VPN Not Working With YouTube TV? Here is How To Fix it (2025 Edition)

At a Glance

YouTube TV is a service YouTube offers that lets you stream “must-see shows, movies, local sports, and news on ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, and more.” However, YouTube TV is only available in the United States. If you happen to be located literally anywhere outside of the U.S., YouTube TV will be unavailable to you.

That is unless you use a Virtual Private Network (VPN). But you knew that, right? So you fire up your VPN app, connect to a server in the United States, and… Dang! It’s not working!

Can a VPN Help Me View YouTube TV?

YouTube TV and other streaming services block users who attempt to connect from other countries. They’ve become quite adept at discovering when a user is connecting from abroad and blocking them. This is already bad news, but the worse news is that not every VPN service provider on the market is fit to access YouTube TV.

Because it’s so difficult for a VPN provider to access YouTube TV and other streaming services, many have simply given up on offering access. Only the best of the best fight to continue providing access to their users.

Why YouTube TV Blocks VPN Providers

Nowadays, accessing YouTube TV from outside of the U.S. is nearly impossible, even with a VPN. But it wasn’t always this way.

It used to be rather simple to access YouTube TV with nearly any VPN. But the streamer caught on to the VPN trick quickly and began blocking VPN-provided IP addresses left and right.

YouTube TV does this because of the contracts that it’s signed with TV and movie producers and the networks it offers access to. These contracts require YouTube TV to restrict access only to users within the U.S. so that those companies can sell and resell their content to other streaming providers in other countries.

It doesn’t matter whether or not you’re using a VPN. If YouTube TV detects that you’re trying to access their content from outside of the United States, you’ll be booted from the show.

How YouTube TV Blocks VPN Users From Their Content

The way a VPN works is that it gives your device a new (temporary) IP address when you connect to one of its servers. The IP address you get depends upon which country you connect to.

For instance, imagine that you’re currently physically located in Prague, Czech Republic. If you connect to a VPN server in the United States, you could appear to the internet as though you’re actually someplace in Chicago, United States.

Most of the time, when you’re using a VPN-provided IP address, that IP address is shared with other users. This makes it a “shared IP address.” That makes the VPN server similar to your home WiFi router, presenting a sole IP address to the outside world, while routing all requests and responses to the proper devices connected to it.

While shared IP addresses are great for many reasons, like anything in this world, they come with their drawbacks.

On the positive side, a shared IP address gives you increased anonymity. If many users are all using the same IP address, then it’s harder for anyone to trace your online activities back to you.

On the negative side, however, if a bunch of users using the same IP address are all trying to connect to the same streaming site – for example, YouTube TV – then the streamer will notice that multiple accounts are attempting to access YouTube TV, but they all have the same IP address.

This will make them suspect that the IP address all of these accounts are using actually belongs to a VPN service.

Once they conclude that the IP address belongs to a VPN service, they will add that IP address to a “blacklist,” which means it will be blocked from accessing any of the provider’s content.

VPN users, realizing they no longer have access to the streaming service, will often report the issue to customer support. If the VPN is any good, it will respond by setting up new, unblocked IP addresses for its customers to use.

But it’s only a matter of time until YouTube TV detects that that new IP address also belongs to the VPN service, and around and around we go.

Not every VPN can keep up with this continual game, therefore not offering reliable access to streaming service providers like YouTube TV. However, there are a couple that still put in the effort and succeed. The best of these is NordVPN.

Best Blocked YouTube TV Workaround: NordVPN

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NordVPN is your best bet for reliable access to YouTube TV. In addition to YouTube TV, NordVPN offers international access to Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+, and many others.

You can check out a full review of NordVPN and how we test VPN providers.

1. Connection Speeds

It should be pretty obvious that connection speed is critical when you’re streaming, especially if you prefer HD or 4K content. You don’t want to deal with extended buffering times, low resolution or constant pauses during your favorite shows or movies.

