OR running your own by running a Virtual Private Server through the cheapest web host you can find.

Thanks.  I do wish I had more tech knowledge for this but when I look information up on the internet I don't even understand a good deal of the reference words!  I've looked at NordVPN, and even signed up for a couple of days.  But when I found the support information unhelpful and the website insufficient for a novice like me, I cancelled.  I hope to hear more from others on what they have chosen here in Mexico.  Thanks for your input!

Blah blah/// this one will do the trick cheap vpn

Ladydi3328 wrote:

Thanks.  I do wish I had more tech knowledge for this but when I look information up on the internet I don't even understand a good deal of the reference words!  I've looked at NordVPN, and even signed up for a couple of days.  But when I found the support information unhelpful and the website insufficient for a novice like me, I cancelled.  I hope to hear more from others on what they have chosen here in Mexico.  Thanks for your input!

That's funny because NordVPN works perfectly for me. Have you tried contacting the support directly? I've tried once and they were helpful

RacerChiari wrote:

Ladydi3328 wrote:

Thanks.  I do wish I had more tech knowledge for this but when I look information up on the internet I don't even understand a good deal of the reference words!  I've looked at NordVPN, and even signed up for a couple of days.  But when I found the support information unhelpful and the website insufficient for a novice like me, I cancelled.  I hope to hear more from others on what they have chosen here in Mexico.  Thanks for your input!

That's funny because NordVPN works perfectly for me. Have you tried contacting the support directly? I've tried once and they were helpful

I've come to the conclusion that it depends on where you live. I researched VPNs and found some to be outright frauds according to the reviews. I tried one that was supposed to be pretty good and even with their help I could not get a consistent connection. I have VPN Master on my phone which seems to be working, but then I don't watch movies on my phone.

Firestick works some of the time if bandwidth is not in high demand. When people come home from work Fire stick starts to have load failures. So I would suggest looking the VPN up on a review site as well as checking with others in your area. It seems the closer to the border and major cities you are the more likely you will be to have success. I see most of what I want to see on my laptop with little trouble and That's just my laptop and the cable.

Hello,

Just now saw your question and maybe you have since figured it out.

If not, a company called Smart DNS has solved the issue. I live in MX, but can get US Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc.

It's rather inexpensive. Check it out. Pretty easy set up instructions.

If you should decide to get it, please use my link so I can get a "thank you" from them.

https://www.smartdnsproxy.com/?afid=68f5cbcca027

Good luck.

Is it not possible to stream like in the US from Roku? I don't know the answer.  But I stream my tv off my wifi here using Roku, I guess I would think that was an option there.   I have not looked into this yet.  CNN has CNNI, the CNN International channel.  It's somewhat different programming but I've seen it and that would seem like one could get that in  a country as close as Mexico. 
I wonder if the hotels there would be helpful to ask.  Or where do residents buy tvs at?  Is there any kind of Best Buy type store?  I'd ask there too.
I have never used satellite and I cut cable ties a few years ago. I get my CNN through a subscription to Sling.  Check to see if that would work there. Good luck. Let us know.

My knowledge of how tv works in Mexico is poor but I'm researching.  There is a blog online from www.flashrouters.com and it isa bit dated (2016) but still it may help you identify how to get better tv access.  The title is "How to watch streaming video & netflix USA in Mexico"  They state access to US content is restricted to US-based internet addresses" so the VPN networks they suggest are these: NordVPN and IPVanish.   You can find more info and read the entire article if you search but hopefully this much will get you headed in a good direction.

That looks excellent. Thanks for sharing.

Hi. I would recommend Surfshark VPN. It is a new one so Netflix doesn't really block it (at least yet ) It is quite fast and supports unlimited devices so you could share it with your family and friends.

It pays to read the "nerd" magazines articles frequently as with all electronics things change quickly.  Recent articles in CNET rated IPVanish, Nord, and Express VPN as the best.  But all with restrictions.  Some have great customer service and easy  install.  But might have a small amount of devices allowed on at any one time or slower speed. 

The major advantage to a VPN is it hides all your internet traffic and supposedly can't be traced back to you.  Most advertise they don't keep logs so "big brother" can't subpoena anything.  If that's not a concern then the Smart DNS might be another option.  Personally, I am more concerned about speed than hiding my internet traffic (boring).   

I am going to Rosarito next month and will take one of my FireTV that I installed Express VPN on and will give it a try.  I assume I have to set up the VPN "free trial" before I leave the US.  I might also try my free trial of Hulu while I'm there.  Hopefully the rental condo has decent WiFi.   

I also read that the VPN can either be installed on each device via an app or can be installed directly on your WiFi router.  That would be the best, but seems a little techie for me.  It does get around the restriction on number of devices that can connect.

If CNN or NBC has a free live stream that is Geo-restricted then you just need a VPN like PureVPN or others to bypass that restriction. NBC I'm sure requires your TV provider details for sign up. If you have it, you can watch their live stream.

