As a popular gaming console with plenty of VoD and streaming features, Nintendo Switch is very appealing to online consumers around the world. It is now competing with the likes of PlayStation, Xbox and other more established gaming consoles.
Though streaming and gaming are high-demand markets serving the global population, platforms such as Nintendo Switch are somewhat limited when it comes to people who live outside specific regions.
If you do not live in the United States, then you will have a hard time making full use of what is at your disposal in the form of Nintendo Switch.
Therefore, we recommend that you use a VPN service in order to have complete access to everything that Nintendo Switch has to offer its users.
If you want to make sure that you are able to realize the full potential of Nintendo Switch, you will need a VPN service. In this guide, we’ll explain why you need a VPN to unlock the benefits of Nintendo Switch, why users outside of the U.S. need it, and where to get the best VPN software on the market.
Table of Contents
Why Do I Need a VPN Service for My Nintendo Switch?
After launching in 2017, Nintendo Switch quickly became a hit—sales outperformed competitors across the Americas, Europe and Australia.
As mentioned before, the Nintendo Switch is not just limited to gaming. The platform has added Video on Demand or VoD applications to its app store.
Hulu and YouTube are also fully available on the Switch gaming platform. Switch now provides users with the ability to channel their Switch’s screen directly to their TV with a much larger screen for a better viewing experience.
The only unfortunate thing here is that Hulu and other streaming services are only available to users who live in the United States. Luckily though, you can bypass this by installing a Virtual Private Network (VPN). Once you have finished that, all you need to do is connect to a VPN server that is located in the region that you think would allow you to watch the channel that you are interested in.
Let’s continue with the example of Hulu. To access Hulu, you must connect to servers that are in the U.S. Once you have formed a connection to that server, you should have no problems in receiving an IP address that appears as if it’s coming from an American city, no matter what your real location is on the world map.
Whether you’re browsing the internet for fun or using it for work, a VPN service makes your connection anonymous and secure.
VPNs are beneficial for a range of uses, not just bypassing geolocation limits on gaming consoles. You can also use a VPN to protect your anonymity and privacy online.
It works by changing your IP address and replacing it with one owned by the VPN service provider. This way, any website or online service—as well as your internet service provider and any government surveillance programs in your country—will not be able to see where your connection is coming from. To them, you’ll appear as if you’re located in the area of the server you’re connected to.
A good VPN service also comes in handy if you want to stop your internet service provider from throttling your internet connection. When you have formed the connection through a VPN service, you can avoid ISP throttling along with any latency problems arising as a result of the throttling and other malpractices on part of third parties.
VPN services give you the option to select any VPN server from around the world, including all the major cities and countries. Always try to connect to servers that offer you a better ping for a much faster and purer gaming experience.
In the following section, we’ll outline the best VPNs for Nintendo Switch.
Best VPNs for Nintendo Switch
There are plenty of VPNs to choose from on the global cybersecurity software market. Some are better than others. To help you choose, we’ve put together this list of the best VPNs for Nintendo Switch users.
1. NordVPN
Simultaneous Connections: Six
Money-Back Guarantee: 30 days
About NordVPN
With , Nintendo Switch users can access the platform from any country or region that hosts NordVPN servers.
NordVPN offers users over 6,000 VPN servers located in more than 50 countries. With a 30-day money-back guarantee to back that up, you really don’t have to take any risks while signing up for this VPN service.
VPN Apps
Our Score: 9.8/10
With auto-connect switches and specialized servers, NordVPN is the best service on the market today. To learn more about this VPN app, read our review.
2. CyberGhost VPN
Simultaneous Connections: Seven
Money-Back Guarantee: 45 days
About CyberGhost
CyberGhost is another VPN service that we think is perfect for Nintendo Switch for the simple reason that it has fast VPN servers. This can help people who regularly struggle with issues such as ISP throttling, as we mentioned in the previous section of this guide.
