IP Address does not match my Geographical location

[NotInLondon]

Since a couple of weeks ago, my IP address is displaying as my location as "London, ON", whereas I am physically located outside of Ottawa, ON.  While the internet itself is fine, this 600 km difference seems to mean that I am not getting the desired sports coverage as a result of regional coverage... the wrong blackout information is being applied.

Note that I don't have or have never used any kind of IP manipulating software/VPN... I am getting this information from lookup sites like "whatismyip", etc.  

Is this something that is within my ability to change?  Without having to 'trick' sites to believing my IP is something else?  No shenanigans; just want it to be accurate so I can get my regular sports back (which has been fine since moving here, about 2 years ago)...

Any suggestions are appreciated! 

[Limjahey]

Hi. It says Montreal and Rogers communication which is what other IP locators say when I disconnect the wifi. It is picking up the location of my cellular data rather than the wifi even though the wifi is on and functioning.

I appreciate your reply, however, this issue has been diagnosed to death. I have already interrogated the IP location upwards of 100 times using multiple sites. At this point, additional locators will not help. What I need is a solution to this problem. Why is my IP location in Toronto when I live in Ottawa and how can I fix it. 

thanks

[PammieD]

Same! Huge issue at home. My parents live near Haliburton, and can't watch the Senators with their Fibe TV.  When my dad was describing the issue, I flipped open the app and could watch it fine on my phone (same subscription).  Leading me to believe it's location related, not station access.

We can't figure out why Haliburton would be blacked out, but he is NOT happy because he hasn't had this issue with away games when he was with Shaw. 

My IP address was showing Toronto location, but my parents aren't tech savvy enough to figure out what theirs is showing.

I called Bell for them yesterday, and was told "it's nothing to do with us."

Now my parents are ready to switch back to Shaw. Super frustrating!

[ZaneP]

Hi @PammieD , @Limjahey 

Usually the geolocation problem is due to out-of-date databases used by ISPs. Also, ISPs sometimes have routing errors due to messed-up routing tables I can't say if either of these are relevant to your issue.

But one possible solution is brute-force: you could factory-reset your Bell modem. This will usually result in  a new a new public IP address being assigned to the modem. (Make sure you have your B1 username handy. Also, if you have any custom settings on the modem, take notes. Those settings will be erased).

After the modem has re-established its connection, check this site, as recommended by @daaaveybaby https://www.maxmind.com/en/locate-my-ip-address

[ZaneP]

It seems to be problematic for Bell customers who have a Fibe TV streaming subscription and want to watch a live sports event. If geolocation is wrong, they may experience a game blackout. 

Read @Limjahey post, 10-14-23, below.

[NotInLondon]

Original poster here... Amazing (sad) that nine months later, this issue is affecting so many people, and that Bell doesn't seem to be able to get a handle on it.

Just to close the loop on my end... I did end up switching ISP.  While the geolocation was a nuisance, I am in rural Ottawa, and Bell wasn't able to provide the speed I needed for work, out here in the country.  We ended up switching to Starlink... and while the speed is a noticeable improvement, I do note that the geolocation is also not accurate (Toronto).  Starlink acknowledges this current limitation in their documentation, pending the distribution of additional satellites, so for now pretty much stuck. 

Note that I also looked briefly into various VPN options to spoof your location, but even those aren't so precise.. Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver... couldn't find Ottawa in the solutions I was considering at the time.

Anyway, best of luck everyone. 

[Vanadiel]

I see. I don't really watch tv, so I would not know. Just 1 observation I would make is that to me, the real issue would be with streaming based on geolocation. It should not be blacked out, it should still be available regardless of your location.

No idea who would not allow you to access games you should be able to view. But that to me is where the real issue is.

[InOttawa2]

Hello all, 

As I mentioned earlier in this conversation I am located in Ottawa and for a significant period of time I could not watch Ottawa Senators games because according to TSN/NHL I was in a blackout area. At the time my ip address was geolocated on Toronto and in Ottawa depending on which IP locator software you used. As Bell uses dynamic IP my IP has recently changed to an address that consistently locates in Ottawa no matter what software you use. So I expect I will have no trouble watching Sens games for the next several weeks until the next time they change my IP address.

[JJCC]

I am experiencing the same issue. I currently live in Toronto and I am unable to stream the Toronto Maple Leaf games using both the TSN app on my apple TV and through the chrome browser on my Macbook Pro laptop. If someone from Bell could please assist me with the issue it would be greatly appreciated.

[leftwithout]

If its TSN that is being geo location blocked I'd called them and asked them to compare your CC address to the blackout restrictions. They can ask their tech team to flag your IP address, regardless of the erroneous public IP that Bell has assigned you. It takes multiple calls which is why its so frustrating. 

[JJCC]

@leftwithout thanks for the heads up. I also have a ticket in with them as I suspected it might be one of those situations where both parties involved point to the other for the solution. Being that it is happening on multiple devices (Apple TV and laptop browser), but not all of them (I can still watch on my phone, while on the same wi-fi) I suspect it is a Bell problem not a TSN problem. But we will see... Either way I am currently paying for both hi-speed Bell fibe internet and a TSN direct subscription, yet I am unable to use them for a one of the key reasons I purchased. And I suspect neither will reimburse me for the time lost. Very frustrating...

[DBS]

This issue is pretty significant as it will result in normal security tracking to consider you to be connecting from a new/different location. I've had this issue cause me problems with NetFlix, Google Account, and other services. I can never seem to get services to reliably consider my home desktop to remain stable to my geographical region because Bell Fibe keeps changing my IP to ones associated with very different cities within the same province (Ontario).

[Vanadiel]

If you connect from a different IP it will consider that a "new" connection and ask to login/verify account information for certain services like Google accounts, Microsoft accounts etc...

The Geo IP location will only cause issues for services that rely on geo location information. To my knowledge Netflix does not care about it, neither does Google. I never had an issue with the services myself, and in some instances my geo location was wrong.

[leftwithout]

I only care because I pay for nhl streaming that is tied to my location. I’m blocked from watching certain content based on a false geo location. It has nothing to do with Netflix etc. 

[LeafsFanOttawa]

Exactly our situation.  We have had to contact SportsNet 3x this season to have them override our false Bell geo location and allow us to watch NHL games we want to see.   We missed many games  because Bell incorrectly located our IP address in Toronto (we live in Ottawa).

[DBS]

Netflix tries to accommodate ISP TCP/IP address cycling/reissuing (which Bell does at least once per week even if you are constantly using your Internet connection) by trying to rely on GeoIP city locations (or at least this is what they indicated to me when I complained to Netflix about them not recognizing my household when my IP address changed). Services like Netflix and Google Account logins know that ISPs keep changing your IP, so they need to rely on GeoIP location lookups by city.

Thus it is problematic if Bell goes out of their way to make GeoIP locationing (by city) unreliable.

What about be nice, is if Bell Fibe offered their (non-business) customers a way to pay extra for a static ip. I'd switch to using business services, but I'm locked into a two-year contract for my current plan, and also I have the 3 Gbps service, and I think the business plan is still limited to 1 Gbps.