Very Computer

by **Gurpratap Vird** » Sat, 15 Jan 2000 04:00:00

Hi,

What are the different options I have to determine a users Geographic
location from his/her IP? Specifically if I look at AOL users, they all seem
to be coming from the same place, is there a better way than just a nslookup
and a whois on the domain? If not, how accurate is that information?

Thanks in advance!
Gurpratap

by **Barry Margoli** » Sun, 16 Jan 2000 04:00:00

>What are the different options I have to determine a users Geographic
>location from his/her IP? Specifically if I look at AOL users, they all seem
>to be coming from the same place, is there a better way than just a nslookup
>and a whois on the domain? If not, how accurate is that information?

A FAQ on this subject is posted every 2-4 weeks in the
comp.protocols.tcp-ip newsgroup. The purpose of FAQs is to save us the
trouble of answering the same questions over and over.

The brief answer is that there isn't usually any better way. As for the
accuracy, I think you answered it yourself -- from that information, it
looks like every AOL user is located in the same city as AOL's
headquarters, which you know is ridiculous.

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by **Ismael Lezcan** » Tue, 18 Jan 2000 04:00:00

RFC 1712 is an experimental document which deals with exactly that
subject. I've never read it myself, but at least you know where to look.

Ismael.

Quote:> Hi,

> What are the different options I have to determine a users Geographic
> location from his/her IP? Specifically if I look at AOL users, they all
seem
> to be coming from the same place, is there a better way than just a
nslookup
> and a whois on the domain? If not, how accurate is that information?

> Thanks in advance!
> Gurpratap

by **Barry Margoli** » Tue, 18 Jan 2000 04:00:00

> RFC 1712 is an experimental document which deals with exactly that
>subject. I've never read it myself, but at least you know where to look.

RFC 1712 is totally useless for this purpose. It requires the
administrator of the domain to enter the lattitude and longitude, and
provides no form of authentication. I could make my machine appear to be
anywhere in the world using that.

And even if the data were valid, you would need a geographic database that
can translate map coordinates into location names.

--

GTE Internetworking, Powered by BBN, Burlington, MA
*** DON'T SEND TECHNICAL QUESTIONS DIRECTLY TO ME, post them to newsgroups.
Please DON'T copy followups to me -- I'll assume it wasn't posted to the group.

by **Richard J. Sext** » Tue, 18 Jan 2000 04:00:00

> RFC 1712 is an experimental document which deals with exactly that
>subject. I've never read it myself, but at least you know where to look.

I've never seen that used. RFC 1876 apperas to do the same
thing and does appear to get used. But not much.

http://images.vrx.net/rfc1876-now.gif
http://www.kei.com/homepages/ckd/dns-loc/

Not sure how that helps anybody identify where AOLers come from
though. I guess they could add LOC records do their dial in
pools. <shrug>

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Very Computer

Determining geographic location from a users IP

Determining geographic location from a users IP

Determining geographic location from a users IP

Determining geographic location from a users IP

Determining geographic location from a users IP

Determining geographic location from a users IP