🚀 go-pugleaf

Professeur Alfred <ughridkxyz@hotmail.com> wrote:
> I wish someone can tell me where I can find a good web site about this or
> someone who knows this topic enough to give me an answer. I explain. I'm
> building a new website and I would like to know if it's possible to find
> the country of a caller on the web. I would like to send some specific
> informations to people for their region. I know the IP number is an
> address. But I don't know if there's some lists on the net to find the
> region of a caller by his (or her) address.

There is no reliable way to do this. You can guess, but you will often be
wrong.

Possible sources of physical location information:

* look up the IP number in ARIN's whois database
* do a reverse DNS on the IP number and look up the resulting name
  in the appropriate whois database, or just pick a country based on that,
  if it provides sufficient granularity for your application
* ask the user
* rely on the poorly-supported DNS LOC record type

Each of these has a very high capacity for error, whether through deliberate
attempts to mislead you or unfortunate accident.

> When I call for a page on the web, how the initial server send me the
> message? I don't think they have to scan all the Internet to send a block.

Routers between you and as remote site work out a path along the topography
of the internet, but it doesn't have much to do with geography. They just
know which router connects to which other router. They don't know where they
are.

miguel

There is no 100% reliable way, but you can use following:

IP address -> country conversion you can find in whois databases, 
for RIPE assigned numbers (EMEA region) whois.ripe.net, example 
of output:

inetnum:     194.24.231.0 - 194.24.231.255
netname:     RYSTON-NET
descr:       RYSTON electronics, s. r. o.
descr:       Prague
country:     CZ

But, unfortunately, not all customers' networks are correctly written in
whois databases. E.g. 195.119.160.0/19 is network of Global One in Czech
Republic, but in RIPE you can find only:

inetnum:     195.119.0.0 - 195.119.255.255
netname:     EU-GLOBALONE-NORTH-970327
descr:       Provider Local Registry
descr:       Global One
country:     EU

For APNIC assigned numbers (Asia Pacific region) whois.apnic.net, 
example of output:

inetnum:     203.10.0.0 - 203.10.0.255
netname:     CONCREALITY-AU
descr:       Concurrent Reality Pty Ltd
descr:       22 Kangaroo Road
descr:       Collaroy Plateau
descr:       NSW 2097
country:     AU

for the whole world whois.arin.net, but there is no structured 
country information, example of output:

Prague Institute of Chemical Technology (NET-DAMIS)
   Computer Center - DAMIS
   Technicka 5
   Prague 6, 166 28
   CZECHOSLOVAKIA

   Netname: DAMIS
   Netnumber: 147.32.0.0

BUT, there may be a big problem - transparent proxy caches. In this
case, you'll receive IP address of proxy cache only and you have to do
one of the following:
1. disallow caching, or
2. look for "via" in http header.

Professeur Alfred wrote:
> 
> I wish someone can tell me where I can find a good web site about this or
> someone who knows this topic enough to give me an answer. I explain. I'm
> building a new website and I would like to know if it's possible to find the
> country of a caller on the web. I would like to send some specific
> informations to people for their region. I know the IP number is an address.
> But I don't know if there's some lists on the net to find the region of a
> caller by his (or her) address.
> 
> When I call for a page on the web, how the initial server send me the
> message? I don't think they have to scan all the Internet to send a block.
> 
> If you answer me by e-mail, retrieve the xyz from my e-mail address:
> sgautxyz@videotron.ca