BBC.co.uk redirects to BBC.com

[dapaulio]

Hi all

I have a problem where bbc.co.uk videos are saying they are not available in my location.

 

I noticed that bbc.co.uk redirects to .com and when I review the schedule on the bbc it is giving me the North America schedule.

 

I have reached out to our ISP but they claim the up address is registered correctly in the Uk

 

I have also confirmed this by going on various what’s my IP sites and they all return my IP is as my ISP say registered in the Uk

 

I have hit a dead end at the moment as the symptoms described above have been happening between anytime after March where we got locked down to about a month ago when the complaint started coming in.

 

Today I still experience problems on the BBC website consistent in all browsers.

 

We have a smoothwall proxy which I have tested a computer with a web filtering exception in its ip

 

One more thing it only seems to be the bbc website. Using sites which use location services seem to detect me where I should be

 

Any words of wisdom would be much appreciated

TIA

Edited October 4, 2020 by dapaulio

[dapaulio]

Any takers???

[mrwoberts]

Troubleshooting ideas...

 

- Try different browsers

- Try a device that is physically bypassing the filter (direct connection, if possible)

- Any browser plugins? Disable them.

- Try a mobile phone, attached to your wifi. Same issue?

 

With all of the above, I'm really trying to help to see where the fault is, browser, filter, ISP...

[SchoolsBroadband]

We had this problem with BBC a long time ago when we bought some IP addresses from Romania and then re-registered them as UK. BBC uses (and i forget the exact name of the service) a geolocation IP service by a third party which takes an age to update itself to recognise the IP addresses have moved location.

 

I'll ask my NOC team what the service was they used. I think we also got in touch with the BBC NOC team. It took about 4 months to fix which was very frustrating. Ultimately your ISP needs to sort it out with BBC and track down the geolocation IP service provider they use and hound them to fix it. Unfortunately there's little you can do yourself.

 

Sorry I can't be more helpful.

 

Dave

[Koldov]

We had this problem with BBC a long time ago when we bought some IP addresses from Romania and then re-registered them as UK. BBC uses (and i forget the exact name of the service) a geolocation IP service by a third party which takes an age to update itself to recognise the IP addresses have moved location.

 

Could it be this?

 

It's old (2014) but maybe relevant:

 

"The BBC has deployed geolocation specialist Digital Element’s IP geolocation technology, NetAcuity Edge, to manage the geographic rights of its online TV and radio content."

 

https://www.digitaltveurope.com/2014/12/12/bbc-taps-digital-element-for-geolocation/

[Koldov]

Also, it seems like you've checked most of the things on this list (and it is also for iPlayer), but worth noting as they might use similar detection technology:

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/help/questions/playback-issues/outside-uk-message

 

Just for troubleshooting can you get iPlayer?

 

Edit: Just thought it might not be the same page as it's a bbc.co.uk link...

[dapaulio]

Thanks for all the input.

It says something when the bbc responds to you quicker than the schools isp.

 

The bbc detect that the up address is affiliated with a VPN service called ivacy.

 

Waiting for the schools isp to comment having passed the bbc email on to them to investigate.

 

Thanks all. I’ll let you know how I get on

[dapaulio]

FYI for anyone coming across the same issue. Turned out the bbc had an incorrect record for my ip address associating ourselves with the vpn service as well as our ISP

 

After a number weeks bbc have corrected their records and issue is resolved

 

Thanks

[kennysarmy]

Weirdly we are today getting this happening here.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk redirects us to http://www.bbc.com

 

Will this correct itself or is this something I will need to proactively chase to get fixed.

 

We have a smoothwall box on site and internet is via the SWGfL

[Joeloman]

The first thing you should do is check if your external IP address is looking to come from another country.

 

Below you see some suggestions for some major geoplayers.

If it is wrong location, contact the company behind the list, e.g. MaxMind and asks them to correct the error.

 

It can then unfortunately take a while as some work with offline files instead of API.

The list is often changed every week.

If you do not find any error, I would contact the BBC and hear what service they use, to then get a fix.

 

https://www.ip2location.com

https://www.maxmind.com/en/geoip-demo

https://www.home.neustar/resources/tools/ip-geolocation-lookup-tool

https://ipgeolocation.io

https://ipstack.com

Edited June 8, 2021 by Joeloman

[kennysarmy]

The first thing you should do is check if your external IP address is looking to come from another country.

 

Below you see some suggestions for some major geoplayers.

If it is wrong location, contact the company behind the list, e.g. MaxMind and asks them to correct the error.

 

It can then unfortunately take a while as some work with offline files instead of API.

The list is often changed every week.

If you do not find any error, I would contact the BBC and hear what service they use, to then get a fix.

 

https://www.ip2location.com

https://www.maxmind.com/en/geoip-demo

https://www.home.neustar/resources/tools/ip-geolocation-lookup-tool

https://ipgeolocation.io

https://ipstack.com

 

What's weird though is if we bypass the on-prem Smoothwall proxy it's fine :/

[Joeloman]

You did not say that it works without a proxy ....We have been involved in incorrect geoblocks many times ...

A quick search online I find this:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/contact/questions/behind-the-scenes/website-domain-change