Getting inconsistent results from my primary geolocation API for new users, any alternatives?

Hey everyone,

I'm back with a related issue to my previous post about IP geolocation data breaking. While I've managed to stabilize some of the older data, I'm now facing a significant problem with new user sign-ups and their location accuracy using my current geolocation API.

The Problem: Inconsistent Geolocation for New Users Affecting Geolocation Accuracy

• For about 15-20% of new sign-ups, the country and city data returned by our primary geolocation API is wildly inaccurate, severely impacting our geolocation accuracy metrics.
• It's not just slightly off; we're seeing users from Europe being identified as being in the US, or even completely wrong continents.
• This is causing major headaches for our regional targeting and fraud detection systems.

What I've Tried So Far:

• Checked our API calls: The IP addresses being sent are correct.
• Cross-referenced with a few free IP lookup sites: Some of these IPs are also showing incorrect data there, but others are correct, which complicates things.
• Reviewed API provider's status page and documentation: No reported issues or recent changes that would explain this widespread inaccuracy.
• Implemented basic caching for known IPs: This helps existing users but not the new ones.

Example of Inconsistent Console Output:

// User 1 (Correct)
{
  "ip": "8.8.8.8",
  "country_code": "US",
  "city": "Mountain View",
  "region": "California"
}

// User 2 (Incorrect - Actual location UK, API says US)
{
  "ip": "185.x.x.x",
  "country_code": "US",
  "city": "Ashburn",
  "region": "Virginia"
}

// User 3 (Incorrect - Actual location Germany, API says Brazil)
{
  "ip": "45.y.y.y",
  "country_code": "BR",
  "city": "São Paulo",
  "region": "São Paulo"
}

My Question:

Has anyone else experienced a sudden drop in geolocation accuracy with their current geolocation API provider, especially for new or less common IPs? I'm seriously considering switching providers or implementing a fallback. What reliable geolocation API services do you recommend for high accuracy, particularly for global traffic? Are there any best practices for validating IP geolocation data on the fly?

Thanks in advance for any insights!