Geospoofing: what it is and how to use it?

Spoofing geography doesn’t mean falsifying maps or cheating on an exam. Geo spoofing means rather ‘geolocation spoofing’, and is used in the online world only.

Chances are, you already know the benefits of being able to change your apparent geolocation: avoiding geo-blocking. Geoblocking restricts people’s access to the contents of the Internet. Most times it applies to video streaming platforms, but also to some ordinary websites. It depends solely on where you are in the world, hence the relation to geography. The freedom-loving netizens, hating anything oppressive, didn’t like it at all. The demand has created the supply, so there are a number of solutions available.

How to spoof location

To begin talking about location spoofing, we first need to understand how you can get pinpointed. Are you thinking of GPS? That won’t do, no matter how accurate it gets. Not every device is equipped with a hardware GPS signal receiver. Moreover, most that do have one allow switching it off easily. And the operating systems let users choose which apps aren’t authorized to use GPS.

The localization method mustn’t depend on consent, otherwise, anyone could just choose not to be tracked. But it doesn’t have to be precise down to a building like GPS. City-scale accuracy is enough because geo-blocking usually applies to regions and countries. The answer is IP-based location.

IP addresses are area-dependent. Their assignment to local ISPs and other organizations is publicly known and maintained by IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority). Moreover, the IP address is revealed every time your device establishes a link to a remote server. That’s just how the Internet works. To spoof IP location, you need to connect to a distant ‘location changer’. Such a device has to take in all of your normal data transfer, swap your IP address with its own, and forward it to the real destination. That might sound complicated, but there are thousands of servers doing it all the time. That’s the whole point of a VPN service. So how do you spoof the IP address location with it?

VPN to spoof location

VPN servers redirect online traffic and change IP along the way. This has a side effect we’re looking for here: location spoof. How to set your IP location somewhere else with a VPN? You just need to use one of the VPN services, most of which are commercial, like Tuxler VPN. Here are some specifics.

Spoof location on Windows 10

To cover all of your Internet connections, you need to act on the operating system level. This means a location spoofing app is necessary. It takes part in managing your online link and oversees the VPN connection. Tuxler provides an app for Windows you can download and install in a few minutes.

macOS spoof location

Yes, Tuxler VPN doesn’t fall behind the competition and provides solutions for several platforms. If you own a Mac, a VPN can work for you just fine. After all, differences between operating systems don’t stop anyone from connecting. Communication protocols are system-independent, so nothing should stop you from using a VPN spoof on Mac to fake your position.

Spoof location on Chrome

There is another way to use a VPN from the user’s point of view. VPN browser extensions can maintain location spoof, but only regarding connectivity from that specific browser. Tuxler VPN provides an extension for the world’s most popular browser, Google Chrome.

Firefox spoof location

Mozilla’s most renowned creation lost its prevalence to Chrome years ago but still remains a widespread and respected app. So Tuxler VPN has another extension to spoof browser location in case you stick to Firefox.

How does IP location spoofing work?

As mentioned, every VPN service depends on multiple servers in many locations around the globe. A VPN app lets you choose to spoof your location to specified countries and/or cities. But there’s more to VPN: the virtual tunnel. This term describes the link between you and the remote server. It suggests impenetrability because no potential intruder is capable of peeking inside your data transfer.

That’s thanks to the ciphering algorithm, applied on both ends. Your VPN app encrypts anything you send out and decrypts everything you receive. The server does the opposite. It also acts as your gateway to the Internet, directing Web requests to the real destinations on your behalf. But first, it swaps your IP address with its own, and this is the location spoofing part. The server’s IP depends on its physical location, that’s why the spoof is possible in the first place.

IP location spoof with VPN – is it free of charge?

What does a VPN system require? Managing a worldwide network of hundreds, or even thousands of devices running 24/7, handling intensive online traffic. This sounds… expensive. As a result, most VPNs are paid, subscription-based services. The surprising part is actually not that the money is charged, but the fact that it’s so cheap. For example, the moderately priced premium Tuxler VPN is $7.99 monthly. VPN providers don’t install all that hardware themselves but rather lease appropriate local server resources. So, such location spoofing services could start existing after the Internet became widespread all around the world.

Now for the really remarkable part. Tuxler VPN stands out from the competition because it has a free edition. It’s not a time-limited trial, it won’t annoy you with random ads. How can that be? Part of that specific service depends on residential VPN. It relies on people’s real IP addresses, unlike the usual datacenter IPs. This makes it a cheaper solution. But after all, there are many location spoofing VPNs. Choose the one best for you and browse the Internet with unlimited freedom!

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