Why Do Websites Show Incorrect Server Locations When Using a VPN?
There are many reasons why someone might use a VPN, but the most common is to hide their real geographic location or prevent websites from tracking your online activity. It can also be a way to bypass location-based restrictions that prevent you from accessing certain websites or platforms.
When you connect to a US VPN server, websites should recognize that your online traffic originates in the US. This allows you to access online platforms that use IP filters to block traffic from outside the US or bypass regional censorship when traveling outside the US. However, if you connect to a US VPN server while vacationing in Mexico, and the website thinks your IP address is from Brazil, this may not solve your problem and may even create unnecessary complications.
If you’re experiencing this issue with your VPN provider, there are several solutions. Depending on the cause of your IP address error, one of them should help you access the internet from a server located in your desired location.
Why do websites misrepresent your location with a VPN?
IP address geolocation is not infallible. Websites use third-party IP address databases to determine your location based on your current IP address. Maxmind, which has one of the largest such databases in existence, claims its GeoIP products are 99.8% accurate . Lesser-known providers with smaller IP address databases may demonstrate much lower accuracy.
Websites can use more than just your IP address to determine your location. For example, they can send WebRTC requests to your browser or directly query your device’s GPS. Furthermore, VPN providers often have physical servers in one country, while their IP addresses are registered in another, and this discrepancy can also create problems. Let’s look at each of these issues individually so you can find the solution that best suits your needs.
WebRTC leaks reveal your real IP address.
WebRTC is an open-source technology that allows your browser to reduce latency when performing high-bandwidth tasks, such as streaming or video calls. Based on the IETF RFC 8828 standard, it allows websites to choose between your VPN server and your real IP address to establish the shortest path for transmitting large amounts of data and reduce latency or buffering.
However, the catch with WebRTC is that it reveals both your VPN server address and the address assigned by your ISP to websites, which can lead to your real IP address being exposed and websites rejecting requests from your VPN server country. Firefox now has built-in protection against WebRTC leaks, and Chrome and Edge support third-party extensions like WebRTC Control that can be used to mitigate these issues. To check whether your browser is revealing your real IP address during WebRTC requests, you can use a free tool like BrowserLeaks .
DNS queries point to the wrong country.
Even if your browser doesn’t reveal your real IP address, DNS servers may receive inaccurate location information if their closest servers are too far from your current location. For example, a user in São Paulo might be geolocated to Chile when using Google Public DNS because that’s where Google’s closest DNS servers are located.
Enabling DNS leak protection in your VPN app will force websites to use your VPN’s DNS server to fulfill requests. This often resolves the issue, but you can confirm the solution’s functionality using services like BrowserLeaks or IPLeaks.
Outdated databases point to incorrect locations.
Websites use IP address databases such as Maxmind, IP2Location, IPinfo, and others to determine your precise location, but these databases quickly become out of date and require constant updating. Most of these databases also fix errors upon request, but this takes some time. Furthermore, each website has its own rules regarding how often it requests updates from IP address databases.
Even if location data is updated in the database, a website may contain outdated information if it hasn’t actively updated it recently. MaxMind recommends doing this at least twice a week , but it ultimately depends on the specific website.
Virtual servers do not correspond to their physical location.
VPN providers often use virtual servers that use IP addresses registered in a different region than the server’s physical location. For example, ExpressVPN notes that it provides IP addresses in Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela through servers physically located in Brazil.
While this is typically done to address issues related to a lack of local infrastructure or strict surveillance laws in the region, many databases and analytics tools will flag this discrepancy for websites, leading to confusion and inconsistency regarding your server’s actual location. In such cases, the best solution is to change your VPN server or use a dedicated IP address with a paid VPN subscription.
How to check IP address location mismatches for free
Before investing in a specific solution, it’s best to conduct a thorough analysis to determine why your IP address is pointing to the wrong location and whether the cause is a WebRTC or DNS issue, virtual servers, or something else. Here’s how I would proceed, step by step:
-
Let’s start by recording your base IP address, country, city, and ASN. After disabling the VPN, navigate to IPConfig.co in your browser to retrieve your default IP address data. I like this tool because it’s free and uses echoip to retrieve your location data directly from Maxmind. If you prefer to use the terminal instead of the browser, you can also run curl ifconfig.co/json to retrieve this data in text format.
-
Now connect to your VPN server. Then visit IPConfig.co again and note the changed information.
-
Make sure the “Country” and “Time Zone” fields match your VPN server’s current location. Also, make sure the “ASN (Organization)” field doesn’t contain your home ISP.
-
If this information doesn’t match your VPN server, run a WebRTC leak test and a DNS leak test using BrowserLeaks. If neither of these tests returns your VPN server’s IP address, you’ve found the culprit.
-
If both data leak tests show no errors, but a particular site still incorrectly detects your location, the problem is most likely related to an outdated database or virtual server.
There’s no guaranteed way to permanently resolve the IP address mismatch issue. But if it happens frequently enough to disrupt your internet connection, you might consider switching to a different VPN server and installing a browser extension that prevents WebRTC leaks. If that doesn’t help, I’d recommend purchasing a dedicated IP address that isn’t based on a virtual server. While many IP address databases, such as MaxMind or IP2Location, also offer ways to request a location correction, this is time-consuming and not worth the effort unless it’s a permanent IP address registered through your ISP.