Does NordVPN work with Netflix?

Netflix is a household name that’s in many homes because, no matter where you are in the world, it’s packed with quality content across licensed and original TV series and movies. That’s why we’ve got articles dedicated to the best TV shows on Netflix or the best movies on Netflix in Australia.

Speaking of Netflix Australia, while the library has expanded since launch to now include more than 5000 titles, outside of Netflix Originals, there are different TV series and movies that Netflix users in other regions can access that we can’t (and the inverse is true). This is where reliable virtual private network (VPN) software like NordVPN can help out.

Yes, NordVPN works with Netflix. This means that no matter where you are in the world, you can use NordVPN to access other Netflix libraries. Simply connect to a region with the Netflix library you’d like to access, then bring up Netflix to see that region’s library of content. The easiest way to tell that you’re connected to a different Netflix region is to scroll down to the ‘Top 10’ list. If, for instance, you were connecting to the Australian Netflix library with NordVPN, it would say ‘Top 10 in Australia Today’, whereas the American Netflix library would say ‘Top 10 in the U.S. today’.

According to this NordVPN support page, the following regions are available for “secure access to Netflix”:

NordVPN mobile users are encouraged to the direct links from this page to securely watch Netflix via NordVPN from their mobile devices (except for Netflix Finland).

* NordVPN notes that the Netflix US library is available in other countries that aren’t listed above, which means you may be able to glean better speeds by connecting to countries closer than America that use the Netflix US library.

You can access Netflix libraries form outside of your region, but technically you shouldn’t. NordVPN makes a point of saying that its service shouldn’t be used to bypass copyright regulations. The Netflix terms of use state that signing up for the streaming service means you agree to not circumvent content protections and that you agree to viewing “the Netflix content primarily within the country in which you have established your account and only in geographic locations where [Netflix] offer[s its] service and have licensed such content.”

This technically means that Netflix could ban your account, even if account bans for VPN circumvention have not been widely reported. What is more widely reported is that particular VPNs are either temporarily or permanently blocked, which means you won’t be able to access Netflix libraries in those regions.

While major VPN providers tend to automate VPN connections by automatically selecting the best server for you once you select a country, you can manually connect to specific regions and additional servers in the countries these VPNs offer. If you connect to one of those servers and are told that Netflix is blocked, try another region/server in the same country.

For NordVPN, search for the country you’re after, like “United States”, then scroll through the list of servers by region and pick a different one.

It’s all about licensing. Because global licensing of content isn’t really a thing and because there are many competing streaming services around the world, certain content isn’t available to license for Netflix, depending on the region. In Australia, for instance, different channels and streaming services are competing for licensed content, including Binge, Stan, and Prime Video.

Unless you nab a special, NordVPN is offered in one-month or 12-month offerings. Opting for monthly means it costs $11.95 per month, whereas a full year costs $59, which works out to roughly $4.92 per month.

NordVPN is one of the most popular VPN services around, but there are others that work with secure access to a number of Netflix regions around the world.

• CyberGhost
• Express VPN
• Hotspot Shield
• Norton Secure
• Private Internet Access
• SurfShark

While free VPNs like ProtonVPN may allow you to securely connect to Netflix libraries from around the globe, they tend to be restricted in terms of number of servers, available data, number of devices that can connect, and overall speed. Because VPNs are relaying your internet traffic through external servers, your overall internet speeds are impacted, which is an important consideration when matching internet connection with VPN.

The answer to how fast your internet needs to be for VPNs varies based on a few factors. For instance, time of day can impact your overall home internet speed, which means you’re already dealing with slower speeds before connecting to a VPN. If you have a lot of devices competing for finite internet bandwidth, this will also impact speed for any device/s connecting to a VPN.

While Netflix is playable with speeds as low as 0.5Mbps, this stretches to 5Mbps for HD playback. For that 5Mbps HD playback requirement, you should be able to comfortably stream Netflix from around the world with NBN Basic II, which has download speeds of up to 25Mbps.

Here’s a look at 10 of the most popular NBN Basic II plans.

Netflix says that you need to be able to hit 25Mbps download speed to watch 4K Netflix content. Given the speed lost by connecting to a VPN, particularly VPN servers that are on the other side of the world, an NBN Standard plan should be sufficient (with download speeds of up to 50Mbps).

Here’s a look at 10 of the most popular NBN Standard plans.

The answer to this varies by provider but, according to PCMag’s tests, NordVPN’s download speed percent change is 63 percent. This means that an NBN Basic II plan whose maximum download speeds tap out at 25Mbps may only be capable of speeds of around 9.25Mbps. This is why it’s best to opt for the next NBN speed tier above your desired streaming quality if you plan on using a VPN for streaming.

That said, our NordVPN tests with an American server had a speed change of around 16 percent, which isn’t a massive impact to overall internet speed, unless you’re dealing with NBN Basic I.