How to have a Netherlands IP address anywhere (with and without VPN)

Connecting to the internet using a Dutch IP address when you’re not in the Netherlands can be very helpful. For example, it allows you to get service from Dutch banking websites and unlock the streaming content blocked for users outside the country. Thus, if you are a Dutch national away from home on holidays or business, or just a foreigner enthusiastic about the country’s cultural products or financial services, getting a Netherlands IP abroad is a straightforward process if you use the correct VPN.

In this article, we will show you exactly how to achieve this goal step by step.

Geo-restricted web-based services are all the rage these days, especially on streaming platforms. That means that you cannot see the content they offer if you’re not inside the country. Or, at least, you will have limited access to the service – the title catalog will be smaller, frequently.

Also, banking services use geolocation as a security measure to protect domestic customers against fraud by international criminals. So if you want to see those streams or use those banks when away from the Netherlands, you need to get a Netherlands IP address outside it.

Using a VPN is the easiest way to get the Netherlands IP address. One of the things that a good VPN will do for you is hide your actual IP address and assign you another one from the server you choose within the VPN network. So if the server you select is based inside the Netherlands, your apparent IP address will be from that country. As a result, every Dutch website will consider you as a domestic user and serve you accordingly. As far as the internet is concerned, you’re in the Netherlands.

Masking your actual IP address is one of the things that a VPN should do for you. The other essential task it must perform is encrypting all your online traffic. Why? Because if you’re using your internet service in the usual way, any external observer can see precisely what you’re doing all the time. That observer could be your ISP or the government, but it could also be a team of hackers trying to learn enough about you to harm you.

However, if your traffic is encrypted correctly, it will look like random gibberish for external observers, so they won’t be able to make heads or tails of your internet activities. Thus, a VPN enhances your privacy, improves your anonymity, and gives you a more secure internet experience. These advantages alone are worth considering a VPN, even if your priority is simply to change your IP address to the Netherlands.

Also, if you’re traveling, the chances are that you’ll find yourself using public WiFi hotspots much more than you would at home. That is pure poison for your privacy and your security. The hackers of the world have learned how tourists need to use the internet and public spots, so they know how to “camp” nearby to sniff for vulnerable traffic that they can exploit in some way.

And your hotel’s internet access won’t protect you any better either. That’s because hackers also know that tourists live in hotels while they’re in town. However, suppose your smartphone or laptop computer is covered with a VPN. In that case, the traffic encryption will make you invulnerable to the casual digital wrongdoers that surround touristic spots in every major city of the world today.

So, when away from home, the fact that you’re abroad is enough to get a VPN for a Netherlands IP address.

Using a VPN to get Netherlands IP address quickly

VPNs used to be a toy for nerds and experts. But times have changed. Privacy concerns are becoming mainstream, so the demand for VPN services has grown significantly since Edward Snowden’s shocking revelations. The industry has kept up with the trend by adapting itself to a new user pool that’s not so expert. Hence, many premium VPNs offer a high-quality service that’s also very easy to use. Also, it can suit the needs of all types of users, especially new users.

So, even if you’ve never used a VPN before, you’ll find that the best Netherlands IP VPNs described here are straightforward to use. Also, they will do the trick you need with almost no effort on your part.

Let’s get down to it. Here’s how you can change your IP address, so you look to the world as a Netherlands user:

If you are a Dutch resident abroad for a reasonably short time, we have other good news for you. The VPN options we are presenting to you are all paid. That’s because it is best never to use free VPNs as they increase your privacy risks instead of lessening them.

But if you’re going to be away for fewer than 30 days, you can take advantage of the 30-day money-back feature offered by ExpressVPN and NordVPN. In this way, you could use the VPN to unlock any Dutch service you need when abroad. Then, you can go back home, cancel your VPN account and get your refund if it’s all done within the 30-day limit.

Later in this article, we will tell you why we’ve chosen the three best VPNs for the Netherlands. But since you could be in a bit of a hurry, let us list what they are more briefly here:

If you need to be connected to the Netherlands for a live event, then you must go through the process earlier. The VPNs in our list are reliable and easy to use, but unforeseen complications often happen on the internet. But the good thing is that all these options have 24/7 live chat support. So, if you are stuck by any chance, you can be sure that the service you picked will be right there.

How can you tell a good VPN from the rest?

The VPN industry has been growing steadily for more than a decade. Thus, when you try to choose a good provider, you’ll find yourself spoiled for choices. So, how do you select the provider that will suit your needs? What makes it different from the rest? How do you choose the Netherlands IP address VPN to solve your problem optimally in this particular case?

