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HergestPhil's avatar
HergestPhil
Dialled in
1 year ago

Re: On-going Complaint - IP different location

I am having the same issue. I discovered last night that my assigned IP address had changed, and https://whatismyipaddress.com/ indicates that this IP address is associated with Liverpool.

When I run Speedtests, it chooses servers around Liverpool, rather than the London based ones I used to get.

It seems my packets are being routed through a gateway in Liverpool, as I get better latency pings when I select servers there, rather than servers that are local to me.

I believe this is causing increased lag in online games.  Websites looking up my location based on IP address believe I am in Liverpool, not Farnborough, Hampshire.

Everything was fine a week ago, but it's changed for the worse, and I dread having to go through many hours of useless "technical help" on the customer support line.

I've tried resetting the Hub 3, etc.

27 Replies

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  • HergestPhil's avatar
    HergestPhil
    Dialled in
    1 year ago

    I recently ran a speedtest, and noticed it was connecting to a Virgin Media server in Manchester.  I thought this was odd, as I usually connect to a London server when I run these tests (I live in the South-East - Hampshire).

    I logged into my Hub 5, and I can see that my IP Address changed recently, and indeed when I look this IP Address up, it suggests the location is in Liverpool.

    This seems to be affecting the speedtest, in that I get better response when I select a server in the North, instead of a server closer to me in the South.

    Has something gone wrong?  Why did my IP address change, and why does it think I am the other end of the country?

    • IPFreely's avatar
      IPFreely
      Rising star
      1 year ago

      What are the first three numbers in your new address, Phil? 

  • Sephiroth's avatar
    Sephiroth
    Alessandro Volta
    1 year ago

    Out of interest, what does a TRACERT on your IP address reveal?  It would shed light on the matter.  Good luck if you expect a worthy explanation from the Forum Team!

    • HergestPhil's avatar
      HergestPhil
      Dialled in
      1 year ago
      Start: 2024-05-11T02:57:52+0500
HOST: DNSChecker.org                                                        Loss%   Snt   Last   Avg  Best  Wrst StDev
  1.|-- ???                                                                   100.0     3    0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0
  2.|-- 10.74.11.38                                                            0.0%     3    0.6   0.7   0.6   0.8   0.1
  3.|-- 138.197.248.224                                                        0.0%     3    1.1   1.2   1.1   1.3   0.1
  4.|-- 143.244.192.160                                                        0.0%     3    0.6   0.6   0.5   0.7   0.1
  5.|-- 143.244.225.94                                                         0.0%     3    1.0   1.1   1.0   1.2   0.1
  6.|-- 143.244.225.25                                                         0.0%     3    0.7   0.8   0.7   0.8   0.0
  7.|-- ix-ae-22-0.tcore4.njy-newark.as6453.net (66.198.111.6)                 0.0%     3    0.8   0.9   0.8   1.0   0.1
  8.|-- ???                                                                   100.0     3    0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0
  9.|-- if-ae-32-3.tcore2.ldn-london.as6453.net (80.231.20.106)               33.3%     3   76.8  76.8  76.8  76.8   0.0
 10.|-- 213.46.175.18                                                          0.0%     3   77.1  77.3  77.1  77.7   0.3
 11.|-- ???                                                                   100.0     3    0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0
 12.|-- glfd-core-2a-ae2-0.network.virginmedia.net (62.253.174.90)             0.0%     3   78.8  79.0  78.8  79.3   0.3
 13.|-- ???                                                                   100.0     3    0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0
 14.|-- farn-09-b2-v4wan-170226-cust440.vm37.cable.virginm.net (82.4.125.n)    0.0%     3   97.1  95.5  91.7  97.7   3.3

      "farn" i assume is for Farnborough.  "glfd" = Guildford.  So that seems good.  But IPToLocation still reports Liverpool.

  • IPFreely's avatar
    IPFreely
    Rising star
    1 year ago

    What are the first 3 numbers in your new IP address, Phil? 

    • HergestPhil's avatar
      HergestPhil
      Dialled in
      1 year ago

      IP Address changed a couple of weeks ago, and it's been reporting incorrect address since then.  How long should I wait before complaining?

      Yesterday when I used a SpeedTest website, it was reporting better pings and lower jitter for servers based around Liverpool, instead of servers located closer to my physical location.  I assumed this to be because traffic was routed to the gateway, located in Liverpool.

      • Ilyas_Y's avatar
        Ilyas_Y
        Forum Team (Retired)
        1 year ago

        Hey HergestPhil Thanks for reaching out to us on the Virgin Media forums. 👋🏼

        I'm sorry to hear about the issues you are having with the IP location. 😢
        May I ask if you changed your IP address or was it changed for you?

        The location is in reference to the are reference and does not affect the testing of the services itself.
        It is also to protect your private information and maintain your locality so that this is not given out.

        Kind regards,
        Ilyas.

  • CalKlein's avatar
    CalKlein
    Dialled in
    1 year ago

    I’ve noticed this. I’m in Swansea and getting an ip in Leeds. Not too much of an issue with Lag but my adverts on podcasts and radio through Alexa is giving me adverts for Leeds

  • jpeg1's avatar
    jpeg1
    Alessandro Volta
    1 year ago

    I really don't understand why some people are keen for everyone on the Internet to know where they live. There's enough personal risk already from using the web without telling everyone exactly where you are.  If you really want them to know, put your address in your emails. 

    Thanks to a VPN I'm apparently in Central London. Fortunately I haven't been there for months. 

  • big-luap's avatar
    big-luap
    Superfast
    1 year ago

    My Location is Warwick, which is confirmed using a IP location website. 

    Every time I have had a new Hub my IP address has changed. On my 3rd Hub 5 (Reset stuck in on the last one)

    On the 5th June Ookla Speedtest shifted my location for their system.

    Speedtests are now being centred on a Museum, in Dublin Latitude 53.3493 Longitude -6.2605

     

     

  • Sephiroth's avatar
    Sephiroth
    Alessandro Volta
    1 year ago

    Is this something you might take up with Oklahoma?  They must be using one of the IP detection agencies to guess your location.  It won’t be a Virgin Media action that has caused this. A Tracert on a PC will quickly prove that your IP location is actually in our area.

    • ravenstar68's avatar
      ravenstar68
      Very Insightful Person
      1 year ago

      A lot of people know that if you've got a BT line then the first 7 digits relate to a geographical area, and they tend to assume then that IP addresses work the same way.

      They don't.

      IP addresses are initially assigned by the major internet registries.  These then are assigned to Local internet registries at the country level who in turn pass them out to various organisations.

      These can do whatever they want with their IP addresses.  In some cases some IP's have even been sold off to other countries.  For this reason even at the country level, Geo-IP is NOT 100% perfect.

      There are a number of companies who mine data on the internet in order to link IP ranges to geographical locations.  ISP's do not provide this data, they usually gather it from websites you've visited.  In some cases they make an educated guess.  Except that guess is not 100% perfect.

      If you want your location to be corrected, you need to reach out to the Geo-IP companies.

      • HergestPhil's avatar
        HergestPhil
        Dialled in
        1 year ago

        Virgin changed my IP address and now when I use facilities it gets my location wrong.  If there are other external services that provide geo location mapping to IP address, it's virgin that should be correcting it, as they manage the allocation of addresses to end users.  Or give me another IP address that does report the correct location.

        What external agency is going to listen to me?  How do I know who to contact?

  • jpeg1's avatar
    jpeg1
    Alessandro Volta
    1 year ago

    How many times does it has to be said?  Your ISP has no responsibility to advertise your location.