The Best VPNs to Watch BBC iPlayer Abroad

By far the easiest way to watch BBC iPlayer from outside the UK is to access its website on your PC or Mac.

Streaming BBC iPlayer on our MacBook using NordVPN.

Accessing BBC iPlayer’s application from abroad on your smartphone or tablet can be very simple, or quite tricky. It all depends on your app store’s country.

This is because the BBC iPlayer app is geo-locked to UK app stores i.e. you won’t see it listed on non-UK ones.

If you already have a UK Apple App Store or Google Play Store, then follow the steps outlined below.

If your app store is registered in a different country, you could get a new Apple ID or Google Account linked to the UK, although it’s quite an involved process.

We have a much quicker and simpler solution. Simply launch your VPN on your device, open your web browser app, and go to www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer, log in, and stream content via your browser instead.

If you’re looking to unblock BBC iPlayer on your Fire TV device, likelihood is that you don’t live in the UK and your device is registered to a non-UK Amazon account.

If that’s the case, bypassing BBC iPlayer’s geo-restrictions on Firestick is going to be tricky. That’s because the application is geo-locked to the UK app store, just like on iOS and Android.

You could change your Amazon country to the UK, or get a second Fire TV stick for that simple purpose, but we have a much simpler solution for you.

Head of Research Simon Migliano testing the ExpressVPN Fire TV Stick app.

Similarly to Fire TV, if your Apple ID is not linked to a UK account, you won’t find the BBC iPlayer app in your tvOS App Store.

The way around this is to create a UK Apple ID and set it up on your Apple TV. IPVanish has a helpful guide on how to do this. It’s not straightforward though, and you may want to consider using a different device.

If you have already got a UK Apple ID, then the process to unblock the BBC iPlayer app is very simple.

You can use NordVPN on a Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, and more.

The most common reason a VPN isn’t working with BBC iPlayer is because the VPN service doesn’t proactively try to unblock the service.

The only way to fix this is to get a VPN that’s capable of bypassing iPlayer’s geo-restrictions.

The best VPNs, like NordVPN and ExpressVPN, invest heavily in updating their IP addresses and staying one step ahead of detection methods, ensuring consistent access to BBC iPlayer.

The BBC’s VPN and geolocation detection systems are some of the most effective we’ve come across.

If your UK VPN server suddenly stops working with BBC iPlayer, it’s likely that the server’s IP address has been detected and blocked.

To regain access, simply switch to a different UK server. This will provide you with a new IP address that BBC iPlayer may not yet have detected.

If you’ve previously attempted to access BBC iPlayer from outside the UK or used an incompatible VPN, those cookies may cause the site to block you even if you’re now using a compatible VPN server.

In our experience, BBC iPlayer retains location data longer than other streaming services.

To remove any traces of your previous geolocation, it’s essential to clear your browser or app cache.

To clear browsing data in Chrome, click the three vertical dots in the upper right corner, select ‘More Tools‘ > ‘Clear browsing data‘, and go to the ‘Advanced‘ tab. Then, choose ‘All Time‘ from the drop-down, and check the boxes for ‘Cookies and other site data’ and ‘Cached images and files’.

The easiest way to do this on mobile is by restarting your device.

If you’re on an IPv6 connection, an IP leak could expose your true location to BBC iPlayer. To prevent this, enable IPv6 protection in your VPN app. If it’s not available, disable IPv6 in your device’s settings instead.

Run a check using our IP leak test tool to ensure an IP or DNS leak isn’t revealing your true location. If a leak is detected, then read our guide on fixing VPN leaks.

CyberGhost is generally a very good VPN to use, and it’s also one of the more affordable ones on the market.

Streaming BBC iPlayer, most of its UK servers unblocked the service although video quality was hit-and-miss. Sometimes it was very sharp, but on other occasions we did experience some picture degradation.

This is largely due to the fact that CyberGhost’s VPN speeds aren’t as fast as we’d like them to be, and fluctuate considerably over extended periods of time.

We streamed the new series of ‘Wolf Hall’ using CyberGhost’s UK servers.

IPVanish has historically struggled to work with BBC iPlayer. It has recently started to work well, although its track record suggests there’s no guarantee it’ll continue to work longer-term. Plus, not all of its UK VPN servers work with BBC iPlayer, unlike NordVPN’s.

IPVanish also doesn’t provide any web browser extensions, which are very useful for quickly connecting to a UK server without launching the full VPN app.

IPVanish has only recently started working with BBC iPlayer.

Unlike all the VPNs that made our recommended list, PIA requires you to connect to a dedicated streaming server to unblock BBC iPlayer. All of its standard UK servers are in fact blocked.

This also happened when we tested PIA with unblocking Sky Go, except the dedicated servers were ineffective too.

With only one server available for UK streaming, we noticed it was often more congested and slower than the others. Additionally, the need to connect to a specific server may not be immediately clear, particularly for VPN newcomers.

PIA’s regular UK servers are blocked by BBC iPlayer.

Surfshark is often recommended by other tech websites as a good choice for BBC iPlayer.

While it did come close to making our list of recommendations, it fell short in a few key areas that other websites won’t tell you about.

Most notably, Surfshark’s connection speeds to the UK were a lot slower than we were expecting. We experienced a download speed loss of 7%, which is much worse than NordVPN’s 10% and ExpressVPN’s 7%.

It also took longer than expected to connect to many Surfshark’s servers, in some instances taking over 10 seconds. For context, ExpressVPN typically connects in 1-2 seconds.

This delay was especially frustrating when we needed to switch servers quickly after encountering VPN blocks, which we did on a few of Surfshark’s UK servers.

• Test Conducted: Connected to a UK server and tried streaming BBC iPlayer. We repeated this over a long time period, to gauge each VPN’s reliability.
• Why It’s Important: To enable consistent access to BBC iPlayer from abroad.
• Optimal Result: A VPN that always unblocks BBC iPlayer on all of its UK servers.

• Test Conducted: Examined which apps and device compatibility features, like a router app and Smart DNS, that the VPN offers.
• Why It’s Important: The more streaming device apps a VPN has the more ways you can watch BBC iPlayer.
• Optimal Result: Apps for all major streaming devices, including Fire TV Stick, Android TV, and Apple TV. A Smart DNS feature and an app for router are also ideal.

• Test Conducted: Counted the number of UK servers on each VPN’s network, including how many city locations it offers, followed by the use of IP address checker to confirm a successful UK connection.
• Why It’s Important: UK servers enable you to get a UK IP address and the more servers there are the less congestion there is when connecting into the UK and the greater the chance of bypassing BBC geo-restrictions.
• Optimal Result: Over 100 UK servers across multiple UK cities.

• Test Conducted: We used our own speed test tool to determine the connection speed of each VPN while connected to servers in eight countries, focusing on the average speed of a US to UK connection.
• Why It’s Important: Fast connection speeds enable Full HD streaming and prevent buffering, making for a better viewing experience.
• Optimal Result: A speed loss connecting into the UK of no more than 10%