RaiTV, the national broadcaster in Italy, has recently introduced Rai Play, an on-demand streaming service that allows the streaming of all 14 channels from RaiTV online.
The TV selection on offer from Rai is comprehensive, comprising three general TV channels Rai Uno streaming, Rai 2, and Rai 3.
Adding to this is Rai 4, an entertainment channel, Rai 5, a social channel, a channel for children with Rai Gulp, and a movie channel, Rai Movie.
Lastly, you can keep up to date with the Rai News24 channel, a channel dedicated to sports (Rai Sport), and much more besides.
- Choose the Top VPN – We recommend ExpressVPN for Speed and Value.
- Connect to a server in Italy
- Head to RaiPlay and Start Enjoying Rai TV
Watch Rai TV with ExpressVPN Today
However, there is one catch. RaiTV has geo-restricted content, which means you can only access it if you’re in Italy or the surrounding countries.
Read on, and you can find out how easy it can be to unblock RaiPlay outside Italy using a VPN. You can also find the best VPN options to deliver the best experience.
Why Rai Play Needs a VPN?
If you attempt to stream from the Rai TV streaming service outside Italy (Raiplay Estero), without a VPN service, you’ll encounter this error (in Italian):
“The streaming of the content is available in Italy only. We apologize for the inconvenience.”
No matter which country you are in, be it Australia, UK, or you are trying Rai Italia America streaming.
The reason this occurs is that RaiTV or the app detects you are outside Italy. The service detects your location by looking at your IP address; every different country will have a range of IP addresses.
Premium VPN providers encrypt your data and make your connection exit the network from an Italian server, and thus give you an Italian IP address, and allow you to access Rai Play and carry out some Rai 1 streaming Estero as if you were in Italy.
What is On Rai Play?
It is possible to watch live online TV and sports, or you can head to the massive section for all the demand TV shows and movies.
Some of the more popular are Inspector Rex, Inspector Montalbano, Don Matteo, Ballaro, Che Tempo Che Fa, and Li’spettore Coliandro.
For the available channels, here is the full list of channels possible.
- Rai 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5
- Ladinia
- Rai Gulp
- Rai Movie
- News24
- Rai Premium
- Rai Scuol
- Rai Sport
- Rai Storia
- Südtirol a separate TV channel from the Tirol region
- UniNettuno Italian University TV
- Rai YoYo
You can watch RaiPlay on significant platforms such as iOS and Android, Apple TV as well as browsers, etc. and many more.
Best VPNs to Access Rai Play
1. ExpressVPN
ExpressVPN offers lightning-fast streaming speeds that other VPN services cannot match. With more than 3,000 servers in over 160 locations and covering 94 countries, it provides a wide range of options for coverage. You can access BBC iPlayer live online as quickly as when you watch Rai Play.
In Italy, ExpressVPN has two optimized streaming server locations in Milan and Cosenza.
ExpressVPN’s security is of the highest standard. Security features include a strict no-logs policy, 256-bit AES military-grade encryption, zero-knowledge DNS, and integrated kill switches. OpenVPN protocols are also standard.
ExpressVPN is based in the British Virgin Islands, which is outside of any 5/9/14 Eyes Alliance.
You can use split tunnelling to stream Rai TV while accessing other content at the same time on your regular connection. You can connect to 5 simultaneous connections for each account, or if you install it on your home router, you have unlimited connections.
In case of problems, ExpressVPN offers many troubleshooting guides, an in-depth FAQ section, and industry-leading 24/7 live chat customer support.
The applications are easy to use and are ideal for VPN beginners or those who like clean and functional applications.
2. CyberGhost
CyberGhost is very user friendly, and one of the first VPN provider’s new users head toward. The company has a free VPN trial, so you can test all the features before committing.
It offers a one-click connect and optimal server for your location. So connecting to a service such as Netflix or Amazon Prime is simple.
Although you will need to manually select servers in Italy as RaiPlay isn’t on the list of services.
CyberGhost does offer lots of coverage as they have multiple Italian servers to stream RaiPlay.
They are among the industry leaders for security thanks to AES256-bit encryption, no-logs policy, automatic kill switch, and also adware and malware blockers.
Download speeds are more than suitable for streaming any video content, and you shouldn’t have any buffering.
Every family member can make full use of this VPN as you have seven simultaneous connections.
Customer service is a high level with live communication or ticket. CyberGhost also comes with a 45-day money-back guarantee.
3. StrongVPN
Backing up the best VPN’s is StrongVPN. It supports up to 12 connections, so there are more than enough for a household full of devices.
While they don’t offer many features, they focus on the basics. Device support is one, and they cover many gadgets and have installations guides for those that don’t have a native VPN app.
The company has 950+ servers covering 35 countries and 59 cities. Security is top-level, and they now use the Wireguard protocol as well as OpenVPN. StrongVPN uses its DNS system, which is a good thing to see for added security.
Customer support is 24/7, so if there are any issues, they can be contacted. Like other VPN’s they retain no logs, so users will find they are secure.
Unfortunately, this VPN isn’t one of the ones that have free VPN’s for you to try, and you would have to take advantage of the one-month guarantee to claim a refund.
StrongVPN has one server in Italy, yet there are multiple accounts on this. It delivers enough speed to stream any content from Rai TV.
The above three solid contenders are all great solutions for streaming Italian TV; however, the one in the number one position delivers the ultimate Italian TV streaming experience.
Any user can sign up in minutes and make full use of the 30-day money-back guarantee to use as a free trial.
One month is more than enough to see how good this VPN performs streaming any content to Australia or any other country you may use it.
