TF1 is a great platform for watching all your favourite French shows outside France, but you’ll need a VPN if you want to use the website outside France.
If your current VPN isn’t working, TF1 may have blacklisted the IP address your VPN has given you.
Dealing with a VPN that has had all its IP addresses blacklisted by TF1 is infuriating. But the good news is there’s a number of fixes you can try to resolve this issue.
Follow the methods below in order. If one doesn’t work, move onto the next until you’ve fixed TF1 not working with VPN.
See also:
- How to watch TF1 outside France: The EASIEST method! (June 2023)
- How to watch France.tv outside France: It’s EASY! (June 2023)
TF1 not working with VPN: Fixes
Delete Cookies
If you’re ever accepted Cookies on a website or app, TF1 might be accessing these files to determine your location, regardless of if you’re using a VPN or not.
Cookies are small files that are designed to streamline your online experience, however to do that, they contain information about your location.
TF1 could potentially be accessing this information to figure out you’re outside of its broadcast zone (France) and subsequently blocking your VPN connection.
A good place to start when trying to fix TF1 not working with VPN is deleting your cookies.
Change to a different French server
If your VPN has suddenly stopped working with TF1, then the streaming service has most likely blocked the IP address your VPN has given you.
Fortunately, TF1 doesn’t have the ability to block a VPN in its entirety, only the IP addresses it provides.
If you change to a different French server, you’ll be given a different French IP address and if TF1 hasn’t blocked that IP, your VPN will work with TF1 again.
Upgrade to a better VPN
If neither steps one nor two fix TF1 not working with VPN, then your VPN has had all of its IP addresses identified and blocked by TF1.
TF1 has managed to do this because your VPN doesn’t have measures in place to get around TF1’s VPN blocking techniques.
You could wait for your VPN to release new IP addresses that haven’t been blocked by TF1, however seeing as you’ve run into this problem already, it will only be a matter of time until TF1 blocks these IP addresses as well.
To resolve this issue, you need to upgrade to a VPN that does have measures in place to get around TF1’s blocks. We recommend, ExpressVPN ($6.67/month)
How does TF1 detect a VPN?
Let’s assume your current VPN isn’t the best when it comes to keeping your identity hidden from third parties. If that’s the case, when you log onto TF1 online, the website will spot that you’re in a restricted region and lock the content up.
Unreliable VPNs give your location up to TF1 far too easily. This happens because lesser VPNs have a lot more customers than IP addresses. This forces customers to share IP’s.
When hundreds of customers connect to TF1 via the same IP address, it’s obvious that it’s a VPN IP address.
It’s obvious because usually, only a household of devices (8-10) use the same IP address to connect to TF1. So when TF1 sees this abnormal amount of connections coming from the same IP address it blocks the connection.
Why does TF1 block VPNs?
TF1 blocks VPNs because they’re well-known ways of watching TF1 content outside of its broadcast zone.
Customers using VPNs to watch TF1 outside France, could result in TF1 facing severe financial repercussions as it will be in breach of its copyright and licensing agreements, that stipulate it can only broadcast its content in France.
To prevent this from happening, TF1 attempts to block VPNs from accessing its service.
How can I get around TF1’s VPN blocks?
There’s no 100% guaranteed way to get around TF1’s VPN blocks however there are VPNs out there that will allow you to watch TF1 reliably anywhere in the world.
All VPNs have more customers than IP addresses, that’s just how their business model works. Even the best VPNs like ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or Private Internet Access ($2.03/month) will have their IP addresses identified by TF1 on occasion.
However, its how these VPNs react to their IP addresses being blocked, that sets them apart form lesser VPNs, like the one you’re using.
When an IP address provided by ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or Private Internet Access ($2.03/month) is blocked by TF1, these VPNs will close that IP address and open a new one. This will allow you to watch TF1 anywhere in the world reliably and it will stop the issue you’ve come across with your current VPN from happening in the future.
The best VPNs to watch TF1
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
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.
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(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)
