Member OP
Right then, lads. Figured I'd share this little adventure.
Migrated my francophone side project to what Hostinger marketed as "hébergement québécois premium" back in September 2024. Ping times from Paris? Proper excellent, 85ms. From Lyon? Even better. Support answered in French at 3am Montreal time, which I thought was dead impressive for a budget outfit.
Sold it to my users as "données au Québec, GDPR-friendly, la totale."
Twelve months in, I get curious about the datacenter location for my compliance docs. Traceroute dies at Beauharnois. Not Montreal. Not even close. Beauharnois, population 12,000, famous for... a hydroelectric dam and a giant aluminium smelter.
Turns out "québécois" meant "somewhere in the province of Quebec, technically, if you squint." The Montreal address on their site? A serviced office with a nice view of Mont-Royal.
Performance stayed brilliant. Support stayed French-speaking. But I felt a proper mug.
Anyone else fallen for geographic marketing fluff?