Well, you don’t need to. We’ve researched in your stead, so you can save your time for more important things. Here are the things we considered when looking for the best VPN to unlock every Dutch website:

• The VPN’s network includes at least one server that is physically based inside the Netherlands.
• The network’s traffic is reliable and fast.
• The company has a zero-log policy so that nothing that could identify you is recorded.
• The VPN’s encryption is at least up to par with the industry standard (AES-256), and it also features additional security options.
• The VPN’s apps are available for every important operating system or platform.

The best VPN service that will get you a Netherlands IP address

The short answer is ExpressVPN. But we have two other options for you that are almost as good at a lower cost; let’s see all three of them in further detail:

1. ExpressVPN

It offers outstanding speeds, and the provider has a reputation for privacy and security. In addition, it includes servers from three different cities in the Netherlands.

Visit ExpressVPN

3,000+ servers in 94 countries

AES-256-bit encryption

DNS/IPv6 leak protection

P2P sharing

Network-lock feature

TrustedServer technology

Zero-logs policy

Allows up to 5 simultaneous devices

30-day money back guarantee

Pros

• Available Bitcoin payment method
• Unblock many streaming site including Dutch
• 24/7 live chat customer support

Cons

• Pricier than its competitors

ExpressVPN is secure, reliable, and fast. It boasts more than three thousand servers scattered around 94 countries, one of which is the Netherlands. The network’s speed and reliability allow it to comfortably support an HD stream in real-time, which is why it is an ideal option. Of course, it will also bypass the regional restrictions in banking or streaming sites by showing them a local IP address as your own.

Encryption is AES 256-bit, which is military-grade. In addition, there is a kill switch for desktop apps, and the network is protected against IPv6, DNS, and WebRTC IP leaks so that your actual address is always kept safe within the encryption tunnel. A kill switch is a piece of software that monitors your connection to the VPN.

If something goes wrong and the link is broken, then the activity in your device stops automatically. This measure prevents any information from leaving your side into the open internet without the proper encryption to protect it.

Express VPN keeps no logs that include personally identifiable information. Furthermore, you can keep your identity anonymous even from the VPN if you pay for your membership using Bitcoin. The customer support live chat is online every day of the week at all times.

This VPN supports Linux, macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android. It can also provide you with custom firmware if you want it installed on a router.

In short, ExpressVPN unblocks all the popular Dutch streaming sites; it has reliable, fast connections, its security features are excellent, and allows for anonymous registration. It’s also the most expensive option on the list. But the service is worth it, the price difference is not too big, and it has a 30-day money-back guarantee. It has the best balance between functionality and privacy.

2. Surfshark

One of the VPN industry’s new kids on the block, and it’s making some serious waves already by offering multiple servers with the Netherlands IPs.

Visit Surfshark

3,200+ servers in 65 countries

AES-256-bit encryption

P2P servers

MultiHop mode

DNS leak protection

Automatic kill switch

No-logs policy

Camouflage Mode

Unlimited simultaneous connections

30-day money-back guarantee

Pros

• Unblocks all major streaming platforms and blocked content
• Anonymous payments available
• 24/7 live support

Cons

• Slow connections on some servers

If you’re looking for one hell of a deal, Surfshark is the thing for you. This VPN offers top-notch service, similar to the industry’s premium VPNs, but at a slashed price.

Encryption is 256-AES-GCM (just like the NSA). The network spans more than 3,200 servers across 65 countries. Some of the nodes offer static IP addresses and multi-hop encryption.

Additionally, you get protection against malware, popups, and trackers. That in itself improves loading times and reduces the data transference volumes. The servers keep no logs and allow an unlimited number of concurrent connections.

Surfshark can unblock Netflix from any server in the network, accepts cryptocurrency as payment, keeps no logs, and has a 24/7 customer support team. It will get you a Netherlands IP address if you choose a local server there, and it has multiple Dutch servers.

The price is unique in the industry for the bang it will give you for your buck. The only cons are that the network’s speeds, while good enough, is not impressive compared to the best in the business. Also, if you are a power user looking to tweak things to your heart’s content, you might be frustrated.

This option works fine; it’s the budget option because of its low price and an acceptable performance that is, nevertheless, not outstanding.

Surfshark’s performance is astonishing for a new VPN, and the price angle makes it very attractive.

3. NordVPN

A resilient VPN that helps you maintain your online privacy in the Netherlands via its huge server network. It also allowing unblocking geo-restricted content via 200+ servers in the country.

