SKY customers are just realising they could be locked out of streaming their favourite shows if they use a VPN app.
It’s a common holiday mistake, as one Sky customer recently found out when their Sky Go app suddenly stopped working.
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In a help forum on Sky’s website, the troubled customer wrote: “Last week [Sky Go] worked on the iPad. This week it’s not.
“I have done what I have seen others do, deleted the app and re-installed it, turned Wi-Fi on and off, and it’s now telling me I need to have the device authorised and ensure it’s connected to the internet which it is!
“Sorry but we pay a lot of money for Sky and for it to play up and not work is not great. Can someone advise please? Thanks.”
What the customer didn’t realise, however, is that Sky had blocked them from using the Sky Go app after they had used a VPN to stream while on holiday.
- What is a VPN? Read our explainer here.
Sky Go is the app customers can use for on demand and catch up telly, at no extra cost.
However, customers are not allowed to stream Sky outside the UK via Sky Go, or any other apps.
According to Sky, “this is because there are certain EU rules which mean people in the EU can use online content services across all EU countries.
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“As the UK is no longer part of the EU, we are not able to provide this service in the same way.”
This affects lots of online videos, music, and entertainment services, not just Sky.
Using a VPN – also known as a virtual private network – essentially hides your IP address and makes it appear as though you’re accessing SkyGo from the UK.
But it is against Sky’s rules.
So, if you forget to disable the VPN, Sky will lock you out of streaming via Sky Go.
After speaking with a Sky representative on the phone, the customer with Sky Go woes said they realised they had wrongly used Sky Go abroad via a VPN.
Once they had disabled the VPN, the Sky Go app worked again.
Sky customers risk being banned from the broadcast service if they break Sky’s contract terms and conditions.
If you want to watch your favourite shows abroad, you’ll have to download them over Wi-Fi before you leave home and view them offline when you’re overseas.
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