1.1.1.1 routes me to Paypal.com Russia even though I am not in Russia

[reinis]

Hi!

What happens:
If I set up 1.1.1.1 as my DNS server, then when I open paypal.com it redirects me to the Russian version of the website (/ru/home) even though I am not in Russia.

What should happen:
Since I am located in Latvia, it should redirect me to the Latvian version of the website (/lv/home). In fact, this is exactly what happens if my DNS server is handled by Google or my ISP. I must note that when testing I set up the DNS at my laptop and used Incognito.

The question:
Does anyone have any idea why 1.1.1.1 is behaving this way? This needs to be fixed.

[sdayman]

1.1.1.1 hides your origin, so PayPal is probably guessing based upon DNS resolver.
Which datacenter shows up in this test?
https://1.1.1.1/help

[reinis]

Thanks for the quick response. It shows data center LED, which after a quick google search corresponds to an airport in Saint Petersburg in Russia. I am located in Riga, Latvia, so I should be handled by the Cloudflare’s data center in Riga, Latvia, right?

Here is the full output of /help: https://1.1.1.1/help#eyJpc0NmIjoiWWVzIiwiaXNEb3QiOiJObyIsImlzRG9oIjoiTm8iLCJyZXNvbHZlcklwLTEuMS4xLjEiOiJZZXMiLCJyZXNvbHZlcklwLTEuMC4wLjEiOiJZZXMiLCJyZXNvbHZlcklwLTI2MDY6NDcwMDo0NzAwOjoxMTExIjoiTm8iLCJyZXNvbHZlcklwLTI2MDY6NDcwMDo0NzAwOjoxMDAxIjoiTm8iLCJkYXRhY2VudGVyTG9jYXRpb24iOiJMRUQiLCJpc3BOYW1lIjoiQ2xvdWRmbGFyZSIsImlzcEFzbiI6IjAifQ==

[sdayman]

Correct, that’s St. Petersburg. So that explains the PayPal thing.

As for why you’re not going to RIX, that’s up to your ISP:

Peering - Why don't I reach the closest datacenter to me?

Why don’t I reach the closest datacenter to me? Cloudflare is an anycast network, so where you are routed is determined by peering with ISPs. The shortest path geographically isn’t always possible due to peering agreements. If you request a site hosted on Cloudflare from home: The domain resolves to a Cloudflare IP Your browser sends an HTTP request to that IP Your ISP’s routers consult their routing table and route the packets upstream to their transit provider ( COSTS MONEY ) The packets …

[reinis]

Correct, that’s St. Petersburg. So that explains the PayPal thing.

As for why you’re not going to RIX, that’s up to your ISP:

Alright, thanks - I will get in touch with my ISP (Lattelecom).

Just out of curiosity, could you please briefly describe how this ISP-to-DNS communication actually happens? e.g. how would an ISP actually decide/know the nearest (?) Cloudfare’s datacenter, that is, how would Lattelecom know that Cloudflare has a datacenter in Riga and that it should connect to it?

[sdayman]

This is how Anycast works:
https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/cdn/glossary/anycast-network/

[reinis]

This is how Anycast works:

Thanks, I understand how AnyCast works. That being said I do not understand what exactly my ISP should do differently to get through to the Cloudfare’s RIX data center? Is there some extra info it needs to pass to Cloudflare?

[sdayman]

Oh…that’s all part of Peering, which is described in the first article I linked to. Your ISP would have to track down why they route away from the physically closest datacenter.

Here’s another good tool to see which Cloudflare datacenter your ISP routes you to:
https://Cloudflare-test.judge.sh

[reinis]

@sdayman

Oh…that’s all part of Peering, which is described in the first article I linked to. Your ISP would have to track down why they route away from the physically closest datacenter.

Here’s another good tool to see which Cloudflare datacenter your ISP routes you to:
https://Cloudflare-test.judge.sh

I missed the first article about Peering, sorry about that. Now everything is crystal clear. Thanks for the other tool as well - it shows Russia all over the place Thanks - I’ll get in touch with my ISP about this!