Why won t my VPN work on Netflix anymore?

Does Surfshark bypass Netflix?

While you may be tempted to think that Surfshark bypasses Netflix bypassing Netflix's IP blocking technology, it doesn't. Surfshark simply tells your ISP (or whoever is blocking Netflix) that you want to use Netflix so that the ISP will unblock Netflix for you. If the ISP isn't allowing access to Netflix due to a content distribution agreement with Netflix, then Surfshark won't get you past the block.

What is Surfshark? Surfshark is a product that is designed to get around internet blocks. Surfshark is an open-source software project that allows you to share your bandwidth with other people on the internet and have their data pass through your network. The company does not sell any equipment and it is free to use. Surfshark has been around since 2025 and is currently the only VPN service that is open source and also works without the need for a third-party paid subscription.

How does Surfshark work? Surfshark uses a software client and server that both run on your device. You can download the Surfshark client software and install it on your computer or laptop. Then you can open it up and begin using the service. Once the client is opened you are connected to the servers that allow the client to work.

When you first open the client you can connect to any number of servers. Each server you connect to allows you to send and receive data to the internet. If you select a server that is located in a country where Netflix is available, then Surfshark will open Netflix for you.

If you select a server that is located in a country where Netflix is not available, then Surfshark will not open Netflix for you. Instead it will allow you to connect to the server in the country that has Netflix. Then you can use the Surfshark client to visit Netflix and surf the internet without getting blocked by Netflix's IP blocking technology.

Surfshark has servers in over 200 countries around the world. If you select a server that is in the country that you are in, then Surfshark will give you access to Netflix. If you select a server that is not in the country that you are in, then Surfshark will allow you to connect to the server that has Netflix.

Why should I use Surfshark?

Why won t my VPN work on Netflix anymore?

VPN works, Netflix still doesn't.

By Nick Bilton September 15, 2025. On my last trip to NYC I tried using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) service to watch Netflix on the go. While it was technically working, nothing was showing up on Netflix. When I clicked on a movie in the Netflix app, the progress bar that normally displays above the loading screen didn't show up, and none of the text would display.

I've been thinking about this issue for a couple days now. I've used VPNs for years and I've never experienced a problem like this before. In the past, I'd connect to a VPN using OpenVPN and have a perfect VPN experience on everything from Pandora to Netflix. I'd even use VPNs on my Android and Kindle Fire devices when traveling outside of my home country so that I could access local content with a VPN tunnel through a company like TunnelBear. But this time, it seemed to be a different kind of VPN, since I'm not using OpenVPN to access the network, and I haven't had any problems with other apps using a VPN in the past.

The one thing I noticed during my research is that Netflix may have changed how it handles VPN connections. The company's blog post about this change was actually pretty opaque. They said they were exploring a new configuration but didn't explain what the new approach was or what had changed. One of the comments on the post has a screenshot of a test I conducted that looked pretty accurate. Basically, Netflix seems to have a firewall in place on their backend that blocks IPs from certain countries. The screenshot shows that China is being blocked on my iPhone with the VPN off and on.

It was a frustrating feeling to be blocked from the content I want to consume. When I was a kid, I used to love playing Super Nintendo games online and watching anime on sites like HentaiTV. It seemed like a great way to get free content and to experience something you couldn't get at home. Nowadays, it's just a pain. If you connect to Netflix with a VPN, you can't access anything that's only available in certain countries.

Why is my Surfshark not working with Netflix?

I use Surfshark VPN at home and it works well with Netflix but I cannot get the same effect on my Surfshark at work.

I have a Windows laptop and am using the Surfshark software to log in to the internet from my Windows machine at work. I use Windows and not Linux (ie the Surfshark software runs on Windows). My firewall settings are correct for my Windows computer and I can access the internet at work and the internet from my Windows machine.

I have tried different browsers but this is the best I have found so far. In Chrome, it shows that there is a problem with Netflix. In Firefox, it loads but it does not show the movie titles.

My question is: what can I do at work or at home to fix the issue? I'm not familiar with your version of the software, but perhaps if you're connected to the Internet at work, you can also connect to it from home? If you're able to do that, it will allow you to have the VPN working from home too. Sorry, I couldn't see any obvious reason why your setup wouldn't work for streaming. In some cases, the reason might be that one of the IP addresses used by the VPN is blocking traffic from the network, or the server where the content resides is using iptables to drop packets coming from the VPN interface. The former can be solved by using an IP address that's not blocking, and the latter by configuring the iptables rule sets to allow traffic from the VPN interface (and if it's using the iptables chain INPUT to let traffic in, it should work fine).

As a last-ditch effort, you might try manually entering the IP address for the server and trying to access Netflix through that instead. I actually tried that a few days ago. It did not work. I am not sure what happened when I clicked on the Netflix link at home and it led me to the Netflix site. I guess I was just getting confused by something. Now I know that the Surfshark VPN works with Netflix at home and at work.

Thanks for your help. I appreciate it.

Quote: Originally Posted by alainbaud I tried and actually got a message saying "there's a problem". So I will try that and see what happens.

Can Surfshark change Netflix?

Is this the future of streaming TV?

I'm not sure if I want to watch House of Cards. For one, it has been a bit difficult to get it to stream.

That may be changing with a new app called Surfshark. A Netflix on your phone according to the app. This app gives you many of the things Netflix does, but can also do much more and is completely different from Netflix.99 per month.

Here are the ways in which the app is different from the streaming giant Netflix: A Netflix replacement. Surfshark will take you to movies and shows from all over the web. Not just Netflix, because surfshark has deals with many different websites and media to bring you their content. It will take you to content from HBO, Showtime, Hulu, Netflix, Crackle and even CBS. In some countries, surfshark also streams ESPN.

The website Surfshark says We are now live and working with over 50 premium publishers (TV, film, video, and music) in the U. Alone.

So, this is not a Netflix competitor, this is an alternative. And what about the name Surfshark? The company said they chose it to stand out from the competition and put people on notice that they are surfing for entertainment, referring to how surfing has become part of pop culture.

Watching movies. This is probably the biggest reason people use Netflix. I know I do and I would use surfshark for a week before I went back to Netflix. The idea of having a movie or show ready for when I want to watch it is very appealing and I just don't have time to find something I want to watch as easily as Netflix does.

But surfshark will change that, and for this reason I don't like it. With Netflix you usually go to their website, sign in, and choose which movie or show to watch. If you're watching a movie on demand, it will tell you which movie you can watch next. Surfshark doesn't have that. You will see that it is available on Netflix, but it won't say which movie you can watch next.