Wrong State

[Blake81]

I've noticed several times that SC is showing the wrong state for an entry. I don't know how many states it's happening for, but I notice it when I know who the people are that are visiting my site. It will show the correct city in the incorrect state, like Carrollton, Florida, instead of Carrollton, Georgia. It has done this for several cities in GA and always makes it Florida when it is incorrect.

[geodude]

Geo-location is sort of black magic, but SC seems to have taken a performance dive recently in this area. It's surely related to the IP database they use; I'd say it's likely the worse I've seen. No service is perfect, but other services do it much better. The main issue lately, as you've noticed, is the proper city is given, but listed in a wrong state. I've seen my city listed in three different states! The response when I've posted about the issue is generally of the attitude, "well, other services aren't perfect either." That's true, but there surely are few that are worse.

[webado]

The information that ISP's provide to the geo-databases isn't always well structured or accurate. They are ultimately responsible for it.

You will have the name and the location of the ISP in general (their head office) and the name and location of the datacenter corresponding to the IP block to which the IP belongs.

Use whois.sc/ipaddress to get yet another interpretation.

I have yet to find any geo database which places my IP in a spot closer to home. And they all vary a lot.

I happen to know which of my ISP's datacenters I'm connected to, and it's not where it's reported, after testing it in several geo databases. So it's the databases that have incorrect or incomplete information AND my ISP that's not bothering to provide corrected information.

I'm pretty sure all ISP's are guilty of the same shortcomings to varying degrees, especially when you consider how volatile the allocation of IP blocks is. Today this block of IP's is for this ISP, tomorrow it's for another ISP and sometimes it's shared among several ISP's.

And I can sympathise to some extent because there appears to exist no single definitive depository of the geo location information, with a clear structure that takes care of all data fields properly. If it exists, then obviously it's not available for consultation or as a source of data not even for the other providers of geo databases.

That said, I believe a problem at times is due to Statcounter using 2 sources of information. One of the sources will give the geo information on the ISP in general, the other will give the geo information on the IP address and corresponding ISP's datacenter. This is one potential source of conflicting information.

[Blake81]

That could explain it, if they're using two sources. It should be set up to use city and state from the same source. It may happen more than I realize, since I only notice it when the city is a Georgia city that I recognize. I've also noticed quite a few times where the hostname will end in something like "hsd1.nj.comcast.net, which you would expect to be New Jersey, and it reports something completely off, like Texas.

[Car Guy]

I can't recall seeing this in Canadian locations. Maybe I'm just not looking close enough, but our City/Province seems to be correct all the time.

Of course everybody up here knows everybody else here

Richard

[webado]

Nah, mine doesn't work. It places me in Ontario. I am in a suburb of Montreal, Quebec. My ISP's datacenter is in Montreal Quebec.

But all geo-location databases place me anywhere but where I am

[Car Guy]

I mean that all the cities are in the right Province, not that I'm in the right Province LOL

I've been moving farther and farther away from home over the last few months,... I wonder if my wife has noticed???

[Blake81]

If it keeps up, you're going to need a visa.

[webado]

I don't know if I'm in the same province. Is Perth a city in Ontario? Never heard of it. I've only heard of Perth Australia which sounds a lot more enticing

I wouldn't mind being transported there right about now .... it's still winter here and no sign of abating.


Ok, I'll get my passport and visa in order.

[Blake81]

Apparently Perth, Ontario is a decent place!

# TV Ontario says, "Perth is the Prettiest Town in Ontario."
# TVO Honourable Mention - "Greenest Town in Ontario."
# Chatelaine Magazine, "The Best Place in Canada to Retire."
# The Big Town of Festivals.
# A major part of Canadian History.
# The hub for tourism in Eastern Ontario.
# Ottawa's Getaway Spot when the weather is hot!!

They have their own website, too