The service offers users more than 6,000 VPN servers in over 80 countries.
There is live chat support as well. But CyberGhost knocks it out of the park with its 45-day money-back guarantee. If you thought a 30-day money-back guarantee looked unreal, then you must give CyberGhost a try.
VPN Apps
Our Score: 9.3/10
This makes CyberGhost rank as the second-best VPN for Switch users. Read more in our CyberGhost VPN review.
3. SurfShark VPN
Simultaneous Connections: Unlimited
Money-Back Guarantee: 30 Days
About SurfShark
VPN Apps
Our Score: 8.5/10
With a decent number of servers, SurfShark has earned its place as one of the better VPNs for Switch on the market. Read more in our SurfShark review.
4. ZenMate VPN
Simultaneous Connections: Unlimited
Money-Back Guarantee: 30 days
About ZenMate
ZenMate is a bit of an outlier when it comes to standard VPN services. It has a free tier and a paid tier.
The free tier might give you some problems if you plan to use it for Nintendo Switch since the free tier has the slowest VPN servers and a limited variety of choices.
There is a seven-day free trial of the premium version so if you are not satisfied with the free version, you can go with the premium version. Generally speaking, the best VPNs offer the fastest servers with their premium services.
ZenMate also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, which further protects your money in case you don’t like the service.
Apart from that, the service lets users connect to an unlimited number of simultaneous devices. It’s also economical compared to more expensive competitors. But that is to be expected of a VPN as barebones as ZenMate.
VPN Apps
Our Score: 8.8/10
There are other VPNs that offer more servers and allow users to change their IP address with more comprehensive features. As a VPN for Nintendo Switch though, ZenMate is a decent option to go with. For more information about ZenMate, read our full review here.
5. IPVanish
Simultaneous Connections: Ten
Money-Back Guarantee: 30 days
About IPVanish
Just like the other VPNs on this list, it has apps for every major operating system and platform.
You won’t face any shortage of servers with IPVanish. It has a network of around 1,400 servers spanning over 75 locations to give you an IP address whenever you’re gaming, browsing the internet or working on something online. Overall, IPVanish is one of the best VPNs for Nintendo Switch.
VPN Apps
Our Score: 9.0/10
Check out our IPVanish review to read more about the platform.
How to Use VPN on Switch
In this section, we’ll take a look at how you can connect Nintendo Switch to VPN software.
The major problem that people face with Nintendo Switch is that it varies in the quality and quantity of games and content will depend on the country in which the online consumer is residing. It is simply not enough to have a Nintendo Switch account anymore.
In the following steps, we’ll walk you through the Nintendo Switch VPN setup process so that you can just jump in and start gaming instead of wasting time determining which games or apps you can purchase and play in your home country.
Step 1: Set up a Virtual Private Network on Your Router
Sign up for a VPN that supports router installation.
There are lots of VPNs that support routers now, including all of the services listed in the previous section of this guide.
But since the installation process of each one depends on the VPN and the router, it is best to either go to the website or your router company or your VPN service to get the exact steps you need to take. Browse through the company’s help/resources pages to find information on router installation.
Note:
We are aware of the fact that there are a lot of reputable VPN service providers that offer a good number of simultaneous connections with just one subscription package. But we believe that the simple act of installing a VPN service on your router is actually the best thing that you can do to take full advantage of your Nintendo Switch gaming console.Setting up a WiFi router with a VPN service has never been easier. We’ll outline the basic steps below. Once you’re done, you can save the VPN connection with each internet-enabled device on your home network.
Step 2: Share a Complete VPN Protected WiFi network from your Mac/PC
If you find that sharing a VPN connection via your WiFi router is nothing but unneeded hassle, you can share your WiFi network straight from your Mac or PC.
All Mac users have the option of turning their internet-enabled device into a virtual WiFi router. To share your VPN connection, you’ll have to check the help pages of your VPN company to find the proper steps. For a more general overview, check out Apple’s Mac VPN connection setup guide.
