I use a VPN to watch BBC iPlayer (from New Zealand) every day – whether it’s to catch up on the latest episode Line of Duty, or watch football highlights through Match of the Day, or even listen to TMS abroad.
This all means I’ve got plenty of experience of VPNs not working with BBC iPlayer. It also means I know exactly what to do when a VPN has stopped working with iPlayer.
BBC iPlayer not working with VPN: Quick Fixes
If your VPN has stopped working with BBC iPlayer there are a few things you can try to get it working again.
Total Time: 3 minutes
Delete your cookies
In simple terms, Cookies are tiny bits of information that websites send to your computer to keep track of your website visits and activity.
They aren’t malicious but they do contain information about your previous web browsing history and this can sometimes reveal where in the world you are connecting to the internet from.
To stop this, you should delete your cookies (Chrome: Setting > Privacy and security > Clear browsing data) and retry BBC iPlayer with your VPN turned on and see if that solves the issue.
Connect to a different VPN server in the UK
If deleting your cookies didn’t work, try connecting to a different server in the UK on your VPN platform.
BBC iPlayer cannot block VPNs, it can only individual block IP addresses.
When you connect to a different server, you will be connecting via a different IP address. And if your VPN is good enough, not all of its IP addresses will have been detected and blacklisted by BBC iPlayer.
Change to a different protocol
Have a look and see if your VPN supports different protocols and change between them.
VPN protocols are a set of rules used by the VPN that determine how data is transferred through it sservers.
The way these protocols works, differs some are faster than others while some are more secure.
If your VPN supports different protocols, try changing between them to see if that fixes BBC iPlayer not working with VPN.
Reinstall/Update VPN
If your VPN has suddenly stopped working, the software may have inadvertently picked up an error.
Always try and keep your VPN updated as often updates come with fixes that can potentially resolve any errors you’re coming across.
You can always try and reinstall your VPN software as well. This will ensure you have the latest version of the VPN and will remove any errors you may have picked up.
Upgrade to a better VPN
If the above fixes didn’t resolve the problem, it means BBC iPlayer has managed to block all the UK IP addresses that your VPN provides.
This is obviously bad news, and the only way to get around this problem is to upgrade to a VPN that has servers (IP addresses) that work with BBC iPlayer.
I recommend ExpressVPN ($6.67/month)
I’ve been testing and using, ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) with BBC iPlayer for over three years. They also provide a 30-day money-back guarantee so if it doesn’t work, (it will) you can get a full refund within a month.
Why has my VPN stopped working with BBC iPlayer?
The simple answer is because VPNs are used by people who are not in the correct location/country to access iPlayer.
As recently as last year, internet users could use any cheap VPN to stream catchup content from any country. This method meant BBC iPlayer, and all of its content was open to anyone in the world with a VPN. Not just the TV License-paying British public.
Great for the end-consumer. Not great for rights holders. This led to the broadcasters (with on-demand content) upgrading their geo-restriction technology.
Your VPN has stopped working with BBC iPlayer, because the streaming service has identified and blocked all of the IP addresses your VPN can provide. (It’s important to know that the BBC only blocks IP addresses. It doesn’t actually block VPNs in their entirety.)
How does BBC iPlayer block my VPN?
The way BBC iPlayer detects VPNs is simple.
VPNs have lots of customers and only a handful of servers in the UK. When too many VPN users connect to iPlayer at the same time, it’s easy for the BBC to identify that the IP address has been provided by a VPN. And it will block that connection.
When this happens, you’ll start to come across errors when trying to watch BBC iPlayer with your VPN. And this is most likely what has happened with your current VPN.
What I did when BBC iPlayer stopped working with my VPN
When I first arrived in NZ over three years ago, I (foolishly) bought a two-year licence to IPVanish and it stopped working with iPlayer a month later. Disaster! I tried to “fix” this by connecting to as many different UK servers as I could manage, and this worked for a few days. Then, one-by-one, these servers stopped working with BBC iPlayer too.
Next, I got in touch with the support team, via Live Chat, and they told me to delete my browser’s cookies and try different UK servers. Needless to say, it didn’t work. Eventually, they confirmed that they didn’t have servers that worked with BBC iPlayer, and they no longer supported BBC iPlayer as a feature. Ugh.
This forced me to buy a new VPN. And this time, I did my research properly.
