If you’re trying to watch ViuTV in the UK, you’ll notice the streaming service doesn’t work. But don’t worry, there’s an easy fix.
This is happening because Viu doesn’t have the rights to broadcast its content in the UK.
Viu is only available in 16 countries worldwide, and none of the nations in the UK are on that list.
To fix this problem, you need to make Viu think you’re accessing its platform from within a country where ViuTV is available. The easiest and most effective way of doing that is with a VPN.
This article will explain how to watch ViuTV in the UK using a reliable VPN.
See also:
- How to watch myTV Super in the UK: The EASY way! (2023)
- How to watch BBC iPlayer in Hong Kong: The EASY way! (2023)
How to watch ViuTV in the UK: Quick Guide
To watch ViuTV in the UK you need to follow these simple steps:
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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 a country where Viu is available (more on this below)
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Watch ViuTV in the UK
Where is Viu avaialble?
Viu is available in 16 countries around the world. These are:
- Bahrain
- Egypt
- Hong Kong
- Indonesia
- Jordan
- Kuwait
- Malaysia
- Myanmar
- Oman
- Philippines
- Qatar
- Saudi Arabia
- Singapore
- South Africa
- Thailand
- UAE
Why can’t I watch ViuTV in the UK?
You can’t watch ViuTV in the UK because the streaming service is blocking your connection.
ViuTV is only available in the countries where it has the rights to broadcast its content. It does not have the rights to broadcast its content in the UK.
If it made itself available in countries where it doesn’t have broadcast rights, Viu would be breaching the copyright and licensing agreements it has with its content partners. These sorts of breaches are often met with massive financial punishments.
Obviously, Viu doesn’t want this to happen. So to prevent these fines, it blocks anyone outside of the countries where it has broadcasting rights from accessing its service.
These blocks are why you’re running into errors when trying to access Viu in the UK.
How does Viu block my connection?
The way Viu blocks your connection is all to do with your IP address.
Your IP address is how your device and the website or app you’re connecting to communicate.
No matter what website or app you connect to, your IP address and the information stored on it is sent to that website’s servers.
The problem here is your IP address contains information that discloses your physical location. For example, if you’re in the UK, your IP address will have information stored on it that says this is a UK IP address.
ViuTV uses this to its advantage. Whenever anyone connects to ViuTV, it scans their IP address. If it finds they aren’t in a country where Viu is available, it blocks the connection. If the IP address is coming from a country where Viu is available, the content is unblocked.
How can I get around Viu’s blocks?
The way to get around these IP address-based blocks is to make it look like you’re connecting to ViuTV from within a country where it’s available.
To do this, you need to change your IP address.
The easiest and most effective way is to use a reliable VPN. We recommend ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or NordVPN ($3.19/month).
When you use these VPNs, you can select a country where you want to make it look like you’re connecting to the internet from. Once you’ve done this, you’ll be given an IP address based in that country, and you’ll also have an anonymous internet connection.
The process is very simple, download ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or NordVPN ($3.19/month), select a country from the list above, and you’ll be able to watch ViuTV in the UK.
Will any VPN work?
We recommend ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or NordVPN ($3.19/month) because they have a lot of servers worldwide, and most importantly, they have certain measures in place to ensure you can watch ViuTV in the UK reliably.
VPNs are very popular, with free VPNs being the most popular. However, this comes with some drawbacks as Viu tries to block VPNs from connecting to its service.
Viu blocks VPNs by monitoring for an abnormal amount of connections coming from the same IP address. Because free VPNs are very popular, they cannot provide individual IP addresses for all of their customers. In these circumstances, customers are forced to share IP addresses.
When Viu notices hundreds or thousands of connections coming from the same IP address, it knows it’s a VPN and blocks that connection. If your chosen VPN doesn’t have measures to get around this, it won’t be able to watch ViuTV in the UK, and worse still, you may spend money on a VPN that won’t work.
ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or NordVPN ($3.19/month) have measures to get around this. When ViuTV blocks an IP address, these VPNs will close that IP and open a new unblocked one, so there’s always one for you to connect to. This simple measure will allow you to watch ViuTV in the UK reliably.
The best VPNs to watch ViuTV in the UK
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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Is watching ViuTV with a VPN legal?
Yes, watching ViuTV with a VPN is perfectly legal, however it’s important to know that it may go against ViuTV’s terms of use.
The ViuTV terms of use state “You agree not to interfere with or disrupt the Viu Service or servers or networks connected to the Viu Service.”
What this means is if ViuTV figures out you’re using a VPN to watch the streaming service, then it could block and possibly ban your account.
With that said there are many legitimate and legal use cases for VPNs, like online privacy and anonymity. It’s fair to suggest that banning customers for using a VPN would be a heavy-handed and financially costly policy for ViuTV (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 the best VPNs use military-grade encryption, it’s impossible for streaming services to trace where you’re physically accessing its content from.
And there’s one final thing to note on the subject: ViuTV has never banned anyone for using a VPN to access its service.
For more information you can check out our article answering Is streaming with a VPN legal?
