One of the most popular Australian broadcasters is SBS (Special Broadcasting Service). With their SBS On Demand streaming service, viewers can live stream SBS to many devices.
However, like other streaming services, you do need to unblock SBS On Demand to watch it outside of Australia.
Luckily, there is a straightforward workaround for this by using a VPN service. By using these, you can stream SBS as easy as if you were inside Australia.
Another plus is you can watch shows and movies on other platforms just as easy such as BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime Video and many others.
After a look at what SBS offers, you can learn how to use a VPN to watch SBS ON Demand any time you want.
What Does SBS Offer?
To watch SBS outside Australia is simple because it takes very little personal information to create an account. After installing a VPN, all you need to enter is your name, an email address for confirmation, and your age, along with a password.
There is no need for credit card details or anything; the service is 100% free to anyone who can gain access.
You can get a mobile app from Google Play to use on Android, although if you want to watch via a FireStick, you are out of luck. Devices that offer Amazon Prime video like the Fire devices don’t support any Australian streaming services.
Here are the devices it is compatible with:
- Phones and Tablets
- SBS On Demand app for PC
- Internet Enabled TV’s – Android, Samsung, LG, Sony and Apple TV among others
- Gaming Consoles
- Set-Top Boxes
Once in the app or on the website, you can search for a specific show, or you can choose from On Demand, Guide, Programs, Radio, News, Sport, Cycling, Football, Movies and Food.
Watching SBS On Demand only requires a VPN connection, and to change the server to one inside Australia, and then select any content you wish to view.
Can You Watch SBS Live Online?
Once you go to watch SBS online, you will possibly want to access a live stream. To do this, you go to the menu and select Guide.
The top half of the page shows you highlights and links to other areas, although the bottom of the page shows ON Now. You can select between TV or Radio or the Complete Guide.
Once here, you have the TV guide and what is live online. A red line shows the current time, and what shows are on.
You also have a further selection of channels on the left, such as World Movies, SBS Vice Land, SB and others.
Streaming SBS from here just needs a click on the program playing, and another box pops up with program details and ‘Watch Online’ in the bottom right. Click this, and you are taken to the SBS live stream for that show.
Watch SBS Outside Australia with a VPN
Once you are here, you will find you need a VPN to access any of the content. With no VPN, you get the message, “Sorry, this video is only available to stream within Australia due to publishing rights.”
The way the platform knows you are in New Zealand is, it checks for an Australian IP address. If your internet connection doesn’t have one, then you will face these geo-restrictions.
- To unblock SBS, all you have to do is fire up your VPN client.
- Click on the menu to access all the servers. Servers will be grouped into global regions so that Australia will be under Asia pacific.
- Select Australia and the client selects the most optimum
- Click the large connect button.
- You can then use the app or website and start streaming SBS
You can see how easy it is to watch On Demand outside Australia. However, the choice of VPN for Australia and Zealand isn’t as easy.
Here are two options that are suitable for watching SBS online.
1. ExpressVPN
To watch SBS live online, there is no other VPN that matches the speeds with this VPN provider. It uses trusted server technology where all user data is stored in Ram instead of slow hard drives. As a result, all servers become optimized for streaming.
With over 3,000 servers and 94 countries, you can access content from anywhere. Both Australia and New Zealand getting full support. With five device connections, you have unlimited bandwidth to watch any show or movie you desire.
2. NordVPN
Seen as the number one secure VPN in the world. It uses the same security protocols as the above, although there are many other security features included. NordVPN uses a unique Smart Play feature which is a smart DNS feature to help when streaming.
This is welcome to watch live online because although they have a more significant VPN server number than the number one best VPN above, they do fall behind in the download speed department. The number of countries supported is also much lower, so remote area coverage can be less.
Conclusion
Both VPN’s here can deliver when it comes to streaming SBS, and they are both way ahead of the competition. Unfortunately, neither has a free trial, but they both come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
It is easy to test both of these and check all the features, and most importantly, the performance. No matter what online activity as the user takes part in, be it streaming some of the best Australian TV, streaming from the UK or the US.
Users have full online privacy, and it will become clear that ExpressVPN is the best NZ VPN for any online activity.
