Geekzone: technology news, blogs, forums
Guest
Welcome Guest.
You haven't logged in yet. If you don't have an account you can register now.


KiwiOverseas66

173 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user


#18022 22-Dec-2007 23:45
Send private message

guys and gals

just a quick question - how can you tell the actual geographic location of a device on a traceroute? I've always thought the location information returned by traceroute to be inherently unreliable since if the source is simply a DNS record for that particular device IP, or the IP range - then for all intense and purposes it probably the head office address of whoever owns that IP number - not necessarily the device location itself.  Is that the case?

Create new topic
PenultimateHop
637 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

  #101474 23-Dec-2007 02:05
Send private message

You're correct, you can't tell it reliably.  For the larger networks in the world (Verizon, Global Crossing, Sprint et al) the reverse DNS that you see will give some hints.

Otherwise there is no reliable way to tell at all.  Some of the geolocation sites rely on people filling in surveys to identify where they are from and try and group IP addresses that way; but that isn't always so reliable either.



freitasm
BDFL - Memuneh
79270 posts

Uber Geek

Administrator
ID Verified
Trusted
Geekzone
Lifetime subscriber

  #101478 23-Dec-2007 07:16
Send private message

When an ISP request a range of IP addresses it is registered with its "contrller" - for New Zealand is APNIC for example. There are databases with all those ranges and where it is being used.

That's how we show the flags here on Geekzone - based on your IP address. Some databases (the more expensive) have the IP address down to a city - but for some services using transparent proxy for example this is useless. Better to just point to a country for example, since city/state may be unreliable.




Please support Geekzone by subscribing, or using one of our referral links: Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies | Hatch | GoodSyncBackblaze backup


KiwiOverseas66

173 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user


  #101498 23-Dec-2007 10:03
Send private message

Thanks guys....I thought as much but never really sat down to think about it.  FYI - trying to untangle the route from here in New Delhi to a web site in the states - as I can't browse it directly, but can connect to it when I go via an anonymous proxy in Germany! Go figure.



freitasm
BDFL - Memuneh
79270 posts

Uber Geek

Administrator
ID Verified
Trusted
Geekzone
Lifetime subscriber

#101505 23-Dec-2007 11:38
Send private message

Perhaps the site is blocking visitors from IN? Here on Geekzone for example, after so much spam, we allow NG to browse but not post in the forums...




Please support Geekzone by subscribing, or using one of our referral links: Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies | Hatch | GoodSyncBackblaze backup


KiwiOverseas66

173 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user


  #101587 23-Dec-2007 20:42
Send private message

I thought as much as well - but as it turns out other users in India with other ISPs are able to connect.  I suspect the provider I'm with uses a single gateway to connect to the States (with no diversity by the look of it), where as traffic to Europe goes via a completely different route/ infrastructure (the DNS servers for my ISP are split between Delhi and Mumbai - Delhi DNS has been ok but Mumbai DNS is not visible - and its effectively an internal connection on the ISP)! A few of the online forums here in India detail how network diversity is pretty thin on the ground - or doesn't exist at all - so I'm thinking traffic to the States probably goes via Mumbai.

As the old fred dagg song about NZ goes "you don't know how lucky you areeeee....mate, you don't know how lucky you are"!

Create new topic





News and reviews »

Air New Zealand Starts AI adoption with OpenAI
Posted 24-Jul-2025 16:00


eero Pro 7 Review
Posted 23-Jul-2025 12:07


BeeStation Plus Review
Posted 21-Jul-2025 14:21


eero Unveils New Wi-Fi 7 Products in New Zealand
Posted 21-Jul-2025 00:01


WiZ Introduces HDMI Sync Box and other Light Devices
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:32


RedShield Enhances DDoS and Bot Attack Protection
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:26


Seagate Ships 30TB Drives
Posted 17-Jul-2025 11:24


Oclean AirPump A10 Water Flosser Review
Posted 13-Jul-2025 11:05


Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7: Raising the Bar for Smartphones
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 Brings New Edge-To-Edge FlexWindow
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Epson Launches New AM-C550Z WorkForce Enterprise printer
Posted 9-Jul-2025 18:22


Samsung Releases Smart Monitor M9
Posted 9-Jul-2025 17:46


Nearly Half of Older Kiwis Still Write their Passwords on Paper
Posted 9-Jul-2025 08:42


D-Link 4G+ Cat6 Wi-Fi 6 DWR-933M Mobile Hotspot Review
Posted 1-Jul-2025 11:34


Oppo A5 Series Launches With New Levels of Durability
Posted 30-Jun-2025 10:15









Geekzone Live »

Try automatic live updates from Geekzone directly in your browser, without refreshing the page, with Geekzone Live now.



Are you subscribed to our RSS feed? You can download the latest headlines and summaries from our stories directly to your computer or smartphone by using a feed reader.