Home > Programming, Servers & Scripts >

---

Which GeoIP service is the best? (19)

---

Hey there,
as you can read in the title I´d like to know which GeoIP service is the best?
I am using the Maxmind GeoIP2 paid service since 2010 or so and never thought about using another one.
But now I found that website http://whatismyipaddress.com/geolocation-providers and from there I went to http://www.ip2location.com/ and to http://www.ipligence.com/products.
They both look pretty good and should be able to give me the data I want to have.
Has anyone here axperience with ip2location.com and/or ipligence.com?
Because when using the service for PPV/POPs I guess the other two are much cheaper compared to Maxmind.

Thanks in advance

---

I've been using www.geoipjs.com because I didn't have to modify old maxmind code on the landers.

---

I'm wondering what Voluum is using, they are very accurate. We're using Maxmind as well, it's okay but not great. Probably need to invest in a more expensive solution to get accuracy up.

---

They say Voluum has the better database, but to be honest i should do a split test.

Maybe someone else did it?

---

Unluckily geoipjs.com won't help me because it doesn't give the values I need, that's why I use the paid Maxmind service.
Voluum is also no option for me because I don't use it and I want to use the GeoIP not only in a tracking software but also for other things with my own scripts.
So what I basically would like to know is how difficult it is to install/setup a self-hosted GeoIP database from the providers I mentioned above.

Also interesting would be if there is a speed difference between calling queries through Maxmind webservice API vs. calling queries from self hosted database on own server.
I guess the main advantage of using web service is that the update frequency probably is higher than the self-hosted database which is updated once a month.
But I don't know how much of a difference that would make.

In the end what made me thinking to switch to a self-hosted solution is the price.
On Maxmind I pay $200/500k queries.
The self-hosted solutions from the providers in my first post are $200/year and as far as I understand with unlimited query calls.
I already sent them emails with questions but still waiting for replies.

---

If you are hosting sites on the same server as that hosting the GeoIP databases then that for sure will be the fastest option.

It's not hard to install GeoIP2, we have a guide about it here - http://stmforum.com/forum/showthread...our-Own-Server - whether it provides the information you want or not is a different question.

If you are hosting pages on a CDN then their web service will probably be faster in the long run (assuming it is load balanced across multiple servers), but you could still create an API of sorts to pull this info from your own server directly (e.g. using JS code that pulls some info from your server). That would require a little more expertise to set up.

---

We also use MaxMind but we've heard that http://www.digitalelement.com/ has more accurate geolocation data.

---

This is what Voluum uses as well.

---

Well that is the funny thing: we are speculating. Best would be to do a split test :P, but yes i am too lazy for this as well.

---

I assume there is no solid way to detect the city based on the IP on mobile (probably because of pool IPs) ?

None of the services tested here are able to give my mobile phone city.

Does someone know a way to get the city for mobile users ?

---

Have read digitalelement is little more accurate but works out way more expensive. Is anyone using them that can provide some feedback?

---

I've found that way of getting the mobile user city location by using it's phone GPS and Google Map API : http://locationdetection.mobi/

When you load the page, it's asking for the right to read the location to the user (iOS system popup), if he agrees you get the info.

Maybe it's a little bit intrusive on a landing page, but it seems that the popup arrives after the page is loaded, so you can display a message telling the user that you need he's location to continue. Or maybe it's positive in the user mind, because it seems more real, he just gives you his location (haven't tested it yet !)

I don't have an Android Phone to test it and see if there is a popup confirmation too, if someone has one, please let us know !

---

If you want an inexpensive option, go with IP2Location. They're cheaper and more accurate than MaxMind.

If you're willing to spend more money, go with Digital Element or Neustar (http://neustar.biz/risk/compliance-s...ustom-geopoint)

---

+1 for IP2Location. ^^^

Many kind of databases to choose from depending on your needs.

---

Most accurate would be those who use botnets or/and some sort of spying tools (e.g. any phone knows about it's location (that it can "share") and, obviously, an IP). The rest are using RIPE/ARIN/etc data which is virtually the same for everybody. So in a nutshell they all suck if you need precise location,. For that you would need to partner with carriers within specific country who actually have fist-hand data about users' location. It's totally doable, but not accessible for most (or any) affiliates. Just a rant

---

hi

you answered two years ago, so how it is now? is IP2location is still better than maxmind?


Sent from my iPhone using STM Forums mobile app

---

Hey.

I don't use it anymore, so I'm not sure how they compare these days.

I used to use them for IP ranges for mobile carriers and at that time it did the job well for me.

---

I think the current leader is digital element.

---

Thanks for the info Matej!


Sent from my iPhone using STM Forums mobile app

---

Home > Programming, Servers & Scripts >