If you’re trying to watch NBA League Pass with a VPN and it’s not working, the streaming service has managed to identify and block the IP address your VPN is giving you.
This has happened because the VPN you’re using either doesn’t have measures in place to ensure it works reliably with NBA League pass or the measures it does have are no longer working.
This can be frustrating if you’re trying to watch League Pass in an overseas location and it’s not working, and it can be even more frustrating if you’ve paid for a VPN that doesn’t allow you to stream the latest NBA content when overseas.
The good news is there are a number of fixes you can try to resolve NBA League Pass not working with VPN.
In this article, we’ll explain how you can fix this issue, and if you read to the end of the article, you can find out how to ensure you don’t come across these errors again in the future.
See also:
- How to bypass NFL+ blackout restrictions: The EASY method! (September 2023)
- How to bypass NBA League Pass blackouts in the US: The EASY and AFFORDABLE way! (September 2023)
NBA League Pass not working with VPN: Fixes
Follow these fixes in order until you can watch NBA League Pass with a VPN again.
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Delete Cookies
Cookies are small files stored on your device. They’re not dangerous or malicious files; they’re intended to streamline your online experience and can sometimes be downloaded inadvertently.
The problem with these Cookies is there’s a possibility they can interfere with the connection made between your VPN and NBA League Pass.
For a Cookie to enhance your online experience, it sometimes contains data regarding your actual location. If this location is different to the location you’re selecting on your VPN, NBA League Pass can potentially see this discrepancy.
If this happens, League Pass knows you’re using a VPN and blocks the connection.
Try deleting your Cookies to see if that resolves the problem.
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Change to a different server
If NBA League Pass was working with your VPN and it suddenly stopped working, chances are the streaming service identified and blocked the IP address your VPN gave you.
The good news is NBA League Pass cannot block a VPN entirely, only the IP addresses it provides.
Changing to a different server on your VPN will give you a different IP address, and if that one hasn’t been blocked, your VPN will work with NBA League Pass again.
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Change to a different protocol
Check to see if your VPN supports multiple protocols.
Protocols are a set of rules that determine how a VPN reroutes your online data through its servers. Some protocols are fast, while others are more secure.
NBA League Pass might not be working with your VPN because the protocol you’re using isn’t meeting the requirements set by the streaming service.
If possible, change the protocol and see if a different one works.
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Update/reinstall your VPN
It always pays to update your VPN to the latest version.
VPN providers often release updates that contain bug and error fixes. NBA League Pass might not be working with your VPN due to an error which may have been resolved in an update.
Reinstalling is a good idea because it removes any bugs or errors you may have inadvertently picked up and gives you a fresh installation of the software in its latest version.
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Upgrade to a VPN that works reliably with NBA League Pass
If the above fixes didn’t resolve the problem, then NBA League Pass has managed to block all of your VPN IP addresses.
This has happened because your VPN can no longer get around NBA League Pass’s VPN blocking techniques.
The best way to fix NBA League Pass not working with VPN is to upgrade to a VPN that has effective measures in place to stay ahead of these VPN blocks.
ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) works well with NBA League Pass. This is because it plays a game of cat and mouse with the streaming service.
When NBA League Pass identifies an IP address provided by ExpressVPN ($6.67/month), ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) will close that IP address and open a new one that hasn’t been blocked.
This will prevent you from running into the issues you’ve come across with your current VPN, and it will allow you to watch NBA League Pass reliably anywhere in the world.
Does NBA League Pass block VPNs?
Yes, NBA League Pass tries to block VPNs. It does this because NBA League Pass in the US is a separate streaming service from the international version.
Each version of the service requires individual payments, meaning you have to buy both in order to watch NBA League Pass around the world. If you purchase the US version, you don’t get access to the international version and vice versa. You have to buy each version.
Because VPNs allow you to spoof your location, they allow you to watch the US version of NBA League Pass anywhere in the world and watch the international version in the US. This means you don’t have to purchase both.
Obviously, NBA League Pass wants to make as much money as possible, so it tries to stop VPNs from allowing you to do this. It does this by blocking VPNs from accessing the platform.
How does NBA League Pass block VPNs?
NBA League Pass used three main techniques to block VPNs:
- The most common technique is to do with the IP addresses that your VPN can provide. VPN providers have more customers than the number of IP addresses they can provide; this means that customers can use the same IP addresses. Usually, only a household with a few devices uses the same IP address. When NBA League Pass sees hundreds or even thousands of connections coming through on the same IP address, it knows that it is a VPN, and it blocks it.
- NBA League Pass monitors for IP, DNS, and WebRTC leaks that can tip the service off if you are using a VPN.
- NBA League Pass teams up with GeoIP databases like Maxmind to identify IP addresses. If the IP address your VPN provides is on one of these databases, NBA League Pass will be able to find out where in the world you are connecting to the internet from, and it will block you.
For lesser VPNs, especially free VPNs, these blocking techniques can be incredibly hard to beat.
To ensure your VPN doesn’t get caught by these blocks, you need to use a VPN with measures in place to get around them.
Does NBA League Pass work with a VPN?
Yes, it does. I’ve been using a VPN to watch the US version of NBA League Pass reliably in NZ.
It’s important to know that you need a VPN with the infrastructure and finances to ensure it can stay ahead of NBA League Pass’s VPN-blocking techniques. The best and most reliable VPNs for this are ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or Private Internet Access ($2.03/month).
Both ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) and Private Internet Access ($2.03/month) have effective measures in place to ensure they work reliably with NBA League Pass. They’re not only super-fast and secure and have servers all over the world, but they play a game of cat and mouse with NBA League Pass.
If an IP address provided by ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or Private Internet Access ($2.03/month) gets blocked by the streaming service, these VPNs will close that IP address and open a new one. This means there will always be one for you to connect to so you can watch NBA League Pass reliably wherever you are.
This seems like a simple measure; however IP addresses are expensive, and most VPNs simply don’t have the infrastructure or financial backing to match these practices.
If you want to watch NBA League Pass reliably with a VPN you need to use ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or Private Internet Access ($2.03/month).
The best VPNs for NBA League Pass
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
Special Offer for you!
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.
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2. 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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3. 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.
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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!
(30-day money-back guarantee)
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
SPECIAL OFFER – 1-DAY FREE TRIAL
Take advantage of CyberGhost’s 1-day FREE TRIAL!
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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(30-day money-back guarantee)
