different locations

[petergharris]

When I check my location using my ip address I am getting 2 different locations, why?

This site has me in Manchester

What Is My IP Address? Lookup IP, Hide IP, Change IP, Trace IP and more...

and this one has me in Hamilton

IP Address Locator: IP Lookup, IP Tracer, IP Tracker, Find IP Location

The strange thing is that I am in Sunderland in the north east of England, can anyone explain why this is happening

[Isitme]

Both show me in Newcastle, which I am not.

I don't know why you are getting 2 results, but if you are on the SVBN then the location shown will be the Sky 'farm' you are connected to. On the Easynet equipment you actual location should be shown.

Click 'Whois' below. Where does that show you?

[petergharris]

That one shows Sheffield, so yet another location!

What is the SVBN? and can you elaborate on the Sky 'farm'?


Edit

Tried this site as well

http://www.tracemyip.org/

and got Runcorn in Cheshire, this is getting weirder and weirder

[Isitme]

Sky Voice and Broadband Network - Sky's own network as opposed to the older Easynet system which is based on DSLAMs(Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer) located in the local telephone exchange. Sky's new system is based on ISAMs(Integrated Switching and Multiplexing*) where connections are fed directly to servers located throughout UK. I believe there are 7 or 8 of these, which are sometimes referred to as 'server farms'. These contain the servers and routers necessary to run the network and to connect your home router to the internet backbone.

Tracemyip places me in Bradford as does Whois this morning. I think the connections must be switching between different centres, probably to balance the load on different sites.

*I stand to be correct here as I can't recall the acronym ISAM being given its full title with regards to Sky.

[petergharris]

Thanks very much for your info, it is really appreciated and was something that I was unaware of.

I seem to be getting the same locations today to what I got last night, this problem has been going on for months now and I have only just decided to see if anyone else was having them.

I was also wondering if I was sharing my ip address with other sky users, because this would explain the different locations.

[Isitme]

I was also wondering if I was sharing my ip address with other sky users, because this would explain the different locations.

No, IP addresses are unique. With the exchange based system, when your address changed it was possible to get the previous users location for a short period, until the servers 'caught up'. Then your own location would be shown.

It is not a problem as such, except that sites like Google will show the wrong location and as a consequence, give you irrelevant information. If you have not set Google to your own location, type 'nearest b & q' in the search box. It will show the results for wherever you IP is located.