If you’ve been trying to watch Hulu using Tunnelbear and it has stopped working, the streaming service has detected and banned all of Tunnelbear’s IP addresses.
This can be inconvenient if it works one day and doesn’t the next, but there’s no need to panic. There are a few quick fixes you can try to remedy this problem.
This article will show you how to fix Tunnelbear not working with Hulu, so you can watch your favourite Hulu content wherever you are again.
See also:
- ExpressVPN not working with Hulu? Here’s an EASY fix!
- How to watch Hulu on Firestick outside the US
- How to watch Hulu on Apple TV outside US
Tunnelbear not working with Hulu: Quick Fixes
To fix Tunnelbear not working with Hulu, follow these fixes in order. If one doesn’t work, move on to the next until the problem has been resolved.
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Delete Cookies
If you’re having trouble getting Tunnelbear to function with Hulu, consider deleting your Cookies first.
Some websites and applications ask you to allow Cookies whenever you go online. These are little files that are there to make your online life more manageable. However, in order to do that, they sometimes contain information disclosing your actual location.
Hulu may be able to access your Cookies even if you’re hiding your location using Tunnelbear. If the location of your Cookies differs from the location you’ve chosen on Tunnelbear, Hulu will reject your connection
Delete your Cookies to make sure this isn’t happening.
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Change to a different US server
Hulu’s no longer working with Tunnelbear because the streaming service has detected and banned the IP address you’ve been given by Tunnelbear.
Changing servers will give you a new IP address, and if Hulu hasn’t banned that one, Tunnelbear will work again.
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Upgrade to a more reliable VPN
If steps one and two don’t work, it’s possible that Hulu has blocked all of Tunnelbear’s current IP addresses, and you’ll have to wait until Tunnelbear is able to resolve the problem before trying again. Or you can fix the problem yourself, immediately.
Using a VPN that’s compatible with Hulu is the fastest and most efficient method to solve Tunnelbear not working with Hulu. VPN services like ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) comes highly recommended by our team.
Hulu’s VPN blocks can be avoided by using ExpressVPN ($6.67/month), and you won’t have the same problems you’ve had viewing Hulu with Tunnelbear if you use these VPNs.
Why does Hulu block Tunnelbear?
Hulu is unable to broadcast its programming internationally due to a lack of international broadcasting rights. It only has the right to broadcast its content in the US.
Because of the popularity of Tunnelbear as a method to view Hulu outside the US, using this VPN could be the reason Hulu violates its content agreements. And if this happens, Hulu could potentially suffer financial punishments.
Hulu tries to block Tunnelbear from accessing its service in order to avoid these fines from happening.
How does Hulu block Tunnelbear?
For Tunnelbear to be profitable, it needs to have more customers than IP addresses. The problem with this model is customers are forced to share IP addresses, which is problematic.
Hulu uses this to its advantage. If Hulu sees hundreds of connections coming from the same IP address, it knows its an IP address that’s been provided by Tunnelbear and it blocks it.
This happens to all VPNs, but the better ones, such as ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or Private Internet Access ($2.03/month), have built-in safeguards to get around this problem. The measures that ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or Private Internet Access ($2.03/month) have in place, will enable you to stream Hulu from anywhere in the globe without running into the same issues you have with Tunnelbear.
Does Hulu still work with VPNs?
Hulu is still compatible with VPNs, but you must use one that’s Hulu-friendly. This means you need a VPN with a lot of IP addresses, and that has measures in palce to stay ahead of Hulu’s blocks.
You can wait for new IP addresses to be released by Tunnelbear that Hulu hasn’t blocked. However, this isn’t a reliable fix because, seeing as you’ve already encountered issues using Tunnelbear, it’s clear the VPN doesn’t have measures in place to get around Hulu’s blocks, and these new IP addresses will inevitably be blocked as well.
To effectively resolve Tunnelbear not working with Hulu you need a VPN that plays cat and mouse with the streaming service. issue. The best VPNs at this game are ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or Private Internet Access ($2.03/month)
When Hulu detects and bans an IP supplied by ExpressVPN ($6.67/month) or Private Internet Access ($2.03/month), these VPNs will shut that IP and open a new one. This will make sure you avoid the problems you had with Tunnelbear and it will enable you to watch Hulu without interruption from anywhere in the globe.
The best VPNs to watch Hulu
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.
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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
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)
