First, the important bit: our VPN network uses domestic residential IPs and cannot be blocked by ISPs — so if your IPTV service stops working, the block is almost never on our side. Here's how to work out what's happening:
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Check the connection: on a device on the VPN WiFi, visit showmemyip.com — if it shows the VPN country, your Liberty Shield connection is working.
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If the IP is right but IPTV won't load, the issue is with the IPTV provider's server — contact them, and try their service on a different device to confirm.
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If the IP is wrong or missing, power cycle: ISP router first (wait 2 minutes), then VPN Router (2 minutes), and re-check.
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Buffering rather than blocked? See our speed guide — a server change (or L2TP for European content) usually fixes it.
So with this in mind which self-help steps should you take before seeing assistance form our team?
- Is your IPTV device connected to the VPN Router? Some customers misunderstand the connectivity and leave their IPTV device connected to their ISP Router (Virgin, BT, Sky, TalkTalk etc). To run a VPN on your IPTV device then it must be connected to the VPN Router.
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How do I check my IPTV device is connected properly? Most devices you just need to connect to the VPN Router using WiFi (UK-WIFI-XXXX) or by connecting an Ethernet Cable to one of the spare ports on the VPN Router, should be issued automatically (DHCP) with an IP address from the VPN Router (e.g. 172.20.1.XXX). Devices such as Smart TV and Zgemma may require you to enter the network settings manually rather than using DHCP - please click here for more details.
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Which country should be my VPN Router be set on for IPTV? None of our VPN networks can be blocked for IPTV, so we always suggest to use the country you are in or the next closest to you. It is a popular misconception for example, that UK users need a non-UK IP address to beat ISP blocks. To change the country on your VPN Router please login at https://www.libertyshield.com/Account/Login and pick the country you wish from the "Payment Wallet" and press "Update". Once updated we recommended rebooting your VPN Router.
- My IPTV service is still not working, what else could be wrong? It may be worth contacting your provider and advising them you are using a VPN, some require registration of VPN based IP addresses. For example, sometimes if an IPTV provider sees multiple connections from a single IP address then they (not the ISP) blocks it as a safeguard to ensure people aren't sharing their IPTV login info; obviously once you confirm to your IPTV provider that you are using a VPN IP address then they realise that they do not need to block the IP address you are using.
IMPORTANT - Once an IPTV device is connected to the VPN network there is no possible way that any ISP can be blocking your IPTV access on it. The natural conclusion would therefore be that it's in some way related to the IPTV company and how they handle VPNs.
We also offer the following knowledge-base articles on how to connect and check the network settings on several popular devices:
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