I have a VPN but am not able to watch TV shows after the fact on abc.com or cbs.com using it -- I'm not really sure why, but I get an error message.  However, SmartDNS worked for me, and the cost is very reasonable.  It also allows access to many streaming services like Netflix, Hulu etc.  I am not currently using these, but it's good to know that I can if I ever want to.  No affiliation with the company, just a satisfied customer, bla bla bla...  :-)  They have a free two-week trial and don't require a credit card for that, if you want to try them out.

Sounds good! Will check it out. I use HMA but it IS pricey. But tech support is good. Incidentally, I recently switched from Telnor to Izzi. No difference between Fiber and regular tbh, plus, they offer TV at same price as Telnor's Internet and at least here in TJ, it includes San Diego Channels! Loving it. Had been using Antenna, but kind of a pain. Loving this new deal. 3 play plus DVR for $55! (Includes CNN in English, & you can change all the channels originally in English back to the OG track if they're dubbed.) Another reason MX is the best of both worlds. This is definitely heaven, lol. (That sentiment might be partly due to my spectacular ocean view though.)

Happy Turkey Day everyone!
Jennifer

There is a CNN stream for Venezuelans out there, since Maduro banned them, if you can find it, not geo-restricted.

on receiving CNN and MSNBC and other news and information  channels from around the world, in either of my residences in Mexico - at Lake Chapala or in the Chiapas Highlands, I now pick them up full time no problem  free of charge on my computer with, alternatively,  if I wish, feed into my large screen T,V. set or simply on my large screen computer.  At Lake Chapala and San Cristobal de Las Casas
I also get  programming through Telecable and Megacable respectively at minimal cost.  I was on Shaw out of Canada for years expensively  but, when my Shaw receiver failed about a year ago , I simply tied into CNN and MSNBC on line for free and get local service out of Guadalajara and Tuxtla Gutierrez for local channels and movies, etc. on Telecable and Megacable  No more need for that Shaw dish on my roof.  .

I recently got CyberGhost on my Android tablet. It works for CBS All Access so far, but not for Amazon Prime. I was hoping to cast it to our Roku so we could watch on a larger than 9.7-inch screen, but can't figure out how to do that.

I have a netgear router (running Tomato) hanging off my Telmex modem/router. The netgear router starts up a session with my VPN so every device which attaches to that network gets a VPN address. My roku device joins that network and that is where I launch CBS All Access.

I have Amazon Prime Mexico. I also have a Amazon Fire TV stick which joins the network running on the Telmex router. So that is where I watch Amazon Video and incidentally Netflix Mexico as both don't like to see VPN access.

It sounds more complicated than it is. When I press the home button on the roku remote I am switched to that network automatically. When I press the home button on the Amazon device I launch the non-VPN network. From my Windows 10 laptop I use whichever network I want. Some banks etc no longer want to see a VPN (recently Schwab locked my account because they have me living in Mexico yet I came in from a US ip address).

btw - you can buy netgear routers from places like ebay which are already configured for using a VPN.

Good luck.

Here is my recent experience attempting to run Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video.  We were just at Rosarito this weekend and I took my Fire Stick.  The place we rented had Izzi TV+internet and the TV's had Roku built in.  The living room TV had an Izzi cable box, but the bedroom didn't. 

First, I tried accessing  Hulu, Netflix, and Prime directly using the Roku.  No luck they all were blocked with a warning about not available in the geographical location.  I tried with the Fire Stick with same results.   

I had installed the IPVanish app before leaving the US and activated it.  Still no luck on Netflix.  I got a warning that it knew I was using a proxy server and to turn it off.  I tried to switch to different servers and even from Canada.  Still no luck for Netflix.  I was able to get Hulu to work.  But I had to switch around to find a server.  Hulu would also lock up after and hour or so and make me reboot and/or switch servers.  Prime Video worked for some original content shows, but not all. 

So, while we were there I installed NordVPN.  Netflix gave me the "turn off the proxy" server warning and wouldn't work.  It worked sporadically with some Amazon shows.  It worked about 90% of the time with Hulu.  I would have to reboot it about 50% of the time to get it to load.  But once it loaded it worked fairly consistently.

I tired a few other app's like CBS All Access and Fox with limited success.  Most times I got the same warning it had detected I was using a proxy server and to turn it off.   

Bottom line is none of the VPN's worked well enough to keep using them.  My next experiment will be Express VPN, which got good reviews for accessing Netflix.  Good thing I learned is I can experiment from the US and don't have to be in Mexico.  By just running through the VPN the provider doesn't know if I'm in US or MX (dah, that's the point).

I might explore a SmartDNS also just to see how it works.

Hi to all, I have a RUKU tv in Mexico and my son has a Netflix account in Canada. So from my RUKU tv link to my Mexican internet provider it works very fine no need for a PROXY.

Same with Prime videos of Amazon, works fine no VPN required.

I use the PROXY created by my son on his internet provider to stream stuff like (CBC) that has content not accessible internationally.

Adios y buen dia a todos, GyC.

I’ve been using a smart dns Proxy (https://www.smartdnsproxy.com) for the past two years and am able to use Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO Go, Pandora and others with no problem. I have one device, a Sony Blu-ray player, on which Netflix will not load. It is not a big deal as I can still access Netflix on my other devices and cast it to ChromCast. Prior to setting up SmartDNS Proxy I used multiple VPN providers with only spotty results. Netflix would not work with any of them reliably.

