How to Change Your Browser Location – Smart DNS Proxy
How to Change Your Browser Location
Category: Smart DNS Proxy
If you haven’t been living under the rock, you might have noticed many websites are geo-restricted. For instance, HULU, Spotify, Pandora etc. are only available on US, while BBC iPlayer is only available in UK.
Now, there are 2 ways, any website find out where you are browsing from – your IP address and your browser’s location.
While you can easily change the IP address, by using our VPN and Smart DNS, it’s not easy to change browser location.
For example, the other day, I was browsing CBS with a Smart DNS Proxy VPN, and everything worked find. But, when I decided to watch some local channels on CBS, it showed me a popup asking for my browser location. And when click on Allow, it says the content is not available in my location.
Up till now, I was using “Manual Geolocation” Chrome extension to fix this problem, but after the new “HTML 5 Geolocation API” update, none of these extensions seems to work.
But like always, I dug in deep and found out solution to change your location to an American one in Google Chrome.
Here is how it works.
To test this, let’s go to and here you can see, to types of location – public IP address and browser geolocation. As you can see, there two types of location. The public IP address can easily be changed with the VPN. So, if I turn on my Smart DNS Proxy VPN and switch to US, now come back to the page and refresh it. As, you can see the IP address has successfully changed to that of the US. But the browser location is still the same.
To fix that, open developer console or inspect element, by right clicking on the screen.
At the bottom of the panel, press the three-dot button on the top right, and then click the “Sensors” option from More. Under Geolocation, select “Custom location. ”
Now put in your location based on latitude and longitude, if you don’t know these values, you can always use Google maps. Or just select any name of city of the state like California. Now, reload the page, allow location data in the pop-up window, and you’ll see that the map zeroes into the location you selected. And as you can see, the browser location has changed to California. Unfortunately, there is no permanent way to change location in Chrome, the extension used to make it easy, but they don’t work now. So, I guess, you’ll have to do this manually each time.
Now, let’s put it to test. Open CBS in incognito mode and login in to your account. Next, change the browser GPS location with same workaround. And now if I refresh the page, and click on allow location, as you can see, I’m now able to stream local stations. How cool is that.
The same workaround works for Android as well, for example, I’m not able to completely use Sling TV app outside US, if I don’t give it location permission. Simply, download a fake GPS app from Play Store, give it permission from the developer settings. Set the location to California and run it. Now, if I open the Sling app and give it location permission, everything should work just fine.
So, there you go. This is how you manually set up your location in Google Chrome and Android.
Hopefully, this will help you to stream your favorite local channels or access your favorite service from any part of the world. Do, you know what else help you to remove geo-restriction? Smart DNS Proxy. Unlike a VPN, smart DNS doesn’t change your IP address and you can set it up on every device be it your router, PS4, Apple TV, etc. So, check out Smart DNS Proxy if keep to unblock geo-restrictions on sites like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Pandora and what not. Check our other videos on our YouTube channel and subscribe.
Thank you for reading and watching.
How to change IP address | Hide location with VPN – The Opera Blog
Did you know that more than 24% of the world’s internet population have tried or are currently using VPN services? One of the primary reasons is that people want to keep their anonymity while browsing online.
What is an IP address and why hide it?
IP addresses are individual numbers that identify network-connected devices, computers and phones, for example. They play an important role in facilitating a two-way communication with other devices while sending and receiving data. While doing so, they reveal information about the continent, the country and the city the device is in.
Masking your IP address will give you more anonymity while browsing and will protect you from being tracked by advertisers online. Moreover, by changing your location, you are able to access content from different regions as some websites only allow IP addresses from specific regions to view their content. Some schools, universities and companies will not allow you to access social media from their network; by hiding or changing your IP addresses, you can overcome firewalls. (Firewalls are network systems that restrict unauthorized access on private networks to and from selected websites, such as Facebook. )
How to change your IP address
By using web-based proxies or changing your network settings, the IP address can be changed. Another way to hide or change your IP address is to simply turn off your router for a couple of hours or contact your Internet service provider. This will not mask your location but you may simply be assigned a new address in the same country.
Using a VPN service is one of the fastest ways to hide your IP address and change your virtual location. The free VPN in Opera does not require a subscription and is unlimited. It uses a highly advanced AES-256 encryption that will block tracking cookies and make it difficult for websites to track your location.
When browsing in public networks at airports or cafés, you can become an easy target for hacking. By setting up a VPN, you can shield your activity from being sniffed by other people that are using the same network.