VPNs that don’t work with BBC iPlayer as of June 2023
BBC iPlayer doesn’t just block IP addresses from a single VPN. The streaming service targets all VPN connections:
The list of VPNs that don’t work with BBC iPlayer is massive. Some of the main ones are below:
- SurfShark
- Norton VPN
- TunnelBear
- IPVanish
- Hotspot Shield
- VyprVPN
- Windscribe
- PureVPN
- Buffered
- HideMyAss!
How to fix BBC iPlayer not working with VPN?
You can wait for your VPN to release new IP addresses, that haven’t been blacklisted by BBC iPlayer, and you won’t run into these errors you’re coming across.
However, the very fact that this has happened already, means your VPN doesn’t have measures in place to get around these blocks, and inevitably these new IP addresses will be blacklisted as well.
This could result in you wasting money on a subscription to a VPN that isn’t going to work. Also, there’s no telling how long it will take for a VPN to release new IP addresses, as they’re expensive and hard to come by.
The best workaround for when BBC iPlayer is not working with your current VPN is pretty logical. You need to buy a different VPN. One that hasn’t been blacklisted by iPlayer and one that gives you access to IP addresses that aren’t blacklisted either.
You need to upgrade to a VPN that’s winning the game of Cat and Mouse against the BBC. ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) is currently the best at this.
When an IP address provided by ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) is blacklisted by the BBC, ExpressVPN ($6.67/month), will close that IP address and open a new one. Ensuring you can watch BBC iPlayer reliably from anywhere in the world.
Leave a comment below if you need any help with BBC iPlayer not working with your VPN, and I’ll help if I can.
BBC iPlayer download failed using VPN?
If you’re seeing “Download unavailable – Error Code: 3” or “Dash manifest failed”? when trying to download iPlayer programmes using a VPN, take a look at our How to download BBC iPlayer programmes abroad article to learn more and fix the issue.
Why is it happening with all VPNs? Good question. I contacted ExpressVPN, NordVPN and CyberGhost to find out why this is happening and their responses were largely the same. Each VPN provider explained that their servers were set up for streaming content, rather than downloading it to a device.
ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) confirmed that its engineers are working on a fix for this and hope to roll that out soon.
ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) also said that some of its UK servers let you download to Windows and Mac PCs, but will not work with iOS and Android mobile devices.
How to create a BBC iPlayer account?
The BBC now requires users to sign in to watch iPlayer. The service is still free to access for anyone within the UK – meaning all you need is a VPN that’s still working with iPlayer (still).
Registering for a BBC iPlayer account is about the easiest thing you can do online. You only need an email address and UK postcode. Neither needs to be legitimate. You can even use a random postcode if you don’t want the BBC to collect data about you personally.
To sign up go to https://account.bbc.com/register? and enter a valid; Email, DoB, UK Postcode, and select your gender.
The best VPNs to watch BBC iPlayer
We recommend using one of the five VPN providers below for consistent access to BBC iPlayer.
Other VPNs may work periodically, but the five featured below have all been tested and verified. They also provide excellent support 24/7.
1. ExpressVPN 🥇
Why You Should Use ExpressVPN? It’s the fastest and MOST reliable VPN of 2022
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. 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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3. 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.
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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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What you NEED to know:
Despite what some VPNs advertise, there’s not a single VPN that’s able to guarantee you access to BBC iPlayer 100% of the time. Even the very best VPNs – like ExpressVPN ($6.67/month)– have small periods of time (sometimes lasting a few days) where they can’t unblock BBC iPlayer.
Unfortunately, there’s no easy way to combat this as a VPN customer. All you can do is try the other UK servers (IP addresses) the VPN provides. But if that doesn’t work you just have to wait and hope your VPN provider releases new, undetected, UK servers to its customers soon.
Read next: How to watch ITV Hub abroad.
How do I get around BBC iPlayer VPN blocks?
To get around BBC iPlayer’s VPN blocks you need to use a VPN that has measure to get around the methods the BBC uses to block VPNs.
The best VPNs for BBC iPlayer have measures in place to ensure all of their IP addresses cannot be identified and blocked by the BBC.
Lesser VPNs struggle to get around these blocks, however the best VPNs play a game of cat and mouse with BBC iPlayer.
If an IP address provided by the best VPNs for BBC iPlayer get blocked by the streaming service, these VPNs will close that IP address and open a new unblocked one for you to use.
This will allow you to get around BBC iPlayer’s VPN blocking techniques.
Hi there – I have also used Express VPN for several years, but it hasn’t worked for BBC iplayer for nearly a month now and they just can’t seem to fix it. Any suggestions? I wish the BBC would just let us pay for an overseas subscription!
