If you’ve been watching or are trying to watch Acorn TV with a VPN and it’s not working, the streaming service has identified the IP address your VPN has given you and has blocked it.
This is happening because Acorn TV uses VPN-blocking methods to try and ensure that IP addresses provided by VPNs can’t connect to its service. And the VPN you’re using has failed to get around these blocks.
The good news is Acorn TV can’t block a VPN entirely, only the IP addresses it provides, and there are a few fixes you can try to resolve the problem.
This article will explain how to fix Acorn TV not working with VPN.
See also:
- Philo not working with VPN? Try these EASY fixes! (2023)
- YouTube TV not working with VPN? There’s an easy FIX!
Acorn TV not working with VPN: Fixes
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Delete Cookies
Cookies are small files stored on your device to enhance your online experience. Acorn TV uses Cookies to streamline your use of the platform. An example of a common Cookie used by Acorn TV is storing your login information, so you don’t have to log in each time you access the streaming service.
They aren’t malicious files that will harm your computer but, on some occasions, Cookies contain information regarding your location. If you don’t use a VPN permanently, this location will be your actual location.
Acorn TV can potentially access this location information stored on your Cookies. If it finds the location is different from the location you’re selecting with your VPN, it knows it’s a VPN and blocks the connection.
Try deleting your Cookies to fix Acorn TV not working with VPN.
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Change to a different server
Acorn TV is available in four countries, Canada, the USA, Australia and New Zealand.
If the streaming service has stopped working with your VPN, the IP address you’ve been given has been blocked.
Changing to a different server in one of the countries where Acorn TV is available will give you a different IP address.
If that one hasn’t been blocked, your VPN will work with Acorn TV again. -
Change to a different protocol
Check to see if your VPN supports multiple VPN protocols.
VPN protocols are rules that determine how your VPN reroutes your online data through its server.
How your data is transferred varies depending on what protocol you’re using. Some prioritise speed, while others prioritise security.
If your VPN has multiple protocols, try one you haven’t used and see if that fixes Acorn TV not working with VPN.
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Update/reinstall your VPN
If your VPN suddenly stops working with Acorn TV, you may have inadvertently downloaded an error interrupting the software.
A good way to eliminate these issues is to reinstall your VPN.
This ensures you have the latest version of your VPN, including any bug-fixing updates. It also means you’ll have a fresh installation of the software, so any errors or bugs you may have picked up will be erased.
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Upgrade to a VPN that works with Acorn TV
If changing to a different server didn’t fix the problem, then Acorn TV has managed to block all of your VPNs IP addresses.
From here, there are a couple of things you can do. First, you can wait for your VPN to release new IP addresses that Acorn TV hasn’t blocked. However, there’s no telling how long this will take. Also, seeing as you’ve run into this problem already, your VPN doesn’t have measures in place to stay ahead of Acorn TV’s blocks. And inevitably, the new IPs will get blocked as well.
The best way to fix Acorn TV not working with VPN is to upgrade to a VPN that’s still compatible with the streaming service.
ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) works well with Acorn TV because it plays a game of cat and mouse with the streaming service.
When Acorn TV identifies an IP address provided by ExpressVPN ($6.67/month), this VPN will close that IP address and open a new one.This will prevent you from running into the issues you’ve come across with your current VPN, and it will allow you to watch Acorn TV reliably anywhere in the world.
Why isn’t my VPN working with Acorn TV?
The reason your VPN isn’t working with Acorn TV is because the streaming service is blocking the IP address your VPN has given you.
Acorn TV does this to protect itself from potential copyright and licensing infringements the use of a VPN could cause.
Because VPNs allow you to spoof your location – and watch Acorn TV in locations where it doesn’t have the rights to broadcast its content – a VPN connecting to Acorn TV could be the reason it breaches the copyright and licensing agreements it has with its content partners.
These sorts of breaches are often met with substantial financial repercussions.
Acorn TV doesn’t want to get fined, so it tries to block VPNs from accessing its platform.
How does Acorn TV block my VPN?
The way Acorn TV blocks VPNs is all to do with the IP addresses that connect to it.
Acorn TV constantly scans IP addresses that connect to the streaming service. It does this because it’s looking for an abnormal number of connections from the same IP address.
See, most VPNs have more customers than IP addresses. This is especially the case for free VPNs, which have a massive amount of customers.
When this discrepancy happens, VPNs force customers to share IP addresses. This means that hundreds or even thousands of customers could potentially connect to Acorn TV via the same IP.
Usually, only a household of devices connects to Acorn TV via the same IP address. When it sees hundreds or thousands using the same IP, it knows it’s an IP address provided by a VPN, and it blocks it.
Does Acorn TV work with VPN?
