Getting Around the Netflix Ban on VPNs

How a Virtual Private Network works is as follows:

When you type in the address of an URL, such that of as Netflix USA’s site, into your browser, what happens is that the web browser first sends a request to the web server that hosts the Netflix USA site. The web browser looks at the IP address associated with the request, and makes a decision to allow/forbid access. This is why you cannot view the content on Netflix USA, which has a massive 9,000 titles when compared to Netflix Australia’s 1,000.

When you use the services of a Virtual Private Network, a VPN server that is physically located in the United States is placed between you and the internet. It intercepts outgoing traffic, replaces the IP address on the request with that of its own, and then forwards it to the web server. The Netflix USA site server would see the request as having originated from an IP address in the country, and allow access to the content. It is the VPN server that receives all data from the Netflix USA site, but everything is forwarded to you in Australia.

This worked for a while, until Netflix figured out Australians were accessing content meant for American audiences this way. It monitored traffic for a while, figured out the IP addresses of the VPN servers, and moved to block them. Simply put, you cannot access Netflix USA content by using a VPN anymore, if you are located outside the United States.

Is there a solution?

Peer-to-peer VPNs may be the answer. P2P VPNs work on the same principle as a standard VPN, only there are no ‘servers’. P2P VPN services sign up clients and route traffic through each other’s computers. So when you try to access Netflix USA content, your request is forwarded to another user’s computer in the United States. The P2P VPN client software does the needful to ensure that your Australian IP address is replaced by an American residential IP address, before the request is sent to the Netflix USA site server. Because the latter sees nothing amiss, the request is granted, and you are able to view Netflix USA content on your own computer after the content is first sent to the computer at the American IP address. The P2P VPN software installed on that computer then sends the content to you. This is how you can view Netflix USA content on your own computer in Australia.