Streaming consoles are getting widely popular these days. Roku is one of those devices that lets you stream a large variety of quality content from all across the world. Roku TV is a streaming device that has a lineup of a variety of media streaming sticks, set-top boxes, etc. So, today let's checkout best roku vpn 2021.
The Roku users have dozens of options for audio and video streaming with a huge selection of apps and channels. It includes Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, and much more. However, some of the content of the apps are blocked because of geographical or governmental license restrictions. Therefore some of the content might not be available in the location you are residing in.
But, making use of the Virtual Private Network or VPN services, you can have access to any geo-restricted content as the open VPN assigns a unique and temporary IP address to the device that you are logged into. It allows you to fool the ISP provider into believing that you are located elsewhere where the content is available.
The importance of having a VPN connection doesn't just stop there. A VPN protects the internet connection by routing it through a tunnel of encryption. This helps to prevent the observers or ISP providers, hackers, and the government from stealing any confidential information online.
Therefore, after a lot of research and review, we have selected the Best Roku VPN 2021 that will help you to overcome any restrictions to access media content on Roku through VPN. But first, let us discuss why you need a VPN for Roku and what its significance is.
Why Do You Need A VPN For Roku?
Most Roku streaming services like Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, BBC iPlayer, etc., use a technology called ‘geoblocks' that is used to control the content that you watch that is location-based.
A Virtual Private Network or simply VPN can bypass any geo-restricted content. For that, you will need to have that installed on your Roku device to fully make use of it. This tool redirects any internet traffic coming and leaving to another network, then assigns you a temporary IP address of a country of your choice. In simple terms, if you are connected to a US server, then you will be assigned an American IP.
It is necessary to hide the server address because it can detect your global position with the help of that IP. Since some content and channels are geo-restricted in other regions, having a different IP with the help of a VPN will help to trick them.
However, the VPN that you chose must have few key features. First things first, the VPN must be relatively easy to install on a router. We recommend you to use IPVanish VPN that offers dedicated apps like dd-wrt for routers. After that, you will be able to access as many websites as you want. Many VPNs can't do this, so make sure you choose IPVanish VPN over any other VPN for Roku so that it can unblock any content and give you access to any streaming sites.
You can also get a lot more benefits after you install a Virtual Private Network on Roku, which includes:
- Privacy Protection: if you have read this article from the beginning, then you might already know that VPNs encrypt all your private data traffic and keep your system secure from anyone monitoring it. This includes ISPs, government agencies, and hackers.
- Enhanced Online Security: This helps to protect your confidential information from harmful viruses, malware, government agencies, or hackers. Especially while you are connected to a public wifi hotspot or any random mobile hotspot.
- Bypassing Internet Censorship: Virtual Private Network services let you get past the government censorship by channelling your internet traffic through their own dedicated server locations in other countries and this way you can pass the geo-restrictions related to streaming services of any many countries.
Another benefit of having IPVanish VPN paired with a Roku account is that it can prevent your wifi network or internet from throttling issues as the ISP detects your activities and sets connection speeds accordingly. If you face this issue often while streaming, then IPVanish VPN could be your best choice.
Best Roku VPN 2022
One of the major drawbacks of using Roku with VPN is that the connection has to be established from the router. There are a few nifty tricks to do that, and we will discuss all that in the latter part of this article.
We have come across a plethora of VPN services to get rid of all the issues. We have tested and reviewed all the VPNs for Roku available in the market, which have been ranked according to speed, compatibility, servers, support, and refund.
When you use IPVanish VPN (our number one choice in the Best Roku VPN 2021 list), you are allowed to set DNS codes directly on your router. They also have a 30-day money-back guarantee policy, and you can access American media content even outside the USA.
With IPVanish VPN, it becomes easier to get access to streaming sites. However, there are few other VPN services that are as good and reliable as IPVanish VPN, which are worth mentioning. So we have curated our top 3 Best Roku VPN 2021, and they are:
IPVanish VPN
There's a reason why we have chosen IPVanish VPN to be the best VPN and at the top of our list. Thanks to the amazing privacy and protection policies. It owns and operates the servers instead of leasing them. The router support works extremely well.
