How to Get a Russian IP Address in 2020, Bistro
With the amount of content restrictions in the country, you’d be right to wonder why anyone would want to get an IP address in Russia, but there are valid reasons. For example, you could be a Russian citizen traveling abroad and want to access content from home. Whatever the reason, this article will show you how to do it safely.
Your IP address holds a lot more information that you’d think by looking at it, including your location. When you try to access content restricted to another country, you can get blocked by those websites and online services.
Social media networks, financial services and even search engines track user locations and use that information to decide what to show you and in which language to show it. If you want to log in to your Russian bank account and check your funds, you may need a Russian IP address to do so.
If you want to stream local programs from services such as Russia-1 and ivi.tv or you’d like to watch a live sports event, you may find the only thing to entertain you is an error message. That’s because of geoblocks. International copyright laws force websites and online services to place restrictions on who can view their content, which is a pain.
Even Netflix is different for each country, so the version in the country you’re in might not have the latest episode of the Russian drama you’ve become addicted to. Many people try to access the U.S. version of Netflix because it has the largest library. Check out our best VPN for Netflix for recommendations, as well as our dedicated guide on how to watch Netflix Russia.
Whatever you’re trying to access, the only way to get around a geoblock is changing your IP address.
How to Get a Russian IP Address
How you get a Russian IP address is up to you. You could go the easy route and use a proxy — that’s what we suggest in our best free proxy guide, in fact — but they don’t always work. Even if they do, they’re not reliable and there’s no security, so you are left vulnerable to online dangers, such as cybercrime. It also won’t be hard to trace things back to you because your true IP address isn’t shielded.
Our VPN vs. proxy vs. Tor piece has more information.
The other option, and the better one, is to use a virtual private network. Using one will protect you and enable you to access websites and services anonymously.
You can find a good one in our best VPN reviews, but you need to make sure it will get you the content you’re after first. If there are no servers in Russia, there’s no point.
If you want to get into Netflix, you’ll need to pick one that is able to get past its almighty VPN detectors. There are only a few that can do so. Read our article on the Netflix proxy error to learn more.
NordVPN
We highly recommend NordVPN for getting a Russian IP address. It has thousands of servers around the world, including 24 in Russia, giving you enough to choose from. It has some of the best security around, with the option to use double-hop encryption to add more protection to the VPN tunnel. Plus, it doesn’t keep logs.
It also has decent speeds and unlimited bandwidth, which is great for streaming. You should have no problem getting into Netflix and other streaming services.
NordVPN can be installed on most major operating systems and is easy to use. There’s a 30-day refund period to give you time to see if you like it, as well. Read our NordVPN review for more details.
TorGuard
TorGuard, which has a large server network that includes servers in Moscow and St. Petersburg, is another good choice. It has high-quality, customizable security and a solid no-logs policy.
Its speeds vary and will depend on the level of security you choose, but there’s no limit to how much bandwidth you can use.
It isn’t great at getting into streaming services, but you can pay for a dedicated IP address that is guaranteed to work. It supports the most popular operating systems and has easy-to-use apps. There’s a seven-day money-back guarantee, so you can take that time to work out if you like it. You can learn more about TorGuard in our TorGuard review.
Astrill
Astrill is another contender for getting a Russian IP address. It doesn’t have many servers around the world, but there are two in Moscow. Its security is good, too, with multiple protocols to choose from, including two that are exclusive to the VPN.
It’s fast and can get you into streaming services, such as Netflix. You can use it on Windows, macOS, Android and iOS. There’s a seven-day trial, so you can take advantage of that to see if it’s right for you. Check out our Astrill review for more on the service.
Dangers of Using a Russian IP Address
There’s no real danger in changing your IP address to a Russian one, but there are reasons to make sure you have a secure connection. For example, where a provider is based may be of interest to you, especially if your activities will be risky. If that’s the case, you should read our piece on privacy laws.
Online speech in Russia can have consequences. Defamation is frowned on, and there have been more than 1,000 criminal cases for online activities, such as social media posts. Some have ended with a prison sentence.
Yarovaya law gives authorities access to user data. if a website or service is added to the register of information-dissemination organizers, it has to collect and store users’ metadata and provide it to the Russian authorities.
Communications data, including text, video and audio, must be held for six months and metadata must be kept for one year, and authorities can access those records without a court order. The Russian government has also been found to be using SORM, which is a type of surveillance that monitors internet traffic.
Read our best VPN for Russia piece for more on the country.
Final Thoughts
We hope that you now know how to get a Russian IP address safely. Whatever the reason you need it, VPNs are the best way to get it. They’re packed with security and other features.
NordVPN is a good choice for Russia. It has top-notch security and will keep you hidden from online dangers. Plus, the 30-day refund period will give you enough time to work out whether you like it.
If you have recommendations for getting a Russian IP address, let us know in the comments section below. Thank you for reading.
Sandra Pattison is from the rolling hills of the United Kingdom where, when she’s not enjoying that one day of summer, she researches and writes on online security and censorship around the world. Writer by day, mother morning, noon and night, during her little free time she enjoys photography and likes to be spontaneous, but mostly ends up sipping tea with her pinky out.