If you try using GeForce Now in NZ, you’ll come across an error that says, “GeForce Now is currently not supported in your region.”
This is frustrating, especially as there aren’t any alternatives to stream games in New Zealand.
Fortunately, there’s a way you can get GeForce Now to work in NZ. It’s easy, and it works well.
All you need is an email address, a mobile phone number and a reliable VPN.
This article will explain how to use GeForce Now in NZ so you can stream all your games on any device.
See also:
- How to watch Hulu in NZ: The EASY way! (September 2023)
- How to watch 9Now in NZ: The EASY way! (September 2023)
- 10 best board games NZ
How to use GeForce Now in NZ: Guide
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Create a new account with ExpressVPN ($6.67/month)
The first thing you need to do is create an account with ExpressVPN ($6.67/month)
GeForce Now isn’t available in New Zealand; however, it is available in Australia.
To access GeForce Now in NZ, you need to trick the service into thinking you’re accessing it from within Australia. To do that, you need to change your NZ IP address to an Australian IP address.
The easiest way to get an Australian IP is with a reliable VPN like ExpressVPN ($6.67/month).
We tested many VPNs like Tunnelbear, Surfshark, IPVanish and more. We found ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) worked the best with GeForce Now.
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Connect to an Australian server
Once you’ve downloaded ExpressVPN ($6.67/month), connect to an Australian server.
This will give you an Australian IP address.
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Create an account with GeForce Now powered by Pentanet
Nvidia partnered with Pentanet to bring GeForce Now to Australia.
Pentanet is an internet service provider located in Perth; however, it does have a presence in Sydney.
To use GeForce Now in Australia, you need a Pentanet account.
This is free to make. All you need is an Australian IP address, a mobile phone number (an NZ number will work) and an Australian postcode. (Simply Google “Australian postcode” and use one.)
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Download GeForce Now via Pentanet
Now that you have a Pentanet account, download GeForce Now via your Pentanet user portal.
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Login to GeForce Now
Once you’ve downloaded GeForce Now, use the same login details you created for your Pentanet account and log in to GeForce Now.
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Stream your games via GeForce Now
Make sure ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) is still connected to an Australian server, and you’ll now be able to stream your games from supported game libraries like Steam and Epic
Why do we recommend ExpressVPN when using GeForce Now in NZ?
There are a few reasons why we recommend NordVPN when using GeForce Now in NZ.
ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) has very reliable Australian servers. If your VPN disconnects and reconnects a lot, you’ll constantly lose connection when streaming your games via GeForce Now. Needless to say this gets frustrating quickly.
We tested what VPNs have the most secure connections. We found ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) was the most secure, and we never had any connection issues when streaming our games like Valheim, COD, Fortnite and others on GeForce Now.
Another crucial reason we recommend ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) is because of latency.
GeForce Now doesn’t have official servers based in NZ, so latency can be a big issue. If you’re not sure what latency is, it “refers to the average total time that it takes your gaming or video devices to send data to the corresponding server, and then back to your device.”
Because you’re connecting to Australian servers when using GeForce Now in NZ, the distance for your information to travel is larger, meaning the latency will be higher than if you connect to an NZ server.
The higher the latency, the more lag you’ll have when streaming games. This means when you click to shoot or select an item, for example, there will be a significant delay, making the games unplayable.
Fortunately, ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) is incredibly fast. This helps keep the latency down, and we had no lag or latency issues when using GeForce Now with ExpressVPN ($6.67/month).
Will any VPN work with GeForce Now?
Because GeForce Now isn’t officially supported in NZ, it tries to block VPNs.
It does this by monitoring for an abnormal amount of connections coming from the same IP address.
Usually, only a household of devices (8-10) will connect to GeForce Now via the same IP address. Any more than that, and the streaming service will deem it an abnormal amount.
This can be a problem for VPNs, especially free VPNs because they have so many customers that they can’t provide each user with their own IP. When this happens, they force customers to share IPs.
Now when hundreds or thousands of users using the same IP connect to GeForce Now, the streaming service knows it’s a VPN, and it blocks it.
We also found that free VPNs struggle with GeForce Now becuase they don’t have fast enough servers to keep up with the latency.
While we were able to stream our games using lesser VPNs like Tunnelbear, HotSpot Shield, and Atlas VPN we came across massive amounts of lag which made the games unplayable.
You need to make sure you get a VPN that will work with GeForce Now otherwise you could end up wasting money on a VPN that you can’t use with GeForce Now.
What VPNs work with GeForce Now?
The VPNs that work with GeForce Now are the ones that have measures to get around its VPN blocking techniques.
ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) is very good at this. First, ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) has many IP addresses, so there’s less chance you’ll share IP addresses with other customers.
Second, on the off chance Nvidia does block an IP address provided by ExpressVPN ($6.67/month), ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) will close that IP address and open a new one, so you always have an unblocked IP address to connect to.
And finally, ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) has high-speed servers that keep the latency between your device and the Pentanet servers low, so you never have latency issues or lag when streaming your games.
Below is a list of the VPNs we found were the best for using GeForce Now in NZ.
The best VPNs for using GeForce Now in NZ
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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Why isn’t GeForce Now in NZ?
GeForce Now isn’t in NZ simply because it hasn’t been released here yet.
In Australia, Nvidia partnered with an already established Australian Internet Service Provider (ISP), Pentanet, to bring GeForce Now to Australia.
If this model is to be followed, Nvidia would need to partner with Spark, Vodafone, 2Degrees or any NZ ISP to bring GeForce Now “officially” to NZ.
There hasn’t been any news regarding when or even if this will happen. At this rate, it could be years before the gaming streaming service is officially released in NZ.
Fortunately, with ExpressVPN ($6.67/month), we can use GeForce Now seamlessly in NZ right now.
How much does GeForce Now powered by Pentanet cost?
There are two subscription tiers for GeForce Now.
There’s a Free tier that doesn’t cost anything but has basic access, meaning you may have to queue to stream and only has unlimited 1-hour play sessions. When your hour is up, you’ll have to queue again.
There’s also a Priority tier which costs AUD$20/month or AUD$17/month for an annual plan.
This subscription tier allows you to skip the queues, increases the unlimited 1-hour sessions to 4-hours and enables RTX technologies.
I came across a “disconnect from VPN and try again” error on GeForce Now.
You may come across a “disconnect from VPN and try again” error when using the streaming service.
Simply turn your VPN off and continue streaming the game if this happens.
Once you’ve connected to the server with the VPN on, you can turn it off, and the streaming service will think you’re still using the same IP address.