Opera’s VPN is also available for mobile phones; you can get our VPN app for iOS and Android.
Download the Opera browser, keep yourself hidden and start browsing with your new IP address right away
How to Change Your Location in Chrome & Firefox (spoof …
When you launch Firefox or Chrome browsers, they automatically employ geolocation services that can pinpoint where you’re located. This is used for various purposes, including enabling you to use map services, tagging social media posts with your location, and serving targeted ads based on where you are at a given time. However, there are plenty of situations in which you’d prefer to hide your location and even change (spoof) it, such as when you want to access geo-restricted content or simply maintain your privacy.
Thankfully, there are various methods you can use to do this, including using a VPN, manually spoofing your location, or using a dedicated browser extension. You may need to use more than one method to bypass multiple detection methods. We’ll delve into all of these options in this post.
How Firefox and Chrome can detect your location
First, let’s take a look at how Firefox and Chrome know where you are.
One of the easiest ways for Firefox, Chrome, and any other online service to tell where you’re located is through your IP address. This is a unique set of digits (and symbols in the newer IPv6) that identifies each computer connected to the internet. Part of the IP address can be used to determine your location. As such, masking your real IP address and replacing it with another one can spoof your location, making it appear that you’re located somewhere else.
However, some browsers have other methods that can decipher where you are. For example, they can use nearby wifi networks to geolocate a device even without an IP address. Turning off wifi and Bluetooth can be one option, but the likelihood is that you’ll need one or both of these, so it’s simply not an option for most users.
Using a VPN will enable you to easily change your IP address, replacing your existing one with another from a location of your choice. However, this may not bypass other geolocation services used by the browser. To overcome this issue, you can manually change your location in your browser or use an extension such as Location Guard.
Use a VPN to change your location in Firefox or Chrome
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) works by encrypting your internet traffic and tunneling it through an intermediary server. The two major benefits of a VPN are:
Encryption: The encryption factor means your internet traffic is completely secure and no one can decipher it, even if they manage to intercept it. This applies to ISPs, government agencies, cybercriminals, and anyone else who might be snooping on your activity.
Location spoofing: Because your traffic is tunneled through an intermediary server, you will be assigned an IP address from that server. When using a VPN, you can choose the location of the server you connect to and hence select where your IP address is from.
Note: the VPN will only spoof your location in terms of your IP address. So even when you’re using a VPN, your browser might be able to detect your location. As such, you may need to still manually spoof your location within the browser or use an extension like Location Guard (more on that below).
You’ll probably notice that some VPNs come with dedicated browser extensions for Firefox, Chrome, and other browsers. These can be great for location spoofing, but note that most of these do not encrypt your internet traffic when used alone.
One extension that’s a bit different from the others is the addon provided by ExpressVPN. Its Chrome and Firefox extensions act as remote controls for the device-level VPN apps, but they also automatically adjust the browser’s geolocation services. As such, the detected location matches that of the VPN server you’re connected to. This means that you don’t need to do anything else except connect to your chosen VPN server.
How to spoof your location using a VPN
Even if you’ve never used a VPN before, setting one up is very straightforward. Here’s how to change your IP address in Firefox or Chrome with a VPN:
Choose a provider, select a subscription term, and submit your payment. (We recommend NordVPN)
Download the appropriate VPN software for your device. Most reputable VPN providers offer native apps for Windows, MacOS, iOS, and Android.
Log in using your username and password (which will be provided when you signed up).
Connect to a VPN server in the location of your choice. For example, if you want to watch US Netflix, you’d select a US server. You’ll now have a different IP address which makes it appear you’re in that location.
Bear in mind that not all VPNs can unblock geo-restricted sites. Many sites, including streaming, gaming, and gambling services, have methods to detect when you are using a proxy (VPNs are included in this). Notably, many free VPNs are unable to bypass such proxy detectors. If you’re looking to access a specific service, it’s worth checking with the VPN provider if it’s able to provide access, before signing up (you can check here for VPNs working with Neflix, Amazon Prime, BBC iPlayer and Hulu).
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There are no hidden terms—just contact support within 30 days if you decide NordVPN isn’t right for you and you’ll get a full refund. Start your NordVPN trial here.
