IP geolocation is far less precise than most people assume. If a website, streaming service, or tool like whatsmy.fyi is showing the wrong city, state, or even the wrong country for your IP address, there is almost always a straightforward technical explanation — and it is rarely your fault.
How IP Geolocation Actually Works
Websites do not use GPS to determine your location. Instead, they look up your IP address in a commercial database (MaxMind, IPinfo, IP2Location, etc.) that maps IP ranges to geographic locations. These databases are built from a combination of:
- Public registry data (ARIN, RIPE, APNIC, LACNIC, AFRINIC)
- ISP-provided network registration documents
- Historical routing data and BGP announcements
- User-submitted corrections and crowd-sourced signals
These databases are snapshots updated periodically — often weekly or monthly. Any mismatch between the database and reality produces an incorrect geolocation. Read the full explanation in our guide on how IP geolocation works.
Reason 1: Your ISP Registered the IP Block in a Different City
This is the most common cause. Large ISPs register their IP address blocks under a single corporate headquarters or network operations centre address, even though those IPs are actually assigned to customers in completely different cities.
For example, a regional ISP headquartered in Dallas may have registered an IP block in Dallas even though it serves customers in Austin, San Antonio, and Houston. Every customer on that block will geolocate to Dallas regardless of where they actually live.
This is an ISP record-keeping issue, not a problem with your device or connection. Learn more about what an ISP is and how they manage IP addresses.
Reason 2: Dynamic IP Address Reassignment
Most home internet connections use dynamic IP addresses — your ISP assigns you a different IP each time you reconnect or at regular intervals. Your previous IP may have been used by a customer in a different city. Geolocation databases carry historical associations, and it takes time for the database to update.
If you recently got a new IP address and it is geolocating somewhere unexpected, it is likely that the previous occupant of that IP was in a different location. The database will correct itself in days to weeks.
Reason 3: Anycast and CDN Routing
Some ISPs and network providers use anycast routing — a technique where the same IP address block is announced from multiple physical locations simultaneously. The traffic is routed to the nearest data centre, but the IP registration still points to the original registry address.
If your ISP uses anycast for its DNS or network infrastructure, your public IP may geolocate to wherever the anycast network was originally registered — not where you are.
Reason 4: You Are Behind a Carrier-Grade NAT (CGNAT)
Many mobile carriers and some smaller ISPs use Carrier-Grade NAT (CGNAT), sharing a single public IP address among hundreds of customers. The public IP belongs to the carrier's infrastructure, which is registered at the carrier's network address — not at any individual customer's location.
If you are on a mobile network or a budget ISP and see a location that is a major city in your country but not your actual city, CGNAT is the likely cause. You can check whether you have an IPv6 address — IPv6 avoids CGNAT and may geolocate more accurately.
Reason 5: VPN or Proxy Is Active
If you are using a VPN or proxy, your IP address belongs to the VPN provider's infrastructure — not to your physical location. The location shown is the VPN server location, not where you are sitting.
whatsmy.fyi's VPN detection card will flag this. If you are not intentionally using a VPN, check for browser extensions or system-level VPN configurations that may be active. See how to verify your VPN status.
Reason 6: The Geolocation Database Is Simply Wrong
Even the best IP geolocation databases (MaxMind claims ~90% accuracy at the city level) contain errors. Accuracy varies significantly by region:
- Country level: ~99% accurate — rarely wrong
- Region/state level: ~85–95% accurate
- City level: ~60–85% accurate depending on the country and ISP
- Street/postal code level: Unreliable — treat as approximate
Smaller countries and rural areas tend to have less accurate geolocation than major cities in well-mapped countries like the United States, UK, or Germany.
How to Correct Your IP Geolocation
If the wrong location is causing problems (streaming services blocking you, fraud detection false positives), you can submit a correction:
- MaxMind: Use the maxmind.com/en/geoip-location-correction correction form.
- IPinfo: Contact them via their website with your IP and correct location.
- Your ISP: Ask them to update their IP block registration with the correct geographic information in the ARIN/RIPE/APNIC registry.
Corrections take weeks to propagate across all databases. There is no instant fix — each provider maintains its own database and update cycle.
Why This Matters
Incorrect IP geolocation can affect:
- Streaming service content libraries (region-locked content)
- Fraud detection systems (legitimate transactions flagged)
- Advertising targeting (irrelevant local ads)
- Online voting, surveys, or forms restricted to specific regions
- Weather widgets and local search results
For most purposes, an incorrect city-level geolocation is a minor inconvenience. For country-level errors, corrections are worth submitting.
Check your current IP location and see exactly what databases report about your connection on whatsmy.fyi. The ISP and ASN fields often reveal which part of the IP registration chain is producing the incorrect result.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I force websites to use my correct location?
Not directly via IP. You can use your browser's location permission (GPS/Wi-Fi based) to share a more accurate location with individual websites. This is separate from IP geolocation and bypasses it entirely — but requires you to grant location permission each time.
Does my IP location affect my internet speed?
No. IP geolocation is a lookup used for informational and routing purposes. An incorrectly geolocated IP does not affect your actual connection speed or routing.
Will a VPN fix my location problem?
A VPN will change the location shown to wherever the VPN server is located — it does not fix your underlying IP geolocation. It replaces one approximate location with another. Use a VPN for privacy, not for precise location correction.
