Content providers tend to place geo-based restrictions on who can access their content. In an effort to enhance the user experience by serving relevant content — which is often misguided — they can feed you a version of their content or website layout that you just don’t like. Any of these things can be quite inconveniencing and annoying. This is so especially if you love traveling since you can essentially be prevented from enjoying shows and services that you are used to, just because you are abroad.
The good news is that you can get around most internet restrictions by simply hiding your IP address. What is even better is the fact that hiding your IP address is easy, and it does not call for you investing a lot of money in complex software. The following are some of the best ways to break internet restrictions by hiding your IP address.
Use A Good VPN:
VPN services offer the best privacy protections online. This is because companies that provide these services use an extensive network of servers that are geographically distributed in order to mask the origin of a request. Therefore, with a VPN, you can easily access a website and make it look like you are accessing it from any country or continent that you choose.
The simplicity of most VPN interfaces, and the fact that the setup processes tend to take no more than a few minutes, makes this one of the easiest and most convenient ways to access geo-blocked content. This is so especially when you consider the fact that most VPNs are incredibly affordable and that there are even free VPN services that anyone can use.
What makes getting a VPN a no brainer is the fact that you don’t just get privacy protection. VPNs tend to come with high-end encryptions and protections that make accessing the internet safely. And since most services allow up to 5 simultaneous connections, they are worth spending money on.
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Use A Proxy:
Masking your internet location and identity with a proxy server can also work when it comes to unlocking geo-restricted content. When you use a proxy server, you are essentially getting another server to make requests and receive information on your behalf, before transmitting the results back to you. Therefore, technically, you are not the one who will be accessing the content or the service, which means that the content provider will not be able to see your IP address. This is because they will be interacting with the proxy server.
Are you looking for a free IP address? If so, you should definitely look into taking advantage of websites that offer free proxy server services.
While proxy servers are just as effective as VPNs when it comes to helping you unlock blocked content, they have a limitation in terms of the privacy and security protections that they provide. They do not encrypt your data, and the degree to which they can protect your identity is limited. Furthermore, this method of hiding your IP tends to be a little bit slower when compared to VPNs.
Use Public Wifi:
If there are restrictions placed specifically on your IP address due to things like suspicious activity, you can get around restrictions by simply using the WiFi in an airport, local coffee shop, or even hotel. Changing your internet access source will automatically change your IP address, and this is what will happen when you use public WiFi.
Public WiFi also offers a certain degree of protection. This is because a lot of people use public networks at the same time. Therefore, pinpointing your exact activity can be a little bit tricky for someone to do. And while this is not the most reliable privacy protection there is, it is still better than using your own IP address.
However, it is important to note that there is a major limitation to this method. Since most geo-blocking restrictions apply to entire countries or even continents, hiding your IP by using a public WiFi will not be of much use since the IP of your WiFi will still be originating from your country or continent. Therefore, this method is only useful when it comes to bypassing restrictions that are specific to an IP address.
Use Tor:
If you want to completely remain anonymous, you can take advantage of the advanced encryption that Tor provides. This is a free method of hiding IP addresses and it is thus accessible to anyone. Therefore, if you are looking for a free way of bypassing online restrictions, this is a service that you should try.
The only problem with using Tor is that it is slow. As a result, using services live VPNs and proxies might be more attractive options especially if you intend on bypassing restrictions in order to access content that relies on high internet speeds.
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