If you’re outside the UK but want to watch movies, documentaries, or other streaming content on BBC iPlayer, you’ll need a VPN to change your local IP address to a UK IP. While there are hundreds of VPN options available, not all of them offer UK servers, and even fewer can reliably unblock BBC iPlayer.
BBC iPlayer might still block content if it detects that your IP is coming from a VPN. If you try accessing BBC iPlayer using a UK server and see the message “BBC iPlayer only works in the UK,” it means that the server’s IP has been flagged as a virtual IP by BBC.
This flagging process is dynamic and ongoing, meaning more IPs get added to the flagged list over time. To maintain accessibility, VPN providers must continuously add new, unflagged “clean” IPs.
In this article, we’ll test all of ExpressVPN’s UK servers to see if they can successfully unblock BBC iPlayer. According to my ExpressVPN app, there are six UK server locations available. Let’s test them one by one!
UK – East London:
The UK East London server of ExpressVPN successfully unblocked BBC iPlayer. I ran a SpeedTest to evaluate its performance, and the results were impressive. During actual use, there was no buffering while streaming videos. I also tested skipping through the progress bar, and each skip took approximately 0.5 seconds to load. Overall, the streaming experience was very smooth.
SpeedTest: Download: 18.4 Mbps, Upload: 9.6 Mbps, Ping: 172 ms.
UK – Docklands:
The Docklands server of ExpressVPN does not support BBC iPlayer. From the screenshot, you can see the message displayed when I tried to access iPlayer: “BBC iPlayer only works in the UK. Sorry, it’s due to rights issues. In the UK? Here’s some advice.”
Under these circumstances, any attempt to connect to iPlayer through the Docklands server will fail because the IP has already been flagged by BBC. The issue can only be resolved if ExpressVPN replaces the Docklands server with new, unflagged clean IPs.
UK – Tottenham:
The UK – Tottenham server of ExpressVPN successfully unblocks BBC iPlayer. It allows for smooth playback of HD videos without buffering issues.
SpeedTest: Download: 23.7 Mbps, Upload: 27 Mbps, Ping: 183 ms.
UK – London:
The UK – London server of ExpressVPN successfully unblocks BBC iPlayer. It allows for smooth playback of HD videos without buffering issues.
SpeedTest: Download: 30.7 Mbps, Upload: 17.4 Mbps, Ping: 264 ms.
UK – Midlands:
The UK – Midlands server of ExpressVPN successfully unblocks BBC iPlayer. It allows for smooth playback of videos without buffering issues.
SpeedTest: Download: 10.7 Mbps, Upload: 1.53 Mbps, Ping: 230 ms.
UK – Wembley:
The UK – Midlands server of ExpressVPN successfully unblocks BBC iPlayer. It allows for smooth playback of HD videos without buffering issues.
SpeedTest: Download: 25.9 Mbps, Upload: 1.27 Mbps, Ping: 216 ms.
Summary: Out of the 6 ExpressVPN servers tested, 5 successfully unblocked BBC iPlayer, while the Docklands server failed. Based on these results, you can use ExpressVPN to unblock and watch BBC iPlayer from anywhere in the world.
As for the connection speed, it depends on various factors and should be taken as a reference. Your local internet speed plays a crucial role in determining the overall experience. Additionally, the speed of ExpressVPN servers can vary during peak and off-peak times. When more users share the same bandwidth, the speed is likely to decrease.