The best VPN for changing your location in Firefox and Chrome: NordVPN
We’ve put a plethora of the top-rated VPNs through some rigorous testing, and NordVPN comes out on top each time. Indeed, this is the VPN provider we recommend for use with Firefox and Chrome. Based in Panama, NordVPN operates a network of more than 5, 000 servers spanning 59 countries.
It provides users with exceptionally fast, reliable connections that are ideal for streaming, and is capable of unlocking a ton of geo-restricted sites. You can easily stream Netflix US (and other Netflix libraries), Hulu, HBO, BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime Video, and lots more. If you have any issues finding the right server to connect to, a 24/7 live chat customer service agent is always available to help.
Included in every NordVPN subscription are apps for Windows, MacOS, Linux, iOS, and Android. Chrome and Firefox users can download dedicated browser extensions which can be used as remote controls for the appropriate VPN app.
When you connect to a server, NordVPN’s browser extension will automatically change your Firefox or Chrome geolocation data to match the VPN location you’re connected to. This means that as long as you’re using the VPN, you never have to worry about changing any settings manually; just connect to the appropriate server and you’re good to go.
NordVPN is just as impressive when it comes to privacy and security. It uses 256-bit encryption which is considered “military-grade, ” and this comes with perfect forward secrecy. You also get the best leak protection in the industry and a built-in kill switch. This means you can rest assured your data will always remain safe inside the encrypted tunnel.
Read our full review of NordVPN.
NordVPN isn’t the only excellent provider available for use with Firefox and Chrome. Other high-quality options include ExpressVPN and Surfshark.
How to manually spoof your location
If you’re just setting up Firefox or Chrome, as part of the setup process, you’ll be asked if you want to allow location services. You can simply deny this request, and for Firefox, you can skip the first set of instructions below.
But chances are you’re doing this after initial setup. In this case, you’ll need to turn the geolocation services off manually. Plus, it doesn’t help with actually changing your location, so you’ll need to do that manually too.
Manually change your location in Firefox
Here’s how to spoof your location in Firefox:
Type about:config in your browser. A warning will pop up to tell you about the risk involved in altering the advanced settings. As long as you’re happy to go ahead, click I accept the risk!
Look for the setting geo. enabled.
The value column should read “true. ” Double click it to set it to “false. ”
Note that this will only stop Firefox tracking your location. To set a new location, you can continue with the following steps:
Still in about:config, look for the setting
Change this to the location you want to “be” in. To do this, you have to enter a specific longitude and latitude value. You can use the following line of code but replace the values: data:application/json, {“location”: {“lat”: 40. 7590, “lng”: -73. 9845}, “accuracy”: 27000. 0}
The above example from a Stack Exchange user will put you in Times Square, but you can change it to wherever you want by tweaking the latitude and longitude values. There are plenty of tools to help you find out these numbers such as GPS Coordinates and
Note that if you ever want to revert back to the default settings, you can right click anywhere on the row and select Reset.
Manually change your location in Chrome
In Chrome, you can use the following instructions to spoof your location:
In a browser window, hit Ctrl+Shift+I (for Windows) or Cmd+Option+I (for MacOS). This will open the Chrome Developer Tools window.
Hit Esc, then click the Console menu (three dots to the left of Console in the lower portion of the screen).
Select Sensors and change the Geolocation dropdown to Custom location…
Enter any latitude and longitude you want.
Alternatively, you can choose one of the preset options in the Geolocation menu, including Berlin, Mumbai, or San Francisco.
Note that for the location override to work in Chrome, you have to keep the developer tools open and stay in the same browser window. If you open a new window, it will revert back to your original location. This is different to Firefox where you can open multiple windows and still have your location spoofed.
To check if these processes have worked in either browser, you can test it using a tool such as BrowserLeaks.
In the above screenshot, you can see that we managed to spoof our location to make it appear that we were actually in Times Square.
Use the Location Guard addon
If you’re happy to let an addon do the work for you, you might want to try Location Guard. This extension has two major uses:
Lower accuracy of location detection: If you’re concerned about privacy but still want to appear that you’re in the same general location, you can use this extension to hide your exact location. This means you can still enjoy the perks of geolocation services (such as local search results), without having to let browsers and third parties know exactly where you are. You can choose the level of “noise” added depending on how much you want to mask your location.
Spoof your location: Another option is to use Location Guard’s Fixed Location feature which basically does what we did earlier: enables you to select an exact location you want to appear to be in.
To use the Fixed Location feature:
Install the Location Guard extension for Firefox or Chrome.
Go to Options and change Default Level to Use fixed location.
