DNS Query returned not accurate location

Zero Trust 1.1.1.1
1

Hi,
I’m currently testing your new DNS Service. Your servers are one of the fastest to come back with a query. However, the response I get may not be the closest one to my location.
I’m located in Limoges (20 mins from Ottawa, Ontario) and here’s the NSLOOKUP for youtube.com based from Google DNS and Cloudflare DNS…

PS C:\Windows\system32> nslookup - 8.8.8.8
Default Server:  dns.google
Address:  8.8.8.8

> youtube.com
Server:  dns.google
Address:  8.8.8.8

Non-authoritative answer:
Name:    youtube.com
Addresses:  2607:f8b0:4020:806::200e
          172.217.13.174

> 172.217.13.174
Server:  dns.google
Address:  8.8.8.8

Name:    yul03s04-in-f14.1e100.net
Address:  172.217.13.174

======
PS C:\Windows\system32> nslookup - 1.1.1.1
Default Server:  one.one.one.one
Address:  1.1.1.1

> youtube.com
Server:  one.one.one.one
Address:  1.1.1.1

Non-authoritative answer:
Name:    youtube.com
Addresses:  2607:f8b0:4006:808::200e
          172.217.165.142

> 172.217.165.142
Server:  one.one.one.one
Address:  1.1.1.1

Name:    lax30s03-in-f14.1e100.net
Address:  172.217.165.142

=====
Thanks to Google, they put airport codes in the hostname and your DNS server brought me to a Los Angeles Server of Youtube.com.
I’ve also tested a Speedtest using the PS4 while using Google DNS and Cloudflare. I don’t know which PSN Network Server I get redirected to, but everytime, Cloudflare must be redirecting me to a farther location as the speed is about half from what I get when Google DNS is configured. Not a very accurate test, I agree, but still interesting.
My provider is Bell Fibe and here’s my IP Info.

IP Address 70.XX.YYY.52
IP Location Limoges, Ontario (CA)
Host Name embnonXXXw-grc-05-70-XX-YYY-52.dsl.bell.ca
ISP Bell Canada

Interesting results. Maybe it can help improve the service.

2

That happened only once to me while playing Rocket League. I was wondering about the high pings and noticed that i was connected to servers in the Middle East. There was a Routing issue somewhere (not on CF side). I changed the primary DNS back to Google and everthing was fine and i never had this issues again. Next time everything was back to normal.

You can check your current location for 1.1.1.1 here
I’d expect that you hit Toronto or Montreal, but such issues are mostly the result of

3

Cloudflare DNS does not pass the EDNS Client Subnet that some DNS based load balancing solutions use to make routing decisions. The 1.1.1.1 public DNS resolver was designed for privacy first, so this is not something that will ever be changed.

1 Like
4

I always forget about that. :frowning:

5

That explains it!!

Thanks for the reply!

6

I do not understand how Cloudflare being the company it is and having the knowledge they have, they have not yet been able to mitigate in any way the lack of EDNS ECS …
Years have passed and we continue to see day by day that these problems continue to appear …
A shame…

7

The solution that Cloudflare use is Anycast. There are lots of other solutions, but a DNS resolver cannot fix the reliance of website operators on EDNS Client Subnet.

8

It is not a solution … otherwise issues related to this would not appear constantly …

9

The point that you have choise - use DNS with EDNS support (Google for example) or Cloudflare without EDNS support. What is issue?

10