May 2, 2016 update – the Brazilian government has once again decided to block access to WhatsApp. This tine around it looks like the ban will last at least 72 hours. Don’t let censorship stop you from using WhatsApp. Follow our guide below to unblock access to any site blocked by the government or geo restrictions.
The Brazilian government has decided to block Facebook’s messaging app, WhatsApp in response to the company not cooperating with a criminal investigation. According to a related article in the Wall Street Journal, WhatsApp is wildly popular in Brazil. The WSJ estimates that nearly 100 million Brazilians use the free messaging app. That means there are millions of users without their normal means of communication today. While we’re very disappointed in the decision of the Brazilian government to block WhatsApp, the people of Brazil can still access the app by using a VPN to connect through a different country.
The key to unblocking WhatsApp and other websites or services is the ability to encrypt your traffic and send it through a server in another country. That way your government or company’s firewall can’t block access. This is true for the current situation with WhatsApp in Brazil. You can use a VPN to get around the blockade and talk to your friends and family using WhatsApp.
How to Use a VPN to Unblock WhatsApp
For our demonstration, we’ll use IPVanish as an example of how to unblock access to WhatsApp from Brazil or anywhere else by using a VPN. You will want to go ahead and download the VPN client first. IPVanish offers free client software for Windows, Mac and Linux as well as free apps for iOS and Android.
After downloading, it is time to get started. Launch the IPVanish client and select a server location. We’ll walk you through the step by step process by using their Windows client.
- Select a server location. We chose Atlanta because of low lag times, but IPVanish has many servers located around the US. As long as you choose a US based server you will be able to use WhatsApp.
- We recommend you select OpenVPN (TCP) or (UDP). Since you are going to be streaming the games, you will want to use OpenVPN (UDP). They also support PPTP and L2TP, but we still recommend OpenVPN for the best privacy protection.
- Click connect. After a few seconds you’ll see the button in the top right hand corner change from red to green and show “Disconnect”. Once you are connected, you will also notice the server location and IP address show up at the top of the client.
- We’re now located in the U.S. as far as anyone can tell online. Because of that, we can reach any site, just as if we were located in Atlanta. The same would be true if we connected to a server in the UK or anywhere else in the world.
And there you have it. It really is that simple. You now have unrestricted access to any app or service that would normally be accessible in the US, because you connected to a server there. If you wanted to watch something like BBC iPlayer outside of the UK, you would follow the same process.
If we have made it clear, you can see that a good VPN service will allow you to gain access to content from around the world. If you live outside of the US, you can access some of the popular streaming services that are country specific. Of course, for a service like Netflix, you would still need to have a subscription, but you could view content from the US, or any other region you want to watch.
Don’t let your government or anyone else block your access to websites and communication services. Please share this post with your friends so they can use WhatsApp from anywhere in the world with a VPN. Follow us @VPNFan for the latest deals and guides.