Problems with Disney+ and other streaming services
If you use streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime or Disney + among others, we will also have serious problems. Normally Netflix and Amazon Prime do not usually cause too many problems if we connect from another country, although the catalog will adapt to the country of origin from where it detects that we are connecting. However, Disney+ does cause quite a few problems if our IP is not Spanish, and that is that we will get a message on TV indicating that the country where we are trying to view the content is not allowed, and that we contact the Internet operator.
It is very possible that other video streaming services, such as HBO, also cause problems if it detects that we have an IP address that is not from Spain, so we must go service by service checking whether or not we have access problems due to having a foreign IP. .
They could block us from accessing websites or services
Many websites or services are specifically oriented to Spain, so they only allow Spanish IP addresses to access their services. One of the most common security measures is to allow only the country where it operates, and block any other country such as China, Russia or the US, where there are many botnets that could attack the server where the different services are hosted.
For these reasons, it could be the case that we cannot correctly access several websites or services, which do work if we were in Spain, but in these cases we cannot access because we have recognized an IP address outside of Spain.
Websites in other languages and foreign version
When services such as Google, Amazon or PayPal detect that we are in another country, their corresponding IP address, if we do not have cookies on our computer that identify us against these services, could take us to the websites of those foreign countries. For example, if Orange provides us with an IP that is identified as France Telecom in France, if we open PayPal or Google it will appear in French and also in the French version of the websites, so we will have to switch to the Spanish version automatically. specific.
In the event that we have previously accessed and have cookies in the browser, this should not happen, but if you are in the habit of deleting cookies, it is very possible that in certain cases they will show you the French version of the websites, or the country that is associated with that public IP address provided to us by our operator.
How to solve this serious problem
We currently have several solutions to fix this serious problem, some solutions do not depend on us but on the operator, but on other occasions we could carry out certain actions ourselves to navigate with a Spanish IP.
Complain to the Internet operator
The first thing we must do is call our Internet provider or ISP, we must explain our problem and tell them that they have provided us with a non-Spanish IP address and that we are having this type of problem with streaming services and websites. When an operator buys a range of addresses in other countries, the RIPE will update their ranges appropriately, but the databases that unify IP addresses with the associated countries have not been updated yet, so it can take weeks or even months until that they update correctly and we no longer have problems.
The only thing the operator can do in these cases is to force you to change the public IP address, they can provide you with a different IP address, but if the network provides you with another IP from the same affected range, you will continue to have problems. If they continue to provide you with foreign IPs, you should know that they cannot assign you the IP they want, at the network level the assignment is dynamic, and the only thing you can do is: change the operator or wait until the databases are updated . In the event that these options do not work, pay attention to the following.
Use a proxy or a VPN with a Spanish IP
If your operator continues to provide you with an IP that is not Spanish and you continue to have problems, what you can do is use a Proxy or VPN server to connect to the Internet through these services. When we use a proxy or a VPN, all Internet traffic will go through the server in question first, hiding our real public IP, so we go out to the Internet as if the real origin were these Proxy or VPN servers.
You should keep in mind that proxy servers only forward traffic from the web browser, and from any application that has the options to configure the proxy server correctly. However, VPN services take care of sending all the traffic through the server, without the need to configure it specifically in the different applications. A very important aspect is that any Smart TV with Android TV will be able to install VPN client applications to be able to view the rest of the services through these servers, so it is ideal for not having to configure anything at the router level. at home.
If you want to access the “blocked” services with a computer, you can use a VPN on the computer, be it the typical NordVPN, Surfshark or PureVPN among many others, or set up a VPN server yourself at a relative’s or friend’s house, to go out to the Internet through this connection instead of your own Internet connection. Once the VPN tunnel is established, you will be able to enjoy any service as if you were in Spain.
This method of connecting via Proxy or VPN must be temporary, because it is quite cumbersome to have to use this type of “tricks” instead of having a public IP address located specifically in Spain. The best thing is to contact the operator to provide us with a Spanish IP, or if we see that it takes time, change the operator to another that does not have these problems. Finally, you should bear in mind that the databases that relate IP to physical location are updated from time to time, so it is possible that today you will have problems, but not tomorrow, because the databases have been updated.