IPVanish is the only VPN on this list that has its own dedicated VPN servers. This makes it easier to remove the third-party operator, eventually increasing the security of the data. IPVanish has over 1,600+ global servers in more than 60+ countries like US, Canada etc. Now, these figures might not be as great as other VPNs in the list, but their individual server performance is optimal.
IPVanish allows the unblocking of various popular streaming services like Amazon Prime Video, HBO Now, Sling TV, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, and other streaming services with great tv shows. IPVanish VPN has an incredible connection speed that goes head-to-head with other Best Roku VPN 2021 offers. It is capable of providing plenty of content in high resolution with zero buffering. It doesn't cap your data and gives unlimited bandwidth.
IPVanish privacy policies are fairly well organized as compared to the other VPNs on the list. Although it could be better, this VPN provider has a strict no-security-logs policy, which means that it doesn't keep records of your private information, nor does it track any of your online activities.
It has a kill switch and military-grade encryption that keeps all your private information safe while connected to the IPVanish dedicated self-owned servers. IPVanish keeps your Roku device safe through extensive router compatibility checks. Although there are many pre-configured routers available, you can set them manually too, and we will discuss how to enable internet sharing for Windows and Mac when connected to IPVanish. This is the reason why IPVanish is considered as the best Roku VPN 2021.
How To Setup IPVanish On Windows and Mac:
For Windows:
- Visit the IPVanish VPN website and go to Apps > Windows > Download Windows App
- Open the downloaded file run it
- Set the Install Location of the application. We recommend you let the installation files be in the default location. However, in case you have external drives, you can click Browse and select the appropriate drive for the application installation. Click Install
- A pop-up window will open, click Yes
- Another pop-up window will open, click Run, and then Yes
- After the installation procedure is complete, the application will redirect you to its user interface, where it will ask you to put your IPVanish login credentials. Create your IPVanish username and password. After you are provided with your IPVanish login credentials, hit the SIGN IN button.
For Mac:
- Visit the IPVanish VPN website and go to Apps > Mac > Download Windows App
- Open the downloaded file from the Downloads folder
- Drag and drop the IPVanish application to the application folder for the installation
- Get your IPVanish VPN username and password. After doing that, enter your username and password in the respective fields while the Mac client is running. Press LOGIN
- After you login into the IPVanish database, a popup window will appear with a message saying BEGIN TUTORIAL. Click that if you are a first-time user, or you can just press the SKIP icon to move further.
- After entering into the IPVanish user interface, choose country, city, and server. Click The CONNECT button and continue browsing on uTorrent.
ExpressVPN
ExpressVPN provides an all-around service with top-quality customer support, router compatibility, server connection speed, and global server coverage that makes it a good option for a solid performance. It has well over 3,000+ servers in 90+ countries, which means that you will never run out of options to find content if one server is not working for a long time.
ExpressVPN lets you get access to many streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, Netflix, and much more. The connection speed of ExpressVPN is so great that it generates enough bandwidth to stream your favorite media content in full HD and 4K resolution. There is no cap limitation, so bingeing won't cause issues.
Customer support is available 24/7 through live chat and emails. The developer's team is always there to help the customer with any queries. In case you run into any issues with the ExpressVPN service, then you go to the website's searchable knowledge base, generate a support ticket or directly send an email. They would listen to you and revert back to you immediately.
ExpressVPN has government-level security encryption with a kill switch to protect many of the other apps. They have a strict Bitcoin payment and no-security-log policy. And because there are no Roku VPN as such, router support becomes the only option left. Thus, you are in luck because ExpressVPN has support for most of the well-known routers that are pre-configured.
Just like IPVanish, ExpressVPn also has a MediaStreamer service, which allows you to stream international content with the help of DNS setting change. It is compatible with the most popular devices like Windows, Android, iOS, macOS, Amazon Firestick, apple tv, fire tv Chromebook, Linux.
NordVPN
If you are a heavy internet user and a torrenter, then you might have heard about NordVPN, which is one of the most popular VPNs for protecting your Roku device. It provides lightning-fast internet speeds and wide global server coverage, which gives fast and easy content access from across the world.
