Last Update: September 14, 2023
VPN Switzerland - how to choose the right one? Nowadays, Switzerland no longer stands only for chocolate, banks and watches. It also stands for anonymity, security and Swiss television. In this article I will talk about VPN Switzerland - who are the best providers. Furthermore, how you can watch live Formula 1, world-class tennis and winter sports for free abroad with a Swiss IP address. All you need is the service from NordVPN* or CyberGhost* (price tip). I use both myself and am extremely satisfied with them.
Before you visit a streaming service or website, you should start the VPN client on your device. Select Switzerland from the VPN servers. The client establishes a secure, encrypted connection between your device and the desired internet address in Switzerland. During your online session, the provider's software runs in the background and routes your data traffic via a secure VPN server in Switzerland. This server acts as an intermediary and calls up the desired website or TV stream on your behalf before forwarding the encrypted content to you. More precisely, the VPN provider simulates an IP address in Switzerland. This makes it seem as if you are actually in the country where the VPN server is located. In our case, this is Switzerland, although you are currently abroad.
VPN Switzerland - how can you use it? Here I explain how you can easily get a Swiss IP address to watch Swiss television abroad.
Total Time: 15 minutes
I recommend NordVPN* or CyberGhost* for this. I've only had the best experiences with both services when streaming Formula 1 on SRF. They really are among the best VPN services on the market.
The next step is to install the operating software of the VPN service of your choice on your devices. NordVPN allows you up to 6 and CyberGhost up to 7 simultaneous server connections.
Now it's time to connect to a VPN server from Switzerland. Both providers offer enough servers in Switzerland.
That was it. Now you can watch SRF, SRF 2, SRF Info and so on from all over the world with a Swiss IP address. No matter where you are at the moment. Have fun with it.
It was a few years ago when I first heard that I could watch Formula 1 without commercials even on Swiss television. The many commercial interruptions during the F1 live broadcast by RTL in Germany were unbearable. So I bought a VPN and from then on I only streamed Formula 1 via the Swiss SRF channels. Nowadays, this know-how is worth a lot of money, because Formula 1 can only be seen in Germany and many other countries with expensive pay-TV.
So all you need to watch Swiss TV abroad is a good VPN like the one from NordVPN* or CyberGhost*. Once you are connected to a VPN server in Switzerland, you can watch the SRF and other Swiss channels easily via the browser or in the app (SRF Play).
If you like watching Swiss TV, you should also be familiar with the trick via the online TV provider Zattoo. The Swiss Zattoo free package offers you free access to almost 200 TV channels (compared to about 130 in Germany). However, you have to know that once you use the service on a smart TV and no longer in the mobile app, you can only watch a maximum of 10 hours a month. Basically, however, it's a great thing with Zattoo free via VPN in Switzerland. So you can even watch Formula 1 races, alpine skiing, football and tennis events for free in the livestream on SRF.
In the following, we have put the 3 best VPN services for Swiss television from abroad under the microscope for you. The price-performance ratio of the service is particularly important for making a judgement. In particular, whether the content of the SRF Mediathek and the SRF Livestream can be unblocked with it. The respective speed and the respective price of the VPN provider also play a role. It goes without saying that all services have strict data confidentiality, i.e. a no-logs guarantee.
There are numerous VPN services on the Internet, but not all of them work equally well in Switzerland. Free VPNs should be used with caution anyway. I will come back to this separately. I looked at various well-known services and tested them for their suitability for Switzerland. For SRF live streaming and access to its media libraries as well as Zattoo free Switzerland, the following three providers are best suited in my opinion.
For all three candidates, the speed provided is sufficient to enable high-quality streaming of films, series, sporting events and other programmes. Even watching Ultra HD, for which you need about 25 to 15 Mbit/s, is possible without any problems. For Zattoo free Switzerland in HD, on the other hand, you only need 3 to 5 Mbit/s. This is child's play for our following top 3 candidates, which I will then present to you in detail.
NordVPN* - the price-performance winner among the best VPNs for Switzerland, offers you an all-round carefree package at a reasonable price.
The service includes a 30-day money-back guarantee, clients and apps for various operating systems, browser extensions, use on VPN routers, simultaneous connection with 6 devices, P2P file sharing and torrents, no-logs policy and an adblocker with protection against phishing, trackers and malware.
NordVPN provides enough VPN servers in Switzerland to allow you to stream Swiss television from abroad. SRF is unblocked without any problems and you have a wide choice of alternative VPN servers to avoid geo-blocking with Swiss IP addresses.
CyberGhost* is an excellent alternative to bypass geoblocking in Switzerland. The provider not only offers you a slightly cheaper price, but is known as the VPN specialising in streaming.
The provider allows multiple simultaneous connections, so you can have up to 7 parallel users. It supports all major operating systems with clients and apps for Windows, macOS, iOS and Android. You can also install it on a router. There are browser add-ons for Firefox, Chrome, Edge, and so on. The built-in adblocker also protects you from malware, tracking, and phishing.
