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

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61–70 of 128 posts

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

#61
It shouldn't be free, it should be reasonably priced so you don't run out of money and can keep this thing running for years to come.

There's huge demand for it - just search for geoip on Github. Some more pointers are here [0],[1]. So many projects, but most of them work with Maxmind data, which is the problem. Inconsistencies in the data they provide makes it painful to make performant fallback solutions. Performance across geolocations and lack thereof in "exotic" geos is another one. It seems none of these services is deployed across the globe. There's a need for a blazing fast, reliable service with granular, comprehensive data, that is performing well for millions of requests across the globe, be it for mobile or web traffic.

I found a great base[2] and I think Go is a perfect language for this kind of service.

Here are the free checkers I tested the other day, the IP is a good example for incomplete data:

    checkers = [
        'http://freegeoip.net/json/103.1.29.57',
        'http://geoip.nekudo.com/api/103.1.29.57',
        'http://ip-api.com/json/103.1.29.57',
        'http://ipinfo.io/103.1.29.57/json',
        'http://www.telize.com/geoip/103.1.29.57'
    ]
 
[0] http://ip-api.com/docs/statistics [1] http://geuis.com/2012/09/21/jsonip-com-close-to-serving-10-m... [2] https://github.com/fiorix/freegeoip

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

#62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> $5-$20/year That seems to be way too low. $20/month+ could make sense, but less than that should be simply free (limited edition). Dealing with payments is just too much overhead.

maxmind already does something like this, although you're just buying credits. twilio does the same thing. Other mail services i've used do credits as well. For my projects/demos/etc - $20/year is where I'm at with twilio (which has led to clients using it and spending hundreds or thousands more, minimum). With maxmind, $10/year might be all that I use (considering 1000 calls might only be $1 charge).

Ahh - Amazon Services model: charge on a metered basis. You would make almost nothing on small customers, but if some of your customers grow significantly - that's where your real revenue would come in (seamlessly for you and your customers).

Should work too.

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

#63
post #43

Mozilla runs an open/free geolocation service: https://location.services.mozilla.com/

https://mozilla-ichnaea.readthedocs.org/en/latest/config.htm... "The geoip section contains settings related to the maxmind GeoIP database." If I don't get it wrong, this service relies on MaxMind's db for GeoIP.

The Mozilla Location Service does use MaxMind for GeoIP, but the service's primary use is to map Wi-Fi SSIDs to longitude/latitude position. Mozilla has its own Wi-Fi database continually fed new data from the Mozilla Stumbler app (on the Google Play Store and F-Droid markets) and Firefox for Android. The Mozilla database also has a partnership with commercial Wi-Fi company Combain and the OpenCellID project for fallback results.

https://blog.mozilla.org/services/2015/03/06/combain-deal-he...

(I work at Mozilla and I used to work on the Location project. :)

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

#64
post #42
post #34

On a related note, would anyone in the community be interested in an inexpensive service that differentiates dynamic from static IPs? Dynamic IPs would be accompanied by an estimate of lease duration.

I wouldn't want this to exist because it discriminates my dynamic-looking IP address from server IP addresses (even though mine is statically assigned to my Internet subscription) and I have enough trouble hosting things at home already. But I understand that's not really an argument: you might say you don't want nukes to exist because they hurt people. I just wanted to mention it. That said, maybe. Usually an rdns l…

Yes, clear enough if you are Dutch ;-) But what about other countries ? Singapore, India, Brasil.......

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

#65
honest opinion: I hate geoip. I think judging your visitors from their geolocation is more and more becoming a problem. It goes against the fundamental value of the Internet being a global network. I don't want Netflix to sell a sub-standard product in some countries because some licensing foo. I want everyone on this planet to have access to the same Internet.

If I could I would redesign internet routing in a way that the webpage doesn't know where a request comes from.

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

#66
post #41

I use GeoIP fairly regularly. How I would set this up: - Free version: only updated once [every 6 months / a year] and non-commercial use only - Paid version: $9.99 for a year of free updates - Updates come both in diff and in full version (for the commercial version) - Use a common format, or use multiple formats. People love csv, but more serious applications probably use an existing format (I see maxmind a lot in…

Why is paying with credit cards hard for Europeans?

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

#67
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://mozilla-ichnaea.readthedocs.org/en/latest/config.htm... "The geoip section contains settings related to the maxmind GeoIP database." If I don't get it wrong, this service relies on MaxMind's db for GeoIP.

The Mozilla Location Service does use MaxMind for GeoIP, but the service's primary use is to map Wi-Fi SSIDs to longitude/latitude position. Mozilla has its own Wi-Fi database continually fed new data from the Mozilla Stumbler app (on the Google Play Store and F-Droid markets) and Firefox for Android. The Mozilla database also has a partnership with commercial Wi-Fi company Combain and the OpenCellID project for fall…

I pitched the idea of Mozilla creating a free GeoIP database by collecting (opt-in) traceroutes from Firefox users to some Mozilla servers. The traceroutes could then be overlaid to create a physical map of the Internet. I know other projects have mapped the internet, but this approach would work from the endpoints in, not from some centralized crawler.

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

#69
post #65

honest opinion: I hate geoip. I think judging your visitors from their geolocation is more and more becoming a problem. It goes against the fundamental value of the Internet being a global network. I don't want Netflix to sell a sub-standard product in some countries because some licensing foo. I want everyone on this planet to have access to the same Internet. If I could I would redesign internet routing in a way th…

or pay 5 bucks for a vpn.

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

#70
post #20

(Disclaimer: I work for MaxMind) As far as formats go, if anyone is thinking of putting together a custom database with information keyed on IP address or IP ranges, I'd encourage you to look into our MaxMind DB format: http://maxmind.github.io/MaxMind-DB/ There are open source file readers available in many languages: https://github.com/maxmind/?utf8=%E2%9C%93&query=MaxMind-DB There's also an open source writer http…

Can you please confirm that the free versions are not 'good enough'? http://dev.maxmind.com/geoip/geoip2/geolite2/
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