PROBLEM OF THE FORTNIGHT
Why does my IP address show the wrong location?
Q I make use of the What Is whatismyipaddress.com, which shows that my IP address changes. Sometimes it says I’m in London, but I live in south Wales. When I use the Update My IP Location option, I correct my location to south Wales. However, when I check again later the IP address is still shown as London.
What is going on?
Steve Hughes
A What’s going on is that your These can change at any time on the ISP’s command, typically once a week, or once a day. Moreover, while an ISP will generally try to assign individual subscribers with IP addresses that at least approximate their real-world location, this is by no means a given. If the ISP has issued to other subscribers all the ‘south Wales’ IP addresses it controls, then you’ll end up with one that is tied to a location that is geographically more distant.
Most of the time, for most users, a dynamic IP address is fine – and they are commonplace. A static alternative, which won’t change unless you ask for a change, generally commands a premium fee.
But a problem can arise when there’s a benefit to having a geographically accurate location. That typically means a benefit to you, as the user, but plenty of websites benefit from knowing your location – if you let them. Google Maps (www.google.com/maps), for example, has obvious and legitimate reasons for wanting to know a connected device’s location.
We say all this because, while we’re not suggesting that WIMIPA? (pictured below left) is doing anything underhand with location information, by clicking the Update My IP Location link on its website you are not changing your ISP-issued dynamic IP address (or notional geographical location of that IP address). Rather, you’re allowing the site to access to other methods your web browser has for identifying your location.
We’ll come back to those methods,
