If you’re trying to watch ITVX outside the UK and it’s no longer working, the streaming service has managed to detect and block the IP address your VPN has given you.
This has happened because your VPN isn’t good enough to stay one step ahead of ITVX’s VPN-blocking techniques.
The good news is there are a number of ways you can fix this issue.
All you have to do is follow this guide, and you’ll be able to fix ITVX not working with VPN.
See also:
ITVX not working with VPN: Fixes
To fix ITVX not working with VPN, try these steps in order. If one doesn’t work, move on to the next until you can watch ITVX with a VPN again.
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Delete Cookies
Cookies are small files used by your device to streamline your online experience. Often, these files are downloaded inadvertently, and they work in the background.
Don’t panic. They aren’t dangerous files, they’re designed to be helpful. However, they can conflict with VPNs.
Sometimes Cookies contain information about your location. ITVX can potentially see this information, and if the location is different to the location you’re using with your VPN, ITVX will see the discrepancy and will know you’re using a VPN.
When this happens, it will block your IP address. To ensure this isn’t causing issues, delete your Cookies.
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Change to a different UK server
ITVX constantly monitors for VPN connections. It does this to protect itself from potential copyright and licensing breaches VPN use could cause.
If your VPN has stopped working with ITVX, chances are the streaming service has identified and blocked the IP address your VPN has given you.
This doesn’t always mean it’s been able to block all of your VPN IP addresses, though.
Changing to a different UK server will give you a different IP address, and if that one hasn’t been blocked, your VPN will work with ITVX again.
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Change to a different protocol
VPN protocols are sets of rules that determine how your data is rerouted through your VPN servers.
Check and see if your VPN supports multiple protocols and change to the one you’re not using.
Your VPN might not be working because the protocol you’re using isn’t fast or secure enough to work reliably with ITVX.
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Make sure your VPN is up to date
Your VPN might not be working because of an error or a bug in the software.
These sorts of issues are often resolved by the VPN, and fixes are released in updates.
Ensure your VPN is updated to the latest version to guarantee you have fixes that the VPN might have released.
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Use a VPN that works reliably with ITVX
If the above fixes don’t work, your VPN isn’t good enough to work reliably with ITVX, and all of its IP addresses have been blocked by the streaming service.
The good news is there are VPNs out there that work consistently with ITVX. We recommend ExpressVPN ($6.66/month) as we’ve been using it to watch ITVX in New Zealand reliably for months.
The reason we recommend ExpressVPN ($6.66/month) is because it’s one of the fastest VPNs on the market, it’s incredibly secure, and it has measures in place to ensure it works reliably with ITVX.
Although highly unlikely, if an IP address provided by ExpressVPN ($6.66/month) gets blocked by ITVX, ExpressVPN ($6.66/month) will close that IP address and open a new one.
This will allow you to watch ITVX reliably anywhere in the world and will prevent errors from arising like the ones you’re running into with your current VPN.
Why isn’t ITVX working with my VPN?
The reason your VPN isn’t working with ITVX is because the streaming service has managed to block all the IP addresses your VPN can provide.
Because VPNs can potentially allow you to watch ITVX in locations where it doesn’t have the rights to broadcast its content, ITVX tries to block them. If it didn’t, it could face severe financial repercussions.
The best VPNs, like ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or NordVPN ($3.19/month), have measures in place to get around ITVX’s VPN blocks. However, if you’re VPN has stopped working, it either doesn’t have these sorts of measures in place, or the ones it does have are no longer staying ahead of ITVX’s blocks.
How does ITVX block my VPN?
ITVX uses three main techniques to block VPNs:
- The most common technique is all to do with the IP addresses ExpressVPN can provide. ExpressVPN has more customers than IP addresses, and this results in customers having to share IPs. ITVX monitors for an abnormal amount (more than a standard household) of connections coming from the same IP address. When it sees hundreds or thousands of connections coming from the same IP, it knows that this is an ExpressVPN IP address, and it blocks it.
- ITVX monitors for IP, DNS and WebRTC leaks that can tip the service off you are using a VPN.
- ITVX teams up with GeoIP databases like Maxmind to identify IP addresses. If the IP address your VPN provides is on one of these databases, ITVX will be able to find out where in the world you are connecting to the internet from, and it will block you.
Can I watch ITVX with a VPN?
Yes, you can. I’ve been watching ITVX in New Zealand with ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or NordVPN ($3.19/month) reliably for years.
What you need to do is ensure you’re using a good enough VPN to work reliably with the streaming service.
This means you need a VPN that’s fast, has reliable UK servers, that’s secure and, most importantly, has measures in place to stay one step ahead of ITVX’s VPN blocking methods.
ITVX is getting good at blocking VPNs, so you need one that can play a game of cat and mouse with the streaming service. If ITVX blocks an IP address provided by your VPN, the best VPNs will close that IP address and open a new unblocked one for you to use.
This seems simple. However, it requires a substantial amount of infrastructure and financial backing. Most VPNs simply can’t do this. Fortunately, ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or NordVPN ($3.19/month) can.
The best VPNs for ITVX
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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