In addition to being an essential tool for protecting your online privacy, the best VPN services also have the ability to circumvent location restrictions on streaming sites VPNs allow you to hide your online activity and browse the Internet as if you were elsewhere VPNs allow you to hide your online activity and browse the Internet as if you were in another location.

VPNs can make it look like you are accessing the Internet in another country so you can have full access to that country's Netflix or Amazon library. This is useful if you want to check out shows at home while traveling or simply want to explore what is available around the world.

But what makes a streaming VPN. This article discusses a few things to look for when choosing a provider.

Many VPNs can slow down your Internet connection speed for a variety of reasons, including overcrowded servers, high levels of encryption, and distance from the VPN server's location. While you may not notice the problem while browsing the Internet normally, slow speeds can ruin your streaming experience.

To avoid long buffering times and low video quality when streaming, you need a VPN that is fast when connecting without sacrificing privacy quality.

There are two reasons to look for a variety of servers: to avoid congested servers and to access as much streaming content as possible.

Many free VPN services offer only a handful of servers for users to choose from, which means that thousands of users will be accessing the same two or three servers at the same time. This results in extremely slow connection speeds, which may be fine for normal Internet browsing, but makes streaming almost impossible. Almost all free services have data limitations, and streaming access itself is also limited, but there are free Netflix VPN services that are available out there

When looking for a VPN for streaming, look for one that has multiple servers in the country you want to use. That way, if one server is busy, there are plenty of others to connect to and you can stream to your heart's content.

You may also want to look for a VPN that has servers in a variety of countries; the more countries the VPN can connect to, the more streaming options you will have.

Many streaming sites try to block VPN access to their content. Good VPNs are constantly updating how to get around these blocks, so you can always access the streaming content you want.

For example, Netflix and Amazon are notorious for blocking IP addresses that they know come from VPNs. Ideally, VPN services can circumvent IP blocking by constantly adding new IP addresses that users can connect to.

Another common method that streaming sites use to block VPN activity is Deep Packet Inspection (DPI). This involves searching incoming Internet traffic for signs that it is coming from a VPN and blocking it if the signs are there. However, many VPNs can disguise their activity and make it appear as if it is coming from a normal Internet connection.

If you want to use a particular streaming site, be sure to do your research and see if a particular VPN has had trouble connecting to that site in the past - and for starters, check the live page of which VPNs work with Netflix. [You never know when your connection speed will slow down or a streaming site will be blocked, so one of the most important things to consider when choosing a VPN is that they have a solid customer service team that can help you if something goes wrong.

For example, ExpressVPN has 24/7 live customer service available via email or text, so if you have a streaming problem late at night, someone will be there to help.

Not all VPNs are created equal when it comes to streaming. Even if it is fine for normal Internet browsing, you may not be able to crack the VPN block on BBC iPlayer or watch Netflix in full quality.

If you are currently on a free service, your best option for a high-quality streaming experience is to upgrade to a paid VPN; in addition to ExpressVPN, we recommend looking into NordVPN or Surfshark.