This year Winter Olympics will feature some of the world’s best athletes in 116 different events across eight sports, attempting to ski, skate, snowboard, curl and sled their way to a gold medal. But you may be disappointed by the lack of options to catch all the Olympic action this winter if you don’t have access to the right services.

This winter, the Olympics will be held in Milan and Cortina, Italy, from Wednesday to February 22, with the opening ceremony on Friday. In the US, you can find TV broadcasts of the Winter Olympic Games on your local NBC affiliate, the USA Network and CNBC. Peacock is the primary streaming option for US viewers, with streaming also available through the NBC Sports app, nbc.com and nbcolympics.com. Meanwhile your local NBC station is available for free if you have OTA TV antenna or DVRyou may not get everything you want to watch on NBC alone. And since cable and streaming options require a paid subscription, you’ll need to pay to get the most out of your US Olympics viewing experience.

However, with a virtual private networkyou can access free online streams from other countries — potentially letting you watch all the events you want without paying a cent. A VPN an app that you can download to your computer, mobile device or streaming device that allows you to spoof your virtual location, making it appear as if you are connecting to the internet from another country and enabling you to access geographically restricted streaming content. So even if you’re in the US, you can expand your Winter Olympic streaming options and catch all the action you want for free. Because with a VPN, you can unblock region-restricted free Olympics streams.

Which countries have free streaming options for the Winter Olympics?

Many countries around the world offer options to stream the Olympics for free. Remember that most international streams are broadcast in a foreign language, so some sites may be difficult to navigate and the commentary may not be understandable to you if you do not understand the language. Also, some of these sites may require you to create an account and/or enter a valid country postal code to access the content. If that’s the case with the site you want to stream, just do a quick internet search for the postal codes of the appropriate country to plug in and get started.

For English-speaking Olympic broadcasts from other countries, you can turn to:

Other international streaming options presented in other languages ​​include:

These are just a few examples of many international streaming sites you can try accessing with a VPN to extend your Olympic viewing experience. Remember that not all VPN or server locations are guaranteed to work perfectly to stream the Olympics from other regions, so you may have to jump around and try different servers or streaming sites to access the content you want. Also, be sure to check each site’s terms of service to make sure you’re not violating its terms by using a VPN. Using a VPN is completely legal in most of the world, but some sites and services may try to prevent VPN use.

How to access geo-restricted Olympics streams with a VPN

A VPN encrypts your internet traffic while routing it through a secure server in a separate location, hiding your online activity from your internet provider, network administrator and other online snoops. At the same time, a VPN change your IP address to the IP address of the VPN server you connected to, indicating your connection originated from another location. A VPN is an important tool for enhancing your privacy online, but it is the IP address switching functionality that allows you to access geo-restricted content from other regions.

Because your IP address includes information about your general location, most sites and services that restrict content in certain regions rely on visitors’ IP addresses to determine their location and, therefore, deny or allow access to content. But when you visit a site while connected to a VPN server, the site registers the IP address of the VPN server rather than your own.

For example, if you are in the US and connected to a VPN server in Australia, the 9Now streaming site will register your connection as being in Australia, and give you access to its content, including Olympic coverage. Similarly, connect to a VPN server in the UK if you want to access BBC iPlayer, a server in Ireland to access RTE Player or a server in Canada to access CBC Gem. Wherever you want to stream content from, just connect to a server located in that country.

If you want to access US-based Olympic broadcasts abroad, you can stream NBC’s coverage through its apps and website by signing in through your TV provider if you subscribe to one. Or you can access NBC, USA and CNBC coverage via a live TV streaming service like YouTube TV, Hulu Plus Live TVDirectTV or Sling TV if you have subscribed. Just make sure you are connected to a VPN server located in the US before trying to access content on any platforms.

Peacock remains the only option for accessing all Olympic events from a US-based broadcast perspective. So if you’re in the US and already a Peacock subscriber, then you don’t need a VPN to get all the action. But, if you travel abroad and want to stream the Olympics on Peacock, you need to connect to a VPN server in the US to access the content.

Using a VPN is easy

VPNs are generally easy to download and use, especially if you choose a quality, reviewed provider from CNET’s list of best VPNs. For watching the Olympics, you want a VPN that is fast, delivers reliable streaming performance and offers servers located in the countries you want to stream. Most of our recommended VPNs have servers in 100-plus countries, so you should be well covered in your streaming options — but it’s still a good idea to check the VPN’s list of server locations on its website before committing.

In addition to these considerations, you may want to consider your budget and how much you want to spend on a VPN. Currently, the fastest VPN based on our latest test is NordVPN, and the best VPN for streaming is ExpressVPN — two of the most expensive services in the industry. NordVPN costs $13 per month, $60 for the first year or $83 total for the first two years, with annual and two-year plans renewing at $140 per year. ExpressVPN costs $13 per month, $75 for the first year or $98 total for the first two years, with annual and two-year plans renewing at $100 per year.

If you want something cheaperconsider Proton VPN or Surfshark, both of which are great for streaming while remaining easy on the wallet. Proton VPN costs $10 per month, $48 for the first year or $72 total for the first two years, with annual and two-year plans renewing at $84 per year. Surfshark costs $15.45 per month, $48 for the first year or $60 total for the first two years, with annual and two-year plans renewing at $79 per year.

Once you have signed up, purchased and downloaded your VPN to your devices, all you have to do is sign in to the app and select from the list of available servers displayed in the app. VPN user interfaces vary from one provider to another, but navigating the server selection functionality is usually very straightforward. You can usually scroll to your desired server location from the list of servers or search for specific locations by typing in the search field. Once you find the server you want to connect to, tap or click on that server, and you should be automatically connected and ready to stream from your desired location within seconds.

A word of caution if you’re thinking about a free VPN

You may be tempted to go with one of the hundreds free VPNs can be used to save money, but I only recommend paid VPNs for streaming — whether it’s the Olympics or not — for several reasons. while Proton VPN’s free tier the same free VPN we recommend to CNET, it is not suitable for streaming the Olympics because its free servers do not support streaming and can provide slow performance during peak periods due to congestion. Also, you only get access to servers in 10 different countries, and you can’t choose a server, so connecting to a desired location can be difficult. Proton VPN’s free tier is otherwise great for protecting your privacy while browsing the web.

Besides not being suitable for streaming purposes, Free VPNs are always risky to use. Many free VPNs make money by logging user activity and selling the data to third parties. At that point, you’re better off not using a VPN. Some free VPNs have also been found to spy on their users and take screenshots of their online activities, while others may filled with malware. To stay safe, watch out for some red flags to sign up for a VPN.

But if you really don’t want to make any monetary commitment, you always can request a refund from your VPN provider and still watch the entire Winter Olympics for free. The Olympic Games last less than a month, and many VPNs offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. Sure, you have to pay upfront, but you can use the VPN for a month, stream the entire Olympics and get your money back from the VPN if you ask for a refund within the warranty window. However, I recommend hanging on to your VPN for the long term because you can use it to unlock all kinds of other streaming content throughout the year, plus it’s an important tool to protect your privacy online. In addition to using a VPN, I also recommend rounding out your cybersecurity toolkit with a password manager and antivirus software.