So imagine this – you finished work, dinner is ready, and you just want to watch an easy and funny movie to wrap up the day. Mean Girls sounds like the perfect idea for the evening, just – it’s blocked in your region.
Naturally, a question pops up in your mind – what countries is Mean Girls currently streaming in? Sweden, Japan, and Singapore are just a few examples so check this list if you want to find out more.
Fortunately, there’s a way you can unblock Mean Girls anywhere in the world – by using a VPN.
But can a free VPN unblock your favorite movie? Maybe, but it’s not that likely. Plus, you might experience a few problems with a free VPN. In this article, we’ll walk you through everything you should know about:
- The pros and cons of using a free VPN
- The main difference between a free VPN and a paid VPN
- How a free VPN unblocks Mean Girls on Netflix
How Can a Free VPN Unblock Mean Girls?
Your device is constantly sending and receiving information to the websites you’re connected to on the internet. Because of this constant change of information, websites (Netflix in this case) see your IP address and, so, your real location.
When you’re connected to a VPN, your traffic will be rerouted through the VPN server and your IP address will be replaced with a new one so Netflix won’t see your real location. This way, you can unlock content anywhere in the world – all you have to do is connect to a server that’s located in a country where Mean Girls is whitelisted.
Why Do People Think Free VPNs Are a Good Idea?
Why do people want anything that’s free? Well, it’s obvious – because it’s free.
People – especially those new to VPNs – automatically assume that a VPN is very expensive and they can’t afford it. They might also consider that paying for a VPN is a hassle. Or they think they’ll only use the VPN just once and won’t need it again. So they start looking up free VPNs on Google.
But in reality, most paid VPNs have very affordable plans, take less than 5 minutes to download and install, and come with generous money-back guarantees (you can unblock Mean Girls, watch it, and get your money back). Also, free VPNs aren’t really “free”.
The Disadvantages of Using a Free VPN to Unblock Mean Girls on Netflix
Here’s why you might not like using a free VPN:.
1. You Get Slower Speeds Than with a Paid VPN
Free VPNs usually can’t afford to get enough bandwidth or optimize their servers for speed. And even if you manage to find a free VPN server with fast speeds, your connections will slow down considerably once the server becomes overcrowded – and that will happen very fast.
We ran multiple tests using both free and paid VPNs, and we always had 60-70% slower speeds when using free VPNs. Our Netflix videos took much longer to load, we experienced annoying quality drops, and the videos buffered frequently when we skipped through them.
2. Free VPNs Lack Basic Security Features
A free VPN can’t afford to invest their money into developing strong features because they’re… free. So developers can’t work to improve a VPN’s security features and you can’t use a free VPN without putting your personal information at risk.
Many free VPNs don’t come with a kill switch. That means if your VPN connection drops, your IP address might get accidentally exposed. This way, your internet service provider will see that you’re binging Netflix and will slow down your internet speeds so that you won’t eat too much data.
A kill switch can be extremely useful in this situation because when you get disconnected from the VPN server, you’ll be automatically disconnected from the internet as well. So your ISP won’t see what you’re doing online.
Free VPNs often use very weak encryption which is easy to compromise. And they don’t have strict no-logs policies, so they might log and sell your data.
3. Free VPNs Don’t Have Good Customer Support
If you experience any issues or have any questions, you won’t be able to contact a support rep over live chat – like you normally can with paid VPNs. Instead, you’ll be redirected to an outdated support forum or you’ll have to send a support ticket over email.
And it usually takes a few days until a free VPN’s support reps reply to your emails. And even when they do reply, they usually don’t provide helpful answers. You’ll basically be on your own if anything goes wrong.
Are Paid VPNs Better than Free VPNs?
Yes, paid VPNs are more reliable than free VPNs.
And that’s because paid VPNs can afford what free VPNs can’t:
- Good developers
- Buying and renting speed-optimized servers
- Legal advice
Most paid VPNs offer high-quality services, so you don’t have to worry about things like your personal information being stolen, your ISP throttling your Netflix traffic, or poor customer service.
Besides, a paid VPN can afford to refresh their VPN IP address, so you can unblock any Netflix movie or show around the world. Netflix constantly bans VPN IP addresses. So if the free VPN you use doesn’t refresh its server IP addresses fast enough, you won’t be able to unlock Mean Girls and you’ll get redirected to the Netflix proxy error page – sometimes even in the middle of the movie!
So we definitely recommend getting a paid VPN instead of a free VPN – it’s a surefire way to unblock Mean Girls (or any other title) on Netflix.
Though, that’s just our opinion – we’d also like to hear what you think too. So please let us know – are free VPNs better than paid VPNs for streaming, or is it the other way around? If you prefer using free VPNs, please tell us why (and don’t forget to mention which free VPNs you use).
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