How To Watch Movies and Shows on Hulu & Sling from Abroad

hulu-sling Hulu and Sling are two great websites for watching high quality movies and TV shows. Both offer plenty of movies (see here and here) and a number of currently popular TV shows to choose from. You can even get watche latest epsiodes for popular TV shows like Heroes, House and Prison Break – all without paying a dime.

There is nothing to download or install, just find what you want to watch, hit the full-screen button and enjoy. The only problem is that both sites are US-only and not available for users from outside United States. And that’s exactly what this post is all about, how to watch Hulu and Sling videos from outside United States

Hotspot Shield and UltraSurf

There are two free apps that can help you access Hulu, Sling and any other US-only website even if you’re located outside the United States. These are Hotspot Shield and UltraSurf. Both are free and very easy to setup.

I had a few problems with getting UltraSurf to work, so I will just focus on Hotspot Shield here. Although it might be different in your case, while one works for some it doesn’t work for others, so just try both of them. UltraSurf is easier to setup so better try it first. If it doesn’t work then try Hotspot Shield.

Installing Hotspot Shield

Here is what I would get when trying to watch latest episode of Heroes before installing Hotspot Shield. The message goes: “We’re sorry, currently our video library can only be streamed within the United States …”

Hulu - Video Not Available

And that’s what I got once the Hotspot Shield was up and running.

Hulu - Video Not Available

It worked!

So, how do you set it up?

    1. Go to hotspotshield.com and download Hotspot Shield (direct download link)

    2. Extract the package contents and run the setup file.

    3. Once it’s finished installing, you should notice a new red icon on your Windows Taskbar.

    Hotspot Shield icon

    4. Right-click on the icon and select “Connect” option.

    5. This will open a new browser window where Hotspot will try to connect your computer to a network that it will be using to mask your location and subsequently access Hulu and alike US only sites.

    Configuring Hotspotshield

    6. If everything goes right, in about 10-20 seconds you should be connected.

    Configuring Hotspotshield

    7. Done! Direct you browser either to Hulu or Sling and check it out.

Make sure to disconnect (right click on the Hotspot shield icon in the taskbar) when you’re done watching stuff or you will see a extra banner ad on top every website you visit.

Are you aware of any other tricks or similar tools that can bypass filters on sites like Hulu, Sling or Pandora? Let us know in comments.

Tagged: • • •

Aibek Esengulov

The guy behind MakeUseOf.com. Follow him and MakeUseOf on Twitter @MakeUseOf. For more details check out MakeUseOf about page.

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  • Belal

    Thanks Aibek, I tried the hotspotshield one first and it didn’t work and then I tried Ultrasurf and it also didn’t work. I then tried hotspotsheild again and then it worked!! I got Vista so it works on Vista for anyone who wants to know and also I’m from the UK so everyone from the UK can use it also!! Thanks Aibek again!!

    • Ritz

      I discovered Hulu on vacations in the US and have been using Hotspot Shield for ages ever since. My only complaint is that in recent times Hotspot has added an annoying feature that disrupts your online experience with advertisements that don’t close for a while over you page and basically hold your page hostage-but the IP hidder still works-.

      • zch24

        That’s the catch!

    • Steven

      Hey Ritz, try Jaksta as I have found it to work the best and I have tried alot of products.
      http://www.jaksta.com

  • http://whathappenstance.blogspot.com Alcarcalimo

    Wow! Finally I can view my fave vids from Youtube and Hulu! Thanks!!!

  • http://www.twenty4ten.com/ William

    I’m also in the UK and have an account with cotse.net giving me a whole host of features based around their proxy services.

    This works fine for Pandora but not for Hulu/Sling.

    Any idea why not?

  • mrmcmuffin

    I set up HSS on my Macbook. Very, very straight forward to do. However, even with a fairly good connection the video is choppy and virtually unwatchable.

  • http://listicted.com Thomas

    Hey there
    Thanks a lot for that post. I’m from Germany and so I’ll definately try that one.
    Anyone knows wether that works on Zune.net as well?
    Thx

  • dumpa

    Any equivalent for linux (ubuntu)?

  • Tomp

    A service like this requires enourmous amounts of bandwith. That is not cheap. So they must gain economically somehow from the service. Where? Ads? Or snooping on users traffic and using that for malicious purposes?

    I’m not being ironic – these are questions that I would really like to get an answer too. There are already many secure and reliable VPN services around. But the cost 5-10$/month. So a free service seems plain suspicious.

    • Belal

      Hotspot Sheild basically uses ads that are positioned at the top of the browser.

  • John Jones

    Wow, excellent techniques. Thanks for sharing.

    jess
    http://www.privacy.de.tc

  • Mr. S.

    If the video is choppy disconnect HSS as soon as soon as it starts streaming.
    You only need the program running to get past the initial check when you first click the link to the video. Exiting HSS will allow you to stream it much faster.

