This article was first published in Geek Culture.

Netflix has arrived in Singapore (as well as the rest of the world) and judging by the response on social media, it might seem that the Second Coming has arrived. I’m pretty some people are worried — certainly not the sinners, though.

The ones who should start repenting after growing really fat from years of monopoly are the pay TV operators like Singtel and StarHub, who also offer their own TV streaming services in Singapore. Netflix could very much be seen as an individual who is chasing a (substantial) piece of their pie.

Is it time to cut the cord? Not quite. Content on Netflix differs from region to region. If you need a gauge of what other regions have to offer, a quick Google will get you sorted.

Netflix filters the content it feeds by region, based on your IP address. Think of it as your internet residential address — if you’re based in the U.S., they'll feed you U.S. content. If you’re in Singapore, you'll be served content tailored for Singapore.

Even though you’ve signed up for a Singapore Netflix account, you technically can access U.S. content with a VPN. You could either take the paid standalone VPN route (meaning you'll have to buy one. There are free VPNs too, but they're slower) or hop onto one of the value-added services provided by MyRepublic (Teleport) or ViewQwest (Freedom VPN).

Lucky we held on to that 12GB plan! #NetflixEverywhere #Netflix #NetflixInAsia #geekculture #geek

A photo posted by Geek Culture (@geek_culture) on Jan 6, 2016 at 11:40pm PST

Now you can enjoy Netflix while on the go!

As much as I (and those of us wise enough to hang on to our 12GB data plans) have plenty of data to burn, streaming full time on a mobile phone is not the solution. As circumstances have allowed it, I have access to the best of both worlds – Netflix on my mobile phone has access to Singapore content while my television (subscribed to MyRepublic) has access to U.S. content.

Let's investigate and compare:

House of Cards is currently not available on Singapore Netflix so this confirms that my TV is still connected to the U.S. version. No IP or geolocks!

In order not to burn out my data, I tried accessing Singapore content on my phone, then hopping onto my home wi-fi connection, to see if that change would make Netflix reconnect.

I tried this out with Pacific Rim, which is not available in the U.S. and I’m still able to watch the show on my phone.

But, you know, watching something like Pacific Rim on a small screen is hardly the ideal scenario when you can watch it on your TV with far superior audio... and the far larger screen, needless to say.

So as it turns out, Netflix on my phone detects my Android TV at home (that KDL-55W800C code is the name of my TV), but prompts me to inform me that I need both devices to be on the same network in order for me to cast my screen.

Boo! It seems that Netflix is unable to cast what you're watching on your phone to the telly if your account is on separate regions, which is totally understandable. Remember, my phone is on Singapore Netflix while the TV is on U.S. Netflix.

It’s not the end of the world, but hey, it would always be nice to have options.

The only question now is, can ISPs who have provided a VPN solution to their subscribers devise a way to swap between regions? If they are able to do so, might we eventually be able to access even more regions of Netflix content as well?

This is important because no content on Netflix (apart from their exclusives) is permanent on the platform. There will be a day that existing shows/movies will be rotated out for another wave of content.

After a day of “chaos”, I decided to pop in to all the respective ISPs in Singapore to see how they’ve reacted to the news.

MyRepublic

Region swapping for MyRepublic is on the cards? Awesome!

ViewQwest

It seems that the only issues they had was a few days back. Their wall is closed off, so not much action there.

StarHub

StarHub had a pretty interesting exchange on their Facebook page, do check it out in full here.

Communities on the other two, M1 and Singtel, didn’t seem to have much buzz over the Netflix announcement.

So now it's available, would you want to start a Netflix account?

If you're undecided, you could always sign up for its free trial month — it's a great way to test out the service.

If you’re a big fan of Japanese or Korean dramas, those seem to be well on the way to Netflix too, and the best part is there are Chinese subtitles!

Time to get used to this, guys.

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