This year’s Winter Olympics<\/span><\/a><\/span> will showcase some of the world’s best athletes across 116 events in various sports, attempting to ski, skate, snowboard, curl and sleigh their way to a gold medal. The US has already won gold in four different events, split between skiing and skating.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Olympics are being held in Milan and Cortina, Italy, running through Feb. 22. But you may be disappointed by the lack of options to catch all of the Olympic action this winter if you don’t have access to the right services.<\/p>\n In the US, you can find TV broadcasts of the Winter Olympic Games<\/a> on your local NBC affiliate, the USA Network and on CNBC. Peacock<\/span><\/a><\/span> is the primary streaming option for viewers in the US, with streaming also available through the NBC Sports app, nbc.com<\/a> and nbcolympics.com<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n While your local NBC station is available for free if you have an OTA TV antenna<\/span><\/a><\/span> or DVR<\/span><\/a><\/span>, you may not be able to catch all of what you want to watch on NBC alone. And because the cable and streaming options require a paid subscription, you’d need to pay to get the most out of your Olympics viewing experience in the US.<\/p>\n However, with a VPN<\/span><\/a><\/span>, or virtual private network, you can access free online streams from other countries — potentially letting you watch all of the events you want without having to pay a cent. You can download the app to your computer, mobile device or streaming device to spoof your virtual location, making it appear as though you’re connecting to the internet from a different country and enabling you to access geographically restricted streaming content.\u00a0<\/p>\n So even if you’re in the US, you may still be able to expand your Winter Olympic streaming options and catch all the action you want for free. Because with a VPN, you can unblock free region-restricted Olympics streams.<\/p>\n Many countries around the world offer free ways to stream the Olympics. Bear in mind that the majority of these international streams are broadcast in a foreign language, so some sites may be difficult to navigate, and the commentary could be indecipherable to you if you don’t understand the language.\u00a0<\/p>\n Also, some of these sites might require you to create an account and\/or enter a valid postal code in the country to access the content. If that’s the case for the site you want to stream on, simply do a quick internet search for postal codes in the applicable country to plug in and get started.\u00a0<\/p>\n For English-speaking Olympic broadcasts from other countries, you can turn to:<\/p>\n Other international streaming options presented in other languages include:<\/p>\n These are just a few examples of the many international streaming\u00a0<\/a>services<\/a>\u00a0you can access with a VPN to broaden your Olympic viewing experience. Keep in mind that not all VPNs or server locations are guaranteed to work perfectly to stream the Olympics from other regions, so you may need to hop around and try different servers or streaming sites to access the content you want.\u00a0<\/p>\n Also, be sure to check each site’s terms of service to ensure you’re not violating them by using a VPN. Using a VPN is perfectly legal<\/span><\/a><\/span> in the vast majority of the world, but some sites and services may attempt to restrict VPN usage. \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n A VPN encrypts your internet traffic while routing it through a secure server in a different location, hiding your online activity from your internet provider, network administrator, and other online snoops. At the same time, a VPN changes your IP address<\/span><\/a><\/span> to the IP address of the VPN server you’re connecting through, making your connection appear to be originating from another location.\u00a0<\/p>\n A VPN is a crucial tool for boosting your privacy online, but it’s the IP address switching functionality that lets you access geo-restricted content from other regions.<\/p>\n Because your IP address reveals your general location, most sites and services that restrict content to certain regions rely on visitors’ IP addresses to determine their location and, therefore, either deny or allow access to content. But when you visit a site while connected to a VPN server, the site registers the IP address of the VPN server rather than your own.\u00a0<\/p>\n For example, if you’re in the US and connected to a VPN server in Australia, the 9Now streaming site will register your connection as being in Australia, and grant you access to its content, including its Olympic coverage. Similarly, connect to a VPN server in the UK if you want to access BBC iPlayer, a server in Ireland to access RTE Player or to a server in Canada to access CBC Gem. Wherever you want to stream content from, just connect to a server located in that country.<\/p>\n <\/div> You can easily stream BBC iPlayer content by connecting to a VPN server in the UK.<\/p>\n <\/span> Screenshot\/CNET<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n If you want to access US-based Olympic broadcasts outside of the country, you can stream NBC coverage through its apps and websites by signing in through your TV provider if you’re subscribed to one. Or you can access NBC, USA and CNBC coverage through a live TV streaming service<\/span><\/a><\/span> like YouTube TV<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Hulu Plus Live TV<\/span><\/a><\/span>, DirecTV or Sling TV<\/span><\/a><\/span> if you’re subscribed. Just make sure you’re connected to a VPN server located in the US before attempting to access the content on any of those platforms.