What's going on with my location?

B0bbyEwing

Well the .com address above shows a very long IP address (how do I check what my IP address even is btw? I had a look & it was talking about WiFi .... but I'm not on WiFi. I'm connected via cable to my router).

It shows that I'm in London which is totally wrong. London is about a 5hr drive from me. 

The .org address above shows my IP address as 2 numbers followed by 3 lots of 3 numbers. 

If I use this IP address in their IP address finder page then it locates me as Liverpool which is also wrong but instead of being a 5 hour drive away they've got as close as a 1 hour drive away. 


As for my internet provider - BT, or EE, whatever they're calling themselves these days.

Funny thing is, since I came out of contract* I've noticed funny goings on with my internet. The TV side of things buffers much more. The connections aren't as great as they were while I was under contract.


* This caused a sticky point on a previous thread. Someone telling me I'm still "in contract" I think it was. I'm simply using the term BT mentioned. I can go to another provider right now without charge whereas a few months ago when I was 'in contract', had I left there would've been a charge. Just to be clear what I'm talking about.

B0bbyEwing

Yeah I'm thinking this has to be an ISP thing now. 
Laying in bed unable to sleep & I'm looking to price up some things so take a quick look on my phone only for the Google search results to return prices in euros. My phone is connected to my home network via WiFi obviously unlike my PC which I mentioned was via cable. 

So how do I put a stop to my ISP having me located where I'm not? 

wongataa

B0bbyEwing said:

So how do I put a stop to my ISP having me located where I'm not? 

You can't.

B0bbyEwing

wongataa said:

B0bbyEwing said:

So how do I put a stop to my ISP having me located where I'm not? 

You can't.

OK the that presents the other question then.... 

Why has this just started happening when for years everything was fine?

booneruk

Just to check I'm understanding this, whether you connect with Ethernet or WIFI, whatismyip.com shows you the same IP address, but Canada as the location when on Ethernet and Edinburgh when on WIFI?

That's highly irregular if so. Your route out to the internet is no different (connecting to the same router by either ethernet or WIFI, which then hops to your ISP and out to the wider Internet). I would suggest it's something software based getting in the way, acting like a VPN or proxy, when you're using Ethernet. 

Did you ever install any custom firmware etc onto your router, or is it all vanilla out of the box?

B0bbyEwing

Tried at home yesterday with my wife's phone - connected via WiFi to the router & like me she's allegedly over the water in Ireland according to her Google search results for things. 

Turn WiFi off & go on mobile data (or even just select use precise location) and it brings up correct results - England based, or UK, whatever way you wish to say it.

Very annoying why our home Internet has suddenly started doing this. 

I'll try their live chat to see if it can be resolved but I've not had the best experience with their live chats so I'm not holding my breath. 

facade

booneruk said:

Just to check I'm understanding this, whether you connect with Ethernet or WIFI, whatismyip.com shows you the same IP address, but Canada as the location when on Ethernet and Edinburgh when on WIFI?

That's highly irregular if so. Your route out to the internet is no different (connecting to the same router by either ethernet or WIFI, which then hops to your ISP and out to the wider Internet). I would suggest it's something software based getting in the way, acting like a VPN or proxy, when you're using Ethernet. 

Did you ever install any custom firmware etc onto your router, or is it all vanilla out of the box?

Apologies, I'm not the OP and I'm confusing things.

When I tried Whatsmyip.com it gave the correct IP numbers, but the location was Toronto. (It was supposed to be Edinburgh, as other locators showed).

I have also had problems with websites denying access because I'm "not in the UK", sometimes prices appear in non-European currencies too.

I just assumed it was something to do with the VPN using address blocks that were previously allocated to other countries, but now wonder if they have been geolocated by google or Microsoft  based on the Wifi signals of someone else sharing that IP address who has clicked on "allow geolocation".

B0bbyEwing

Well I got on the live chat to BT who said everything points towards a UK location so they couldn't understand it.

Then after a check they said I'm not on their FTTP service and am on copper broadband and this could be causing the issue. They can book me in for full fibre at no cost, same price per month to me. 

Whether that sounds like an accurate possibility or not I don't know. All I know is I've been with BT for probably 7-9 years now and only just started having this issue, so if it's because of some copper then surely it should've been happening for a long time & not just now.

They changed my dynamic IP address I think they said, just in case, but yeah that was the outcome of the chat.

bob2302

B0bbyEwing said:

Well I got on the live chat to BT who said everything points towards a UK location so they couldn't understand it.

Then after a check they said I'm not on their FTTP service and am on copper broadband and this could be causing the issue. They can book me in for full fibre at no cost, same price per month to me. 

Whether that sounds like an accurate possibility or not I don't know. All I know is I've been with BT for probably 7-9 years now and only just started having this issue, so if it's because of some copper then surely it should've been happening for a long time & not just now.

They changed my dynamic IP address I think they said, just in case, but yeah that was the outcome of the chat.

The geolocation databases aren't 100% accurate. In part this is caused by the exhaustion of IPv4 addresses, with address blocks being traded and moved around. It's certainly not caused by being on copper, but anything you can do to reroll the dice might fix it by getting you onto a different block. 

B0bbyEwing

bob2302 said:

B0bbyEwing said:

Well I got on the live chat to BT who said everything points towards a UK location so they couldn't understand it.

Then after a check they said I'm not on their FTTP service and am on copper broadband and this could be causing the issue. They can book me in for full fibre at no cost, same price per month to me. 

Whether that sounds like an accurate possibility or not I don't know. All I know is I've been with BT for probably 7-9 years now and only just started having this issue, so if it's because of some copper then surely it should've been happening for a long time & not just now.

They changed my dynamic IP address I think they said, just in case, but yeah that was the outcome of the chat.

The geolocation databases aren't 100% accurate. In part this is caused by the exhaustion of IPv4 addresses, with address blocks being traded and moved around. It's certainly not caused by being on copper, but anything you can do to reroll the dice might fix it by getting you onto a different block. 

Thanks.

Them changing the dynamic IP address also didn't work either. 

I was on YouTube.ie last night apparently. No idea why it keeps insisting I'm in Ireland yet IP searches say I'm in England, even if 5 hours away in London.