Internet Service Provider (ISP)

[AndrewB_2407272]

Hi. I am attempting to register on a UK website (UK Lottery) which requires me and my ISP to be UK based. I know I’m in the UK (!!) and don’t have a VPN. Having only recently signed up to Smarty I assumed the ISP would also be UK based. I actually had no idea who the ISP is so googled www.ipcheck.org  which told me it’s Cloudfare London LLC whoever that is. Could anyone help me so I can register for the site?

[JJP2RidesAgain]

Cloudflare is a security service used by a lot of websites, nothing to worry about. 

https://www.cloudflare.com/en-gb/ 

[AndrewB_2407272]

I’ve checked the time & date and language & region settings on my iPhone and they are all UK. The lottery website is saying that “it looks like I’m outside the UK and Isle of Man” but I’m not. It also says that my ISP has not registered my IP address as being in the UK and to contact the ISP to correct this. I honestly don’t understand because I took out my Smarty service only 6 months ago. If I have to contact the ISP for Smarty, is that Cloudfare? This is all way over my head so any suggestions would be really appreciated. 

[JJP2RidesAgain]

This happens to me from time to time, its just an extra occasional security check.

I just close safari, try again, and the issue goes away. Using a different browser, such as Chrome or Firefox, helps with this too.

[AndrewB_2407272]

Thanks. I’ve been using Google so will try Chrome. If that doesn’t work do you know what the ISP is? I’m assuming all Smarty users have the same one? 

[MSF]

@AndrewB_2407272  Probably so, but I don't think that everyone has the same problem as you describe. I certainly do not.

[AndrewB_2407272]

Issue resolved! In case anyone else has this problem, when Private Relay (on iPhone) is turned on, the lottery website I was trying to visit could not verify that I am in the UK, so blocked me. Turning it off temporarily whilst accessing that website solved the problem. AppleID-iCloud-Private Relay

[JJP2RidesAgain]

Yes, because Apple’s private relay is effectively a VPN, encrypting DNS requests. 

If you would have mentioned that you were using private relay in your original post back in May, this issue would have been solved in mere minutes. 

[AndrewB_2407272]

I had no idea I was. Didn’t know what it was until much google searching. Perhaps if you knew about it, you could have mentioned it when I first posted. 

[MSF]

@AndrewB_2407272  Not sure if this is helpful, but here goes:

Are you certain that your phone is not using a VPN through an app like Avast security?

Are you definitely on mobile data and not using some wifi that goes via a VPN?

[AndrewB_2407272]

Thanks for your message. I’m definitely not on a VPN and I only use mobile data. 

[AndrewB_2407272]

Thankyou. 

[Chalkychap · Accepted solution]

Maybe the Date & Time settings on your device aren't set to the UK, @AndrewB_2407272. 

Otherwise, perhaps the Language & Region settings aren't set to the UK.

[MSF]

@AndrewB_2407272  I'm assuming that you are referring to the National Lottery. I have used their app via smarty mobile data with no problems (I literally just checked it again before replying).