VPN detection
Techniques services use to identify and block traffic arriving from known VPN infrastructure.
Glossary
Geo-blocking
What is Geo-blocking?
Geo-blocking is restricting access to content based on the country your address appears to be in. It is the reason a large share of VPN subscriptions get bought, whatever the privacy marketing says.
Why it matters
It is the reason a large share of VPN subscriptions get bought, whatever the privacy marketing says.
What most explanations leave out
Detection is not only address-based. Services also use payment country, account region, DNS behaviour and device signals, so a correct-country address is necessary and not always sufficient. Terms of service usually prohibit circumvention, which is a contractual matter rather than a legal one in most jurisdictions.
Related terms
Smart DNS
A service that redirects only the DNS lookups used for region detection, without encrypting your traffic.
Questions
- What is Geo-blocking?
- Restricting access to content based on the country your address appears to be in.
- Why does Geo-blocking matter when choosing a VPN?
- It is the reason a large share of VPN subscriptions get bought, whatever the privacy marketing says.
- What do most explanations of Geo-blocking leave out?
- Detection is not only address-based. Services also use payment country, account region, DNS behaviour and device signals, so a correct-country address is necessary and not always sufficient. Terms of service usually prohibit circumvention, which is a contractual matter rather than a legal one in most jurisdictions.
Terms are defined here because they appear in our scoring rubric or in provider reviews, not to fill a glossary.