Channels & viewing

[Notanotherusrnm]

I came here looking for the reason I can’t play free content on the Roku channel, and see that this is an ongoing issue going back 2 years or more reported by multiple people. There has to be some simple solution right? Can you guys at Roku compile a short list of possible ways to resolve this issue, maybe starting with your suggestion to disconnect/reconnect, set/reset etc.? 
example:

1. set/reset

2. check internet connection 

3.

4. 
and so on..

I had a thought about the content not playing because of my location? If that’s a possibility, how can I fix that? 
And if all else fails, can you guys fix it so when I press play on the free content it will say “unavailable “ or something. It’s like I’m hanging in limbo or something 

[Strega2]

Since you think it might be your location, it might help to list that.  The 2710 is 10 years old and is no longer supported, so that could be a factor as well.  Did the Roku channel work for you in the past?

[Anonymous]

I get that result when I use a free VPN with a U.S. server. It will show the content as available because the server is in the U.S. It won't play the content for the same reason the VPN provider offers the server free to use: it's been blacklisted. If I disconnect the VPN, it works fine.

The answer is to not use the VPN if you are in a country where the content you want to play is not restricted.

If you're in a country where the content is restricted, pay for a VPN that offers servers with addresses that aren't blacklisted. 

If you're not using a VPN and you're in a country where the content should play without restriction, I'd expect that you wouldn't even see the option to play content that's unavailable in your region. But that's a guess. Anyway, if the various sites that show your location are so far off that the country isn't even right, call your ISP. If those sites show the correct country for the IP address your ISP has given you, then you should open a ticket with Roku and provide that info.

[renojim]

@Anonymous, any discussion of using a VPN to bypass region restrictions isn't allowed here and in general Roku devices don't play well with VPNs whether you're using them for that reason or any other.

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