Surfshark Not Working with ITV Hub? Here’s a Hack to Fix that!

Are you struggling to get ITV Hub working with Surfshark? Running into error 006? You are not alone. ITV Player has been blocking certain VPNs for a few years now. In this guide, we will show you how to fix Surfshark not working with ITV Hub.

ITV is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network that has been running since its launch in 1955. In order to avoid copyright licensing issues and distribution rights, ITV broadcasting services are restricted to within the United Kingdom.

You therefore cannot access ITV from abroad to avoid violating the stated agreements. ITV Hub, the free online streaming service of ITV checks your IP address, and if it notices that you are outside the UK, your access gets blocked. Don’t lose hope yet, there’s still a way to watch ITV Hub in Australia at your convenience.

The only way to access ITV Hub outside the UK is by using a VPN, smart DNS or browser extension to hide your actual IP address. Due to various security concerns, a premium VPN service (we recommend Surfshark) is much safer compared to the other two methods.

A VPN (a virtual private network) works by masking your IP address by connecting to a server in the UK. Your device reflects a new British IP address and ITV Hub gets the impression that you are actually in Britain and grants you access. This way, you can unblock ITV Hub with Surfshark in Australia.

It can be annoying when Surfshark stops working with ITV Hub out of the blue when you are engrossed in Everybody Hates Chris for Free or You & Me. The main reason behind this issue is that ITV Hub may have detected you are accessing it from a banned IP address. But worry not; there is an easy fix for that.

Below are the steps on how to fix Surfshark not working with ITV Hub.

Why is Surfshark not working with ITV hub in Australia?

ITV Hub uses geo-restriction software to limit access to viewers outside the UK by verifying your location to make sure you are within the UK. If not, you will be denied streaming access to all programs and shows on ITV.

Streaming platforms nowadays have a stringent IP monitoring system that identifies unusual user traffic. Even if you are using a VPN service, ITVX will still show access errors if the VPN has a poor encryption strategy. When the IP monitoring systems of ITV are better than the VPN, you automatically get blocked.

Surfshark might not be working with ITV Hub in Australia because ITV Hub has strong tracking capabilities and employs solid blocking technology. Surfshark has not upgraded its services to match or surpass those of ITV Hub. And since Australia is a geo-restricted country, your access is blocked if your actual physical location is discovered by ITV Hub when using Surfshark.

Other reasons could be your IP address is leaking or your IP address doesn’t match the GPS location which results in ITV identifying that you are a viewer from outside UK. You can solve it, by following our guide.

What if ITV Hub does not work with Surfshark?

You don’t need to be a tech genius to resolve Surfshark not working with ITV Hub issue. If one method doesn’t work, move on to the next until you can watch ITV Hub with a VPN.

Here are the fixes you can try to fix Surfshark not working with ITV Hub.

1. Delete Cookies

Cookies are small files that websites and apps use to streamline your online and make it a better experience. The issue with these files is in order for them to enhance your user experience, they sometimes contain information about your physical location.

ITV Hub can potentially access this information and if it sees the discrepancy between your device’s IP address and your actual location which your cookies will show, your connection is blocked.

So make sure you delete your browser and app cookies to make sure ITV Hub doesn’t get the chance to access your location when fixing Surfshark not working with ITV Hub.

2. Change to a different UK server

The main reason for Surfshark not working with ITV Hub is that ITV Hub has blocked the IP address assigned to you by Surfshark. This does not mean the service provider is entirely blocked, just that particular IP address.

Changing to a new Surfshark server will give you a new IP address and if this address is not blocked, Surfshark will work again.

3. Upgrade to a better VPN

This step is used as a last resort if the above methods don’t work in fixing Surfshark not working with ITV Hub. It simply means that all the IP addresses the VPN can provide have been identified and blocked by ITV Hub.

You can choose to wait for Surfshark to roll out new IPs not blocked by ITV Hub but it will be a long wait. There is no guarantee that ITV Hub won’t get wind of these new IPs and block them as well.

The other option is to upgrade to a VPN that stays one step ahead of ITV Hub, you can choose any of the best VPNs that work with ITV, however, we recommend ExpressVPN. This way you wouldn’t have to cancel your ITV subscription.

Why does ITV Hub block Surfshark?

ITV Hub blocks Surfshark to avoid violating broadcast rights. ITV has strict agreements with its content partners regarding where it can broadcast its content in the world. It has the right to broadcast only in the UK and doesn’t have international broadcast rights.

If ITV Hub breached these broadcast agreements and allowed viewers outside the UK to access ITV movies, shows, and other content, it could face severe financial punishments. Surfshark is a well-known way of watching ITV Hub libraries outside the UK and using it could lead to ITV Hub breaching its content agreements.

To prevent incurring heavy financial losses, ITV Hub tries to block Surfshark users from accessing its service by monitoring IP addresses connecting to its service. Surfshark is a popular VPN and because of that, it has more customers than IP addresses. Users are therefore forced to share IP addresses.

ITV Hub knows this and uses this knowledge to its advantage. ITV Hub blocks Surfshark by monitoring for abnormal amounts of connections coming from the same IP. Usually, only a household of devices (8-10) use the same IP address. When a large number of Surfshark customers are forced to share the same IP, ITV Hub can easily spot this. It knows it’s a Surfshark IP and blocks it.

FAQs – Surfshark not working with itv hub