Pfsense 2.6 : Google Map picks last known location
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I lived at Site-A, and recently moved to Site-B. both the sites are 2000Km apart.
- using the same vanilla install of pfsense 2.6 CE, no additional packages.
- moved my network setup from A to B along with other hardware
- bought a new laptop and a new internet connection at Site-B.
- ISP site-A and ISP site-B are completely different
whenever I open Google Maps, in Chrome or edge browser it shows me that I am still at Site-A as my current location
- tried to start and stop the DNS service
- changed LAN/WAN IP
- changed DNS
- flushed state tables
- cleared local cache on devices
Its apparently happening on all the devices in the house, anyone else has faced this problem?
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update: If I connect my device directly to ISP B router, location issue is fixed
if I connect my laptop to pfsense LAN interface, device picks up older location on google maps/ google earth
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Hard to see how pfSense could possibly affect that. The location is detected from the public IP the browser is coming from so if it's not using the same IP I can only imagine it's unable to geolocate the current IP and falls back to something cached.
The only other thing could be something obscuring the IP like a VPN.Any reason you're using 2.6 and not 2.7.2?
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I am with @stephenw10 on this - there is no way pfsense could have anything to do with this.. There is just NO WAY!!
I see the same thing now and then, I visit my grandkids out in San Diego - I am in Chicagoland, and if we had searched for some stuff near me on ipad it would show SD area.. Then when get home back to Chicagoland - it would still how SD area..
This is most likely a cookie or something.. But there is just no way pfsense has anything to do with it.. Other than changing your devices IP that is seen on the internet to your public one vs your rfc1918 one.. Pfsense in no way shape or form could effect location data.
I would look here for example - on the multiple ways google can determine your location
https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/179386
Understand & manage your location when you search on GoogleThe IP is just one way - there are multiple other things they can leverage to attempt to determine what area your in.
You sure you don't have a vpn setup in pfsense that connects to some location near your site A.. And it is still doing that.. That would be first thing on my list to check.
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I have been using PFSense for the last 6 years and haven't observed such a weird issue even with an HA setup.
It's a mere home setup, with a single internet line, no HA, no plugins, just DNS pointing to 1.1.1.1 and 8.8.8.8 one WAN and 2LAN out
Again, If the issue was with the devices or my Google account, a brand-new laptop which was never used at the old place also showed the same result.
If I connect my phone or laptop directly to the ISP B router everything is fine. If I connect my devices after pfsense firewall, google map shows my older location.
No VPN / site-2-site / wireguard / OpenVPN setup
ISP B router >>>> pfsense >>>> unmanaged switch >>> and LAN devices, Grandstream 7664 Access points(POE injectors)Tried
- incognito,
- flushDNS,
- clearing states,
- restart DNS service
- backup config and reloading the same config file
I am at a loss, any suggestions that I can try @johnpoz @stephenw10
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@stephenw10 Its an old setup on a Pentium pc with not more that 20 devices connecting to it.
On the initial release of 2.7.2 HA setup faced a bit of issues with KEA DHCP sync issues between both the firewalls, assigning the same IP addresses to multiple devices which later caused ARP errors in the system logs.I think I will wait for 2.8 before upgrading :)
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I have moved the firewall from Site A to Site B along with all my devices.
"What is my IP" website shows me correct public IP nothing wrong here.
When I open Google map or Google Earth, it takes me to my older location when I click on "Show your location" its very strange, never encountered anything like this before.
On ubiquity found the below article, do you think this could be the possible reason?
https://community.ui.com/questions/Wrong-Geo-Location/f8b602f4-3424-4cae-9b77-1969e7bdfcd0 -
@Strike1asd that thread points to like I was saying multiple ways for location to be determined.. See mention of wifi mac addresses. And while a device can look to AP around it and determine its location. I know this is how sports book sites do it for example.
Also mentioned apple private relay - which is a vpn, etc.
My point was there is nothing pfsense is going to do to change this.. It sure and the hell is not going to manipulate info sent to where ever to change location data.
It nats your rfc1918 IP to a public IP..
Are you devices wifi connected to your network? I show the IP your connecting from being in India, I don't show any other IPs to look for location..
If you connect a device to your isp device and take out of the equation - does the public IP change?
Do you have pfsense forwarding to some name server, and your clients are using it for dns? DNS can also be leveraged to try and determine location - another trick sports book use for example.. For example my pc will not validate its location unless I point to google, even if I enable its wifi, because it has no gps info.. But my phone on wifi works for location validation.
If I turn on wifi, even if not using it on my PC, and point to google dns the site validates my location. If I use the roots from pfsense, it doesn't work and says my location can not be validated.
Maybe your devices are seeing an AP your using that was in site A.. which have moved this AP to site B?
But there is nothing that pfsense could be doing to manipulate some other type of location finding method.. It nats your traffic to the public (wan ip) it has.. It doesn't do anything else - unless you are routing traffic out a vpn?
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Oh, yes it could absolutely be your WiFi network. Those are used for geolocation and exist in some database somewhere until it's updated.
Do you see this on an Ethernet connected client behind pfSense? With WiFi disabled. I'd bet it doesn't.
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@stephenw10 said in Pfsense 2.6 : Google Map picks last known location:
in some database somewhere
multiple dbs I am sure.. There are a few public ones you can use as an example
It is an interesting problem sure - but its not pfsesnse manipulating your location info ;) I wish it was that simple - then I could easy use my pc for making bets vs having to do it on my phone ;)