CyberGhost has a strict no-logs policy and definitely does not store your data. This protection of your privacy is particularly important, I think. Furthermore, there is a trial period of up to 45 days with a money-back guarantee. You can do torrenting and P2P file sharing on all servers, without any restrictions.
Standard protocols such as WireGuard and OpenVPN are supported, and OpenVPN TCP automatically uses the stealth servers.
The PIA* VPN software supports various operating systems such as Android, Windows, iOS, macOS and Linux (GUI). You can use it either via app or in the browser like Chrome and Firefox. You can also use the VPN on a router to connect game consoles such as Xbox and PlayStation or smart TVs.
PIA MACE is the name of its own adblocker, which also blocks tracking and protects you from malware and phishing. There is a split VPN tunnel function, and the VPN protocols OpenVPN and WireGuard are supported.
A special feature is the possibility of unlimited simultaneous connections. You can provide all your friends, family and relatives with PIA's VPN server network. The VPN server network consists of 84 country locations as well as servers in all US states. The 100% open source software is customisable, and PIA's live chat customer service is available 24/7. As with most top VPN providers, there is a strict no-logs policy. You can even get a dedicated IP address and antivirus protection for an extra charge.
Virtual Private Networks use sophisticated encryption technologies to protect the privacy of their users. However, there is always a risk that government authorities will force VPN operators to collect user data and hand it over to them.
To minimise this danger, the location of the VPN provider is of very great importance. Switzerland maintains particularly strict legal requirements for the protection of personal data. Unlike other countries, companies in Switzerland are not obliged to collect and store user data. Swiss VPN providers therefore very aggressively advertise their strict data protection as an advantage over competitors from other countries where secret services and authorities have very extensive access to data. I have taken a closer look at the best-known Swiss Made providers.
PrivadoVPN is a relatively newcomer to the market. I tested the Swiss Made service and have to say it is definitely one of the more interesting providers when it comes to VPN from Switzerland. With the AES-256 encryption standard and a WireGuard protocol, PrivadoVPN is up to date in terms of security and is not inferior to the competition in terms of privacy. The performance of PrivadoVPN can be rated as good. Especially when you take into account the low price for a VPN provider based in Switzerland.
Unfortunately, the service does not manage to fully convince when it comes to bypassing geoblocking. It's enough to watch Swiss television, though. The choice of servers for a VPN provider that is supposed to unblock streaming content, TV channels, media libraries, series, films, is a bit scarce. The VPN had no problems with US streaming services such as Hulu, HBO, Peacock, Netflix and Amazon Prime!
You can also get the provider in a free version. The Free Plan is limited to 10 gigabytes within 30 days and only requires you to register by e-mail.
Proton VPN, another Swiss Made provider, stands first and foremost for the security and privacy of its users. State-of-the-art encryption methods such as AES-256 and VPN protocols such as WireGuard ensure that your Internet traffic is protected. Multi-hop connections provide you with additional security by routing your VPN connection through multiple nodes.
Proton VPN is also great for unblocking programming from streaming providers around the world. In my tests with Netflix, HBO, Peacock, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, ITV and BBC iPlayer, I was able to access the respective programme without any problems. The TV channels from SRF also posed no great challenge for the Swiss VPN service.
Compared to others, however, the service is a bit more expensive. When using the free trial, you have to make friends with speed limits and only three server locations (excluding Switzerland).
The Swiss provider VyprVPN also meets high standards in terms of security and privacy. A scarce server selection and relatively low server speeds did not necessarily cause cheers during my test. In addition, the price for the service is also in the upper third of the market. With its Chameleon protocol, however, the provider is also suitable for holidays and trips to countries with internet censorship. For this, the provider would be my top choice among Swiss Made VPN services.
With regard to circumventing geo-blocking, I have to say that I was very surprised by the possibilities offered by the provider. The VPN service is quite suitable for playing back content from media libraries and TV channels abroad with a simulated IP. In my test with the SRF site as well as with the streaming services from the USA, I was quite satisfied. Nevertheless, I would always choose one of the best 3 VPNs for Switzerland listed above, as the overall package is more convincing here.
The use of a VPN is basically legal in Switzerland, as long as you do not use it for illegal activities such as file sharing. For normal internet surfing, there is no need to worry. Although it has not been definitively clarified whether circumventing geo-blocks with streaming providers is legal, it is likely that this does not constitute a punishable offence. However, it is possible to violate the provider's terms of use, in which case you risk having your account suspended. It is important to stay away from dubious free online streaming portals, as they are clearly illegal.
This trick will give you a Swiss IP address. This way you can watch films, series, documentaries, news, live sports coverage and everything that SRF, SRF 2, SRF Info and other Swiss channels have to offer. You can also access the media library and thus all SRF content.
In theory, this would be possible. However, you need to find a free service that not only provides you with free VPN servers in Switzerland, but also sufficient data volume and speed. So far, I have not been able to reconcile all three conditions.
Certainly. There are a lot of good VPN services on the market. Many are also able to simulate a Swiss IP address via Swiss VPN servers. However, the 3 services I have presented here are, in my opinion, the best VPNs for Switzerland.
