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Ask HN: Who here would be interested in a free daily updated GeoIP database?

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21–30 of 128 posts

Re: Ask HN: Who here would be interested in a free daily updated GeoIP database?

#21

How/where do you get more accurate data than MaxMind does? And under what license do you have access to this data, and under what license would you be able to offer it to others? If all the legal stuff looks right, and the data is indeed more accurate, then of course there's going to be interest in it. I think it would take a while for word to spread and links to propagate, but eventually you'd see quite a bit of sus…

My only experience with MaxMind was the trouble we had when we got a new IPv4 assignment from ARIN. I filled out the form on their website the first week, our address was in the WhoIS records for our IPs, and our BGP announcements made our location obvious, yet they had our IP's (obviously from ARIN) showing up as originating from South Africa for months.

Seems like anyone who can look at BGP tables and whois information can get more current and accurate data than MaxMind.

Re: Ask HN: Who here would be interested in a free daily updated GeoIP database?

#22

I would be very interested in such a thing. Where are you getting your data from? Does it work for IPv6 too?

Hmm. Can you determine such things using BGP? I guess that wouldn't be very accurate, though...

Re: Ask HN: Who here would be interested in a free daily updated GeoIP database?

#23

I would be very interested in such a thing. Where are you getting your data from? Does it work for IPv6 too?

Hmm. Can you determine such things using BGP? I guess that wouldn't be very accurate, though...

Re: Ask HN: Who here would be interested in a free daily updated GeoIP database?

#25

I'll echo the "low cost, not free" thought. Stuff takes money to maintain. I don't want to build a service that depends on an unsustainable business model.

Maxmind is low cost, not free, and has a pretty good track record. What would you want from an alternative?

Re: Ask HN: Who here would be interested in a free daily updated GeoIP database?

#26

That would be amazing. I'd love a datadump that could be accessed on my own servers instead of having to hit an API. The format of the datadump doesn't really matter to me, as long as there's documentation on how to read it.

Most geo data providers (like MaxMind) provide datafile downloads so you don't have to use an API.

Re: Ask HN: Who here would be interested in a free daily updated GeoIP database?

#28
post #26

That would be amazing. I'd love a datadump that could be accessed on my own servers instead of having to hit an API. The format of the datadump doesn't really matter to me, as long as there's documentation on how to read it.

Most geo data providers (like MaxMind) provide datafile downloads so you don't have to use an API.

Right, but those aren't usually free ;) On the other hand there are plenty of free (limited) APIs.
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