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Troubleshooting · Plain-English answer

Why does my VPN show the wrong location?

Websites guess location from IP address databases, and those databases lag behind reality. A server can be physically in one city while databases still list its address elsewhere. Browsers can also use GPS or nearby Wi-Fi for location, which a VPN cannot change. Different sites will simply disagree sometimes.

IP geolocation is a guess, not a fact

No packet carries a location. Websites look your address up in commercial geolocation databases, which are compiled from registration records and network measurements, and are wrong surprisingly often. Address blocks get reassigned between cities and countries faster than every database updates, so one site places you in Manchester while another says Amsterdam.

Check what your address currently resolves to at /tools/my-ip/. If it shows the VPN's address with an odd city attached, the tunnel is working and the database is simply stale.

When the location is right and you wish it was not

Sometimes the surprise runs the other way: a site pinpoints your real city despite the VPN. That is almost never the tunnel failing. Browsers can read GPS and nearby Wi-Fi names when you grant location permission, which bypasses IP entirely, and sites remember locations from cookies set before you connected.

Deny or reset location permissions, clear cookies for the site, and retest in a private window. If the site then shows the server's location, everything is working as designed.

Related questions

Can I get the geolocation databases corrected?
Providers can and do submit corrections for their address ranges, but each database updates on its own schedule, so fixes take weeks to propagate everywhere. Individual users cannot realistically speed this up.
Why does my weather app still show my home city?
Apps with location permission use GPS, which a VPN does not touch, and many cache your last known city. The VPN only changes what your network address suggests.

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