NordVPN’s connection speeds are impressively fast, scoring in the top five in my most recent round of speed tests. This means that you can stream all of that YouTube TV content in HD or 4K with no problems (depending on your usual, ISP-provided speeds, of course).

When you choose NordVPN, you’ll get unlimited bandwidth and no data caps.

2. Global Server Coverage

It’s true that you just need a VPN service provider to offer U.S. VPN servers in order to access YouTube TV. However, it’s also true that a VPN comes in handy for unblocking a load of other streaming services, so a large global server network is quite the boon.

NordVPN offers 5,600+ high-speed servers in close to 60 countries around the globe. The U.S. is, of course, included.

Not only will you have the ability to unblock YouTube TV, but also other streaming sites, gaming sites, financial services, and other sites and services that you normally can’t access from abroad.

3. Online Security & Privacy Protection

No matter what online activity you’re performing, you’re always at risk of falling prey to hackers or having your government or Internet Service Provider spying on your internet travels. But you don’t have to worry about that when you’re using a VPN like NordVPN.

NordVPN offers government-grade 256-bit AES encryption to protect your internet connection. Plus, kill switch protection and IP/DNS leak prevention further provide excellent online security. NordLynx is NordVPN’s proprietary connection protocol, based on WireGuard, which provides increased security as well as performance.

When it comes to privacy, NordVPN also excels, saving no logs of your online activities and letting you pay with the privacy-protecting Bitcoin cryptocurrency if you so choose. Sign up with a toss-away email address, and score added anonymity.

The provider also runs all server operations completely from RAM, writing no data of any kind to a physical hard drive. This means all data gets totally wiped from the server whenever it is rebooted, shut down, or even unplugged and moved to another location.

NordVPN is also currently in the process of moving all of its server operations to an owned-and-operated model. This keeps third-party contractors away from your precious private information.

4. Additional Services

Alongside its quality VPN service, NordVPN also offers other protective services, including malware protection, tracker and ad blocking, and more.

5. Multi-Platform App Support

YouTube TV is available on many different mobile, desktop, and streaming platforms. That makes it important for your VPN service provider to offer some kind of support for these devices.

NordVPN offers native apps for macOS (with native M1/M2 Mac support), Windows, Linux, iOS, Amazon Fire, Android TV, and Android device platforms. In addition, the provider offers browser extensions for the Chrome, Edge, and Firefox platforms.

PlayStation (4 and 5), Xbox (One and Series S & Series X), and smart TV owners can also access geo-controlled content thanks to NordVPN’s SmartDNS service. (Be warned, a DNS service doesn’t encrypt your internet connection like a VPN does.)

In addition, you can connect up to six devices to the VPN’s servers at once on one account. If you need more connections than that, there’s plenty of router support, including ready-to-go NordVPN routers from FlashRouters.

6. Customer Support

It’s not unusual, with even the best providers, to need to contact customer support from time to time, even if it’s just with a billing question. When the time comes, you’ll appreciate NordVPN’s comprehensive and reliable customer support.

NordVPN’s customer support agents are available via 24/7 live chat or email. There’s also a self-service support library available if you’re in a do-it-yourself mood.

All of the times I’ve contacted NordVPN’s customer support, I was greeted with quick and knowledgeable replies. The support library is also chock full of useful information.

7. Pricing

NordVPN proves that an excellent provider doesn’t have to come at a high price. Its subscription prices are surprisingly low, especially for a one-year or longer subscription.

A 30-day money-back guarantee provides plenty of time to make sure NordVPN is the right VPN provider for you.

YouTube TV FAQs

Conclusion

Fans of YouTube TV no longer have to be located in the U.S. to watch YouTube TV. They also no longer have to put up with a less-than-satisfactory VPN experience.

NordVPN provides fast and well-protected connections that offer reliable access to YouTube TV. App support is strong with this one, and your digital security and privacy are always protected. Customer support is always there when you need it.

For more information or to subscribe, visit the NordVPN website.