t-mobile Home Internet - Location Issue

Excuse my ignorace.  If Tmobile can geo-fence their router to my physical addeess, why can’t they take that location info to have my browser show where I am correctly? 

I get this too. I'm in the Lancaster area and it thinks I'm in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This has triggered extra security and identity verification measures for certain accounts when attempting to log in. 

Two myths that have been prompted in this thread are absolutely false.

1. "T-Mobile cannot be held responsible for flaws in Operating Systems or that streaming providers use IP address for Geolocation".   That's tantamount to having the entire industry be the issue, when it's really only T-Mobile's model of providing IP addresses Willy Nilly instead of using local IP addresses as all other Internet Providers do (like your local cable company).  Using the T-Mo device, I could not see Yankees Baseball in the YES Network app on my Roku TV.   Yet in the same house, using my T-Mo cell phone, the app came up perfectly.
2. Stating that "this is the way cell phone geolocation works" is also provably false.   When I do a search for Home Depot on my T-Mobile phone, it shows locations for the LOCAL Home Depot locations.  I suspect this is because my phone uses GPS for geolocation.  It does not show me locations in California as the T-Mo Home Internet device did during my very brief dalliance with it (I live in NY).  It can be done.   T-Mobile is just not doing it.

I must say, I was very disappointed.   The T-Mo device gave me twice the bandwidth as my local cable company at half the price.  I spent hours on the phone with 5 different agents, only of whom even knew about (or was allowed to discuss) the geolocation issue.

After three (3) days, I returned the device to my local store.  Employees there also knew nothing of the geolocation issues.

T-Mo customer here for years, and I'm going nowhere else for cell service.  The company has served me well.  However, there refusal to solve this issue is sad.   I'd come back in a heartbeat to TMHI.

Has there been any resolution to this yet? I hate how locked down their home gateway is. I have not fount anywhere to make changes to the NTP server or set time zone. 

janetsch wrote:

Thank you for your reply. I have a chrome laptop and nothing can prevent this. I don't think we should be charged as much for our service if we have to bother with changing our address when browsing, for example, google shopping and my banking institution and more. The thing is I wasn't forewarned of this. Why is Tmobile not fixing this??? 

Primarily because it’s not a T-Mobile issue as noted here:

https://community.t-mobile.com/troubleshooting-38/t-mobile-home-internet-location-issue-44552?postid=203517#post203517

T-Mobile cannot reasonably be expected to correct flaws in operating systems, apps or browsers.

T-Mobile does provide some compatibility requirements for T-Mobile’s Home Internet Service and in particular for live streaming but they fail to mention that equally applies to other content providers who rely on IP address geolocation:

https://www.t-mobile.com/support/home-internet/connect

I agree that T-Mobile should make this clearer and also clarify it in their Open Internet Policies which the FCC requires published. See Open Internet link at the bottom of this page. When you signed up with T-Mobile they probably mentioned those policies in passing (most folks don't read them anyway and are unaware of certain disclaimers).

Thank you for your reply. I have a chrome laptop and nothing can prevent this. I don't think we should be charged as much for our service if we have to bother with changing our address when browsing, for example, google shopping and my banking institution and more. The thing is I wasn't forewarned of this. Why is Tmobile not fixing this??? 

BobT wrote:

Snooooopy wrote:

I often get messages on my cell phone about verifying it's me from banks and such.  I think that is mostly 2-step verification, though, and doesn't have anything to do with location.  (The messages often do show I'm in another state, however.)  There are only two websites I can't fully access with the Chrome browser, due to location problems.  My state lottery website is one.  (You can only play online if you are in the state.) Since I can play using the Firefox browser, it's no big deal.  Although Firefox recently asked if I wanted to turn on VPN.  Would doing so likely get me location problems with that browser, too?  I know nothing about VPN.

Without getting into technical details, a VPN essentially works in two ways: it conceals your true IP address and which obscures your location with those content providers relying upon IP address based geo-location; and it encrypts your traffic such that nobody can see it or modify it (including your ISP). Some folks have success with the location issues provided they are assigned a VPN server in their region but that's not always the case. At the same time be aware that some sites block access altogether if a VPN is detected.

