How to Use NordVPN with Netflix & Fix It Not Working

Netflix identifies IP addresses that belong to VPN servers and blocks them. NordVPN overcomes this by operating a huge server network that is extremely difficult to block in its entirety.

However, individual servers can still make their way onto the blocklist, though. If the VPN IP address you’re using has been detected, try disconnecting from the VPN and then re-connecting to a different server.

As you’ll be assigned a new IP address, this should solve the problem. However, you might have to try it a few times to find a server that works.

Thankfully, NordVPN’s server network is so large that you won’t even have to change location to do this. The service offers multiple VPN servers in each country.

See the list of some of NordVPN’s servers that we’ve verified to beat the geo-blockers.

Another useful tactic is to make sure you’re using NordVPN’s DNS Servers. To do this:

1. Close the Netflix app if you’re on mobile, or clear the browser’s cache if you’re on desktop.

2. Restart the NordVPN application.

3. Manually configure your device to use the following DNS server addresses: 103.86.96.100 and 103.86.99.100. The NordVPN website explains how to do this on a number of different platforms.

4. Restart your device and check your DNS servers.

5. Open the NordVPN application and connect to a server.

6. Navigate to Netflix and start streaming.

While NordVPN’s Threat Protection feature effectively blocks malware and ads, it can also interfere with accessing streaming services.

We were unable to unblock Netflix, and other platforms like Hulu, while Threat Protection was enabled.

To disable Threat Protection, click or tap the shield icon in your NordVPN app and toggle it off.

If all else fails, contact the NordVPN Customer Support Team.

NordVPN’s live chat service is one of the best we’ve tested. It’s available 24/7 and the agents are often helpful and prompt in their replies.

Since the August 2021 Netflix VPN ban, most VPNs no longer work with Netflix. We’ve even encountered NordVPN stop working from time to time.

If our other troubleshooting steps don’t work, it means that Netflix has blocked all of NordVPN’s servers, and you’ll have to get another VPN.

We’ve found that ExpressVPN is still the best Netflix VPN, and the only VPN that can always stream US Netflix. It also unblocks the India library, which NordVPN can’t access.

This is much higher than average, and better than other top-tier VPNs. For example, NordVPN unblocks 11 more Netflix libraries than PIA and 8 more than Surfshark.

While ExpressVPN and Windscribe can access more Netflix regions, NordVPN unblocks most of the most important catalogs.

For instance, the VPN works with Netflix Japan, US, and UK – three of the most popular libraries among Netflix subscribers. Though it failed to access Netflix in India, South Korea, and the Netherlands.

SmartPlay is a hybrid of VPN and Smart DNS technologies that is automatically built into the NordVPN service.

Similar to a VPN, Smart DNS tricks websites into thinking your physical location is elsewhere to hide your true location and unblock region-restricted content.

To do this, a Smart DNS tool changes the DNS server your traffic is routed through.

Usually, the main drawbacks of Smart DNS tools are that they don’t encrypt web traffic, and can require some technical know-how to set up.

However, by combining Smart DNS with VPN software, and integrating it automatically, NordVPN’s SmartPlay feature avoids these drawbacks.

It’s essential that a VPN maintains fast connection speeds when streaming Netflix. Otherwise, you’ll be forced to watch low-quality video and endure a lot of buffering.

Thankfully, NordVPN is one of the fastest VPN services we’ve ever tested. While every VPN slows your internet speed to some degree, the speed loss wasn’t noticeable when using NordVPN.

When connecting from the US to servers in the UK, we experienced an average speed loss of just 10% – from 100Mbps to 90Mbps.

This is faster than many top-rated VPNs. For example, NordVPN is 3Mbps faster than Surfshark on international connections.

These are impressive speeds for a long-distance VPN connection, and our tests show that NordVPN consistently performs well on other international connections:

Country	City	Speed	Speed Loss
Australia	Sydney	84Mbps	16%
Germany	Berlin	92Mbps	8%
Japan	Tokyo	89Mbps	11%
USA (West)	Los Angeles	91Mbps	9%

These speeds make NordVPN an excellent choice for Netflix. Even with a modest home connection, you should be able to stream buffer-free and in Ultra HD.

NordVPN provides VPN servers in 111 countries, more than any other VPN except HMA and Proton VPN. This wide server coverage increases the number of regional Netflix libraries you can access by spoofing your online location.

Similarly, NordVPN has a total server count of 6,328 servers, which makes it much easier to bypass Netflix’s VPN blocks.

Netflix works by identifying IP addresses that belong to VPN servers and placing them on a block list. As such, you can cycle through NordVPN’s numerous servers until you find one that works.

In the rare instances NordVPN didn’t work with Netflix, we found that it almost always worked on the next VPN server we tried. This is unlike VPN.AC which didn’t work with any European Netflix libraries and only provided 4.5 servers per location for us to try.