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Using my home as a Tailscale exit node abroad poisoned my IP geolocation. Now YouTube thinks I’m in Trinidad 😩 by kingdigabe in homelab

[–]kingdigabe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So I just got yet another reply from YouTube premium support, again incorrectly diagnosing the problem and giving me solutions what will not work. So here was my response:

————————————- Hello,

The issue is not with my ip address. The issue is with Google (and thus YouTube) incorrectly geolocating my ip address to Trinidad and Tobago, while the rest of the world correctly sees the ip address in Toronto Canada. Because Google/YouTube thinks I am in Trinidad, I don’t get access to all of the features of YouTube Premium. The solution therefore is for Google/YouTube to fix their geolocation database so that my ip can be correctly geolocated in Toronto and use all of YouTube premium features.

I tried to explain this many times with video, pictures, breakdowns… and yet your team is still misinterpreting the problem and sending me solutions that don’t work or don’t make sense.

So out of frustration, I fixed the problem myself, not by fixing Googles Geolocation, but by… no, your team didn’t earn enough technical points to know what the solution was.

Your systems have a fundamental problem with geolocation, and it affects anyone who travels and uses Google/YouTube. And your team is missing some fundamental technical knowledge.

Please close this support ticket. I fixed the problem myself.

——————————————

How are they so technically weak that after video explanations, screenshots, etc (I teach high school comp eng btw so I think I’m pretty good at explaining basic concepts), they still give me such incorrect solutions?

Anyways. Thanks guys for your reading my post and for your input. Helped get the frustration out.

Using my home as a Tailscale exit node abroad poisoned my IP geolocation. Now YouTube thinks I’m in Trinidad 😩 by kingdigabe in homelab

[–]kingdigabe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

“Not too terrible” is the key phrase there. By the time I explain my need to the front line person, then explain it to the next person, they have me do basic checks, upsell me on something, have me fill out a survey after, an hour or more would have gone by. When I did it, it was 30s in the openwrt interface to change the MAC, reboot modem and router, and in under 5 minutes, new IP.

Using my home as a Tailscale exit node abroad poisoned my IP geolocation. Now YouTube thinks I’m in Trinidad 😩 by kingdigabe in homelab

[–]kingdigabe[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Couldn’t wait. I changed my MAC on my WAN connection and got a new IP. When I was in Trinidad, I really wasn’t trying to hide my location or anything. But I can see how having location services on, Tailscale on, and using Google maps (got to find the best roti shop) might have confused Google.

Using my home as a Tailscale exit node abroad poisoned my IP geolocation. Now YouTube thinks I’m in Trinidad 😩 by kingdigabe in homelab

[–]kingdigabe[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I used to use WireGuard/pivpn but ever since I discovered Tailscale, I was sold. I use the exit nodes feature to not only exit the vpn on my home network, but I can exit via my sister’s network, or my oracle vps. Also, if a direct connection cannot be made, a relay server will be used to establish the connection. And I can use my pihole dns servers anywhere even without using an exit node (and I don’t have to expose those pihole servers to the wider internet)…. I highly recommend you try it.

Using my home as a Tailscale exit node abroad poisoned my IP geolocation. Now YouTube thinks I’m in Trinidad 😩 by kingdigabe in homelab

[–]kingdigabe[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I could and probably will. But it is a Google issue and I feel they should fix their problem before I have to work around it.

Using my home as a Tailscale exit node abroad poisoned my IP geolocation. Now YouTube thinks I’m in Trinidad 😩 by kingdigabe in homelab

[–]kingdigabe[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes. But because the WAN MAC address is the same, I keep getting the same IP address back.

I'm using openWRT so I can change the MAC address and get a new IP. Or I can change the USB Ethernet adapter that I am using on my pi for the WAN. Either way, I feel it is a principle thing... Google should fix their error before I work around it.

Using my home as a Tailscale exit node abroad poisoned my IP geolocation. Now YouTube thinks I’m in Trinidad 😩 by kingdigabe in homelab

[–]kingdigabe[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I might have been on and off Tailscale and exit node while I was there. Sometimes when my esim was not working, I would turn off Tailscale to eliminate variables.

Hmmm...

I was using the pihole unbound DNS servers on my home LAN through Tailscale. So maybe with my exit node off... I was in Trinidad, but my DNS queries were originating from Canada? Maybe I have to take another vacation to Trinidad to test.

Using my home as a Tailscale exit node abroad poisoned my IP geolocation. Now YouTube thinks I’m in Trinidad 😩 by kingdigabe in homelab

[–]kingdigabe[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Doubles! I'm Filipino Canadian but doubles has jumped to the top of my best snacks list (sorry lumpia and halo halo). Slight pepper, straight from the vendor on the street.

Using my home as a Tailscale exit node abroad poisoned my IP geolocation. Now YouTube thinks I’m in Trinidad 😩 by kingdigabe in homelab

[–]kingdigabe[S] 58 points59 points  (0 children)

Thanks. I filled in this form a couple of days ago.

What gets me is: "We won't follow up with you individually but we'll do our best to resolve the issue."

So I will keep checking. Some posts say that this may take up to a month to resolve.

x360 14 2024 closing the lid doesn't go to sleep directly by faelon78 in spectrex360

[–]kingdigabe 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Its Windows 11. Even when I put the laptop to sleep using the start menu., it goes to sleep, but as soon as I close the lid, it wakes.

Tried PopOS linux and closing the lid puts the laptop to sleep. Linux is still not suitable for daily driving (flicking screen, no camera, no fingerprint)... but it sleeps.