<\/p>\n Peacock<\/span><\/a><\/span> remains the only option for accessing all of the Olympic events from a US-based broadcast perspective. So if you’re in the US and already a Peacock subscriber, you don’t need a VPN to catch all the action. However, if you’re traveling abroad<\/span><\/a><\/span> and want to stream the Olympics on Peacock, you’ll need to connect to a VPN server in the US to access the content. \u00a0<\/p>\n <\/div> You can access Peacock from abroad by connecting to a VPN server in the US.<\/p>\n <\/span> Screenshot\/CNET<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n VPNs are generally pretty easy to download and use, especially if you choose a quality, vetted provider from CNET’s list of the best VPNs<\/span><\/a><\/span>. For watching the Olympics, you’ll want a VPN that’s fast, delivers reliable streaming performance and offers servers located in the countries you want to stream from. Most of our recommended VPNs have servers in 100-plus countries, so you should be pretty well covered for streaming — but it’s still a good idea to check the VPN’s list of server locations on its website before committing. \u00a0<\/p>\n In addition to those considerations, you may want to think about your budget and how much you’re willing to spend on a VPN. Currently, the fastest VPN<\/span><\/a><\/span> based on our latest testing is NordVPN, and the best VPN for streaming<\/span><\/a><\/span> is ExpressVPN —\u00a0 two of the most expensive services in the industry. NordVPN<\/span><\/a><\/span> costs $13 per month, $60 for the first year or $83 total for the first two years, with the annual and two-year plans renewing at $140 per year. ExpressVPN<\/span><\/a><\/span> costs $13 per month, $75 for the first year or $98 total for the first two years, with the annual and two-year plans renewing at $100 per year.\u00a0<\/p>\n If you want something cheaper<\/span><\/a><\/span>, consider Proton VPN or Surfshark, both excellent for streaming and much easier on the wallet. Proton VPN<\/span><\/a><\/span> costs $10 per month, $48 for the first year or $72 total for the first two years, with the annual and two-year plans renewing at $84 per year. Surfshark<\/span><\/a><\/span> costs $15.45 per month, $48 for the first year or $60 total for the first two years, with the annual and two-year plans renewing at $79 per year. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Once you’ve signed up, purchased, and downloaded your VPN to your devices, all you need to do is sign in to the app and select a server from the list displayed. VPN user interfaces vary from one provider to another, but navigating the server selection functionality is typically very straightforward. You can usually scroll to your preferred server location from the list of servers or search for specific locations by typing in the search field.\u00a0<\/p>\n Once you’ve located the server you want to connect to, simply tap or click it, and you should be automatically connected and ready to stream from your preferred location within a few seconds. \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n You may be tempted to just go with one of the hundreds of free VPNs<\/span><\/a><\/span> available to save some cash, but I only recommend paid VPNs for streaming — whether it’s the Olympics or otherwise — for a number of reasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n While Proton VPN’s free tier<\/a> is the only free VPN we recommend<\/span><\/a><\/span> at CNET, it’s not suitable for streaming the Olympics because its free servers don’t support streaming and can deliver sluggish speeds at peak times due to congestion.\u00a0<\/p>\n Also, you can access servers in only 10 countries, and you can’t manually select a server, so connecting to a desired location can be tricky. Proton VPN’s free tier is otherwise excellent for protecting your privacy while browsing the web.<\/p>\n Besides being unfit for streaming purposes, free VPNs can often be downright dangerous to use<\/span><\/a><\/span>. Many free VPNs make money by logging user activity and selling data to third parties. At that point, you’re better off using no VPN at all. Some free VPNs have also been found to spy on their users and take screenshots of their online activities, while others may even be riddled with malware<\/span><\/a><\/span>. To stay safe, keep an eye out for certain red flags<\/span><\/a><\/span> when signing up for a VPN.<\/p>\n But if you really don’t want to make any monetary commitment at all, you can always ask\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/span>your VPN provider<\/a>\u00a0for a refund and still watch the entire Winter Olympics essentially for free. The Olympic Games last less than a month, and many VPNs offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. Sure, you have to pay up front, but you can use the VPN for a month, stream the entire Olympics and get your money back from the VPN if you request a refund within its guarantee window.\u00a0<\/p>\n However, I’d recommend keeping your VPN for the long term because you can use it to unlock all kinds of other streaming content throughout the year, in addition to being a crucial tool for protecting your privacy online. In addition to using a VPN, I also recommend rounding out your cybersecurity toolkit with a password manager<\/span><\/a><\/span> and antivirus software<\/span><\/a><\/span>. \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\nWhich countries offer free streaming of the Winter Olympics?<\/h2>\n
How to access geo-restricted Olympics streams with a VPN<\/h2>\n
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n
Using a VPN is easy \u00a0\u00a0<\/h2>\n
A word of caution if you’re thinking about a free VPN<\/h2>\n