Since you do mention Chrome and Firefox, there is an add-in (or extension) called Location Guard that can be used to establish your proper location. It also works on Microsoft's Edge. In all of these cases it can be successful provided the content provider (or site) relies upon the browser's built-in java script API and not an inaccurate geo-location database service. The add-in is only available for desktop browsers at this time. It works on most websites for me using any of the browsers mentioned and saves me a lot of aggravation.

P.S. For me it’s always preferable to have banks and other critical sites perform 2 step authorization from a pure security perspective (although some allow turning it off at your own peril).

 

 

 

Thanks for all the info!  I use a desktop all the time and use Chrome, Firefox and the Edge. I also don't mind the 2-step verification, since I always have my cell phone right next to my PC.

Snooooopy wrote:

I often get messages on my cell phone about verifying it's me from banks and such.  I think that is mostly 2-step verification, though, and doesn't have anything to do with location.  (The messages often do show I'm in another state, however.)  There are only two websites I can't fully access with the Chrome browser, due to location problems.  My state lottery website is one.  (You can only play online if you are in the state.) Since I can play using the Firefox browser, it's no big deal.  Although Firefox recently asked if I wanted to turn on VPN.  Would doing so likely get me location problems with that browser, too?  I know nothing about VPN.

Without getting into technical details, a VPN essentially works in two ways: it conceals your true IP address and which obscures your location with those content providers relying upon IP address based geo-location; and it encrypts your traffic such that nobody can see it or modify it (including your ISP). Some folks have success with the location issues provided they are assigned a VPN server in their region but that's not always the case. At the same time be aware that some sites block access altogether if a VPN is detected.

Since you do mention Chrome and Firefox, there is an add-in (or extension) called Location Guard that can be used to establish your proper location. It also works on Microsoft's Edge. In all of these cases it can be successful provided the content provider (or site) relies upon the browser's built-in java script API and not an inaccurate geo-location database service. The add-in is only available for desktop browsers at this time. It works on most websites for me using any of the browsers mentioned and saves me a lot of aggravation.

P.S. For me it’s always preferable to have banks and other critical sites perform 2 step authorization from a pure security perspective (although some allow turning it off at your own peril).

janetsch wrote:

I can't believe this is how cellular works. I am in Iowa but my computer says I'm in Minnesota. So when I sign in to my online banking, they always send me a notice of a log in from Minnesota as do some other's and I have to answer of it was me or not. When I do a google search, it will take me to the site in Minnesota so I have to delete it and put in my correct address.

THis is a big annoyance when I'm paying good money for service. Additionally, I was not informed of this when I signed up with you. If not corrected, I will be changing servers and alert others to this problem 

I often get messages on my cell phone about verifying it's me from banks and such.  I think that is mostly 2-step verification, though, and doesn't have anything to do with location.  (The messages often do show I'm in another state, however.)  There are only two websites I can't fully access with the Chrome browser, due to location problems.  My state lottery website is one.  (You can only play online if you are in the state.) Since I can play using the Firefox browser, it's no big deal.  Although Firefox recently asked if I wanted to turn on VPN.  Would doing so likely get me location problems with that browser, too?  I know nothing about VPN.

Believe it or not, that's up to you. I've provided you with sufficient explanation and technical buzzwords whereby you can verify or disprove what I said. In the process of doing that you'll educate yourself on how to counteract this behavior. If you want to start at the beginning research what an IP address is (and isn't); from there move on to CGNAT (consumer grade network address translation) and how your public IP address is shared with other customers who may or may not be in the same geographic region as you are. An entire book chapter would barely be enough to explain all of the technical details involve with geo-location issues. 

One thing is certain however; you didn't sign up with me. I don't work for T-Mobile. This is a peer-to-peer (i.e. customer-to-customer) support forum and not direct T-Mobile support. T-Mobile's presence here is one of moderation to help ensure healthy exchanges.n

I do agree, however, that T-Mobile should make this better know up front and it should be included in its Open Internet Policies publication which is required by the FCC. You'll find that link at the bottom of the page and might be surprised by some other things that weren't disclosed except by a reference to that document in passing when you signed up with T-Mobile.

But I'll stand by my suggestion to complain to those who are really responsible for this issue - content providers who rely on faulty geolocation database that use an IP-address for anything other than its intended purpose. Complaining to T-Mobile wont fix it and it's not simply limited to T-Mobile.