4 ms·

How does it know where you are?

• newt0311 18y ago
  geolocation. Info. on wikipedia. In summary: A reverse-DNS search through the DNS system combined with more information from geolocation DBs can usually pinpoint location to within a few miles unless the user goes to some lengths to hide it (ie. use VPNs, tor, ip spoofing, etc...). Several free databases available if you want to do this yourself.
  • Andys 18y ago
    It isn't that accurate outside of the USA.
    • paulgb 18y ago
      Worked for me (Waterloo, ON)
    • paraschopra 18y ago
      Worked for me too! Gurgaon, India
    • pierrefar 18y ago
      Actually, unless you're on AOL or a handful of other IPs, you can geolocate too >99% accuracy to a country level for free. See this: http://www.maxmind.com/app/geolitecity http://www.maxmind.com/app/geolitecity . The city accuracy outside the US is not great.
    • rtra 18y ago
      Works for me. Lisbon, Portugal.
    • BvS 18y ago
      Worked for me. Berlin - Germany
    • andyking 18y ago
      It's fine for me to the precise town, but I'm on a static IP and someone's probably put it into one of the databases in the past. At work, opening Google Maps zooms you straight to the exact work address. Now that's spooky.
    • asmosoinio 18y ago
      I'll join the crowd. Worked for me: Manila, Philippines. No data available about the weather though: "i'm not sure what the weather is like in Makati,PH"