What is an "IP Address"?

The internet protocol address represents a unique string of numbers separated by full stops that identifies each computer using the Internet Protocol to communicate over a network. TCP/IP protocol is the standard for how to communicate on the network. In the TCP/IP protocol, the unique identifier for a computer or device is represetented by the IP. There are two standards for IP addresses: IP Version 4 (IPv4) and IP Version 6 (IPv6).

IPv4 uses 32 binary bits (IPv6 uses 128 binary bits) to create a single unique address on the network. An IPv4 address example: 216.27.61.137 while an IPV6 address looks like 2001:cdba:0000:0000:0000:0000:3257:9652. (short version: 2001:cdba::3257:9652 - zeros omitted)

What is "Geocoding"?

Geocoding is the process of converting human-readable addresses (like "1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA") into geographic coordinates (like latitude 37.423021 and longitude -122.083739), which you can use to identify a position on the map.

What is "Reverse Geocoding (Address Lookup)"?

Reverse geocoding is the process of converting geographic map coordinates (longitude and latitude) into a human-readable address (e.g: "1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA").

What is "IP based geolocation"?

IP based geolocation represents the mapping of a certain IP address of an Internet connected computing device or mobile device to its world geographic location. Geolocation uses IP address mapping to: the country, region or city, latitude/longitude, ISP, domain name, etc.

What is a "ASN number"?

Autonomous Systems are routable networks within the public Internet, administered by the local RIRs and assigned to owners of networks. The ASN Information tool displays information about an IP address's Autonomous System Number (ASN) such as: IP owner, registration date, issuing registrar and the max range of the AS with total IPs.

What's the "accuracy / precision" of IP based Geolocation?

The accuracy of geolocation databases varies from vendor to vendor. Overall the accuracy range is anywhere in-between 50% and 98% taking into account a less than 50 miles(~80 Kilometers) threshold. The coverage is better in some countries / regions than others (example: 99% Singapore and 50% Finland). Also consider that IP geolocation is more accurate for broadband IP addresses and less accurate for cellular networks.

What is an "IP Class"?

Some numbers in the total IP address range are reserved for specific purposes on TCP/IP networks.
There are four specific address reservations classes and they are:

• 0.0.0.0 - the default network
• 255.255.255.255 - reserved for messages that should go to all computers on the network (broadcast)
• 127.0.0.1 - loopback address, your computer's way of identifying itself
• 169.254.0.1 -> 169.254.255.254 - This is the Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) range of addresses assigned automatically when a device's unsuccessful getting an address from a DHCP server

What is an "IP address subnet"?

A subnet is a smaller network of computers connected to a larger network through a router. There are several subnet classes to speak of, and they are:

• 10.0.0.0 -> 10.255.255.255: these fall within the Class A address range of 1.0.0.0 to 127.0.0.0
• 172.16.0.0 -> 172.31.255.255: these fall within the Class B address range of 128.0.0.0 to 191.255.0.0
• 192.168.0.0 -> 192.168.255.255: these fall within the Class C range of 192.0.0.0 through 223.255.255.0
• 224.0.0.0 -> 239.255.255.255: these are Multicast addresses (formerly known as Class D)
• 240.0.0.0 -> 254.255.255.254: these are reserved for future/experimental use (formerly known as Class E)