BBC iPlayer detecting/blocking VPN [How to fix]

June 2023 · 7 minute read
BBC iPlayer blocking VPN

VPNs are commonly used for security reasons as they provide the kind of privacy most people seek while online, through encrypted tunnels across the open internet architecture.

For people who travel a lot, and for long periods of time, VPNs come in handy both to keep data secure, while being able to access geo-restricted content whenever they want to watch their favorite shows on streaming media such as Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, or Amazon Prime, among others.

The primary reason for using a VPN, however, is to bypass internet censorship, as well as country level filtering, where there are serious censorship regulations. VPNs do this by hiding your current location and IP address such that the website you visit only sees that of your VPN, and not your real one.

If you’re a BBC fan and you’d like to access the content from a different location other than the UK, sometimes you’ll find your VPN blocked by BBC, and there are reasons why this happens.

Among these reasons is that BBC blocks VPN connections from accessing the iPlayer application, though it is hard to completely block out VPN access, which can involve manual intervention because a strong, well-configured VPN can go undetected.

In fact, some reports have said that about 60 million people outside the UK are able to access BBC’s iPlayer via VPN connections or other unblocking tools, which is a bigger population compared to those living in the UK.

This is probably why the BBC is actively stopping unauthorized users from accessing the content.

To resolve the VPN blocked by BBC issue, try the solutions below.

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Has BBC blocked VPN? Here’s how to unblock it

1. Preliminary checks

2. Change your VPN

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3. Download the latest version of your VPN

Uninstall the VPN app you’re running, sign in to your VPN account, and set up the VPN. Find the latest version for your device and reconnect, then see if you can access BBC.

To set up the VPN in Windows 10, do the following:

VPN blocked by BBC

4. Get a dedicated IP address

This may cost you a little bit more, but if you want uninterrupted streaming, go for one. A dedicated IP address is harder to blacklist because the shared ones are already on BBC’s radar.

But with a dedicated IP, you won’t be sharing with many other people, just a few selected users, which makes you look like a regular household, compared to a big company.

5. Download the latest version of your VPN

Uninstall the VPN you’re running, then sign in to your VPN account and run the setup again. Find the latest version for your device and reconnect.

6. Flush the DNS

Flushing your DNS cache allows your computer to automatically access your VPN’s DNS for the proper/correct entries. To do this:

VPN blocked by BBC

7. Manually configure DNS settings

Configure your computer with your VPN’s DNS servers’ IP addresses so that it automatically connects to your VPN’s DNS servers. Manually configuring your computer with other DNS server addresses helps you access BBC, and enjoy faster connection speeds. To do this:

VPN blocked by BBC

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8. Manually configure proxy settings

A proxy server hides your real location so you can access websites such as BBC. Ensure your browser is set to auto-detect proxy or no proxy, then use the instructions to manually configure proxy settings for your browser. To do this:

VPN blocked by BBC

VPN blocked by BBC

Let us know if any of these solutions helped fix VPN blocked by BBC error by leaving a comment in the section below.

Your connection is not secure - websites you visit can find out your details:

Companies can sell this information, alongside your location and internet provider name, and profit from it by serving targeted ads or monitoring your data usage.

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