how accurately can you determine someones location by there ip address

[icpooreman]

I know there are prob exceptions to this but are most ip addresses assigned by location e.g. country/state/region? I was wondering if the above is true how accurately can you depict someones location by their ip address? I'm looking to get an estimate of what state or region my visitors are from the more accurate the better.

Also if IP's are more or less determined by location is there a database available where I could access what locations correspond to which IP's.

[jatar_k]

it's very accurate, though that doesn't help you with proxies really

try this one
[ip-to-country.webhosting.info...]

[aghill]

I've used geobytes in the past with good experience. Can't say that I used them too extensively or really dug deep in what they offered though.

[geobytes.com ]

[blaketar]

For the most part safe. However, with IP spoofing on the rise and AOL's 8 million members all connecting through a proxy located in Sterling VA, IP tracking comes short of reliable.

A better approach is needed for identifying ind. users! This should be made a separate posting? 'Call for ideas' but as a business establishment on the Internet I should have the right to refuse service to anyone who is creating or causing havoc in my business? The only way I see currently to accomplish this is BAN: 172.145.0.0/8 million
million

[McElvoy]

AOL's proxies correspond to specific geographic locations and there are databases out there that will sort AOL users and many others into actual locations. These databases are not free but are available through the products of some of the bigger web analytics programs - WebTrends, HitBox, Coremetrics, etc.

[keyplyr]

Some scenarios would lean toward a negative view.

Example A: I recently tracked a CC fraud attempt to a UK owned IP block that upon deeper digging found that part of the IP series was re-allocated to a Nigerian company.

Example B: Mobile devices with internet access in one area/country may be used in another quite easily, but the IP would identify only the ISP's acount origin.

[gregbo]

Even in the cases where IP blocks are assigned to specific regions within countries, the end users aren't guaranteed to be in those same locations. They could be behind firewalls, VPNs, etc.

IMO, investing money in IP-to-geo mappings is a waste. You'd be better off figuring out how to create a better user experience overall to get more people to use your site, buy goods, etc.