Yes, Acorn TV works with a VPN; however you need to use a VPN that can get around the streaming services’ VPN-blocking techniques.
You need a VPN with fast servers in Canada, the US, New Zealand and Australia. You need a VPN that’s secure, and most importantly, you need a VPN with measures in place to ensure it works reliably with Acorn TV.
The best VPNs for this are ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or NordVPN ($3.19/month).
These VPNs are incredibly fast and secure, and they play a game of cat and mouse with Acorn TV. If the streaming service identifies an IP address provided by one of these VPNs, ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or NordVPN ($3.19/month) will close that IP address and open a new one. This will ensure there’s always one for you to use and connect to.
This seems simple but requires a significant amount of infrastructure and finances that not every VPN can provide. Using ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or NordVPN ($3.19/month), you won’t come across the same issues you’re running into with your current VPN.
The best VPNs for streaming Acorn TV
1. ExpressVPN 🥇
Why You Should Use ExpressVPN? It’s the fastest and MOST reliable VPN of 2023
Pros
- ✅ Fast servers
- ✅ Thousands of IP addresses
- ✅ 10-simultaneous connections
- ✅ 24/7 Live Chat
- ✅ Easy-to-use app
- ✅ 30-day money-back guarantee
Cons
- ❌ Expensive
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Number of servers: 3,000+ | Speed: >80% | Bandwidth: Unlimited | IP locations: 160 in 94 countries | Devices supported: 5 | Live chat: Yes | 30-day money-back guarantee: Yes
- $6.66/month for 15 months
- $9.99/month for 6 months
- $12.95/month for 1 month
ExpressVPN ($6.66/month) is still the best VPN. And importantly, it ALWAYS has servers that are open with major streaming sites such as Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max, Paramount+, Amazon Prime Video, etc.
ExpressVPN is usually very good at playing Cat and Mouse with online streaming sites. Meaning, whenever one of its servers is blacklisted it creates a new one – giving its users a constant stream of servers that aren’t blocked. Needless to say, this is a valuable attribute if you’re looking for a VPN to unblock streaming sites.
Its app is easy-to-use and free to download on pretty much any device you can think of. Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, FireStick, Android TV, Roku, PS4, Xbox, Linux, even Apple TV (with a workaround). It’s got it all covered.
The app is another main reason this VPN is so good at unblocking TV streaming sites (that claim they block VPNs) is that its software takes a pragmatic approach to user management. While other VPNs tempt customers by promising them access to hundreds/thousands of servers in multiple countries, ExpressVPN does things differently.
With ExpressVPN you only have a handful of server locations to choose from. Once you select your location the app takes care of the rest. Assigning you to the fastest available server that’s not oversubscribed. This simple technique is so important, as it keeps ExpressVPN’s servers operating at lightning-fast speeds and prevents its IPs from getting blacklisted for “abnormal” usage in the first place.
Check out our full ExpressVPN review.
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2. NordVPN 🥈
A very quick and trustworthy VPN
Pros
- ✅ Fast servers
- ✅ No logs
- ✅ Thousands of IP addresses
- ✅ 6-simultaneous connections
- ✅ 30-day money-back guarantee
- ✅ Easy-to-use app
Cons
- ❌ No refunds for purchases from iTunes/App store
Special Offer for you!
Sign up for a 3-year plan with Private Internet Access and save 83% + 3 months free. That works out at $2.03/month.
Number of servers: 5,000+ | Speeds: >80% | Bandwidth: Unlimited | IP locations: 62 countries | Devices supported: 6 | Live chat: Yes | 30-day money-back guarantee: Yes
- $3.49/month for 2 years
- $6.99/month for 1 year
- $11.95/month for 1 month
NordVPN is the most widely-used VPN in the world. And it’s easy to see why. It’s a polished app that delivers fast connections (more on this later) to a massive network of VPN servers.
It’s the most reliable at unblocking popular streaming services too – US Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, BBC iPlayer, HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video, etc. This is because NordVPN hired a full-time technical team (that’s responsible for monitoring its servers’ connections with popular TV streaming services) and has been aggressively investing in its network of IP addresses in key locations.
Another interesting thing to note is that NordVPN is an industry leader in its development of Nordlynx technology. Nordlynx is built using the WireGuard, a new VPN tunneling protocol designed to outperform current standards (OpenVPN and IPSec). The benefits, according to NordVPN, are dramatically faster transfer speeds while connected to a VPN. My tests – New Zealand to London – confirm that Nordlynx is currently the fastest VPN on the market. However, the difference isn’t dramatic, a few Mbps is all.
Read our NordVPN review.
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3. Private Internet Access
The BEST low-cost VPN for streaming!
