Are you a US resident traveling or living in Puerto Rico? Charming as the island might be, it lacks one thing—access to American TV shows. Luckily, there is a simple solution to this problem. We’ll show you how to use a VPN to watch US TV live in Puerto Rico. We’ll also save you the trouble and recommend the best providers for unblocking American shows.
Why Is American TV Blocked in Puerto Rico?
Most US TV channels including CBS, NBC, Fox, HBO, and ESPN are available online. That’s good news. The somewhat bad news is that you can only access these websites and watch shows when you are inside America.
The same goes for popular streaming sites such as Netflix, Hulu, Sling TV, and Amazon Prime Video. The US catalogs of these sites are blocked to people outside the country even if you have an American account.
The reason for this is that these sites use IP addresses to detect your location. Users with non-US IP addresses i.e. those outside the country would, therefore, be unable to access US TV channels.
Fortunately, there is a way to get around these IP-based restrictions. The simplest and safest method to watch US live TV in Puerto Rico (and anywhere else in the world) is to use a VPN.
How to Watch US TV Using a VPN?
A VPN, which stands for Virtual Private Network is a piece of software that provides online privacy and security. It does this by encrypting and directing your online traffic to remote servers instead of having your traffic pass through your ISP’s servers.
When you connect to any of the VPN’s servers, the provider hides your real IP address and location. In exchange, it assigns you a dummy IP address based on your preferred ‘virtual’ location.
In this case, to stream American TV shows while you are in Puerto Rico, you’d simply need to connect to servers in the USA. The VPN will hide your Puerto Rican IP and assign you one from America.
This way, it will look like you are accessing Television channels and streaming sites from America even though you are probably chilling at the beach in the Caribbean!
Easy Steps to Use a VPN
So, you just need to follow these simple steps to obtain a US IP address using a VPN.
- Choose a suitable VPN provider with servers in the USA (we advise you to go for ExpressVPN).
- Download the app on your chosen device.
- Sign up and use the given credentials to launch the app.
- Choose a server in the USA and click connect to acquire an American IP address.
Now, head over to Netflix, Hulu, HBO, ESPN, or any other channel to stream your favorite American shows hassle-free. Do not forget that the app can also be used to enjoy YouTube.
The Best VPN for Streaming Purposes
The market is flooded with privacy apps but not all are equal. To bypass IP-based restrictions and stream shows from abroad, you need a premium app with strong encryption.
The best apps can outsmart anti-VPN software that streaming sites commonly used to block IP addresses originating from VPN servers.
After testing many providers, we’ve found ExpressVPN to be a top choice for streaming US live TV from abroad.
For one, it boasts best-in-class security features. These include military-grade encryption, an automatic kill switch for all-around secure connections, and IP leak protection. Also, it does not store any records of your internet activities, so you can access websites completely anonymously.
In addition to this, it has over 3,000 servers with many of them located in the USA. You will have no problem finding a suitable server to connect to whether you want to stream news, sports, or US Netflix shows.
Indeed, ExpressVPN is the fastest provider we have tested. It is a great choice if you want to watch ABC without lag plus all your other favorite TV channels.
Best of all, you can enjoy a 49% discount and 3 months free when you subscribe to ExpressVPN’s yearly plan. And, thanks to the no-questions-asked 30-day money-back guarantee, you can try it risk-free. So, what are you waiting for?
Summary
A premium VPN is the most effective way to watch US TV live in Puerto Rico and anywhere else in the world. ExpressVPN is our top recommended provider. But, other excellent choices worth looking at are NordVPN and CyberGhost.
Quentin is the co-founder of the-bestvpn.com. With several experiences as a System and Network Engineer, he is very knowledgeable when it comes to VPN, cybersecurity and the risks of using the Internet nowadays.