The same goes for Windows users. Check your VPN’s website for instructions on connection-sharing. You can find a more general guide here.
Now that we’ve covered how to install and share your VPN connection through your router, we’ll show you how to use the service on your Nintendo Switch gaming console.
Step 3: Install a Nintendo Switch Proxy on Your Nintendo Switch
VPNs are not the only way to change your locations. This section is for consumers who have a preference for using Smart DNS proxy services to alter and/or modify their real geographic location. This way, you can access TV shows, movies, games and other types of content from any country in the world, not just your home country or region.
However, unlike a VPN service, Smart DNS and other similar services do not really do much to change the user’s IP address. Rather, users connect to proxy servers to unblock geo-restricted content.
Because of that, even when you are accessing games, apps or other material that is geo-restricted on the internet, you still have the opportunity to make use of all your local content.
The advantage of using a Smart DNS service over a VPN service is that you get to continue to work at the very same speed. With a Smart DNS service, your internet connection does not have encryption, freeing up energy to focus on more immediate processes.
Some of the most popular proxy services are StrongDNS and TorGuard Smart DNS.
With that out of the way, here’s how to set up a Smart DNS service on your Nintendo Switch.
- Go to the Home Menu of your Nintendo Switch and then make your way to Settings.
- When that is done, you need to click on the option that says Internet and then navigate to Internet Settings.
- Allow your internet-enabled device to search for every WiFi connection that is available in a nearby location.
- Now, select a network and then choose the option that says Change Settings.
- In this step, we want you to go to the option of DNS settings on your device and then hit the option that says Manual.
- Delete all the numbers under the Primary and Secondary DNS spaces.
- The next step is to enter the numbers that your new Smart DNS proxy service provided to you when you signed up for it.
How to Use a VPN Nintendo Switch
You won’t find any Nintendo Switch that will allow you to install a VPN on it directly. So you’ll have to take the manual route to set up a VPN on your Nintendo Switch.First, you need to make sure that your router actually supports any VPN protocol. Check on the official website of your router company or read the user manual that came with your router. There might be some other document in the box that came with your router as well.
If that doesn’t work for you, then you can also log into your WiFi router to search for any VPN settings. Assuming that your router does support a protocol such as IKEv2, L2TP or OpenVPN, the next step would be to find a tutorial on how to get a VPN on your router. As mentioned before, this process will be specific to your router.
Generally speaking though, to install a VPN on your router, you will first want to log in to your WiFi router and then go to its control panel interface. From there, your router will want you to input all the server details required.
Pro Tip:
Do take note that if you are using an ISP-given router, then there is a high chance it won’t support any kind of VPN options. The alternative is to then buy a router that has been pre-configured with a VPN.There are many third-party companies that do that. Why spend hours upon hours manually setting up your router to support a VPN when you can just buy one by shelling out a little extra money?
Conclusion: How to Use VPN on Nintendo Switch
A properly configured Nintendo Switch gaming console has everything you need to get up to speed with the new technology age. To navigate through all the blocks and the limitations that come with Nintendo Switch, you’ll need a VPN service so that you can access apps that are restricted based on the users’ country or region of origin.
Everything that you will go through now will be truly worth it by the time you reach the end and fully know the power of the Nintendo Switch with a VPN.
We have told you pretty much everything that you need in order to get a VPN on the Nintendo Switch.
So purchase a VPN service today and install it on your Nintendo Switch to start enjoying your games and apps to the highest degree possible. It will be well worth your money.
No screenshots, no videos, only words…..
2019……
Why did you delete my comment ? If you do not want comment why do you have a space “Leave a comment “????
Your site is OBSOLEt, no videos, no photos no nothing…in 2019 !
Hi Vince.
Thanks for the comment.
We’re not aware of any of our guides not having any images.
For videos, we do include them where they are required.
If you feel we should have included a video for a particular guide, we’ll be happy to produce that for you.