Netflix not working on Android with DNS service

I have a DNS subscription to PureVPN and it has been working great for a long time, but suddenly it is no longer working with Netflix. I get the message that I am in a country where Netflix is unavailable. What has happened? Is something wrong with PureVPN? Or something else?

Netflix not working on AndroidThanks for asking! This is a great question and the problem in discussion has become very common with some of the latest updates of the Netflix application. What causes this problem is that Netflix has hard coded the Google DNS servers into their Android application, meaning that the application will override any DNS settings you have setup on your mobile device or on your router. So, it does not matter if you have a router configured to use the DNS servers provided by PureVPN (or some other DNS service).

The problem is clear, but what is the solution? Most VPN and DNS providers have posted solutions to this problem on their websites, so you can ask them directly, but to make it short I will explain in general what needs to be done. The change needs to be made on a router level, meaning that you can not fix this only directly on your phone. That makes it tough, meaning that it is to hard for some, but if you know how to change some settings on your router, then you login to your router (normally to be found at IP 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1). Once there you will need to give the router message to either block all DNS requests sent to the Google DNS servers (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4), or you need to give a message to your router to forward all DNS requests to the Google DNS servers to the DNS servers provided by your DNS provider. This should not be very hard, but it can require some time and since all routers behave differently and all DNS providers have different settings, it might in fact require more than some minutes. But, if you are lucky, this can work out easily anyway.

You can read some instructions on how to fix this problem on DD-WRT and TP-Link routers in this article, but if that does not help you, I for sure recommend that you speak with your DNS service provider and ask them for detailed instructions!

So, it is possible to watch Netflix on your Android device combined with using a DNS service, but it got way harder with the new and updated Netflix applications!

Read more about other troubleshooting topics right here.

If you have questions or comments, just write!

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