Buzz
1. What is VPN?
Before delving into why VPNs are blocked and what the reasons are, let's first understand what VPN is and how it operates.
In essence, when connecting to the Internet through a router, you're essentially providing your IP address. This address determines the location of your computer or router, allowing websites to know where you're connecting from and send back access traffic accordingly. The IP address you're assigned at home differs from the one assigned at other locations.
By using a VPN (Virtual Private Network), you can effectively create a secure tunnel for all your online activities through a remote server. Service providers can't see what you're doing online because the access traffic is encrypted and routed through a remote server.
Websites also don't see your actual IP address; instead, they see the IP address of the server masking your activities. This means that VPN routes your activities through a server located in another country, and websites will think you're residing in that country.
2. Why Block VPNs?
The most common way for websites to locate and track users is based on users' IP addresses. Tracking IPs is a solution to enhance account security, build targeted advertisements, and display different content, depending on the country where users reside.
The reason why users use VPNs is to avoid being tracked by IP addresses, and this is also why some websites block VPN access.
Some VPN services limit the number of IP addresses available. Since most VPN servers use IPv4 (an outdated IP address protocol), creating unique IP addresses is challenging, and many users may share the same IP address for months or even years. Websites wanting to blacklist VPNs can simply use services like ipinfo to block IP addresses used by many users.
Additionally, there are two other solutions to blacklist VPNs, although these solutions are not as common as blocking IPs. Specifically, the first method is called port blocking, where websites have to search for outgoing ports that VPNs use for all IP addresses.
Blocking ports is quite easy because most VPNs use the OpenVPN port 1194. The second solution is called DPI (Deep Packet Inspection), which checks user's metadata for encryption signatures. These signatures include fingerprints of VPN services, and hiding these signatures is not easy at all.
3. Why do some websites block VPNs?
There are many reasons explaining why some websites block VPNs. Below are some main reasons:
3.1 Terms in the Contract
The most common websites blocking VPNs include Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and BBC. Most of these websites provide online multimedia streaming services and block VPNs due to the terms in the companies' contracts.
Online video streaming services want to add a new movie or a reality TV show to their library. Firstly, they have to sign a contract with the company, the producer of the programs.
Furthermore, licensing agreements typically restrict online streaming services to specific regions rather than globally. And that's the reason why these websites block VPNs and some TV shows, movies are only available in this region but not in others.
Not to mention that licensing companies and program producers don't want to devalue the programs they produce. So, they will build contract terms to compel online video services to secure content in specific regions, hence these websites are forced to blacklist VPNs.
3.2 Some websites aim to limit spam and fraud
Apart from contract terms, another legitimate reason is that some websites aim to limit spam and fraudulent activities, so they block VPNs. Paypal is one of the typical victims of VPN usage.
Some websites like IRS.gov or Craigslist also do not function when users use VPN services, furthermore, websites will flag IP addresses associated with spam and suspicious activities.
3.3 Public Wifi networks blocking VPN
When connecting to public networks, we often use VPN to avoid being tracked. Moreover, public networks are not secure and vulnerable to attacks, allowing attackers to gather your sensitive information.
That's the reason why public Wifi networks block VPN, especially networks provided by Comcast and AT&T completely block VPN access. These networks block VPNs to prevent users from violating copyrights or accessing prohibited content on the internet, while also collecting and selling users' web traffic.
4. How to unblock VPN access?
Most VPN users use VPN for illicit purposes, such as fraud, accessing geographically restricted websites, and evading government censorship. However, if aiming to protect privacy, users can also unblock VPN access.
Here are some ways to unblock VPN access:
- Only use premium VPN services.
- Opt for a slower but more secure VPN protocol.
- Obtain a dedicated VPN IP address.
- Most VPNs use port 1194 which is easily detectable. Try switching to other VPN ports like 2018, 41185, 433, or 80.
- Choose a VPN service that provides obfuscated servers.
- If the VPN service provides SSH, SSL, or TLS tunnels, you can try them, albeit slower but safer.
- Try using the Tor browser.
The article above from Mytour just explained why VPNs are blocked and for what reasons. Hopefully, this article has provided you with some new useful information. If you have any questions or need further clarification, readers can leave them in the comments section below the article.
Additionally, you can refer to how to Fake IP using VPN to browse the web anonymously. There are many ways to Fake IP using VPN, using software or browser extensions.
