Peacock has recently released in the UK. However, it’s only available if you have a Sky or NOW TV subscription. This can be frustrating because Sky and NOW TV are expensive, and if you only want to watch Peacock, you have to buy a package with additional channels and platforms you probably don’t want.
Fortunately, there’s an effortless way to watch Peacock without Sky or NOW TV. All you need is a reliable VPN.
Using a VPN, you can watch Peacock for less than an expensive Sky subscription.
This article will explain how to watch Peacock in the UK without Sky using a reliable VPN.
See also:
- How to watch US UEFA Champions League coverage in the UK: The EASY way! (2023)
- How to watch 3pm Kick-offs in the UK (2023)
How to watch Peacock in the UK without Sky: Quick Guide
If you don’t want to sign up to Sky to watch Peacock, you only need a reliable VPN to watch the streaming service.
Follow these steps to watch Peacock in the UK without Sky:
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Create a new account with ExpressVPN ($6.67/month).
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Download and install the new VPN app
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Select a server in the US
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Watch Peacock in the UK without Sky
Why do I need Sky to watch Peacock in the UK?
Peacock is a streaming service owned by the US company Comcast. This is the same company that owns Sky in the UK, so naturally, Peacock is only available for Sky subscribers.
At the moment, both Sky and NOW TV subscribers have access to Peacock in the UK. It has been a soft launch, and the library of content is significantly smaller than that in the US. There’s also only one subscription tier available, which has ads unless you have Sky Boost.
Annoyingly Sky and NOW TV is expensive in the UK. A Sky subscription costs at least £26/month, and NOW TV costs around £14.99/month.
This can be frustrating if all you want to access is Peacock. Fortunately, a reliable VPN like ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or NordVPN ($3.19/month) allows you to access Peacock in the UK for significantly cheaper. And as a bonus, you can get an ad-free tier as well.
How can I watch Peacock in the UK without Sky?
To watch Peacock in the UK without Sky, you must gain access to the US version of the streaming service.
In the US, Peacock is a standalone service meaning it doesn’t require you to sign up with a tv provider like Sky. You can simply visit Peacock and watch its content.
Unfortunately, in the UK, if you visit this website and you aren’t a Sky subscriber, you’ll come across an error saying, “Enjoy binge-worthy Originals and a huge catalogue of hit TV series and blockbuster films. Now available at no extra cost to Sky and NOW subscribers in the following locations.” And you won’t be able to access any content. This has happened because Peacock has figured out you’re located in the UK.
To get around these errors, you obviously can sign up for the expensive Sky, but the best and cheaper way is with a VPN. A reliable VPN like ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or NordVPN ($3.19/month) allows you to trick Peacock into thinking you’re connecting from within the US, and this will give you access to Peacock in the UK without Sky.
How does Peacock know I’m in the UK?
This is all to do with your IP address. An IP address is a bit of code used by your device to communicate with Peacock’s servers.
Whenever you go online, you’re allocated a unique IP. The problem is your IP contains information disclosing your location.
When you visit Peacock, the app scans your IP address to determine your location. If you’re in the UK, Peacock knows you’re in the UK.
To gain access to Peacock in the UK without Sky, you must change your UK IP address to a US IP address.
VPNs like ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or NordVPN ($3.19/month) make this easy.
How does a VPN work?
VPNs like ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or NordVPN ($3.19/month) are very good ways to watch the US version of Peacock in the UK.
VPNs do two things. First, they give you an anonymous internet connection, so Peacock can’t determine your location. They do this by encrypting all your online data into an unreadable code. This means the streaming service won’t be able to tell you’re in the UK when connecting to it.
Second, these VPNs reroute your data through their own servers. Once it reaches this server, it’s decrypted and sent to a local internet service provider in a country of your choosing, the US. This will give you a US IP address.
This will allow you to trick Peacock into thinking you’re in the US. And it will allow you to watch Peacock in the UK without Sky.
Will any VPN work?
Because VPNs allow you to watch the US version of Peacock outside of the US, Peacock tries to block them from accessing its servers.
It does this by monitoring for an abnormal number of connections coming from the same IP address. This can be a problem for a lot of VPNs.
When a VPN has too many customers, it forces its customers to share IP addresses. When all those customers connect to Peacock, the streaming service can see hundreds or even thousands of connections coming from the same IP. This is abnormal as usually, only a household of devices connect to Peacock via the same IP. It makes it easy for Peacock to block that VPN, and is a particular problem for free VPNs.
To ensure you can watch Peacock in the UK without Sky, you need a VPN that meets a few criteria. First, it needs to have a lot of IP addresses, so there’s less chance you’ll share with other customers, second it needs to be fast and have servers all over the world, and lastly it needs to have measures in place to ensure it will work reliably with Peacock. ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or NordVPN ($3.19/month) meet all these criteria.
The best VPNs to watch Peacock in the UK without Sky
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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Get 3 extra months free when you sign up for a 12-month ExpressVPN plan. That’s 15 months in total for the price of 12.
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.
Special Offer for you
(30-day money-back guarantee)
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.
Special Offer – 7-day FREE trial!
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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.
SPECIAL OFFER – 1-DAY FREE TRIAL
(30-day money-back guarantee)