    • http://www.wakoopa.com/Asgaro Asgaro

      Thanks for this solution!!

      I’ve tried Hotspot Shield early this year but due to the very slow streaming I haven’t used it that much for Hulu.

      But now I will xD

  • nokkloom

    I love you! I really do! Don’t care about hulu that much, but I can finally listen to pandora again!

  • memals

    WARNING! article is WINDOWS only, doh!
    epic fail etc etc

    • stan

      hotspot shield is also for OS X … im not sure about linux though.

    • Alx

      Not Quite memals… Those of us running linux are already savvy enough to get around lame ip-based localization.

      gentoo FTW

  • arnold

    HS Shield won’t install properly on my Vista 64 system even in XP compatibility mode. Problem could be that I don’t have access to our building’s router?

  • talkimposter

    HotSpot Shield is a mild form of spyware. They SHARE your information with third parties.

    A better solution is WiTopia VPN Client. $35 a year per PC and it has a MAC solution too!

    Great performance and a global solution.

  • http://internetbestsecrets.com Carlos Martins

    Yep… keep in mind that, although they seem to have an ad-based income, any program of this kind could maliciously get all your private data.

    Just be warned…

    Like it was said, there are other VPN services (usually *not* free) suited for this kind of high bandwidth traffic.
    Most free VPNs I know wouldn’t provide enough bandwidth to sustain streaming video.

    But if it’s working for you and you trust those guys… go ahead. :)

  • ron

    how about the other way around? trying to watch BBC shows in the US.

  • W. von Baskerville

    You can also try having an onion routing IP forced with TOR
    http://www.torproject.org/

  • Jonathan

    @Tomp: I can’t speak for UltraSurf but HotSpot is ad-driven.

    @memals: there’s a Mac version of the HotSpot client which has been working well for me.

  • Marine

    The problem with Hotspot Shield and UltraSurf is bot have issues now.
    Hotspot Shield – is a 3GB max transfer per month
    UltraSurf – Doesn’t work anymore – it worked for 2 months until Hulu start blocking proxy servers.

  • jodido

    Can’t get either one to install/work on my Vista 64 system

  • GaB

    Hotspot is great but since I installed it I’ve new maleware and adware every day…
    Be carefull.

  • http://www.ntopics.com ntopics

    Hulu and Sling are great entertainment services for free.
    I’m going to take a look at their sites.

    thanks from tony

  • http://www.patricksoon.blogspot.com Patrick

    Unfortunately, Hotspot Shield doesn’t work on 64-bit systemsThose who are having trouble with the installation (with messages such as TAP VPN Error), or with compatibility with websites such as abc.com or nbc should browse the Hotspot Shield troubleshooting blog. Hotspot Shield is by far the best free vpn, whereas AlwaysVPN and Ultrasurf come in a close 2nd and 3rd as Alternatives to Hotspot Shield.

  • jc reyes

    Finally! I finally find something on your website that is truly useful in my quest of wasting company’s time.

  • ben

    like talkimposter and others have mentioned previously, hotspot shield appears to be a mild spyware application where the intent is to make money in advertising not protecting your privacy and data. It does work well on some Os’s, but not 64-bit. That, combined with a transfer limit and a really irritating ad banner got me shopping. Like talkimposter, I went with Witopia. I have it running on 64-bit Vista, Ubuntu, Mac OSX , an iPhone and Windows Mobile 6. For the 40 bucks a year, I’m very happy thus far with their service.

  • http://0celebs.com Steven Frechette

    Thanks a lot for that post.

  • Tang

    pssst… make sure u photoshop with your eyes wide open!!
    everyone can still view at your IP here http://makeuseof.com/images/hotspot-connected.png

    BTW,. nice guide tho.. ;)

    • ddssdf

      Are you trolling or are you just retarded?

  • Careful

    I don’t know what’s wrong with makeuseof.com lately.
    Most of the software they suggest contain spyware/adware.
    This software(hotspot shield) has been given an yellow rating by Mcafee siteadvisor.
    Use caution before you download anything suggested by this site.

    • http://makeuseof.com Aibek

      It’s absolutely normal for th Hotspot Shhield to be tagged as adware because it does serve the unsolicited ads. That’s the main reason why I recommended to turn it off when not watching Hul or Sling

  • don

    Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! ThaThank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! ThaThank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! ThaThank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! nk you! nk you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! ThaThank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

    • http://makeuseof.com Aibek

      YOU ARE WELCOME

  • Arjun

    hi,
    Should i have sign in to hulu.com ? why i am askin this question is that when i tried to watch a movie it asked me to sign in askin me the zip code of the place to make sure i was in US only.

    • http://makeuseof.com Aibek

      I don’t know, it has never happened to me. Obviously the signup option is there but it’s optional.

