The Sochi Olympics are in full swing, but Americans looking to watch the games online need a cable account to check out NBC's coverage. There are ways around it though. Here's what you'll need to do.


You have two pretty solid alternatives to NBC's paid streams from the BBC in the United Kingdom or the CBC in Canada, but Americans can't stream the live video without some workarounds because they're region locked. As NPR pointed out during the last Olympics, using a service to get around this is a bit of a legal and moral grey area, so use them at your own risk.

You have a bunch of different options for ways to do this that we'll show you at the end, but we're going to take a look at the simplest and most reliable way to watch these live streams, using the same service we used during the 2012 Summer Olympics: Unblock Us. We've tried a ton of different options, and Unblock Us consistently gave us the best quality of streams. It's free for one week or $4.99 a month. Here's how to set it up.


Step 1: Sign Up for Unblock-Us

Head over to Unblock Us and create a free account with your email address. Within a couple of minutes you get an email confirming your account is active, and you're ready to go.

Step 2: Enable Unblock Us DNS Servers and Restart

Next up you need to run your computer's connection through Unblock Us's DNS servers. Set up is a little different for both Windows and Mac. You can also set up Unblock Us on a ton of other devices like the PS4, Wii, iPhone, iPad, Android devices, smart TVs, and more.


Set Up Unblock Us on Windows 8

Setup in Windows 8 is pretty straight forward. You can either follow the directions below and do it manually, or download an easy setup app to do it in a couple clicks.


Open Windows Explorer, click on Computer, and then Open Control Panel Select Network and Internet Select Network and Sharing Center Click on the "Change Adapter Settings option Double click your adapter and select "properties" Select IPv4 and click on Properties Add the following DNS servers under "Use the following DNS server addresses:

Prefered: 208.122.23.22

Alternate: 208.122.23.23 Click OK and restart your computer

Set Up Unblock Us on a Mac

Setting up Unblock Us on your Mac is just as easy as it is in Windows.

Open System Preferences > Network Select either Wi-Fi (for wireless) or Ethernet (for wired) Select Advanced > DNS Click the plus symbol and add these two DNS servers:

208.122.23.22

208.122.23.23 Reboot your computer

Step 3: Watch the Olympics


Now your computer is set and you can watch the Olympics either on the BBC's official landing page, or the CBC's landing page. If you don't want to watch the Olympics on your tiny computer screen, you can always hook your computer up to your TV.


If you're not watching the Olympics, we suggest you turn Unblock Us off and return to your normal DNS settings so you don't slow down your connection. If you want something you can easily flip on and off, you have a few more options.

Alternate Methods to Watch Other Olympic Streams

The above method is just one of many different services you can use. If you'd like to try a different approach, here are a few suggestions:


Regardless of which method you choose, the BBC and CBC coverage is a lot more widespread than the NBC's (not to mention viewable without a cable account), so enjoy the show.

Photo by: ra2studio .