What the heck is up with my internet?

[AmberStarfire]

Okay, not a simple question. I got a warning from Yahoo on two of my accounts the other day saying someone had logged in with a Scottish IP. I traced the IP back to my own computer, and it turned out to be not a random stranger after all. The only thing is I'm in the Republic of Ireland (not in the UK at all).

We've had some problems with our Wireless and it's back up and running again, as of this afternoon. When I go to Google and Youtube, I'm getting the Belgian versions loading instead of the Irish ones. I'm not really sure what's going on here. Whether they just changed our IP because of the issues with our connection/account/line, or something else.

[Vekseid]

Yeah, there are various subregions of the Internet that ISPs tend to be fairly active about moving netblocks around. The most common one is UK members showing up as living in Amsterdam or vice-versa.

That's simply because of the populations involved, though. Ireland and all of the Low Countries are in this apparent 'region'.

[AmberStarfire]

Thanks. That's odd but it's reassuring to know it isn't just something up with my ISP.

[The Dark Raven]

Mine says I'm in a city halfway across the state.  I chalked it up to the ISP having a crappy GPS.

[Vekseid]

Mine says I'm in a city halfway across the state.  I chalked it up to the ISP having a crappy GPS.

No.

When you buy/do stuff online that fixes your location, certain people sell this information. Dating sites, ordering pizza or something else online, etc. Companies like Maxmind consolidate this information and sell it to web developers. Maxmind in particular also makes a 'lite' variant available for free.

There are other ways to determine your location - even if you deny a website access to that information. Reading timezones, preferred languages, and your ASN can tell me a lot about where you are. Using an IP hiding service alone will not entirely help you here.

[The Dark Raven]

No.

When you buy/do stuff online that fixes your location, certain people sell this information. Dating sites, ordering pizza or something else online, etc. Companies like Maxmind consolidate this information and sell it to web developers. Maxmind in particular also makes a 'lite' variant available for free.

There are other ways to determine your location - even if you deny a website access to that information. Reading timezones, preferred languages, and your ASN can tell me a lot about where you are. Using an IP hiding service alone will not entirely help you here.

Well, considering I've never even driven through that city, and there have never been any purchases to that city in my life, I have no clue how they got that exact place because it is extremely obscure and smaller than the town i actually live in.  And my ISP is not located in that place, either.

This is what threw me off.  I didn't think much of it really.

[Vekseid]

Well, considering I've never even driven through that city, and there have never been any purchases to that city in my life, I have no clue how they got that exact place because it is extremely obscure and smaller than the town i actually live in.  And my ISP is not located in that place, either.

This is what threw me off.  I didn't think much of it really.

Well, whoever your ISP is, the one who actually provides your IP space is enormous and they have a specific ASN dedicated to servicing your state. Even if you are buying from then directly, it could just be that you got a fresh allotment and some Internet company made a guess.

[The Dark Raven]

Well, whoever your ISP is, the one who actually provides your IP space is enormous and they have a specific ASN dedicated to servicing your state. Even if you are buying from then directly, it could just be that you got a fresh allotment and some Internet company made a guess.

I honestly wouldn't put it past them. :)

[AmberStarfire]

TBH I wouldn't put it past mine either, if they do that over here. I used to work for them too (accounts receivable).

It sounds like the netblocks are probably the reason for the weirdness here compared to the other issue.