Why does this happen with private proxies

loclhero

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This happens a lot, whether it be elite or private proxies or HMA or whomever: Let's say I'm using a private proxy service. I have a list of 10 proxies. Inevitably one of them that is supposed to be from say, Miami, shows up on a proxy check site as being from Miami, but then I go to a website where I need to fill out a sign up form, and it show's I'm signing up from a Cleveland zip code.

Why does that happen?
 
IP geolocation is notoriously unreliable.
Because the internet is basically comprised of a hierarchy of networks your connection can never be traced back to your exact origin. For instance, I know my ISP has it's main datacenter in a city about 50 miles from where I live, so my connection is allegedly originating from there.

Additionally, because IP addresses are continuously being reallocated (and a lot of these geolocation systems use a big database of class B/C IP's) a lot of them are very outdated or were wrong originally.

EDIT: To elaborate a bit further, the way TCP/IP works (the protocol the internet is based on) means that the route your packets (data) use to get from point A to point B (for instance, your home computer to a webserver) is never set in stone. Your requests may not originate from the same network before joining the internet each time. Things like load-balancing can also contribute to this; if one datacenter has a lot of traffic, an ISP may intentionally route traffic to the internet via elsewhere - but because all internet communication happens at the speed of light (literally) this is not noticeable.
 
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IP geolocation is notoriously unreliable.
Because the internet is basically comprised of a hierarchy of networks your connection can never be traced back to your exact origin. For instance, I know my ISP has it's main datacenter in a city about 50 miles from where I live, so my connection is allegedly originating from there.

Additionally, because IP addresses are continuously being reallocated (and a lot of these geolocation systems use a big database of class B/C IP's) a lot of them are very outdated or were wrong originally.

EDIT: To elaborate a bit further, the way TCP/IP works (the protocol the internet is based on) means that the route your packets (data) use to get from point A to point B (for instance, your home computer to a webserver) is never set in stone. Your requests may not originate from the same network before joining the internet each time. Things like load-balancing can also contribute to this; if one datacenter has a lot of traffic, an ISP may intentionally route traffic to the internet via elsewhere - but because all internet communication happens at the speed of light (literally) this is not noticeable.
the best explanation ever.
 
I happen to work on IP GeoLocation product and have had it ready. It's only accurate on a country level. There is a way to determine IP relocation but due to business secrets I won't go into details.

To get accurate city data is a different story and that's where your problem is.
 
This happens a lot, whether it be elite or private proxies or HMA or whomever: Let's say I'm using a private proxy service. I have a list of 10 proxies. Inevitably one of them that is supposed to be from say, Miami, shows up on a proxy check site as being from Miami, but then I go to a website where I need to fill out a sign up form, and it show's I'm signing up from a Cleveland zip code.

Why does that happen?


Hi,

When you check your IP with a a site such as ipchicken.com or ip-address.com, they will have a IP geo location database. Depending on the provider/site you use, the date might differ.

So if site A is using the geolocation database of ip-address.com, it will show as location1. If site B uses another provider such as maxmind, it may show a different location if the database is outdated.

Similarly the site you visited might be using a outdated database.

There is no way to say a IP belongs to a location by using geo location services. This can be changed anytime by the IP owner.

Technically to real track where a IP is, you can use traceroute. Alternatively, query the IP at RIPE.
 
I second, the first answer is the best explanation of the issue with private proxies.
 
Hell, half the time I go to a site that autofills like that, even on my home IP, it puts a ZIP code that's like 50 miles away.
 
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