Go to Fixed Location and choose a location on the map. You can either find your desired location manually or enter an address in the search bar. Just make sure that you “place” the pointer in your desired location — you’ll have to actually click on the map to put it in place.
Location Guard’s setup is an arguably easier option than the manual steps we outlined earlier. Plus, the extension offers an attractive and intuitive interface. Although, there is the issue that you’re using another extension, so it might not be the most ideal option for privacy-conscious users. While it worked for us, there have been complaints from some users that it hasn’t worked consistently.
WebRTC blocking
One more factor to be concerned about is WebRTC leaks. WebRTC, or Web Real-Time Communication helps facilitate audio and video browser-to-browser communication. It is built into many browsers, including Firefox and Chrome. Even when using a VPN, WebRTC can pose a risk by potentially exposing your real IP address.
Many VPNs build WebRTC protection into their software, but this is often limited to actual VPN apps, and doesn’t typically carry over to browser extensions. Some do include WebRTC leak protection in their extensions, such as NordVPN, but if you’re going with another provider, you might need to take extra precautions.
Is it possible to disable WebRTC in your browser to avoid the issue altogether. Here’s how to disable WebRTC leaks in Firefox:
Enter about:config in your Firefox address bar.
Find erconnection. enabled.
If the Value column says “true, ” then double-click the row so that it reads “false. ”
There is no similar method to do this in Chrome. However, there are extensions available that can prevent WebRTC leaks, including WebRTC Leak Prevent.
You can check to see if these methods have worked using BrowserLeaks.
Can I use a DNS proxy instead of a VPN?
It is possible to use a DNS proxy service in place of a VPN for the IP address component of location spoofing. However, you should bear in mind two major differences between VPNs and proxy servers.
The first is that a DNS proxy will only change your location if you’re visiting a site that requires geo-unblocking. For any other site, the proxy won’t kick in, and you’ll get a direct connection to that site. This means if you want privacy, a DNS proxy won’t provide it. Plus, while a DNS proxy can technically help you unblock geo-restricted content, the reality is that many are unable to bypass some heavy proxy crackdowns such as those rolled out by Netflix and BBC iPlayer.
The second big difference is that most DNS proxy services won’t encrypt your internet traffic. This means that if it’s intercepted, anyone can decipher your information. If privacy and security are concerns, then you’re better off with a VPN.
Can I use a free VPN to change my IP address?
Free VPNs will pop up all the time in your search, but these are generally not good options. For starters, in a similar vein to DNS proxies, they are less likely to be able to bypass the geo-restriction measures taken by certain sites. So chances are you won’t be able to access your favorite shows, movies, or games. What’s’ more, servers are few and far between and tend to be overloaded. Even if you can bypass restrictions, you could end up with a slow, unreliable connection.
Additionally, free VPNs tend to have rather strict data limits. If you’re looking to effectively use a VPN service for anything more than basic web browsing, you’ll find a free VPN is extremely limited.
If you’re more concerned about privacy and security, free VPNs fall short there too. Various services have been known to track user activity, sell information to third parties, and inject ads into the sites you visit. Some fail to encrypt your data and could even carry malware. It’s definitely worth the few extra bucks for a top-rated provider.
Wrapping Up
Because browsers have multiple methods in place to detect your location, to truly spoof your location, you may need to use a couple of methods. Our recommended solution is to use a VPN and manually change your location in your browser. If you find that too cumbersome (it’s a little more difficult in Chrome), then trying the Location Guard extension alongside a VPN could be a very viable solution.
Frequently Asked Questions about proxy location changer
How do I change my proxy location?
Here’s how to set a proxy manually in Windows 10:Open Settings.Click Network & Internet. … Click Proxy. … In the Manual Proxy Setup section, set the Use a Proxy Server switch to On.In the Address field, type the IP address.In the Port field, type the port.Click Save; then close the Settings window.
Can VPN change your location?
Using a VPN service is one of the fastest ways to hide your IP address and change your virtual location. … By setting up a VPN, you can shield your activity from being sniffed by other people that are using the same network. Opera’s VPN is also available for mobile phones; you can get our VPN app for iOS and Android.Sep 30, 2016
How do I change DNS location?
To change your DNS settings from your Network Solutions account, follow these steps:Log into your Network solutions account and click Manage Account.Within Account Manager, click My Domain Names.Select the domain name you want to change and select Manage.In the green box, select Change Where Domain Points.More items…