If your VPN has suddenly stopped working with Showtime, don’t panic. There’s a few simple fixes you can try.
The reason your VPN has stopped working is because Showtime has identified and blocked the IP address that your VPN has provided.
In this article, I’ll explain some fixes to resolve this issue and get you watching Showtime with a VPN again.
See also:
- How to watch Philo outside the US: The EASY 2-minute method!
- Syfy not working with VPN? Try these EASY fixes!
- AT&T TV not working with VPN? There’s a simple fix!
- How to watch AT&T TV outside the US: The EASY way!
Showtime not working with VPN: Fixes
Total Time: 3 minutes
Delete Cookies
You may have noticed that some websites ask you to accept cookies. Cookies are pieces of data stored on your computer and are used to make your web browsing more streamlined. They work by recording information about your computer usage and your location.
They aren’t malicious files. However, Showtime can potentially access this information. It can use these cookies to determine your location. Whether you’re using a VPN or not, if the cookies show that your outside of the US, Showtime will block your connection.
A good place to start when trying to fix Showtime not working with your VPN, is deleting your cookies
Change to a different US server
Because VPNs are a well-known way to watch Showtime outside of its broadcast zone, the US, Showtime tries to block VPNs.
Your VPN is potentially not working with Showtime because the streaming service has been able to identify and block the IP address that your VPN has given you.
Showtime does not have the capacity to block a VPN in its entirety, but it can only block the IP address your VPN provides.
Just because it’s blocked your current IP address doesn’t mean it has blocked all of your VPN IP addresses.
Changing to a different US server will give you a different IP address, and if Showtime hasn’t blocked that one you’ll be able to watch its content with your VPN again.
Upgrade to a better VPN
If deleting your cookies and changing to a different server doesn’t fix the issue, then, unfortunately, Showtime has been able to block all of the IP addresses your VPN can provide.
It’s managed to do this because your VPN does not have measures in place to stay ahead of Showtime’s VPN blocking techniques.
You can wait for your VPN to release additional IP addresses that Showtime hasn’t blocked, however, the fact that you’ve already run into this problem means your VPN doesn’t have measures in place to get around these issues, and eventually, the new IP addresses will be blocked.The best way to fix this issue is to upgrade to a better VPN we recommend ExpressVPN ($6.67/month)
How does Showtime block VPNs?
The way Showtime blocks VPNs is all to do with IP addresses.
Showtime monitors for an abnormal amount of connections coming from the same IP address. A normal amount of connections is considered to be 8 to 10, or roughly the amount of devices in an average household.
For lesser VPNs like yours, this can be an issue. VPNs all have a similar business model. In order to be profitable, they need to have more customers than IP addresses. The problem is Showtime knows this, and it uses it to its advantage.
Because of this business model, customers are often forced to share IPs. When Showtime sees hundreds or thousands of connections coming from the same IP address, it deems it as an abnormal amount. It knows this is an IP provided by a VPN, and it blocks it.
Why does Showtime block VPNs?
The reason Showtime blocks VPNs is all to do with broadcasting rights.
Showtime, like every other streaming service, is subject to its licensing agreements. VPNs are a well-known way of watching Showtime outside of its broadcast zone.
Being able to watch Showtime outside of the US could result in the streaming service breaching its licensing agreements, and it could face severe licensing and copyright repercussions.
To avoid these issues, Showtime actively tries to identify and block VPNs from accessing its service.
Do VPNs still work with Showtime?
Just because your VPN has stopped working with Showtime, it doesn’t mean that every VPN has stopped working.
The VPNs that reliably allow you to watch Showtime from anywhere in the world, are the ones that have measures in place to get around its VPN blocking techniques.
Every VPN will sometimes have its IP addresses blocked by Showtime. However, the best VPNs reacts to this in a way that lesser VPNs don’t.
When Showtime blocks an IP address provided by ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or Private Internet Access ($2.03/month). These VPNs will close that IP address and open a new one. This simple process means that these VPNs stay one step ahead of Showtime’s VPN blocks.
Lesser VPNs don’t do this, and inevitably, Showtime can identify all of the IP addresses and block them. This is why your VPN has stopped working with Showtime.
How to fix Showtime not working with VPN?
The process is simple. All you need to do is subscribe to a VPN that has measures in place to stay ahead of Showtime’s VPN blocking techniques. We recommend ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or Private Internet Access ($2.03/month).
Not only do these VPNs have a lot of IP addresses, meaning you’ll have less chance of sharing an IP with another customer, but they also play cat and mouse with Showtime.
When Showtime blocks a ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or Private Internet Access ($2.03/month). IP address, these VPNs will open a new one and this will allow you to watch Showtime anywhere in the world reliably. It will also prevent you from running into the errors you’re running into with your current VPN again.
The best VPNs to watch Showtime
1. ExpressVPN 🥇
Why You Should Use ExpressVPN? It’s the fastest and MOST reliable VPN of 2022
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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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.
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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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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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