Say goodbye to geobloctings and protect your privacy: how to install a VPN on your connected TV

Install a VPN on a connected television: a absurd idea? Not that much! Having a virtual private network service on a television can have several advantages. Minimize the tracking of your data-connected TVs are also real hooks-access French platforms when you are traveling abroad…

Nothing could be simpler… provided you have an Android TV! Those of LG (Webos) or Samsung (Tizen OS), yet among the most popular on the market, are unfortunately much less well lotis than all the products running Android TV or Google TV (Sony, Xiaomi, TCL ..)

On these, it is enough to go and get the VPN application from the Play Store. Most suppliers (Proton VPN, NordVPN, Surfhark, ExpressVPN, etc.) have ready -to -use software. If you have an Apple TV, it's just as easy, this time passing through the App Store.

Once the application is installed, just launch the application and enter identifier and password to access the VPN services. Easy, right?

Take advantage of the “smart” DNS

If no application is available for your TV, everything is not (completely) lost. Some VPN suppliers (Surfshark, NordVPN, ExpressVPN, etc.) offer an intelligent DNS service, which allows, to take advantage of certain streaming services without having to install an application on your device. On the other hand, it does not protect your connection with a quantified tunnel.

You must first go to the configuration pages of your VPN in order to take advantage of this function, which is generally deactivated by default. Once started, the intelligent DNS is linked to your IP: it is therefore impossible to use it in two different places at the same time.

Then, simply enter the DNS addresses indicated by the VPN supplier in the DNS settings of the TV. Look for, because they are sometimes well hidden, at the bottom of an obscure “network” menu.

Configure a router

More radical, but also much more complex: you can also configure a router (or even a box) so that all the devices connected to it, including your TV, automatically connect through a VPN connection. Please note: all VPN suppliers do not allow this kind of manual configuration, and not all routers are compatible. Favor models with DD-WRT or tomato firmware. As for the boxes provided by French operators, they mostly deprived of this function.

Configure a VPN access point via Windows

The most malignant technique, no doubt, is to transform a Windows PC near your Wi-Fi Hotspot TV, so that it shares with it a protected connection by a VPN installed beforehand. This requires some manipulations in Windows network settings, but there is nothing very complicated! This also allows you to use the VPN application installed under Windows to change your output destination in a few clicks.

To do this, activate Windows's “Wireless Wireless Access Point” to create a new Wi-Fi network. Choose a password that is easy to remember, it will then be used to connect your TV.

Then connect to the server of your choice with your VPN application, then go to the Windows network connections screen. You should see not only the Wi-Fi network you have just created, but also the connection added by your VPN.

Right click on the latter and select “Properties”, then “Sharing”. In this window, click on “Authorizing other network computers to connect via the Internet connection of this computer” then, from the drop -down menu, select the connection that corresponds to the hotspot that you created previously.

That's it! All the devices that you will connect to the Wi-Fi network will now be connected through the VPN.

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