Streaming region unlock support

Unlocking here means making the platform believe the visit comes from a region where it already offers service. The platform bases that judgement on three things: where the exit IP is registered, what kind of network the address belongs to, and whether the sign-in session and the playback requests come from the same region.

All three have to hold at once for playback to work. The typical symptom when one is missing: the homepage opens and search returns results, but pressing play throws an error — or playback runs a few seconds and then reports that the content is not available in your region. This is not a speed problem, and a faster route will not fix it; what needs changing is the exit region.

Platform policies change. A region that works today may tighten its checks next month. The support status on this page is a summary of what the current routes actually do, not a permanent guarantee. When routes change, the route list in the client updates too — refresh the subscription to see it.

In between sits the broadcast IP: registered in country A, physically in a data centre in country B. The platform may accept it on registration or flag it as proxy access on data-centre ownership, which is why results are inconsistent — the same route plays in the morning and errors at night.

There is also the pure data-centre IP, whose ownership record says data centre outright. These addresses pass region checks most easily but are the most likely to be blocked on address-type checks. That is why the platform homepage opening and the platform content playing are two different things: the first only looks at region, the second looks at both.

The type labels in the client's route list (IEPL dedicated line / relay / direct) describe how traffic travels, not the address attributes. Whether a route can unlock a catalogue is decided by actual playback, not by the label. The recommended routes in the table on this page come from measured results.

For 4K playback, the platform's published guidance usually falls in the 15–25 Mbps range. Dolby Vision and HDR sources have higher instantaneous bitrates and peak above that range, but picture quality is decided not by the peak but by whether the route holds steady across the whole playback.

Three conditions, all required

• Account tier: Netflix 4K requires the Premium tier; Standard tops out at 1080p. If the account tier is too low, even the fastest route only gets you 1080p.
• Device and cable: the TV, box or monitor must support HDCP 2.2. Older HDMI cables may only carry 1080p — a new cable is far cheaper than a new route, so check that first.
• Route stability: peaking at 25 Mbps but jittering every few seconds makes the player drop the bitrate automatically, which looks worse than a steady 1080p.

Stability beats peak speed

Players do not set picture quality from instantaneous speed; they set the bitrate tier from download speed over the recent window. A jittery route makes the bitrate flip between 4K and 1080p, so the picture alternates between sharp and soft — harder to watch than a fixed 1080p. To judge whether a route suits 4K, watch whether quality drops during ten minutes of continuous playback, not the number on a speed-test screenshot.

Dolby Vision adds another layer

Dolby Vision requires the source, the playback device and the account tier to all support it. Miss one and the player falls back to HDR10 or plain 4K — still an improvement, but not Dolby Vision. This layer has nothing to do with the route, so check the device and the source first before suspecting the network.