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How to watch Sling TV outside the US: The EASY method! (May 2022)

May 1, 2022

If you’re trying to watch Sling TV outside the US, you’ll notice an error saying, “Sling TV is only available inside the US.”

This can be frustrating, especially if you’re a Sling TV subscriber. However, don’t panic. There’s an easy way to get around this issue.

All you need to do is make Sling TV think you’re accessing its service from inside the US.

This sounds complicated; however it’s very simple. All you need is a reliable VPN.

In this article, I’ll explain how you can get a reliable VPN that will work with Sling TV, and how you can use it to watch Sling TV anywhere in the world.

How to watch Sling TV outside the US: Quick Guide

To make Sling TV think you’re inside the US, you need a US IP address.

The easiest way to get one is using a VPN.

All you need to do is follow these simple steps, and you’ll be able to watch Sling TV from anywhere in the world:

Total Time: 2 minutes

Create a new account with NordVPN ($3.49/month) or Ivacy ($1.33/month).
Download and install the new VPN app
Select a server in the US
Watch Sling TV from anywhere in the world

What is Sling TV?

Sing TV is a cable TV alternative that allows users to watch live sports, news, tv shows and movies.

Sling TV lets you watch live TV at a lower price than cable and satellite packages, costing only USD$35/month. You can also sign up for addons like Showtime.

Plans are customisable and Sling TV is compatible with most streaming devices.

Why can’t I access Sling TV outside the US?

The reason you’re running into errors when trying to watch Sling TV outside the US, is all to do with broadcast rights.

Sling TV is a US streaming service that only has the rights to broadcast its content in the US. It does not have international broadcasting rights.

Sling TV uses geo-blocking technology to stop anybody outside the US from accessing its service to protect itself from potential Copyright and licensing issues.

These geo-blocks are the reason you’re running into the “Sling TV is only available inside the US,” error.

How can I get around Sling TV’s geo-blocks?

The way these geo-blocks work is all to do with your IP address.

When you go online, you’re allocated a unique IP address. This IP is used to communicate between your device and the service you’re going to. When you connect to Sling TV, your IP is sent to its service. Sling TV then scans that IP address and sends information back to your device.

For this communication to work, your IP address needs to contain information about your location. When Sling TV scans your IP address, it can see this information, and if it finds you’re outside of the US, it will block your connection.

The way to get around this is to make Sling TV think that you’re watching from inside the US. To do that, you need a VPN that works with Sling TV and can provide a US IP address.

What is a VPN?

A VPN not only provides you with an IP address from a country of your choosing, it also gives you an anonymous internet connection where your location cannot be determined.

VPNs work by encrypting all of your online data and rerouting it through one of their servers. You can choose this server, and the country where it is based is where you’ll get a spoofed IP. Once your data reaches this server, it is decrypted and sent to a local internet service provider.

Basically, all you need to do is subscribe to a VPN, connect to a US server, and you’ll be given a US IP address. Sling TVs geo-blocks will no longer stop you from connecting to its service outside the US.

Will any VPN work?

VPNs have become very popular. One in three people now use VPNs worldwide. Because of this popularity, there has been an influx of both good and bad VPNs.

The bad VPNs have trouble working with Sling TV. This is because Sling TV tries to prevent VPNs from connecting to its service.

It does this because it knows that VPNs effectively allow people to watch its content outside of its broadcast zone.

Sling TV blocks VPNs by monitoring for an abnormal amount of connections coming from the same IP address (where abnormal means more than an average household.) For lesser VPNs, this can be a problem. These VPNs have more customers than IP addresses, and this forces users to share IPs. When Sling TV sees hundreds or thousands of connections coming from the same IP address, it knows that this is a VPN and blocks it.

These VPN blocking techniques can catch even the best VPNs. However, the best VPNs have measures in place to stay one step ahead of these blocks.

VPNs that work with Sling TV

The best VPNs to watch Sling TV are NordVPN ($3.49/month) or Ivacy ($1.33/month). These VPNs have reliable US servers and a lot of IP addresses. This means you have less chance of sharing an IP with another user.

They also play a game of cat and mouse with Sling TV. If Sling TV identifies and blocks an IP address provided by NordVPN ($3.49/month) or Ivacy ($1.33/month), these VPNs will close that IP address and open a new one. This allows them to stay one step ahead of Sling TV’s blocking techniques, and it means you can reliably watch Sling TV from anywhere in the world.

The best VPNs to watch Sling TV

1. NordVPN

The BEST VPN of 2022

Pro

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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$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 its 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 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 tunnelling 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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2. Ivacy

The BEST low-cost VPN

Pros

Fast servers
Thousands of IP addresses
Dedicated streaming servers
5-simultaneous connections
24/7 Live Chat
30-day money-back guarantee

Cons

Only 5 devices
Sometimes runs slow
Occasionally blocked by streaming sites

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$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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3. ExpressVPN

A very reliable and fast VPN

Pros

Fast servers
Thousands of IP addresses
10-simultaneous connections
24/7 Live Chat
30-day money-back guarantee
Easy-to-use app

Cons

Expensive

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$6.66/month for 15 months
$9.99/month for 6 months
$12.95/month for 1 month

ExpressVPN is still one of the best VPNs you can buy. However, we’ve got it ranked in the number three spot for a couple of reasons. First of all, it’s the most expensive VPN on the market. This was understandable when it was also the fastest and most reliable VPN too. But now it’s not. NordVPN is. ExpressVPN has recently been struggling to unblock some big streaming sites – BBC iPlayer and BeIN Sports – too. And importantly, it ALWAYS has servers that are open with major streaming sites such as Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video etc. ExpressVPN is usually very good at playing Cat and Mouse with online streaming sites (apart from BBC iPlayer). 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 prevent its IPs from getting blacklisted for “abnormal” usage in the first place.

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4. Private Internet Access

The BEST mid-range 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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$2.19/month for 3-years
$3.33/month for 1-year
$11.95/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-days 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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5. CyberGhost

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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$2.75/month for 3 years
$3.69/month for 2 years
$5.99/month for 6 months
$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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