If you’ve been trying to watch Amazon Freevee with a VPN and it’s stopped working, then Amazon has managed to block the IP address that you’re using with your VPN.
This can be disappointing, especially if you’ve managed to watch Amazon Freevee with a VPN for a while.
Fortunately, there are some fixes you can try to resolve this issue.
This article will explain how you can fix Amazon Freevee not working with VPN and prevent these problems from happening again.
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Amazon Freevee not working with VPN: Quick guide
Amazon Freevee only blocks the IP addresses of some VPNs. Good VPNs usually work reliably with Freevee.
Follow the steps below to and you’ll be able to watch Freevee (again) from anywhere in the world.
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Delete Cookies
If Amazon Freevee is no longer working with your VPN, a good place to start is deleting your Cookies.
Cookies are small files used to streamline your online experience. For example, Amazon Freevee uses Cookies so you don’t have to input your login details every time you access Freevee.
While they aren’t malicious files Cookies do contain information about where you’re located. This can be a problem.
If the Cookies show a different location than the location you’re connecting to with your VPN, Amazon will know you’re using a VPN and will block your connection.
To fix this, try deleting your Cookies.
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Change to a different server
The most likely reason you’re coming across errors with your current VPN is because Freevee has identified and blocked the IP address your VPN has given you.
However, this doesn’t necessarily mean it has been able to block all of the IP addresses your VPN can provide.
Changing to a different server will give you a different IP address. If this one hasn’t been blocked by Freevee, your VPN will work with the streaming service again.
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Change to a different protocol
Protocols are a set of rules or instructions that VPNs use to setup a server connection and communicate with that connection.
There are many different protocols out there. Each are designed for specific uses. Some prioritise speed, others prioritise security, some work well with Freevee, some don’t.
Most VPNs allow you to change between protocols. We advise changing protocol and then seeing if that fixes your VPN not working with Freevee.
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Update/reinstall your VPN
It’s important you ensure you have the latest version of your VPN.
Problems that could be causing your issues with Amazon Freevee will often be fixed by the VPN itself.
These fixes will be released in an update, so to ensure you have them, make sure your version is updated to its latest version.
If you want a completely clean VPN installation, it can also be a good idea to reinstall the VPN as well. This will not only get rid of any bugs or errors that you may have inadvertently downloaded, it will also give you the latest version of the VPN.
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Upgrade to a VPN that currently works with Amazon Freevee
If deleting your Cookies and changing to a different server doesn’t fix Amazon Freevee not working with VPN, your VPN hasn’t been able to get around Freevee’s VPN blocking methods.
This is potentially something that could take a long time to fix, as your VPN will need to purchase and release new IP addresses and build an infrastructure that prevents those new IPs from being blocked. This isn’t cheap and could take a long time.
While of course you could wait for your VPN to do that, the quick fix is to upgrade to a VPN that already has this sort of infrastructure in place. ExpressVPN ($6.66/month) is the best VPN on the market and it has measures in place that will allow you to watch Amazon Freevee reliably without issues.
Why Amazon Freevee doesn’t work with VPNs?
Like Amazon Prime, your VPN isn’t working with Amazon Freevee because the streaming service has blocked the IP address your VPN has given you.
Although Amazon Freevee is available in several countries worldwide, its library changes depending on geographic location. For example, Amazon Freevee in the US has different content to Amazon Freevee in the UK or Germany.
This has happened because content creators determine where their content can be broadcast, and streaming services, like Amazon Freevee, need to purchase the broadcast rights to said content in each location. If Amazon Freevee has purchased the rights to broadcast a film or TV show in the US, it doesn’t necessarily mean it owns the rights to broadcast the same show in other locations. This content might belong to a different streaming service.
Because a VPN can potentially allow you to get around these geographic restrictions, Amazon Freevee tries to block VPNs from accessing its service.
It could face severe fines for copyright and licensing breaches if it didn’t do this.
How does Amazon Freevee block VPNs?
Amazon Freevee blocks VPNs using three main techniques:
- The most common technique is to do with the IP addresses that your VPN can provide. VPN providers have more customers than the number of IP addresses they can provide; this means that customers can use the same IP addresses. Usually, only a household with a few devices uses the same IP address. When Amazon Freevee sees hundreds or even thousands of connections coming through on the same IP address, it knows that it is a VPN, and it blocks it.
- Amazon Freevee monitors for IP, DNS and WebRTC leaks that can tip the service off you are using a VPN.
- Amazon Freevee teams up with GeoIP databases like Maxmind to identify IP addresses. If the IP address your VPN provides is on one of these databases, Amazon Freevee will be able to find out where in the world you are connecting to the internet from, and it will block you.
Lesser VPNs, especially free VPNs, find it very hard to get around these blocking methods. If you’re coming across the “Your device is connected to the internet using a VPN or proxy service. Please disable it and try again” error, then your VPN isn’t good enough to stay ahead of Amazon’s blocks.
Does Amazon Freevee still work with VPNs?
Yes, Amazon Freevee still works with VPNs. All you need to do is trick Freevee into thinking you’re connecting to the platform from within a country where it has the right to broadcast its content. You need to make it look like you’re located in the US, UK or Germany.
To do that, you need to change your IP address to one based in one of these countries.
The easiest way to do that is with a reliable VPN like ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or NordVPN ($3.19/month). With a single click, you can change your IP address to one located in a completely different country. And when you want to switch back to your regular IP address, you have to turn the VPN off again with a single click.
When you change your IP, Freevee will scan the IP address and think you’re in a country where Freevee is available. This will allow you to watch Freevee anywhere in the world.
The best VPNs to watch Amazon Freevee
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
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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
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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
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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
- $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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Is using a VPN to watch Amazon Freevee illegal?
In most countries, using a VPN is legal. There are only a handful of countries (spot the authoritarianism link) where using a VPN is illegal; these are: China, Russia, Iran, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, North Korea, Iraq, Belarus, Turkmenistan, Egypt, Eritrea, Seychelles, Suriname, Namibia, Slovenia, Nicaragua and Tajikistan.
If you’re outside these countries and are using a VPN, you’re legally allowed to do so. However, it’s important to know that using a VPN with some streaming services may breach that service’s terms of use.
If you subscribe to a streaming service, you automatically accept its terms of use. If we look at Amazon Prime’s (which Amazon Freevee is part of) terms of use, it states, “Due to technical and other restrictions imposed by content providers, the Service is available only in certain locations. The Digital Content (including subtitled and dubbed audio versions of Digital Content) and how we offer Digital Content to you will vary over time and by location. Amazon will use technologies to verify your geographic location. You may not use any technology or technique to obscure or disguise your location.”
This means Amazon Freevee can stop your subscription and ban you from the streaming service if you try to access its content with a VPN turned on.
However, given the wide-spread use of VPNs, plus the many legitimate and legal use cases for VPNs, it’s fair to suggest that banning customers for using a VPN would be a heavy-handed and financially costly policy for Amazon Freevee (and other streaming services) to enforce.
In theory, if you’re trying to watch a streaming service (that you pay for) in a region where it does not traditionally operate, you risk having your account banned. However, as VPNs use military-grade encryption, it’s impossible for streaming services to trace where you’re physically accessing its content from.
There’s one final thing to note on the subject: Amazon Freevee has never banned anyone for using a VPN to access its service.
