A Complete Evaluation of the Chinese IP Geolocation Databases

Abstract

Direct query to IP geolocation databases is a convenient and widespread way for determining geographic location where a host with corresponding IP address is. However, many databases available on the Internet may not provide accuracy data as they claim. In this paper, we focus on analyzing IP addresses of mainland China recorded in popular China-based IP geolocation databases. First, distributions and characteristics of IP addresses and blocks of mainland China at different geographic granularities are analyzed. Second, entries consistency comparisons among databases are implemented and those with better performances are recommended, we also use small amount of ground truth data to verify the recommended databases. Finally, clustering and classification analyses are conducted for IP blocks with different locations and preliminary conclusions are drawn.