Home VPN Rakuten TV not working with VPN? Try these EASY fixes! (September 2023)

Rakuten TV not working with VPN? Try these EASY fixes! (September 2023)

September 1, 2023

If you’ve been using a VPN to watch Rakuten TV and it’s stopped working, don’t panic. There are a few methods you can try to fix this issue.

The reason your VPN has stopped working is because Rakuten TV has been able to identify that a VPN has provided your IP address, and it’s blocked it.

I’ll explain some methods you can try to resolve this issue, and if you read to the end of the article, I’ll explain how you can prevent Rakuten TV not working with your VPN in the future.

Rakuten TV not working with VPN: Fixes

Total Time: 2 minutes

Delete Cookies

A good place to start when trying to fix Rakuten TV not working with VPN is deleting your Cookies.

Cookies are small files used by online platforms to make your online experience better. The problem is, Cookies often store information regarding your location. They do this to make your online browsing more streamlined.

Rakuten TV can potentially access this information. If you don’t have your VPN on permanently, your Cookies will disclose your physical location. If this location is different to the location you’re connecting to with your VPN, Rakuten knows you’re using a VPN and blocks your connection.

It’s good practice to constantly delete your Cookies.
Change to a different server

Rakuten TV is available in over 40 countries in Europe and Japan. If your VPN is no longer working with Rakuten TV, it may be because the IP address you’ve been provided has been identified as a VPN IP address and has been blocked.

Rakuten TV doesn’t have the capacity to block an entire VPN. And just because your current IP has been blacklisted, it doesn’t mean all of your VPNs IPs have.

Changing to a different server will provide you with a different IP address. If Rakuten TV hasn’t identified that IP, your VPN will work with the streaming service again.
Change to a different protocol

VPN protocols are a set of rules that determine how the VPN connects to and sets up its servers.

There’s a large variety of protocols and they all work differently to each other. Some VPN protocols are fast, while some are more secure.

If your VPN supports multiple protocols, try changing to a different one to see if that fixes Rakuten TV not working with VPN.
Reinstall/Update your VPN

This is the VPN equivalent of turning it off and on again. Not the most glamorous solution, but if it works it works.

Your VPN may have stopped working with Rakuten TV because of an error it picked up. Reinstalling the VPN will give you a fresh installation and will remove any errors you may have.

It also pays to see if an update for your VPN has been released. This update may come with bug and error fixes.
Upgrade to a better VPN

If the above fixes didn’t work, your VPN isn’t good enough to work reliably with Rakuten TV. Rakuten TV has been able to identify and blacklist all of your VPNs IP addresses.

You can wait for your VPN to release new IPs that haven’t been blocked, but that can take a long time. Also, because you’ve run into this problem, your VPN obviously doesn’t have measures in place to stay ahead of Rakuten TV’s VPN blocking techniques, and you’ll run into these issues again.

The fastest and most reliable way to solve this issue is to upgrade to a VPN that does have measures in place to stay ahead of Rakuten TV’s blocking techniques. This will allow you to watch Rakuten TV reliably anywhere in the world, and it will prevent you from wasting money on a VPN that won’t work with Rakuten TV.

We recommend ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) as it’s the best VPN we’ve tested and works reliably with Rakuten TV anywhere in the world.

Why does Rakuten TV block VPNs?

Rakuten TV blocks VPNs because VPNs are a well-known way to watch a streaming service outside of its broadcast zone.

Rakuten TV is available in a lot of countries however, if you watch Rakuten TV outside of these locations, the streaming service could face severe copyright and licensing repercussions.

Rakuten TV only has the rights to broadcast its content in the countries where it’s available. Rakuten TV blocks anyone outside of its broadcast zone from accessing its content to prevent potential copyright and licensing issues from arising. Because VPNs are a good way of getting around these blocks, it tries to block VPNs as well.

How does Rakuten TV block VPNs?

Rakuten TV can’t block an entire VPN, but it can block the IP addresses it provides.

It does this by monitoring for an abnormal amount of connections coming from the same IP address. Usually, only a household of devices (8-10) are allocated the same IP address. VPNs have more customers than IP addresses. They need to do this in order to be profitable, however, Rakuten TV uses this to its advantage.

Due to the differences between the number of customers and IP addresses, VPN users are forced to share IPs with other users. When Rakuten TV sees more than a household worth of devices connecting to its service with the same IP address, it knows this is a VPN IP address, and it blocks it.

Do VPNs still work with Rakuten TV?

Yes, the VPNs that work with Rakuten TV are the ones that have IP addresses that the service hasn’t blacklisted. Your current VPN will probably release more IPs, but they’re expensive, and it could take some time.

The best VPNs to stream Rakuten TV are the ones that have measures in place to stay ahead of its VPN blocking techniques. ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or Private Internet Access ($2.03/month). play a game of cat and mouse with Rakuten TV. When the streaming service identifies and blocks an IP provided by these VPNs, they’ll close that IP and open a new one.

This cat and mouse game ensures you won’t run into problems like you have with your current VPN, and it will allow you to watch Rakuten TV anywhere in the world reliably.

Below is a list of the best VPNs to watch Rakuten TV outside of its broadcast zone. All of these VPNs have measures in place to get around Rakuten TVs VPN blocking techniques.

The best VPNs to watch Rakuten TV

1. ExpressVPN 🥇

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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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$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

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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 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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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

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$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

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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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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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$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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