Learn how you can unblock your Amazon devices like Kindle and your Kindle Unlimited account – no matter where you are.

What is Kindle Unlimited?

Kindle Unlimited is a service provided by Amazon which lets customers read over a million e-books and listen to thousands of audiobooks on their devices or through the Kindle App. I’m also a fan because it gives me free access to magazines like Good Housekeeping, Popular Science, Golf Magazine and Entrepreneur.

This service is available for just $9.99/month in the United States. I started out with a free, 30-day trial to test if I’d like it and immediately became a customer.

In other countries, Kindle Unlimited is more expensive: In the UK, it’s £7.99/month (about $10.14). In Australia, it’s available for 13.99 AUD/month (about 9.87 USD). In Germany, it’s €9.99/month (about $11.41).

Kindle Unlimited’s Limitations

Now, while I do really love this service, the all-you-can-read Kindle Unlimited service isn’t as unlimited as the name suggests.

Put simply, if you want to use your Kindle without limits, there are two basic problems:

You’re stuck with the Kindle Unlimited catalog available in your country – if your country is lucky enough to have a catalog. Residents of the United States have access to a great selection of over a million books. Unfortunately, people living outside the US often have to settle for a much smaller catalog – or don’t have any access to Kindle Unlimited whatsoever. Even if they purchase an American Kindle account, they can’t use it unless they travel to the US.

If you happen to be outside your home country, Kindle Unlimited won’t let you download new books. As soon as you step outside your country’s borders, Amazon detects your new location based on your IP address and keeps you from fully using the service you’ve paid for.

If you’re anything like me, the best time to read a good book is while you’re on vacation. Not only that, but the best time to pick a good book to read might just be once you’ve gotten away from the daily grind and have a couple hours to browse some possible titles. I planned on doing just this on a recent vacation, but was surprised to find that my Kindle Unlimited access was being affected by geo-restrictions as soon as I booted up my device.

Other Kindle Limitations

Kindles aren’t just for reading. When your eyes are tired and you want to listen to Spotify, or you want to zone out and watch Amazon Prime Video on your Kindle Fire, you might also discover that the streaming accounts you’re already paying for are inaccessible depending on where you’re located abroad.

It’s not just streaming accounts. Sites like Facebook and Twitter are blocked in countries like China and other places that censor their citizens on the web. That means in order to access the apps and sites you’re used to getting on your Kindle device, you’ll need a workaround.

How a VPN Gets Around Geo-Restrictions

Good news: The workaround is pretty simple.

Amazon is able to block you from your Kindle account or from buying into the Kindle Unlimited library of your choice by looking at your IP and determining where you’re located. But what if there was a way to change your IP so it appeared to be based in another country?

Fortunately, that’s exactly what a VPN like SaferVPN does. By routing all your Internet traffic through a server housed in a country of your choice, you can easily make it appear to Amazon (or Netflix, Spotify, Hulu, etc.) that you’re actually in that country. This will remove the geo-restrictions Amazon throws up in your face when all you want to do is download a new book.

Changing your IP address will also let you shop around for the Kindle Unlimited account of your choice, regardless of whether you’re traveling. For example, if you’re in the UK but want to get an account with the US service, simply change your online location via SaferVPN’s app and make Amazon think you’re located stateside. Then purchase an account as though you were located in America.

Of course, VPNs don’t just unlock the web for Kindles. They help unblock the Internet on all your devices – your laptop, your smartphone, your tablet, etc. – so you can browse the web with total freedom, as well as privacy.

VPNs also work to unblock apps and streaming services like Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu and more – allowing you to use these platforms no matter where you’re located.

How to Set Up SaferVPN on Kindle

Once you’ve decided to say goodbye to Internet restrictions and start using Kindle Unlimited without limits, the question becomes: How do you set up SaferVPN on your Kindle?

On Most Kindle Models

Sadly, newer Kindle models and other devices running FireOS (version 5 or later) don’t have native VPN support.

But don’t worry! There are still a few ways to solve the problem.

You can create a VPN-enabled virtual hotspot on your laptop, and then connect to that hotspot with your Kindle device. You can also connect your Kindle to a DD-WRT router that you connect to SaferVPN. There’s also a more technical approach called “rooting,” whereby you replace Kindle’s OS with a more standard version of Android. However, that’s something I don’t recommend you doing since it can void your device’s warranty, and so I don’t cover it here.

On Your Kindle Fire (with FireOS version 4 or earlier)

If you’re using a Kindle Fire tablet with version 4 or earlier, you’re lucky, because it has native support for PPTP and the more secure L2TP protocols. If you’re not familiar with this kind of tech-speak, you can read SaferVPN’s guide to VPN protocols to catch up on the tech. To make things simple, just use the more secure L2TP protocol for now.

If your Kindle Fire has FireOS version 4 or earlier, follow these steps to set up a VPN:

Swipe down from the top of the screen and tap Wireless. Tap VPN and then tap the plus sign to edit your VPN settings. Enter your SaferVPN login information: Name: SaferVPN Type: Your chosen security protocol (I suggest using PPTP) Server Address: Your desired country from SaferVPN’s server list PPP encryption (MPPE) : Select if PPP encryption (MPPE) is required Tap Save. Your SaferVPN profile will then appear on the VPN screen. Tap SaferVPN from the VPN screen. Fill in your SaferVPN username and password. Tap Connect.

Summary

By using SaferVPN with your Kindle device, you can use your Kindle Unlimited account and other entertainment services no matter where you are in the world. Though more recent FireOS devices no longer have native VPN support, it’s still really simple to use them with a VPN using the steps above!