If you use the Opera browser, you can benefit from a free embedded Opera VPN. Its mission is to make your connection safer and help get the most of your online experience. But is this VPN on a par with popular VPNs in terms of functionality? In other words, does Opera VPN work with Netflix? We carried out independent research to find it out. Read on and you’ll get the answer.
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How a VPN Can Help You with Netflix
For starters, let’s see how you can make Netflix even better with a VPN. It is no secret that Netflix delivers different media libraries for each country. There are two reasons for this policy. First and foremost, the streaming company tries to cater to the local audience. You can’t deny it is pretty cool to watch shows or movies in your native language made in your home country on top of globally popular content.
On the other hand, Netflix can’t supply smaller markets with huge catalogs because low demand won’t let the investments pay off. As a result, countries with a great number of subscribers and higher cost of subscription (Japan, the USA, Canada, the UK, etc.) get thousands of titles while other regions can access only a fraction of their catalogs.
If you think that this policy is unfair, you can try to get past Netflix’s geo-restrictions with a VPN. It will give you an IP address from any country of your choice to let you connect to a different version of Netflix. For instance, a VPN can assign you an American IP to help you watch American Netflix from anywhere in the world.
Not only that, but a VPN can improve your connection if you faced bandwidth throttling. Some ISPs slow down Internet speeds on purpose when you use too much bandwidth. When noticing that you watch Netflix, they may activate throttling to make you quit. However, if you have a VPN on, your ISP won’t know what you do. Therefore, you can enjoy uncompromised speeds.
Can I Watch Netflix with Opera VPN?
So, you already know that a VPN is a very handy service for Netflix. But can you get these benefits with Opera VPN that comes for free with the Opera browser? This is what we were intended to know. We installed the Opera browser, configured the VPN, and got down to testing. Please note that we picked a location in the USA since American Netflix boasts the most popular catalog.
Unfortunately, the results with Opera VPN were disappointing. Netflix didn’t find it hard to notice that we used a VPN and blocked all our attempts to get past the proxy error. We tried to break through with a different location but it was no use.
Summing up, our tests showed that Opera VPN doesn’t work with Netflix. No wonder, to be honest, because Opera VPN is rather a proxy than a full-blown VPN. Proxies have never been good for unblocking Netflix.
Why Opera VPN Failed to Unblock Netflix?
A few years ago, you could access Netflix with practically any unblocking service. It all changed in 2016 when the streaming giant declared its intention to ban VPNs and proxies. This event coincided with Netflix’s global expansion to the markets of 190 countries.
Before the Netflix VPN ban, the service didn’t mind if people from non-supported countries bought subscriptions through different countries and watched Netflix with a VPN. It helped earn more money, after all. But since Netflix became available in almost every country, the company took a course on regional catalogs development and, accordingly, building up a local client base. They didn’t want to turn a blind eye to workarounds anymore. Besides, the copyright holders wanted to sell more broadcasting licenses to various regions but it was hardly possible if people could just watch any catalog they wanted.
In the end, it forced Netflix to introduce sophisticated proxy detection systems. Their purpose is to figure out a proxy connection and ban an IP address it is associated with. So, if Opera VPN doesn’t work with Netflix it means that its IP addresses are blacklisted.
Best Alternatives to Access Netflix
Opera VPN is unable to unblock US Netflix but there are plenty of alternatives around. Below is one of the top-rated VPNs for Netflix. It will help you get past the Netflix ban while delivering a fast and stable connection:

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- VPN Deal
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Conclusion
Unfortunately, Opera VPN doesn’t work with Netflix. It just doesn’t have a server network large enough to withstand the powerful Netflix ban. Besides, Opera VPN is rather a proxy than a VPN; therefore, you can’t expect extensive functionality from it. If you want to experience a real VPN with Netflix-unblocking features, we recommend you to get the NordVPN. It’s cheap, easy to use, and proven to work with Netflix.
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