Seeing a device location that is a little off is expected behavior. VR headsets do not have GPS. Their location is estimated based on the internet connection they are using, not their physical position.
How device location works in ManageXR
ManageXR determines a device’s location using IP-based location services (IPstack and MaxMind). An IP address is assigned by the network the device is connected to. That IP address is then mapped to a general geographic area.
Important to understand:
This is not GPS
This is not real-time physical tracking
This is an estimate based on network routing
Because of this, location accuracy varies.
What level of accuracy should I expect?
IP-based location is:
Very accurate at the country level (typically 95 to 99 percent)
Much less accurate at the city or town level (often 50 to 75 percent)
This means:
A device may appear in a nearby city
A device may appear one to two hours away by driving distance
A device may consistently appear in an incorrect city/state
All of this is normal behavior for IP-based location.
Why locations can appear “wrong” or change
1. VR headsets do not have GPS
Meta Quest and other VR headsets do not contain GPS hardware, so they cannot know their exact physical location. Even on newer firmware versions that support Android location services, GPS data is still not available like it is on phones.
2. Location is based on the network, not the device
The reported location comes from the public IP address of the network, not from the headset itself.
If you move a headset between:
Office Wi-Fi
Home Wi-Fi
Mobile hotspot
Public Wi-Fi
The reported location can change each time.
3. Internet routing does not equal physical location
Internet traffic is often routed through nearby cities or regional data centers.
Example:
A device physically in your city can appear in a city 40 minutes away
A device physically in your county may appear in another nearby county
Multiple devices on the same network may all show the same nearby location.
However, this does not mean the device is actually there.
4. VPNs and proxy servers can shift location further
If a network uses:
A VPN
A proxy server
A corporate firewall with traffic routing
Then the IP address may resolve to a different city, state and sometimes a different region entirely. This is a hardware limitation, and outside of ManageXR’s control.
Common scenarios customers see
These are all expected:
Devices sitting in the office but showing a nearby city
Devices moving with employees but appearing to “jump” locations
One device showing a different city than another device in the same building
Locations changing when switching Wi-Fi networks
What device location in ManageXR is best used for
IP-based geolocation for VR headsets is intended for:
High-level visibility
Fleet awareness
Identifying roughly where devices are connected
It is not intended for:
Employee tracking
Exact field location
Compliance or time-based location verification
Real-time movement tracking
Key takeaways
If a device’s location is slightly off, even by an hour or two of driving distance:
This is expected
This is a limitation of current VR hardware
This is not caused by ManageXR
Until VR headsets include built-in GPS hardware, location data will always be an estimate based on network routing.