How to Unblock Sky Sports Abroad

If you’re a hardcore sports fan, you probably know how annoying it is to not be able to watch your favorite team play when you’re travelling abroad.

Sure, experiencing new cultures and eating amazing food is nice. But, at the end of the day, you just want to relax in your comfy hotel room with a round or two of Sky Sports.

Unfortunately, geo-blocks stand in the way of your fun. So you’re left not being able to enjoy your trip to the max because of it.

No need to let it ruin your vacation, though – we’ll show you how to unblock Sky Sports anywhere in the world.

Wait – I Thought Sky Sports Was Available Abroad!

You can watch it abroad, yes, but it’s a bit complicated and you have to put up with some limitations.

So here’s the thing – you can watch Sky Sports abroad, but only if you do it in the EU. Here’s a list of all the countries where you can watch Sky Sports. If you’re not going to a country on that list, you won’t have access to the site.

But even if you’re going to a whitelisted location, you’re not out of the woods yet. If you’re staying for a longer period (like over 30-40 days), you’ll eventually stop being able to watch Sky Sports.

Why?

Because you can only watch content abroad up to 37 days. Once those days are up, you’ll have to watch Sky content in the UK or ROI. Only once you do that will you be able to stream Sky Sports abroad again.

Overall, it’s a nice compromise, but it might not be enough for all of you.

Three Ways to Unblock Sky Sports Abroad

If you really need to access Sky Sports 24/7 while outside the UK and don’t want to worry about any limitations, try using one of these options:

1. VPNs

A VPN is an online service that “hides” your IP address from Sky Sports by routing your traffic through a VPN server. Basically, this is how it all works:

i) You install a VPN app on your device. ii) You use the app to connect to a VPN server. iii) The app and the server establish an encrypted connection. iv) When you visit Sky Sports, your connection to it goes through the VPN server. v) Because of that, Sky Sports sees the VPN server as the source of your connection request. So it sees the server’s IP address, not your device’s IP.

So you just need to use a VPN server in the UK to successfully unblock Sky Sports in any country.

See more here about the best VPNs for Sky Sports. Not just any service will do, so please use that guide to find a VPN that can actually unblock the platform, and also fits your needs.

2. Smart DNS Services

These are online services that help you bypass geo-blocks by tweaking your DNS settings and routing your traffic through various proxy servers around the world.

On top of that, a Smart DNS also intercepts your connection requests to Sky Sports, and deletes any data that might reveal your geo-location. It then replaces it with new information that points to a whitelisted location (the UK, in this case).

3. Proxy Servers

A proxy server is pretty similar to a VPN server. It also acts as a middleman between you and Sky Sports. So the site only sees the proxy’s IP address when you visit it.

But unlike a VPN, proxies don’t offer powerful encryption. On the plus side, they have a local caching feature that can deliver faster load times. Basically, the proxy saves requested content in its local cache. If you ask for it in the future, it can retrieve it without having to forward your connection requests to the site you want to visit.

What’s the Best Option?

It depends on which one you prefer the most, really. If you always liked proxies more than VPNs and Smart DNSs, then they’re the right pick for you.

But if you’d really like a recommendation, we’d have to go with VPNs. Here’s why:

1. They encrypt your traffic end-to-end. That stops your ISP from monitoring your data packets and seeing what specific web apps you’re using. Without that information, they can’t throttle your bandwidth anymore (intentionally slow down your speeds).

2. VPN encryption also offers better privacy. So you don’t need to worry about your ISP sharing your Sky Sports preferences with advertisers.

3. Lastly, VPNs sometimes offer a three-in-one deal. Basically, you have the VPN as the main service, the Smart DNS as an additional service, and proxy functionality through VPN servers that double as proxies. If one service stops unblocking Sky Sports, you can just move on to the next.

Can You Unblock Sky Sports with Tor?

Why isn’t Tor on the list? We can hear some readers asking.

The answer is pretty simple – because Tor doesn’t unblock Sky Sports all the time. And even when it does, the experience isn’t too enjoyable.

Okay, so Tor is a privacy network that can spoof your geo-location by hiding your IP address. Normally, that helps you bypass geo-blocks. But, in our experience, Tor often has problems unblocking Sky Sports. It just doesn’t work for us all the time.

And when it does work, there’s a problem – Tor isn’t exactly a great tool for unblocking streaming content. It’s more suitable for unblocking censored sites.

Why?

Because the speeds are pretty bad. Right now, there are around 6,000 Tor servers and somewhere over two million Tor users. The difference is pretty huge, so big slowdowns are to be expected.

How Do You Like to Unblock Sky Sports Abroad?

Do you normally use VPNs, or are Smart DNS services more your style? Please let us know which option works best for you. Also, if you know other ways people can unblock Sky Sports while travelling abroad, please tell us about them.

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