How to watch HBO Go outside the US
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.
In this guide we’re going to show you how you can watch HBO Go outside the US.
HBO Go is great, you can catch up with all your favourite TV shows regardless of where you are in the States. So if you’re away from home for a while or travelling cross country HBO Go can be the saviour to allow you to keep up with all your HBO shows.
Unfortunately though if you travel overseas then HBO Go just doesn’t work. If you’ve ever tried to watch HBO Go overseas you’ll find yourself blocked with a message telling you that you must reside within the fifty states of the United States of America. What a bummer!
So if you’re on vacation, on business, in the military or for whatever other reason are outside the US you can’t officially access HBO Go from the HBO service that you pay for at home. Read below to find out how you can.
How to watch HBO Go outside the US
To watch HBO Go outside the US, you need a service called a VPN.
VPN stands for Virtual Private Network and is a way of protecting your privacy online. A side feature of the service is you can choose to virtually reside in any location in the world.
When you run the HBO Go app or visit the HBO Go website it checks what country you’re in and if you’re outside the United States it blocks you. When you use a VPN you can appear as if you are in the United States even though you’re in a completely different country.
VPN services cost between $5 – $10 per month and can be even cheaper if you decide to sign up for a yearly service.
There are hundreds of VPN providers and a quick search of Google will lead you to a baffling array. Finding a good one can be time consuming and if you’re like me then you don’t have time for that.
I’ve put together a list of three of the best VPN providers for worldwide use. Personally I use ExpressVPN because they’re easy to use and fast for streaming video like HBO Go but feel free to check out the other two also.
- ExpressVPN – My recommended provider!
- IPVanish
- NordVPN
All you need to do is click one of the links above, sign up to the provider and then continue reading below where I’ll show you how to use the VPN service to watch HBO Go outside the US.
How to use a VPN to watch HBO Go
After signing up you’ll receive an email with your login and password details. The next step is to download either the VPN software for Windows or Mac or their app for Android or iOS.
If you already have the HBO Go app installed on your phone or tablet before you left the US then this is fine, if not then you’ll need to use the HBO Go website like a computer user would.
As you can see in the example below for the Windows ExpressVPN software it’s simply a case of pressing Choose Location, selecting United States and then pressing Connect.
The software will take care of the connection and as soon as it’s connected you can visit the HBO Go website.
Watch HBO Go anywhere with ExpressVPN.
The process is exactly the same for the Mac software.
For Android and iOS devices simply launch the ExpressVPN app or other providers’ app and press on Choose Location then the United States and then Connect. The process is the same as with a regular computer
Once it lets you know it’s connected simply launch the HBO Go app or visit the HBO Go website to watch from anywhere in the world.