Pros
- ✅ Fast and reliable servers
- ✅ Thousands of IP addresses
- ✅ 10-simultaneous connections
- ✅ 24/7 Live Chat
- ✅ 30-day money-back guarantee
Cons
- ❌ Only 48 server locations
Special Offer for you!
Sign up for a 3-year plan with Private Internet Access and save 83% + 3 months free. That works out at $2.03/month.
Number of servers: 25,000+ | Speed: >75% | Bandwidth: Unlimited | IP locations: 70 in 74 countries | Devices supported: 10 | Live chat: Yes | 30-day money-back guarantee: Yes
- $2.03/month for 3 years
- $7.50/month for 6 months
- $11.99/month for 1 month
Private Internet Access is one of the leading no-log VPN services with over 1-million paying customers.
This VPN is one of the best in the industry at beating streaming sites’ VPN bans. It provides reliable connections with US Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, HBO Max, Disney+ Amazon Prime Video, etc. It also allows 10 simultaneous devices to be connected to its servers at the same time, so you can share the account with your close friends.
If – for whatever reason – you’re not happy with Private Internet Access, there’s a 24/7 live chat support available to assist you with your problem. PIA also offers the industry-standard 30-day money-back guarantee.
From my tests (from New Zealand) I was able to get download speeds of 70 Mbps while connected to a UK server using the Private Internet Access VPN (my non-VPN speed is 100 Mbps).
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4. Ivacy
A very quick and trustworthy VPN
Pros
- ✅ Fast servers
- ✅ Thousands of IP addresses
- ✅ Dedicated streaming servers
- ✅ 5-simultaneous connections
- ✅ 30-day money-back guarantee
- ✅ 24/7 Live Chat
Cons
- ❌ Only 5 devices
- ❌ Sometimes runs slow
- ❌ Occasionally block by streaming sites for several days
Special Offer for you!
Sign up for Ivacy and enjoy a 7-day trial with no strings attached
Number of servers: 1,000+ | Speed: >65% | Bandwidth: Unlimited | IP locations: 275 in 100 countries | Devices supported: 5 | Live chat: Yes | 30-day money-back guarantee: Yes
- $1.16/month for 5 years
- $3.50/month for 1 year
- $9.99/month for 1 month
If you’re looking for an excellent VPN, with an even better price tag, Ivacy ($1.16/month) is a great option.
This VPN has all the features you need to stream BBC iPlayer, in HD, from any country in the world. I’ve been testing the app recently on Mac, PC, Android, iOS and FireStick and the results have been impressive – unlocking BBC iPlayer, US Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video, etc. with ease.
The Ivacy app is a little different in regards to its UX (user experience). Instead of just selecting a UK server, you need to select the specific BBC iPlayer server. Don’t worry, this isn’t a bad thing – by connecting to a dedicated BBC iPlayer server, it simply means that you’re connecting to an IP address that Ivacy knows works with BBC iPlayer.
For an extra $1.99/month (£1.74) you can add-on a dedicated IP. This will buy you sole access to an IP address in a country of your choice, meaning you won’t have to share your IP (and speeds) with any other use. I don’t recommend this though, using the regular Ivacy servers is enough 95 per cent of the time.
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5. CyberGhost
A very quick and trustworthy VPN
Pros
- ✅ 1-day free trial
- ✅ Reliable servers
- ✅ Thousands of IP addresses
- ✅ 7-simultaneous connections
- ✅ 30-day money-back guarantee
- ✅ Easy-to-use app
Cons
- ❌ Expensive
- ❌ Average speed scores
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Number of servers: 1,000+ | Speed: >65% | Bandwidth: Unlimited | IP locations: 275 in 100 countries | Devices supported: 5 | Live chat: Yes | 30-day money-back guarantee: Yes
- $2.75/month for 3 years
- $3.69/month for 2 years
- $5.99/month for 1 year
- $12.99/month for 1 month
CyberGhost is one of the more established VPNs on the market. It has a well-established, and well-tested global network of servers that perform well.
From my tests over the past several months, CyberGhost has no trouble at unblocking major streaming services – US Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max etc. This VPN performed well at maintaining download speeds, well above 65 per cent of my regular (non VPN) ISP speed.
That said, there’s nothing really unique about the service. Which forces you to look at its price-point. And there’s nothing special here. Its short-term $12.99/month price tag puts is well above the industry average of $10.10/month. Similarly, its long-term $2.75/month for 3 years deal isn’t much of a “deal” either.
Oddly, CyberGhost’s most unique feature is its a 1-day, no obligations, free trial. This is an appealing offer to customers who are new to VPNs. However, it’s important to remember that most reputable VPNs will offer customers a 30-day money-back guarantee, so try not to be too seduced by the offer.
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