If you’ve been watching Amazon Prime using Tunnelbear and it’s no longer working, Amazon has managed to block the IP address Tunnelbear has given you.
This is obviously frustrating, but there are a few actions you can try to fix the issue.
This article will explain how you can fix Tunnelbear not working with Amazon Prime so you can watch the streaming service anywhere in the world again. Also, read to the end of the article to find out how you can prevent this from happening again.
See also:
- ExpressVPN not working with Amazon Prime? There’s an EASY way to fix that! (2023)
- Amazon Prime not working with VPN? Try these SIMPLE fixes! (2023)
Tunnelbear not working with Amazon Prime: Quick Fixes
There are three easy actions you can try to get Tunnelbear working with Amazon Prime again. If one action doesn’t fix the issue, try the next one to see if it works, and by the end, you’ll be able to watch Amazon Prime with a VPN again.
-
Delete Cookies
While surfing the web, you may have noticed that some websites and apps request that you allow Cookies to be placed on your computer. In no way are these Cookies harmful; instead, they’re designed to enhance your online experience. The problem is to do that, Cookies contain information about your physical location.
Amazon Prime can potentially access this information and if the location on your Cookies doesn’t match the IP address that Tunnelbear has given you, Amazon will block the connection.
A good place to start when trying to fix Tunnelbear not working with Amazon Prime is to delete your Cookies.
-
Change to a different Tunnelbear server
Tunnelbear isn’t working with Amazon Prime because Amazon was able to identify the IP address that Tunnelbear assigned you and block it.
The good news is, just because this IP address has been blocked, it doesn’t mean all of Tunnelbear’s IPs have been. Changing to a different server will give you a new IP address, and if this one hasn’t been blocked, Tunnelbear will once again be compatible with Amazon Prime.
-
Upgrade to a more reliable VPN
If the previous two actions don’t work, unfortunately, Amazon Prime has managed to block all of Tunnelbear’s IP addresses.
To circumvent this, you’ll need a more powerful VPN.
The best VPN for Amazon Prime is ExpressVPN ($6.67/month). ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) has fast servers all over the world, and most importantly, it has measures in place that will stop all of its IP addresses from being blocked by Amazon.
On the off chance your IP address is blocked by the streaming service, ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) closes that IP address and opens a new one ensuring you can use the VPN to watch Netflix reliably wherever you are.
This will stop you from running into the same problems you’re coming across with Tunnelbear.
Why does Amazon Prime block Tunnelbear?
Amazon doesn’t only block Tunnelbear. It tries to prevent any VPNs from connecting to its service.
This is because Amazon doesn’t have the rights to broadcast all of its content internationally. Amazon’s copyright and licensing agreements with its content partners define where a certain show or movie can be broadcast. If Amazon Prime breached these agreements, it could face severe financial punishments.
Because VPNs like Tunnelbear enable you to fake your IP address and make it look like you’re accessing Amazon Prime from anywhere in the world, they could result in Amazon breaching its content agreements. To prevent this from happening, Amazon tries to block all VPN connections in order to avoid financial punishments.
How does Amazon Prime block Tunnelbear?
Streaming services banning VPN connections is nothing new. Even if Tunnelbear only recently stopped working with Amazon Prime a number of popular streaming services such as Netflix, BBC iPlayer, HBO, Disney+, and Hulu have made concerted efforts to prevent VPNs from accessing their services for years.
Amazon restricts VPN connections by keeping an eye out for unusually high numbers of connections originating from the same IP address ( more than the typical household).
Tunnelbear users are forced to share IP addresses since the VPN has more customers than IP addresses. When Amazon Prime checks connections to its service, if it detects hundreds or thousands of them originating from one IP address, it knows it’s a VPN, and it blocks the connection.
This is an issue for Tunnelbear because it isn’t equipped to deal with these blocks. The good news is ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or Private Internet Access ($2.03/month) have implemented methods to get around these blocks.
Does Amazon Prime still work with VPNs?
Yes, Amazon Prime still works with VPNs, but you must choose a VPN that is always one step ahead of Amazon’s VPN blocking methods. There best options are ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or Private Internet Access ($2.03/month)
ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or Private Internet Access ($2.03/month) play a cat and mouse game with Amazon Prime. When Amazon detects and 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 that will allow you to continuously and reliably watch Amazon Prime. Tunnelbear doesn’t do this, and as a result, you’ll come across errors when trying to watch Amazon Prime.
The best VPNS to watch Amazon Prime
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.
Special Offer for you
(30-day money-back guarantee)
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.
SPECIAL OFFER – SAVE 70%!
(30-day money-back guarantee)
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).
Special Offer – Save 83%
(30-day money-back guarantee)
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.
SPECIAL OFFER – 1-DAY FREE TRIAL
(30-day money-back guarantee)
Is watching Amazon Prime with a VPN legal?
In most countries, using a VPN is legal. There are only a handful of countries (spot the authoritarianism link) where using a VPN is illegal; these are: China, Russia, Iran, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, North Korea, Iraq, Belarus, Turkmenistan, Egypt, Eritrea, Seychelles, Suriname, Namibia, Slovenia, Nicaragua and Tajikistan.
If you’re outside these countries and are using a VPN, you’re legally allowed to do so. However, it’s important to know that using a VPN with some streaming services may breach that service’s terms of use.
If you subscribe to a streaming service, you automatically accept its terms of use. If we look at Amazon Prime’s terms of use, it states, “Due to technical and other restrictions imposed by content providers, the Service is available only in certain locations. The Digital Content (including subtitled and dubbed audio versions of Digital Content) and how we offer Digital Content to you will vary over time and by location. Amazon will use technologies to verify your geographic location. You may not use any technology or technique to obscure or disguise your location.”
This means, Amazon Prime can stop your subscription and ban you from the streaming service if you try to access its content with a VPN turned on.
However, given the wide-spread use of VPNs, plus the many legitimate and legal use cases for VPNs, it’s fair to suggest that banning customers for using a VPN would be a heavy-handed and financially costly policy for Amazon Prime (and other streaming services) to enforce.
In theory, if you’re trying to watch a streaming service (that you pay for) in a region where it does not traditionally operate, you risk having your account banned. However, the best VPNs for Amazon Prime Video use military-grade encryption, it’s impossible for streaming services to trace where you’re physically accessing its content from.
There’s one final thing to note on the subject: Amazon Prime has never banned anyone for using a VPN to access its service.
For more information you can check out our article answering Is streaming with a VPN legal?
