Forum Discussion

dannyocch's avatar
dannyocch
New Contributor II
10 days ago

Ip address is in another state.

For some reason, my IP address says I live in Rhode Island. I don't. I live in Central Connecticut and have never lived in Rhode Island. Apparently the only way to fix this is by going to the cox store with my modem to be corrected. Which I'm going to have to do. Which is unfortunate because I live many miles away and walk. And it's 90 degrees outside. I think that this problem has absolutely nothing to me. Cox should fix it without me doing anything. It's not like I screwed something up. It's been 2 years. I've called several times to ask if this was possible and was told there's no way my IP address could be anywhere but my home area. They have vehicles and I don't and it's their fault 

6 Replies

  • Darkatt's avatar
    Darkatt
    Honored Contributor

    What you are talking about is "IP GEOLOCATION", which is about 50-80% accurate. Going to the Cox store with your modem is not going to be a fix. What you will need to do is contact whoever is attempting to use the IP Geolocation and inform them if the issue. 

    ISP's move IP addresses around as necessary to best serve their customers. If they have more than necessary in one location, they will shift the unused ones to an area where they are needed. This is why IP Geolocation is inaccurate and Video providers as well as other services should never use IP geolocation as a method of determining your location. 

  • Hi dannyocch,

    IP addresses are assigned automatically through our Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) servers.  The lease for the IP address assigned to your equipment typically lasts 24 hours, but it can automatically renew anywhere between 12-24 hours after the lease is issued.  When you reboot your modem, the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server tries to set up your connection using same parameters that were previously set for your modem.  If the same IP address is available, the DHCP server simply refreshes the lease; otherwise, you will be assigned a new IP address based on the pool of available addresses.  In the network settings of your device, verify that your TCP/IP settings are configured dynamically, not statically, with no assigned DNS servers.  Since our IP addresses are assigned dynamically, there is no method for changing an IP address.  If you unplug the device connected to your modem for more than 12 hours, there is a possibility that it will be issued a new IP address.  This is not a guaranteed method to obtain a new IP address, however, we do not have a way to force our system to change the IP address for modems connected to our system.  

    Hope this helps.

    Cox Support Forum Moderator 

    • dannyocch's avatar
      dannyocch
      New Contributor II

      No, this doesn't help at all. The people on the phone say "come to the store and we'll fix it". Then I hear there's no way to fix it. I JUST WANT THE IP ADDRESS TO BE CONNECTICUT!!!!!!! If there was no way, every customer would be complaining about this. There's certain streaming events that are only available in certain areas. So with my ip address out of state, I'm unable to watch these events. IT'S BEEN 2 YEARS. 

  • WiderMouthOpen's avatar
    WiderMouthOpen
    Esteemed Contributor II

    What kind of streaming events? I had a similar problem for a little while when I moved from Rhode Island to Connecticut and switched from Verizon to frontier. It's a little complicated in my case because Verizon and frontier have gone back and forth with each other's customers. So IP blocks could be weird but it didn't cause me any problems streaming anything. Is this for a sporting event? Some kind of blackout issue? Why do they care if you're one state away? Rhode Island is so small that it is probably within accuracy of the system. Like if you lived in Texas and your IP was that far away? Not only would it still be in Texas, it probably still be in the same town. So this seems like is something that only is allowing Connecticut residents which could be relevant.

    As for fixing the issue, getting a new modem might help because it might get you a new public IP that has different or somehow more correct geolocation data. But not only is that unlikely it would only be a temporary fix since your IP address can change and often does. It's a good thing that it changes too for security and privacy reasons. I would try contacting the people offering the streaming service and ask them why you're having a problem and if other people have problems and if so what do they do? It could be a simple as them updating something in their system or you might need to use a VPN. But sometimes they can do things to block or discourage vpns. Is this anything work related where security becomes a concern?

    • dannyocch's avatar
      dannyocch
      New Contributor II

      It's New York Yankees baseball on prime video. Northern New Jersey, New York and Connecticut are the area. My downstairs neighbors are able to watch on prime. It's the same for Mets games and Knicks games. 

  • WiderMouthOpen's avatar
    WiderMouthOpen
    Esteemed Contributor II

    Also, I assume you have the panoramic gateway right? If you had your own separate modem in router, it is possible to change/clone the MAC address of the router so Cox sees it as a new device and gives it a new IP. There can be sometimes where that doesn't work but I think as a rule it should. However, this does not guarantee that the new IP will have different geolocation data. It's even possible the geolocation data. The new IP has is even more inaccurate. I've had times where my IP will show all the way across the country and I have heard some people say that a website will say that their IP belongs to the department of defense so things can get crazy. Your best bet is to probably find some kind of browser VPN like Opera offers for free integrated into their browser. You just need to click a button and I think you can set rules so a particular website automatically loads on VPN so you don't even have to click the button. The question though is if the streaming service will have any problems with seeing your request coming over the VPN. That might be an answer. The streaming service needs to come in on or it could be something you Google.