Millions of users are suffering from Netflix’s crackdown on password sharing, but there’s a free way to circumvent the new single household rule.
One popular VPN app offers a service that non-paying customers can use to trick Netflix into thinking they are logging in from the same household as the primary account holder.
The technique, known as ‘tunneling’, allows multiple people to connect from the same IP address (an internet address used by Netflix to identify where people are connecting from).
Netflix uses ‘ban’ IP addresses and other methods to detect whether users share passwords. Netflix said: ‘One Netflix account is for one home use.’
Can a VPN App Substitute Netflix’s Password Sharing Ban?
NordVPN’s ‘meshnet’ feature allows users to connect from the same IP address as someone else (so, for example, you could be on another continent and appear to be connecting from a friend’s house) , and it works on Android devices including TVs
Instead of routing traffic through a VPN server (which changes your IP address to the server’s IP address and which Netflix tries to block by blocking VPN server lists), for example, the user will be able to send you home To keep on, you can route Internet traffic through the TV or laptop. ,
This means that other people connected to the same meshnet will appear in the same location.
NordVPN said: “Meshnet allows you to create your own VPN server using your or your friends’ devices, regardless of where they are in the world.”
Meshnets are commonly used to share files or create a virtual LAN for online gaming, allowing people to play games together even if they are on different continents, but are used to connect to a specific IP address. Can also be done to do, no matter where you are.
Users can invite 10 friends to be a part of the ‘family’ and can extend invitations to 50 more friends.
This allows ‘friends’ to access the same IP address (which is one of the measures Netflix uses to detect password sharing).
The connection between ‘friends’ is encrypted and allows other devices to share the same IP address, which (at least in theory) means that Netflix has no way of finding out that the account is being shared.
DailyMail.com tested the service, and Meshnet works without the need for a paid NordVPN subscription (though you’ll need to create a free account).
So, it works like this:
Meshnet service lets you appear as if you’re logging in from somewhere else
Select the meshnet switch on the left
You can choose which devices you’ll appear to log in from
To use Meshnet, you need to have the NordVPN app installed on the devices you want to use; It works without a paid NordVPN subscription.
To enable Meshnet (on a Windows device), fire up the NordVPN app and sign in when prompted, then toggle the Meshnet switch on the left side of the screen.
Meshnet has guidelines for other devices including Android and iOS devices here.
When the dialog box appears, choose Enable Meshnet.
Within a meshnet, your device is assigned a Nord name and a meshnet IP address, which you can use to access the device from other linked devices.
To enable traffic routing (allowing devices to appear as having the same IP address), select Route traffic and you will see a list of devices through which you can route traffic.
All devices registered to your NordVPN account will be able to access your meshnet (and thus be visible to your TV or laptop using the internet).
To add an ‘external’ device, ie a device from another NordVPN account, you can send an invite directly from the NordVPN app (choose Add device, then enter email address).
The invitation will appear on any device that is signed in with Mesh enabled.
Meshnet is available on cell phones, PCs and Android TV (which is used on many smart TVs).
As soon as the person accepts the invitation on any device, their device will become part of your Meshnet.
Meshnet is available on Android, iOS, macOS, Windows and Android TV.
Users can connect up to 10 personal and 50 external devices to their own network.
Netflix said it was sending emails about account sharing to customers in 103 countries and territories, including the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Australia, Singapore, Mexico and Brazil.
The email states that one Netflix account should only be used in one household.
Paying customers can add a member outside their household for an additional fee – $8 per month in the US.
Netflix said last year it was limiting account sharing and was testing different methods in some markets.
The company estimated that more than 100 million households had provided their login information to friends and family outside their household.
At the end of March, Netflix had 232.5 million paying subscribers worldwide.
