You may have heard the term geo-spoofing in several different places. However, you may not be aware of what it is. Simply, it is the act of changing your internet location to make websites and blocking software think you are somewhere else. There a few different ways to do this, but the easiest one is to connect to a VPN server in your desired region.
The next question to answer is why you would want to? If you have access to a streaming provider and decide to travel abroad, you will see that your favorite one will block you. That happens because of the licensing rights of the service. For example, if you have Netflix, are from the US, and travel to South America, the licensing will stop you from seeing the US version unless you connect to a VPN.
Of course, you don’t have to travel to take advantage of geo-spoofing. While streaming has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years, you may still want more variety in what you watch. The BBC and other channels around the world allow users to stream free content online, providing they are are in the right geographical area. For example, he BBC software will block you unless you connect using an IP address in the UK.
Another reason to connect to a VPN is to access censored material. Of course, not every government allows you to watch certain things in the country. That is often because they ban them because of censorship laws. Whether it is because of mature, artistic, or other reasons, you can easily have issues if you are in the wrong area without access to a VPN.
How to Geo-spoof Your location
Now, we will walk you through the steps for the easiest way to do it. Just follow the directions below. Please be aware that we are using ExpressVPN in the example because we know it works.
- Sign up for a VPN service like ExpressVPN.
- Download and install the software for your favorite device, or wherever you plan on viewing. ExpressVPN offers apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android. You can use their MediaStreamer service on game consoles and set top boxes to change your DNS location to the United States.
- Once installed, select the country that you want to view content from and connect.
- Enjoy the content that would otherwise be blocked.
If you find that content providers are still blocking you, your first step is to clear the browser cache and cookies.
If you are still having issues, contacting the VPN provider’s customer support is a great option. However, let’s take a look at some other things first. Again, customer support should be able to resolve any issues you have.
- Chrome and other browsers – Chrome is the most widely used browser on the web. It and other browsers use a geolocation feature to tell where you are. Even though the VPN’s browser extension should take care of the issue, you can turn off the feature manually by going to the three vertical dots in the right-hand corner (settings) and select Advanced. Next, proceed to Privacy and security > Site settings > Permissions > Location. Toggle this to off to block location sharing. Other browsers may have similar issues, so you would need to do roughly the same thing.
- Mobile devices – Changing your geo-location is easy to do on Android. However, if you are using an iPhone, you need to jailbreak it, first. For Android, go to Settings > Security and Location > toggle location off.
No matter what your reason are for getting around the geo-restrctions, you can see there are some great reasons to geo-spoof your location with a VPN.