Whether you’re a hardcore gamer or just a casual video game enthusiast, you most certainly have heard about Twitch.tv, a video game streaming platform created in 2011 (and acquired by Amazon in 2014 for $970 million) where anyone can host a gameplay session to help or amuse fellow gamers. It can also play host to so-called esports competitions, where players compete against each other in their favorite games just like athletes during the Olympic Games. You can watch both live and on-demand streams of your favorite players either for free or via a monthly subscription. Using the latter option allows you to watch anything you like on the website for as long as you want without getting disturbed by the always annoying ads, which are displayed randomly during a stream.
Even though Twitch.tv is a great place to ‘hang out’, it is also one of the first additions to some countries, schools and employers’ blacklists, preventing users from enjoying their favorite content. Fortunately, VPNs can help you overcome this matter, even without compromising your internet speed.
Unblocking Twitch and Avoiding Lag
If we’re writing an article about it then you can bet that Twitch is not available for everyone. In fact, just like any other website aimed at providing entertainment, some of the world’s most repressive countries include Twitch.tv on their blacklist, making it almost impossible for their citizens to enjoy video game content on the site. In the same measure, schools and employers apply the same blocking methods, so even if you have a couple of hours to spare you can forget about spending them on Twitch. And due to the fact that Twitch.tv is a streaming website, therefore requiring a high amount of bandwidth consumption, ISPs can throttle your connection and limit your access to the platform.
Lucky for you, VPNs can remove of all of these restrictions. To bypass any geo-restriction all you need is to connect to a VPN server in a country where Twitch.tv is not blocked. And in those situations where you don’t have issues with geo-blocking but, instead, encounter forced blocks – such as at your workplace or in school – then connecting to a server in the same country or city that you live in will open access to Twitch without experiencing any major speed loss or lag. In addition to this, since the vast majority of VPN providers impose no bandwidth limits, whenever you’re connected to one of the company’s servers you can rest assured that there will be no ISP throttling.
However, one of the biggest features of Twitch is the fact that viewers can interact with streamers via live chat. This feature also allows streamers, or the portal itself, to ban those who don’t behave or comply with the community guidelines and the site’s terms of service. The most common reasons for account suspensions vary between offensive comments, harassment, impersonations or threats to other users to not following the DMCA copyright guidelines. Although the vast majority of offenders receive a temporary block, your IP address will become the ultimate barrier between you and the gates of video game heaven. Using a VPN can bypass these bans too, since with every connection you make you’ll be given a new, foreign IP address.
Best VPN Services for Twitch of 2023
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VPN for Twitch Prime
Twitch Prime is aimed at those who want to show their appreciation to the site by contributing to the whole streaming experience via monetary donations. Some of the benefits of Twitch Prime include an exclusive button badge on the streamer’s chat, extra emoticons, the ability to change your nickname’s color and the freedom to watch any stream without ads. Although this service comes with every Amazon Prime membership, it is only available in a couple of countries.
This means that you’ll have to change your virtual location with the help of a VPN. On the one hand, you can get a subscription for both Amazon and Twitch Prime. On the other hand, however, you are still obliged to provide a billing address of an eligible country which, due to being verified by the website’s services, leaves virtually no place for such ‘cheating’.
Streaming Twitch on Any Device
As more and more people start to move to other platforms for their video streaming, Twitch.tv has made itself fully compatible with other devices, too. In fact, you can combine the power of multi-platform VPN providers like IPVanish, PureVPN, or ExpressVPN with the video game streaming platform to enjoy fully unblocked content on your mobile device, smart TV or game console. Whether you’re watching Twitch on your desktop or from your smart device, all you need to do is to turn on the VPN client before heading to Twitch and have it running in the background while you enjoy the stream.
As for other devices such as smart TVs, game consoles and anything that is unable to run a VPN directly, for these you will have to use a VPN router. A highly valuable investment, a VPN router is able to protect your entire home network since the protection is coming directly from the source of the signal.
Recommended VPN Services
IPVanish
IPVanish is one of the best VPN providers of the market thanks to the remarkable service it delivers. The company has one of the most trustworthy VPN server networks with over 500 servers spread across more than 60 countries in five continents. In other words, no matter where you are, you’ll be able to connect to Twitch.tv and overcome geo-restrictions in seconds. You can also choose from desktop clients for Windows, Mac, Linux and mobile devices, as well as enjoy support for routers allowing you to extend the VPN protection to your entire home network. You won’t have to worry about lag or ISPs throttling your bandwidth, either, as the company offers unlimited bandwidth.
PureVPN
If you have PureVPN at your side you can be sure that you won’t miss a stream. With 500+ servers in 141 countries, it is guaranteed that you won’t experience lag or content blocks while streaming Twitch thanks to the nonexistent bandwidth limits and ISP throttling. PureVPN offers a client for computers and a native app for mobile devices, but it also supports routers. In fact, the company sports the innovative ability to turn your Windows-based PC into a virtual router, allowing you to connect up to 10 devices, including game consoles and more. And let’s not forget that you are also entitled to choose between a number of different protocols for safer or faster connections.
ExpressVPN
Despite not featuring such a great server network as the other two (having only 145 servers in 94 countries), ExpressVPN guarantees 99.9% uptime and unlimited speed with which you can enjoy HD streams on Twitch without worry. By becoming an ExpressVPN user, you can say goodbye to bandwidth restrictions and enjoy the VPN experience on all main platforms from Windows, Mac and Linux computers to smartphones and tablets running iOS or Android. If you’re looking to watch some Twitch on your smart TV or other devices that don’t support VPNs, you will be pleased to hear that ExpressVPN also supports VPN routers. The only limit to keep in mind with this VPN provider is the number of connections: the maximum amount of devices that can run ExpressVPN can’t go any higher than three.
Best VPN Services of 2023
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