For instance, TV NOW (formerly DIRECTV NOW), or AT&T U-verse are some of the TV/entertainment services provided by AT&T. Although the services are meant to be accessed exclusively by US residents, there is a fairly large number of users who try to circumvent geo-restrictions. AT&T usually picks up on VPN traffic and blocks it before users can actually access the content or purchase a subscription. However, every once in a while, some VPN users are lucky enough to fall through the cracks and get in. The bright side is that these users can access AT&T services as if they were in the US. For the most part. The not-so-bright-side is that, depending on their VPN client, the functionality of the service might be affected. For instance, it’s possible that not all channels will appear within the service. One of the most common issues we could pick up online was related to the Paramount Channel. A while back, AT&T had a channel in their grid called Spike TV. Subsequently, that channel disappeared and Paramount Network came to replace it. Ever since then, users complain about Paramount not being displayed/recognized correctly.
How to fix AT&T not recognizing Paramount Channel?
1. Make sure you have the right plan
AT&T provides you with several user plans, and some of them don’t include Paramount Channel in their grid. For that reason, you need to make sure that the plan you’re paying for includes Paramount Channel. If you’re using TV Now Plus on Kodi, for instance, you might not be able to see Paramount because it’s not included in the plan. The AT&T TV Now Max plan, however, does include Paramount. So it’s quite important that you check very carefully if the reason why you can’t see Paramount is, in fact, not having it in your plan, to begin with.
2. Use a VPN
Considering a well researched comparison of the best VPN for AT&T U-Verse, here is our pick and a quick guide on how to install it to solve the issue straightaway. If your Paramount Channel (Network) isn’t displayed in the area you’re in, it’s very likely that you’re facing geo-restrictions. In this case, using a VPN might solve your problem altogether. Private Internet Access is an excellent VPN service from Kape Technologies that can easily bypass geo-restrictions. In order to make it work with AT&T, make sure you select a US server, to avoid any geoblocking. Note that sometimes, different US servers might trigger TV Now or U-verse to display different content. Therefore, if the channel you’re looking for doesn’t appear on the list (even though it should), just switch to another US server.
3. Use a Smart DNS service
As we’ve mentioned above, VPN traffic is usually detected by AT&T and blocked altogether. The same goes for proxy. In fact, a proxy is even easier to detect than a VPN. In order to avoid that, you might consider using a Smart DNS service. What a Smart DNS does is remove your ISP-assigned DNS address and grants you a new one, stripped of metadata that indicates your real geolocation. As a result, the service you’re trying to access detects you in the DNS-assigned location. For the strict purpose of circumventing geo-restrictions, using a Smart DNS is oftentimes better than a VPN. For starters, there’s no encryption, and as a result, you benefit from a higher speed. On the downside, you’re completely exposed to various threatening factors, since your IP isn’t hidden, and traffic isn’t encrypted.
4. Contact AT&T
We understand that this is what you’ve been trying to avoid, but if everything else fails, you might as well address your issue to the ones responsible for allowing it. If you’re doing everything right, are entitled to access AT&T services (live and are located in the US at the time being) and you’re sure that Paramount Channel should be on your channel list, AT&T should be able to fix it. Or at least offer you some suggestions on how you might fix the issue.
AT&T Paramount Channel issues can be fixed
All things considered, if you encounter issues with accessing Paramount Channel on AT&T, you might be able to fix them. Whether by using a VPN or Smart DNS, or even contacting AT&T’s support crew, there’s always a way to sort things out. However, you should understand that using a VPN to access geo-restricted content is usually frowned upon. Therefore, even if you can circumvent this issue for now by using a VPN, the situation may shift at some point.
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