How to watch Canal+ abroad
Chris
Chris, a UK-born media connoisseur, is an expert in watching international TV. Known as "The Global Screen Wanderer", he has travelled extensively across the globe with long stints away from home. With over 10 years of experience he has become the go-to guru for streaming content from home and abroad.
Canal+ is probably the most premium streaming service in France and if you’ve been trying to access it either via myCANAL, CanalPlay or one of their other services outside France then you’ll be disappointed when you’re blocked from viewing.
In this article I’m looking at how you can bypass those blocks and watch your Canal+ subscription from any country in the world.
I find it strange when you pay for a subscription based TV service like Canal+ why you’re restricted to viewing from within France only, after all you’re paying for the service so if you’re travelling, on holiday or even an expat, why can’t you watch wherever you want?
In this guide I’m going to show you exactly how easy it is to watch from anywhere with a simple tool called a VPN and you’ll be surprised just how easy it is to achieve. So if you’re not very technically minded don’t worry as you’ll find the entire process extremely easy.
How to watch Canal+ abroad
If you try and watch any of the Canal+ streaming services and you’re outside France then you’ll find you’re blocked from viewing. You’ll see a message similar to the one below informing you that it’s not possible to watch Canal+ outside of France.
The reason you’re blocked is because your internet connection tells websites where you’re located. This is done by something called an IP Address which is a set of numbers similar to a phone number. From this IP Address Canal+ can determine if you’re inside or outside of France.
A small tool called a VPN exists that lets you alter your IP Address to one from another location or country.
When you use a VPN you can get yourself a French IP Address so when you visit websites such as the Canal+ streaming ones it sees a French IP Address and so rather than block you like above it will allow you to stream shows and programmes to wherever you are in the world.
The good news is that using a VPN is really easy and below I’ll show you where you can get a VPN service and also how easy it is to use to watch Canal+ abroad anywhere in the world.
Where to get the best VPN service
There are a couple of features you’ll need when looking for a VPN to watch Canal+ abroad.
Firstly they need to offer a French “server” which will enable you to watch Canal+. The second feature is they need to be fast enough to stream video content from France all the way to your location and the further you are away from France the more critical this is.
If you search Google for VPN services you’ll be overrun with the number of options out there. I’ve been testing a selection of providers to discover who is the best for watching Canal+ abroad and found the following three services to be ideal.
My favourite provider is ExpressVPN because they offer one of the fastest services and overall the best value for money but any of the three below will be suitable to watch Canal+ abroad.
Select a provider above, click on their name and visit their site to sign-up.
Once you’ve signed up check out the section below where I’ll run through how to use the VPN service and connect to watch Canal+ anywhere in the world.
How to use the VPN service
If you’ve already got the Canal+ mobile app installed on your tablet or phone then it’s possible to download the mobile VPN app from the above three providers and watch on a mobile device. However it’s best to watch on a computer or laptop so I’m going to show you an example below concentrating on using on either a PC or Mac.
The process regardless of what devices you use though is really simple. All you need to do is run the software or app from the VPN provider, connect to a French server and then either run the Canal+ app or visit one of the Canal+ streaming websites.
Below I take a look at how to do this using ExpressVPN on a Windows PC but they process is exactly the same on a Mac. It’s also the same with IPVanish and NordVPN only the layout will look a little different.
- Firstly download the software from the Products section of the ExpressVPN website.
- Install and run the software. Login when required.
- Press Choose Location and then press France.
- The app will automatically start to connect for you.
Once you’ve connected all you need to do is visit the Canal+ website either myCANAL, CanalPlay or one of the other Canal websites and rather than seeing the block message we saw earlier you’ll be able to watch Canal+ abroad from any country in the world.
