Re: Reliable GeoIP database

[Jon Lewis <jlewis () lewis org>]

On Mon, 3 Feb 2025, Scott Q. wrote:

> What are you guys using as a reliable GeoIP database ? I've tried Maxmind and a few others, also checking against ARIN but 
> there's tons of
> differences.
>
> For example: 1.2.9.0/24 . ARIN says it belongs to China Telecom but others say it's part of Russia: 
> https://ipregistry.co/1.2.9.0 
>
> How to handle such cases ?

The trouble with all the IP Geo providers is they're selling data based 
on:

1) Assumptions
2) Unmaintained data
3) Stale data

RIR records are notorious for being unmaintained (by the member...I'm not 
blaming ARIN/RIPE/etc.).  Same goes for rDNS...again, because the owner of 
the space doesn't care enough to keep it up to date...because it's not 
generally of operational importance to them.

Some networks will publish geofeeds, but getting all the IP Geo providers 
to consume those is like herding invisible cats.

And don't get me started on end-users who consume data from an IP Geo 
provider and "set and forget" it...ending up with years old data, based on 
which they deny network or website access.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
 Jon Lewis, MCP :)              |  I route
 Blue Stream Fiber, Sr. Neteng  |  therefore you are
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