Change Netflix to US Version

Last Updated on December 16, 2014

So why would you want to do this?  Well the simple answer is that the US Version of Netflix is much better than any other one.  It has thousands more shows and films, plus much more recent releases – some of it only just out of European cinemas for example.

There are many examples but here is just one brief explanation of why you may want to change Netflix to US version.   It started for me when I became rather hooked on a Sci-Fi series called Lost which you might have heard of.  My partner and I had both managed to miss the hysteria about this show the first time round, but got well and truly hooked after a few series.   This is one of the great advantages of Netflix, you can find a show you like and then watch the whole thing over a few weeks, with no huge gaps between series.

Just look at this – six years and six seasons of one the best Sci-Fi shows ever made, all for a few dollars a month subscription.

netflix-american

I think it happened about half way through, when we were up to season 3 – we’d been watching for a few weeks an episode a night.  Then disaster struck, it just disappeared, gone with no warning or anything – boy were we mad!  We were not alone, loads of people were online complaining about this sudden withdrawal and the only help was a vague promise that it might return to the UK Netflix at some point.   This was the trigger, up to then I didn’t realise there was such a thing as a UK Netflix  but if you search online you’ll find lots of information on this.   The best estimates I’ve seen suggest that  there are around 4000 items on UK Netflix, but about 9000 plus if you change Netflix to US version.

It is surprisingly easy to do, and after a few weeks of investigating plus trial and error – I think I have found the best solution.    First of all forget about using American proxies, VPNs and security programs for this – you don’t need them.  Sure they all work, but are difficult to install on anything other than a PC and also can really slow your connection down.

What you need is something called Smart DNS – which is basically a very clever way of accessing any of the world’s country restricted websites by hiding your real location.  The best Smart DNS service can hide your location by just rerouting a small part of your initial connection with a server, allowing you to stream directly from the media site after that.   Your internet speed will remain pretty much untouched but a whole new world of internet media sites will be opened up to you – from BBC iPlayer, Hulu, Pandora to the US version of Netflix it doesn’t matter where you live.

This is the Best Smart DNS Service I’ve found

There are a few, but I only found one which was –

  • Reliable
  • Easy to Install
  • Allowed you to Switch Netflix Locales

The last point is important, although you might want to watch the US version of Netflix the majority of the time – there are some things only found on your home version. For example French and German Netflix have lots of content in French and German, which won’t be on the US version. So you want to be able to switch between the versions –

Netflix Locale Selector
Netflix Locale Selector

Instead of switching everyone automatically to the American version of Netflix, this Smart DNS service allows you to switch version using this web page.   This is incredibly useful and makes it a doddle to switch between different versions when ever you need.  Without this method you’d have to remove the Smart DNS settings from your devices to go back to the original version of Netflix. Anyway here’s how you install it on a computer, but as you can see it’s just as simple to utilize on a Smart Phone, Mac, tablet or any network enabled device.

Basically after you have subscribed to use the Smart DNS servers, you just need to change the default DNS server in network settings. It’s usually accessible on most network devices – I personally use it on a WiiU, Playstation, iPhone, iPad and Smart TV.