Visit NordVPN

5,200+ servers in 60 countries

Supports P2P sharing

AES-256-bit encryption

Allows up to 6 simultaneous connections

Zero-logs policy

DNS/IPv6 leak protection

24/7 live chat

30 days money-back guarantee

Pros

• Unblocks Dutch streaming sites
• Fast and reliable speeds
• Top-notch privacy and security

Cons

• Complications in desktop app

While ExpressVPN is our top choice, there are good reasons for the excellent reputation NordVPN enjoys.

The network spans more than 5,000 nodes in 60 countries. In the Netherlands alone, you can find over 200 NordVPN servers. So, unblocking Dutch services of any kind is a trivial task if you have a NordVPN account. Furthermore, it allows six simultaneous connections to the network.

Privacy is paramount in NordVPN, so it has AES-256 encryption, an app-specific kill switch (not on Android, sorry), protections against all the standards types of IP leaks, ad-blockers, malware-scanning, Tor over VPN, and multi-hop options.

NordVPN has apps for Linux, Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS. So, there’s almost no device that can’t benefit from this VPN’s protection.

Lastly, NordVPN’s price is relatively low (though not as low as Surfshark) for a service of its quality. Furthermore, the vast number of servers on Dutch soil makes it very well suited for the task at hand.

Can I use a free VPN service to get a Netherlands IP address?

Yes, you can, but no, you shouldn’t. 

Free VPNs are problematic at many levels, and you should always steer clear of them.

The first problem with free VPNs is that most don‘t have enough servers or bandwidth to serve all users. So free VPNs will hide your IP and encrypt your traffic. But they will provide you with slow speeds that can make even simple browsing a very frustrating experience, let alone streaming.

Also, free VPNs are the best known by Netflix and similar platforms that spend a lot of effort blocking them. Thus, it’s pretty rare to find a free VPN that can unlock any streaming website.

But the low-grade functionality common in free VPNs is not the worst problem.

VPNs need an international server network that is expensive to build and maintain. ExpressVPN, Surfshark, NordVPN, and other premium VPNs pay for their expenses by collecting fees from their users. But how can a free VPN pay its bills if it’s charging you nothing? We’re glad you asked!

An axiom in the new digital economy goes like this:

If you are not paying for a service on the internet, sooner or later, you’ll find that you are the actual product on sale.

And that’s how free VPNs pay for their costs.

The first resource they have is advertising. Ads in free VPNs are usually overabundant and intrusive. And they come with tracking cookies that monitor your activity, which brings us to the second resource. Part of the point in a premium VPN is that it keeps no logs at all. It doesn’t monitor your internet activity at all. The best ones only keep data such as usernames, passwords, and the bare minimum of information needed to keep the servers going.

That’s how they help you to keep your privacy safe. FreeVPNs, on the other hand, keep an eye on you. They monitor your activity, keep records, analyze them and then sell them to advertisers and data miners for whom that information is worth a lot of money. So Free VPNs are not on business to help you remain anonymous.

Instead, their business model is to have you use their servers to learn about your habits and collect the information, which is a valuable product they can sell. That’s how you become their product instead of their user. So a free VPN will never work very well when you compare it to a paid one. And, on top of everything, it jeopardizes your anonymity and privacy by logging your activities.

There are other problems associated with free VPNs, such as IP leaks, lack of encryption, and other security breaches. We won’t go into further detail to explore those problems because, by now, the point should be crystal clear: always avoid free VPNs. Even if they don’t charge you with money, they are too expensive in other ways.

In short, free VPNs stand for all the opposite things that a real VPN should stand for. That’s why you should never use them.

Will I be able to see Dutch TV from abroad through a VPN?

A geo-blocked service will generally look at the IP address assigned to you (your ISP does that) and figure out your country. However, suppose you are connecting through a VPN. In that case, the network will give you a temporary IP address from a different country corresponding to the physical location of the server you chose.

Thus, every interaction you have on the internet from then on will be seen from the other side as if you were in the server’s location. Therefore, once you’re in the VPN app and choose a server from the Netherlands, you’ll have a Dutch IP address assigned to all your traffic, and you will be able to see the streams on Netflix Netherlands, AT5, NPO start, and any other Dutch service without any problems whatsoever.

What are other uses for a Dutch IP address?

The majority of individual users today use VPNs for unblocking restricted content online. But that’s not all a VPN offers you.