Hi Robyn,
Have you tried contacting ExpressVPN via the site’s LiveChat feature? They’re usually very helpful and have always helped me find a server that works.
D
Thanks for the iplayer workaround on Firestick. I’ve used ExpressVPN for 2 years with no issues apart from an occasional blip which was quickly resolved.
I recently changed my internet provider (I’m in Portugal) and thought this may have been the reason iplayer suddenly refused to work. However, I was still able to use it on my phone and laptop so presumably that isn’t the problem. I’d tried everything I could think of, clearing cache etc. but no joy. There’s no DNS leak either that I can see so I had no idea what to do until I found your article, so it’s obviously the firestick.
Any idea if this is any closer to being resolved? Firefox has got around it but it’s painful to use!
Hi Gill,
All VPNs struggle the most with the FireStick – it’s made by a video streaming service (Amazon) so it’s designed to be difficult to spoof.
If you’re still having issues, the best thing you can do is watch BBC iPlayer on your laptop (via a VPN) and connect your laptop to your TV via an HDMI lead – these only cost a couple of quid on Amazon. This will give you the best connection/speed.
D
Can you help with “DASH manifest failed” message on trying to download abc iplayer using ivacy VPN
Hi Sandie,
Take a look at my How to download BBC iPlayer programmes abroad article. That should explain what you need to do.
D
update dor May 22 2019, totally free yoga vpn has been working brilliantly for months, just now blocked by iplayer, itv hub, 4player. Express VPN was good, blocked about 6 months ago.
well that worked until yesterday.. i have been using Express VPN for a while – last week BBC iplayer noticed I was not in the UK (in NZ in fact) but express VPN managed to help me with that – however today I have been asked for my TV licence – which I clearly not have… so I think that it is with BBC Iplayer for now.. sad really as some of the shows I watch are not in NZ at all or 2-3 years later… really dumb.. if you have an idea how to get around that – I’d be happy hear it:-)
Why would you not just claim to have a TV licence?
Ditto…BBC doesn’t ask for a TV license number, just a Post Code which is easily “acquired”.
I’m quite a long paying subscriber of Private Internet Access, although it’s blocked on BBC iPlayer, this should be added to your list of “List of VPNs not working with BBC iPlayer”. I probably will be thinking of switching.
https://www.vpn01.com/free30days unblocks BBC iPlayer in most countries. Always best to use a VPN provider that switches IP sockets constantly to combat blocking.
Hi Dave, thanks for the useful article!
I am trying to set iPlayer up on an Android media player (Mecool), VPN works fine, so I can watch programs in a browser, but then BBC web site does not allow me to download iPlayer app. It says that this device is not supported. My guess is that it’s because this media player does not provide proper DRM support. Netflix for example allows only lower resolution video for such devices. Any suggestion on this? Would it be reasonable to expect it to work on other Android devices?
Thanks!
Hi Vadim. Glad my article helped. Annoying that your device isn’t supported by iPlayer. That’s still part of the problem with Android, I guess. When a manufacturer makes something that’s too different (from the mainstream) not all apps will be supported.
As far as I know, BBC iPlayer works on most Android devices. It might be a little different for streaming devices though. The Amazon Firestick is a good option. And it’s cheap. You might need register to the Firestick as UK account to download iPlayer from the correct app store. Does that make sense?
Thanks for a quick reply Dave!
Cool, so it should work on other Android devices, so I’d better try on some other device. Or a Firestick. I tried to download right from the BBC website, not a Google store, so looks like it’s not a country of registration thing, but rather they were not happy about something on the device itself.
Yes, BBC iPlayer works fine on the Firestick. However, you can’t download programs on it either. You can only stream them via the app (I think). If you have an Android phone or tablet, you can download the programs and watch them offline for up to a month, I think. But that’s only via the app too.
I do have a real uk address, and at that address I pay for the full BBC license fee. When I am holiday abroad I like to be able watch the BBC news by downloading it. I was using purevpn to do this but it has now stopped working. Is there a solution to this problem ?
Hi dc. PureVPN with a dedicated IP should be all you need. Have you spoken to their support team via the Live Chat feature on the PureVPN.com website?
They told me their dedicated IPs are only in london..bbc require postcodes to register…thats not too good that london is the only option…more chance of doubling up on existing used postcodes
Hi Simon. I use a PureVPN dedicated IP with a Post Code (with a full TV license) that’s not from London. The Post Code you use to register for iPlayer with doesn’t need to match your IP location – it just needs to be from within the UK.