  • idodialog

    using UltrSurf as per your recommendation – took about 60 seconds to set up, back on Pandora from Australia seamlessly in another 30 seconds, result: HEAVEN
    Can’t detect any malware or anything

    • http://makeuseof.com Aibek

      good to know :-)

  • deepak

    nice write up….had tried Hotshield before….

    this time it worked…

  • asaa

    It’s now international, it’s streaming for me (i’m in the UK) without hotspot shield.

  • http://www.wakoopa.com/Asgaro Asgaro

    Hmm, it seems it still doesn’t work here. I live in Belgium.

    But can other UK citizens confirm it’s working in their country?

    • http://makeuseof.com Aibek

      I can confirm that it works in UK.

  • http://www.flash-on-tv.com/streaming-audio-recorder/record-internet-radio-xm-iTunes-aol-radio.html Ally duan

    Good news!

    Now i can watch hulu movies and tv shows. Great!

    i also find a tool named wondershare streaming video recorder , it can download streaming videos from hulu.

    You can have a try.

    http://www.flash-on-tv.com/streaming-video-recorder.html

  • http://www.flash-on-tv.com/streaming-audio-recorder/record-internet-radio-xm-iTunes-aol-radio.html Ally duan

    Good news!

  • Sidnelsom

    Also works on Adultswim

  • kongleong

    I downloaded hotspot shield but i cannot unzip

    ! C:\Documents and Settings\USER\desktop\HSS-1.10-install-anchorfree-76-conduit.zip: Unexpected end of archive

    • http://makeuseof.com Aibek

      Did you try unzipping it with some other program?

      • kongleong

        finally i got to unzip the file and i know the reason why it is not allowed me to unzip initially. I have nod32 in action when I downloaded the file and once I deactivate the program the file downloaded was able to unzip.
        When I went the HULU it prompted me to sign up upon viewing a movie with adult content, why?

  • bah

    Israeli user here. HSS is extremely slow for me, talking about 350kbps down rate :(

  • http://www.tv-links.cc elia

    I usually goto http://www.tv-links.cc same as hulu but more newer movies and shows.

  • http://technewsline.net/ Jack Clarke

    If you live abroad and use Firefox why not just find a public proxy from the US? There are hundreds of free proxies just do a Google search.

  • Gilles

    Ultrasurf i got from “u.zip” from the link above is a *virus* according to McAfee.
    Just to warn others…

  • mitto

    thank you so much, hotspot shield works perfektly on my mac.

  • http://interestsblog.blogspot.com Mohan Arun

    Hotspot Shield not working for me – it stays at “Connect” screen and my network properties changes to “acquiring network address” and does not change at all. I had to remove HSS to get my network connection back. I am using XP with all the current service packs installed. I have not tried ultrasurf though. I also need a way to see US-targetted ads served in Google adwords network. My geo area allows me to see only the ads targetted at my geo area put in my advertisers.

    • http://makeuseof.com Aibek

      Sorry mate, can’t help you here. It just seem to work for some but not for other. My suggestion would be to try searching Google.

  • Alan

    I was very excited to learn that I could watch HULU outside the USA.I then successfully downlaoded Hotspotshield to enable me access. When I tried to access a movie, this is the message I got:

    “Based on your IP address, we noticed you are trying to access Hulu through an anonymous proxy tooll. Hulu is not currently available outside the US. If you’re in the US, you’ll need to disable….”

    So what next for me?

    Regards,

    Alan

    • Qualmi

      It does the same here.

  • http://www.anonymous-proxies.org Jim

    Pretty sure Hotspot shield is completely blocked now – I got it working with the VPN option the security software I use

    Sorry it’s a paid proxy network – if you want you can read about it here.

    HUlu Outside US

  • jas

    hey. ive installed hot spot shield. i must say it works great and fast. but thers a problem. after sometime, 5 – 10mins later, it jams my system!! i have to shut down and reload my laptop. and it always happens. any idea why ?

    • http://makeuseof.com Aibek

      Sorry, no idea what might be causing this. Didi you tried searching for it on Google and Hotspot Shield site.

  • http://camphd.com deric

    Another way is by using G-pass. This is also one great alternative to AOL browser. If you want to know more, I have posted some details on my blog.

    http://camphd.com/change-your-ip-address-to-us-ip-address.html

  • Anonomus

    Thanks!! Now i can watch season 9 of scrubs from the uk

  • http://watchheroesshow.com/ Paul.M

    The serial of Heroes is entertaining and inspiring and grasps your attention immediately. No wonder it has a huge fan base. Each episode of Heroes is interconnected with the previous ones, i.e. there is a followed storyline through the entire season. So, whenever you miss an episode, the order of events gets interrupted and it might be difficult to figure out what exactly was missed, because of dynamic storytelling. This is one reason why many people want to download Heroes episodes and catch up on the missed parts. Watch Heroes

  • http://www.tv-links.in tvlinks

    Yes Almost forgot Heroes was coming on! Starting next week or so, thanks for the help.