Digital crime has become widespread in recent years, so finding new ways to prevent fraud is necessary for many service providers, especially banks and financial institutions. For example, a standard security measure in banking websites is to disallow connections abroad to access their websites. The bank doesn’t know, or care, if you’re on holiday or not. It just knows you’re trying to connect from far away, and it blocks you.

Some banks will allow you to do business anyway if you spend some time in a bothersome identity verification process – a most inconvenient thing to do when you’re abroad. It’s the last thing you need when you’re away from home, even more so if you’re in an emergency, which is probably why you need to hit on your bank while on holiday. The IP address assigned to you in the VPN will not trigger the bank’s security alerts. It will simply think you’re connecting from within the country and proceed normally.

In this article, we’ve been focusing on how the VPN gives you a different IP, but VPNs do far more for your security, and this is the moment to consider those other features.

Public WiFi networks are a terrible idea, security-wise. They expose your traffic to any third party close enough to pick up your device’s radio signal. Furthermore, because those WiFi networks are unrestricted, none of your traffic is encrypted.

When you’re at home, you don’t need any public WiFi connections at all. But when you’re traveling, you’re very likely to find that you need to connect to a WiFi network for whatever reason. Then you will be exposed, as you would be at home, but you’ll be much more vulnerable because if you notice any breaches on your security (and by the time you know it’s already too late), you’ll be impaired to react quickly and control the damage.

Unless, of course, you are using a VPN account. The VPN will encrypt all your traffic, wherever you are, so you will be invulnerable to third parties even if you’re far away from home. And that’s another excellent reason to use a VPN when you’re on holiday, even if you don’t need to access your banking services or streaming websites.

Can I get a Dutch IP address without a VPN?

VPNs are definitely the best way to obtain an IP address from the Netherlands, but they’re not the only option. You can also use a proxy server to change your IP address and Firefox add-ons, or configure your connection manually. All those options are available, but they need some additional expertise, and unlike VPNs they add nothing to your security.

Using a web proxy is very simple. First, you direct your browser to the proxy, then type or paste the site URL you want to unblock and submit your query. Our guide on free web proxies have some good proxies that will help you get a Netherlands IP address.

Manual settings

Another option is to set your IP manually, also using a proxy. If you can find a proxy from the Netherlands, you can then change your browser’s settings to use that proxy, and then you’re set. Your browser is officially navigating from the Netherlands.

A quick Google search on the topic will give you multiple results where you could get a Netherlands proxy.

Firefox add-ons

If you browse the web on Firefox, many add-ons are designed to change your IP address. You need to find the proxy addresses on your own, though, but it’s still much faster than configuring everything manually.

So there are options other than VPNs, for sure. But premium VPNs remain the best idea.

Are there any internet restrictions in the Netherlands?

The Netherlands is one of the most liberal countries globally, so internet restrictions are almost inexistent there. Illegal pornography websites are blocked, as it happens in nearly every country, and most ISPs block TPB and Pirate Bay alternatives alike. But this block has been removed once before in 2014, and it could be overturned permanently if the Dutch Supreme Court decides it’s illegal.

ISP censorship is not very effective, anyway. The restrictions an ISP can impose are rendered useless by many measures, one of which is VPN.

The best streaming platforms and channels in the Netherlands today

There are many streaming websites in the Netherlands, and some of the best need a paid subscription. However, there are also many channels that you can watch for free as long as you’re within the country – or you are connected through a VPN server. Here are the most popular ones:

• NPO1
• NPO2
• NPO3
• RTL4
• RTL5
• Ketnet
• Canvas
• Een

Conclusions

There are plenty of legitimate reasons to need a local Dutch IP address to access the internet if you are abroad.

Proxy servers can do the trick for you. Still, VPN networks are faster, more reliable, and have the bonus of providing you with many additional features that enhance your privacy while also getting you local internet access in the Netherlands.

When you decide to use a VPN, for whatever reason, the best option is always to choose a paid service because free VPNs are, in the end, a privacy liability. Fortunately, VPNs are not expensive. Most premium services in the industry will charge you around 10 USD monthly to give you their full power. And if you choose a provider like Surfshark, you’ll get most of the power in the market’s best providers for a fraction of the price.

ExpressVPN and NordVPN are not as cheap, but their extensive networks and high-speeds will guarantee a smooth experience that will allow you to access your Dutch banking services or streaming platforms without the slightest problem. And the best part is that it’s all legal.

So having a Dutch IP address at your service is as simple as picking a VPN, signing up for it, logging in, and choosing a server based in the Netherlands. From that moment on, the local Dutch servers won’t be able to tell that you’re not inside the country. And neither will you