[Fixed] Anti-Theft Location

Hi there

I've checked my bitdefender central often, on my desktop computer.
Everytime i do it, I go to anti-theft, just for fun, as i'm checking the desktop computer i'm using. Several times It showed a location 7 km away. after a few times, I checked out the address on google, and it turns out to be the adress of one of my friends.
Why is this happening? My computer is stationary and have never left my house. Is it a coincedence that its showing the address of one of my friends, or is something fishy going on?

Best regards.

Comments

  • weary
    edited April 2016

    Bitdefender sometimes only uses your WAN IP address to attempt to locate your PC. It's a very unreliable method. Read Georgia's post /index.php?showtopic=67159" rel="">here for more info.

    Sometimes my own PC is in New York City, sometimes it's in Texas. Maybe today I'll send it to France. All depends what VPN exit point I use.

    http://www.ip-address.org/

  • any updates on this? - my location is at least 10miles off....

  • kellycraven
    edited May 2016

    My current location is over 20 miles wrong. Says I'm on the UNCW college campus, in Wilmington, NC. I live in Hampstead, NC.

    Putting my desktop and two laptops on a college campus filled with students, dorms, and nearby apartments, seems to be a bug that totally invalidates the functionality of the tool.

    "Let us know if Google Maps can properly locate the device and if the device is connected through Wi-Fi. "

    Connected through AT&T U-Verse and a WiFi connection.

    Bitdefender Anti-Theft locates me in the middle of the UNC-W college campus, 20 miles away, on Wood Dale Dr. Wilmington, NC.

    Google Maps pinpoints my location perfectly, even though we are on a private road.

  • live tracking not yet added ??? This is ridiculous.

  • Sorin G.
    Sorin G.
    edited May 2016

    Hello,

    Please let us know if you have any http filters in place or proxies or even a vpn.

    Also if the wifi router you are using has a built in firewall or a VPN redirect.

  • No, no filters (except whatever BD applies). no proxies, nor vpn.

    Interestingly Google has decided I am just to the west of US421, north of Wilmington (just checked). This is wrong of course.

    https://www.google.com/maps/@34.3042409,-77.9832723,6094m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

    Bing maps puts me at that location as well, and gives and address.

    276 Clinton St, Wilmington, North Carolina 28401

    Bing say this isn't exact, but is "within 34.7 miles of my exact location".

    Yet, BD still says I am at WOOD DALE DR, WILMINGTON, NC 28403, USA --- No....that is 20 mileS AWAY.

    Given that BD is using similar tracking that Google and Bing does seems like BD Theft Protection is not very useful yet. I mean, if neither Google, nor Bing/Windows, nor BD can locate my device correctly (wthin 34 miles) then if my laptop was to be stolen and was still in the same area this tracking would likely show a similar location.

    Perhaps this technology is not yet ready for the feature BD is selling.

    This feature isn't even remotely useful as it is, except to confirm from BD Central that the laptop is still somewhere near a location that we all know is not correct.

  • I am also having the same problem, only installed Bitdefender yesterday so I am just going through it all and I live in Stockport, Cheshire, England and it has located my pc in Manchester?? I have tried the support tool and emailed support with a screenshot bit they also want me to send them the file from the support tool which I have not got a clue where to find. It said a file would be created on my desktop, don't know where to start to look for the file.

     


    I have just had a reply from BD regarding this and I am none the wiser, They are saying to click on a globe **??? What globe???This is the reply I received. Any ideas what they are talking about? My router is literally 2 feet away from my laptop.

    First of all, I would like to point out that, to use the Anti-Theft features, the following prerequisites must be met:

    • You must link your computer to a MyBitdefender account by logging into one from Bitdefender Total Security / Bitdefender Antitheft Standalone;
    • The commands can only be sent from the MyBitdefender account you linked your computer to;
    • The computer must be connected to the Internet to receive the commands.


    Now, specifically for the Geolocate feature, you should also know that the accuracy of the location depends on how Bitdefender is able to determine it. The location is determined to within tens of meters if Wi-fi is enabled on your computer and there are wireless networks in its range.

     

    If the computer is connected to a wired LAN or 3G/4G modem with no Wi-fi based location available, the location will be determined based on the IP address, which is considerably less accurate. Basically, a location based on your IP address can only display the information provided by the ISP – most of the times the country, sometimes the city or region.

     

    Moreover, if you have multiple devices connected to Antitheft you should use the menu list from the left of the map to choose the device you want to locate. **After clicking on the globe**, to locate your device, the current location will be displayed below. You might also see a message “Could not locate device” on the map because the location was not accurate if it was based only on your IP address.

  • I just logged into BD Central, looked at the map after using the "locate" function on one of my devices, and I can't find any globe icon. But they're just telling you to invoke the "locate" function to try locating your device. So forget the actual appearance of the icon. Just invoke "locate" and see if it says "Could not locate device" on the map, which of course it won't.

    The bottom line is if you want this functionality, you're really going to have to look elsewhere.

  • Thanks Weary, That is what I thought. The location it gives me is about 10-15 miles away from where I am. Makes you wonder if someone else had the same IP address?

  • Hello,

    Changes have been made to the Anti-Theft localization system, please let us know if you are able to properly locate your device.

    Please note that you need to have the device connected via Wi-Fi.

  • Hello, In reply to your message you sent me, I have just checked and my location is now correct.

    Many thanks for letting me know

  • VERY close for me as well. This is good. Shows my address slightly wrong (house number off a little, but correct street), but does "locate" almost exactly on the map where I am sitting.

    Works for both laptops on the WI-FI, but not the wired desktop, just as expected. (my three devices with BD)

    THANK YOU!!!!

  • Hello,

    Glad to hear that the situation has been resolved and I would also like to thank you for your patience.

    Rest assured that we are looking into further improving this function.