Streaming media in the UK can be a chore since you have different access restrictions to certain content elsewhere in the world (like the United States). For example, if you want to access services like Netflix, Hulu, or any other US-locked or US-specific content, you’re out of luck since these services like to lock their content to users with a US IP.
The easiest and most secure way to get a US IP or an IP for any location is to use a VPN–since when you connect to a VPN, you connect to a remote server with a shared IP–but as you may know–not all VPNs are created equal and you’ll find huge variations in speed, security, usability, customer service, and all other things that differentiate them from each other (including price, if it’s on your platform or not, etc.).
In this article, I don’t want to complicate things. I’m only going to mention the best VPNs for the UK that is worth checking out. I want to give you the best VPNs for streaming in the UK, and I’ll recommend these VPNs based on a few factors–like price, streaming speed, VPN application quality, and how they work with most streaming apps.
What makes a VPN the Best for Streaming in the UK?
Price
If you want the cheapest VPN that works with streaming in the UK, I’d recommend TorGuard VPN. You can get it for $29.99 for six months which is a very good deal. If you aren’t worried about price, you can try out ExpressVPN ($12.95).
Speed
Both TorGuard and ExpressVPN are very fast for streaming media reliably without any noticeable stutter or inherent graininess that might come from slow bandwidth.
Application Usability
When using a VPN with your media streaming, you need something that will be easy to use and not a hassle to turn on. This means that bugs that cause your app to crash, or design flaws that make using your VPN a chore are a big thing to watch out for.
In this case, I would recommend TorGuard VPN since they just updated their graphical interface, and they’ve taken care to implement features to support dedicated IP addresses which are among the best tools to use in conjunction with VPN to get access to super strict services like Netflix.
Streaming Compatibility
The most important feature when choosing a VPN to use in the UK for streaming services is if it works in the first place. Most VPN providers don’t try to work with streaming services like Netflix since it’s a huge hassle to maintain a constant flow of unblocked IPs. Popular and good VPN services like PIA have given up, so your options are limited.
Luckily, TorGuard still works consistently especially if purchase a dedicated IP, and in some cases, ExpressVPN users are still finding success–although their methods are a bit unreliable since they don’t sell dedicated IPs which means their shared IPs get blacklisted whenever Netflix finds out users are using ExpressVPN IPs to bypass Netflix geo-restrictions.
