Solving playback issues

[duker1]

When trying to watch certain shows on Paramount+, the following message is displayed: Oh No! You're using a VPN or proxy, which prevents playing your video. Please disable this service and try again. Questions? Visit our FAQ page at help.paramountplus.com .'  I checked the Paramount+ FAQ and have no idea what I am looking for and can't seem to find the section on how to solve this issue. This issue just started yesterday, 04/03/2024 and only with the FBI shows.

[RokuBernie-D]

Hi @duker1,

We appreciate you posting here in the Roku Community!

Thanks for sharing your concern about the Paramount+ channel with us. We are happy to assist you with this.

We'd like to know more information so we can resolve this issue.

1. What Roku device has the issue?
2. Is this happening to one channel or in multiple channels?
3. Have you done a troubleshooting to fix the issue? If not, I suggest you Remove, Restart, and Re-install the channel if you experience this with only a specific channel. For detailed troubleshooting, you can visit our support page to learn how to resolve a channel playback issue.

Please let us know if the issue is fixed or reply to the thread for further assistance. We will be glad to help you.

Thanks,
Bernie

[makaiguy · Accepted solution]

Some stations as a whole, and in some cases individual programs, are licensed to be displayed only in certain geographical regions.  Some channels will block access to region-limited programming when they detect you are accessing them through a VPN which masks your actual location and prevents determining whether you are in an authorized region.

[brandnew2503]

I'm having this same issue. The VPN error message only comes up when trying to watch any of the three FBI shows. I have removed the app, reset the wifi, I even hard reset my roku device and I'm still seeing the error. I do not get an error message when using the paramount+ app on my phone which is connected to the same wifi. This tells me this is a Roku specific issue. I have two Roku devices and they both are showing the error. 

[Streamer101]

same issue just FBI but can stream from my phone or computer over the same WiFi 

[RokuElmer-H · Accepted solution]

Hi, @brandnew2503!

Thanks for posting in the Roku Community!

We understand that you are having trouble watching an FBI show on Paramount Plus. You mentioned that you have already tried some troubleshooting steps but are still facing the issue. Please note that some content may have playback issues or not playback at all due to geolocation restrictions. If you are using a VPN network on your Roku device, it may be causing the problem. To fix this, ensure that your Roku device is not using the VPN network. 

Note: If you are unsure how to check or disable the VPN on your network, we recommend reaching out to your internet provider for further assistance.

Thanks,
Elmer

[Traviscody8]

I’m having the same issue, I can watch it on my phone that does have a VPN but not on my Roku tv?

[AlexLake]

I’ve run into similar VPN issues with streaming sites before. Sometimes, even if you’re not actively using a VPN, certain services might detect something in your network settings that triggers the message. If you’re using any sort of privacy tools, try disabling them temporarily. When I was troubleshooting a similar issue, I came across https://bnhsoftware.com/, which had some good reviews that helped me figure out which VPNs work best with different streaming services. Might be worth a look while you sort this out.