I live in Rosarito and the Internet provider in my home is Telnor. I’ve set the router up to use the dns proxy DNS servers so all of the devices on the network use it.

Mreid51 wrote:

I’ve been using a smart dns Proxy (https://www.smartdnsproxy.com) for the past two years and am able to use Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO Go, Pandora and others with no problem. I have one device, a Sony Blu-ray player, on which Netflix will not load. It is not a big deal as I can still access Netflix on my other devices and cast it to ChromCast. Prior to setting up SmartDNS Proxy I used multiple VPN providers with only spotty results.

Thanks, that's exactly the way I was leaning after testing various VPN's this week.  I also learned on April 1st Netflix really tightened up their Geo Blocking.  I looked at SmartDns and like the idea it's on the router and you don't have to mess with each device or guest.   I'm a little put off by all the setup and messing with the router settings.  But I guess I'll figure it out.  I see I can even buy a router with Smart DNS already installed.   

We are moving to Rosarito (La Jolla complex).  Do you use Izzi for anything and do I have to use them for internet?  I really want to be able to access my Netflix and Prime; plus maybe use Hulu.

I do not use Izzi. It is not available in our development (Puerta Del Mar) at this time. Our Internet provider is Telnor.

Thanks, I just found some Smart TV brands that have Netfilx, Hulu, Prime all installed and the internet connection can be configured for Smart DNS in the TV's network setup menu.  I might just buy a small 24" model and take it down next time we go.  Amazon had one model for $85.  My wife hates having more than one remote and these were Fire Stick based so work with the Alex voice control.

I just arrived in Rosarito on April 1st and just had DirecTv installed and he also installed a VPN. He installed ExpressVPN and I'm able to use my Amazon Firestick. I've also been watching Netflix on my computer without any problem. Haven't tried it on my tv yet. It is $99 for a year and he said that he's had the best results with it. If you're in the Rosarito area you might want to give him a try. Francisco Garcia, 011521-661-0779, or ciscogd@hotmail.com.

I'm having other issues though, got ATT before I left the states with a US/Mexico plan, but I haven't been able to call any 800/888 numbers. Was informed today that I definitely can't do it. Has anyone been able to come up with a work around that problem. I would appreciate any suggestions.

Try WiFi calling rather than Cellular.  At least for ATT and IPhone you have to setup WiFi while on cellular then you can turn off cellular and connect via WiFi.  This works on cruise ships and I use it at home in the USA.  At home you could do Voice Over IP.  We might do that and take our landline number we have had for 40 years with us. 

We used Vonage years ago when our son was stationed in Korea.  I ordered the phone with a local CA number, shipped it to him, he plugs into his computer in Korea and we call back and forth just like dialing local.  I think Magic Jack works the same.   

I will keep Francisco in mind.  Not sure since we are in a condo what TV service they will allow.  I would love to have DirectTV but they would have to put a dish on the condo roof as I'm not putting one on my balcony.  Maybe rabbit ears!

I live in a condo also and they put the dish on the roof. So, no problem there.

I've been in Mexico for a year now and I use Express VPN. Using my Firestick, I'm able to get Prime and Netflix with no problem. Another suggestion for increasing your ability to watch US stations is Sportztv. It costs about $10 a month for two televisions and offers 6,000 stations from around the world, including premium stations. Also, the tv's don't have to be in the same household. I also have a Directv box and am able to record when I can't watch in real time. I've found there are many options for continuing to meet my viewing preferences.

I came around the same time you did and got ATT&T and had the same problem, inability to dial 800 numbers. I'm now with T Mobile and have no problems with making 800 calls and they're only $50 a month if you're over 55.

Check out ustvgo.tv. It's free. We live south of Tecate and we can watch cbs, ABC, fox,  HGTV, Hallmark, Lifetime and a bunch of others. And I don't have to use a vpn. Some of their channels require that you use their vpn, which is a little expensive.
Merry Christmas

I use dns switcher and nord vpn.  With these I can watch Hulu live, pluto, BBC ( if I use UK dns and vpn) 

But I have a computer connected to my TV so I have more control over my dns and vpn. 

Look at a Nuc.  It's a super small windows computer that is more than powerful enough to do everything but real gaming.  Get playon and you can then download to your computer shows and movies like a dvr.  I use a 2tb external drive.

Hi I'm new to the conversation and planning on moving in a year to PDC or Akumal area

What is an average cable package with US TV stations available and what is approx cost?  I really am just looking for HGTV, Bavaro, TMC, CNN, some sports (football for husband :-). I don't stream or watch on my laptop...just looking for TV packages if they are offered there.  Thanks ⛄

What is a vpn or dns switcher??? I need help with computer stuff. Thanks

Just do a search for dns switcher will show you on google, but usually only find them for pc and smart phones.  Vpn there are a ton so it's sorta up to what one you want to use.  I like nordvpn because it's so easy even my ludite wife can use it.