VPN TROUBLESHOOTING

Why Does My VPN Show the Wrong Location?

A VPN can be working correctly even when a website labels its IP address with an unexpected city or region. IP geolocation is an estimate, and different databases can disagree.

IP location is not GPS

Websites commonly infer location from IP-address databases. That information is not the same as your device's GPS or a street address. An IP may be registered to a network operator, assigned to a large region, or mapped differently by separate data providers.

Why VPN locations can look odd

VPN providers operate blocks of IP addresses and route traffic through data centers. A server marketed for one city can occasionally be associated with a nearby city or a previous location in a third-party database. Database updates can also lag behind network changes.

When to investigate

If the visible country is completely different from the VPN location you selected, reconnect to the server and test again. Also compare the public IP, network operator, DNS resolvers and WebRTC results. If only the city differs while the expected country and VPN network are visible, geolocation data may simply be imprecise.

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NetPrivacyScan approach: Use browser-visible signals as evidence, explain their limits, and avoid treating a single result as proof of anonymity or complete privacy.