NordVPN is highly capable of meeting all your requirements for watching international content. All credits go to the massive 5,500+ server setup across 60+ countries. NordVPN unblocks streaming content from popular websites like Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime Video, etc.
It's not a surprise that NordVPN allows you to stream full HD or 4K resolution content because of its high-speed server connections. Bingeing is never a problem because NordVPN doesn't have any data cap or bandwidth limitations.
We have done a lot of research in finding the Best Roku VPN 2021, and IPVanish clearly beats all the VPNs listed. However, we have not found any issues with NordVPN either. It has a 24/7 live chat support system and also provides email support. Plus, your online security and privacy are kept perfectly protected. All your connections are kept anonymous using military-grade encryption paired with a kill switch which assures full-time privacy with no-server logs. It also accepts Bitcoin payments.
With all these features in the bank, NordVPN still lacks a few points, and one of them is that it does not have any native app for Roku. However, you can still make numerous pre-configured router models that are compatible with the Roku framework. This is just a minor drawback that doesn't affect the reputation of NordVPN as it has a SmartDNS service that allows streaming from Roku that is incompatible with VPN apps for accessing international content.
How To Connect To IPVanish On Your Roku Device
So, as we have studied before, VPN services cannot be directly used on Roku just like that. Using that does come with few complications, and today in this part, we will discuss how to set up IPVanish VPN on your Roku device.
Well, there are 2 simple methods to set up IPVanish VPN with Roku, and they are ‘Virtual Router Method' and ‘Physical Router Method'. But in this article, we will be discussing only the Virtual Router Method because it's easy to configure both in Windows and Mac.
Unlike Amazon Firestick, you cannot go to the search library and get IPVanish VPN downloaded. Roku doesn't support that. However, you can use your router settings and configure the VPN.
So how do you do that? For that, you will have to install it in the physical router. But we are here to only discuss the steps to configure IPVanish VPN in a virtual environment. So let's dig right into it.
Setting IPVanish on Roku: PC Internet Connection
You can make your PC into virtual routers to share an IPVanish VPN connection. Here is the step-by-step guide to configuring your PC
- To use IPVanish VPN with Roku, first, install the VPN software from their official website https://www.ipvanish.com
- Click the monitor icon from the taskbar and then click “Open Network Internet Settings”
- A new window will open up, then select ‘Change adapter settings
- From all the list of VPN connections, find your VPN connection (IPVanish in this case) and right-click on it, then open Properties
- Navigate to the Sharing tab, and then click on the checkmark that says ‘Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s Internet connection
- Click OK
- Now your PC is ready to be used as a Virtual Router
- Connect the Roku device to the PC hotspot
Setting IPVanish on Roku: Mac Internet Connection
You must keep in mind that we are using IPVanish VPN to connect with your Mac device to act as a virtual router. Although the steps will be the same for other VPN providers too. So let’s start with the configuration guide.
- Click on the Apple logo from the top screen and open System Preferences
- Choose Network from the System Preferences menu
- Select the + sign from the bottom left corner when the new window opens, and then add a new VPN connection
- After the pop-up opens, select them:
- Interface: VPN
- VPN Type: L2TP over IPSec
- Service name: [IPVanish VPN]
- Press Create
- Enter the following details
- Configuration Default
- Server Address: [https://www.ipvanish.com]
- Account Name: [IPVanish VPN username]
- Check box “Show VPN status in menu bar”
- Open Authentication Settings and enter your VPN login credentials account password and Shared Secret as “12345678”. Click OK
- Click Advanced > check “Send all traffic over VPN connections” before pressing OK
- Select Apply and save settings
- Go back to the Network screen > press Connect
- Navigate back into the System Preferences > click “Sharing”
- Choose “Internet Sharing”
- Now, use the below settings
- Share your connection from [The connection you just created]
- To computer using: Wifi
- Select the wifi options > enter the given information
- Network Name: [Choose any name]
- Channel: [Default]
- Security: [WPA2 Personal]
- Password: [Set a Password]
- Verify: [enter the password again]
- Go back to the sharing screen > check box “Internet sharing”
- The green light must turn on which says “ Internet Sharing: ON”
- Connect Roku to IPVanish VPN
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