IP address reveals home location - how to conceal?

harveybobbles

That geoip site said I was 1 mile from where I actually am...!

There is a website which I use which tells me my location.
http://www.ddlg.co.uk/ then click the "Ask a Question"

spud17

Just to throw some fuel on the rather small fire,

I've just looked back through my www.speedtest.net results and my VM address is still the same as May 08 when the list starts.

RobertoMoir

aidso wrote: »

Guys this isnt anything to do with your IP address - your IP is dynamic and only has a lifetime of about 48hours before it is assigned to someone else.
The address they are using is infact your network address coming from the modem itself. For example i am on Virgin Media and my address will be something like "33-22-33.belf.pop3.com".

Yes and this address is a DNS record, "held" on a DNS server rather than your modem, which resolves to... *can someone give me a drum-roll please?*... an IP address. Ta...da! So this "network address" is indeed connected to your IP address.

aidso wrote: »

All that means is that I am on the pop3 server in Belfast. There is no identification of my house other than where that pop3 server is located and if you can get to within 30 metres then its a pure flook.

Nonsense. A pop3 server is a server that allows clients to collect email from their mailboxes. Unless you are a technician for the ISP concerned you are not "on" the pop3 server.

pop in your instance probably refers to a "point of presence" (see here)

RobertoMoir

spud17 wrote: »

Just to throw some fuel on the rather small fire,

I've just looked back through my www.speedtest.net results and my VM address is still the same as May 08 when the list starts.

Yeah I'd typically only expect DHCP addresses to be re-assigned if there is contention or if the client device is switched off for the duration of a lease, causing it to be re-assigned to the next available device rather than simply renewed by the device currently using it.

DCFC79

Alot of fuss over something small

buglawton

robt wrote: »

I don't see why it is spooky at all. It is not as if your name and address are tied to your router.

Isn't it? You'd be surprised how many folks label their WiFi with their surname. All my neighbours do!

spud17

RobertoMoir wrote: »

Yeah I'd typically only expect DHCP addresses to be re-assigned if there is contention or if the client device is switched off for the duration of a lease, causing it to be re-assigned to the next available device rather than simply renewed by the device currently using it.

I'm not looking for a fight or anything, just want to increase my knowledge.

if the client device is switched off for the duration of a lease,

My modem could be turned off for several days, even a week, but it still has the same address, or have I misunderstood you?

I've just re-read the previous posts and see the answer in isofas' post

but AFAIK the DCHP lease on VM IPs is 14 days

Off to bed, brain tired.

robt_2

robt wrote: »

I don't see why it is spooky at all. It is not as if your name and address are tied to your router.

buglawton wrote: »

Isn't it? You'd be surprised how many folks label their WiFi with their surname. All my neighbours do!

No, it isn't, I stand by what I said.

So somebody knows that a family called 'Jones' lives somewhere within around 10 houses on a street. How is that spooky?

Nobody around here uses their surname as the SSID that I have noticed.

RobertoMoir

spud17 wrote: »

I'm not looking for a fight or anything, just want to increase my knowledge.

My modem could be turned off for several days, even a week, but it still has the same address, or have I misunderstood you?

I've just re-read the previous posts and see the answer in isofas' post

Off to bed, brain tired.

On very large networks there's a balancing act between recovering unused addresses and generating needless network traffic and work for yourself, and VM's balanced it at 2 weeks which would be where I'd go too for a network like that.

It does seem very counter-intuitive for an ISP for anyone who's used to the old dial up pools that invariably cut your call off every 2 hours and allocated you a new address each time you re-connected. Ah the good old days eh? I don't miss those old modem pools at all.

gingerscot

Just to clear something up and apologies if its already been mentioned.

The msn/aim or messenger popup you got saying "do you want a date etc"? is just a computer bot. There are plently of software/websites out there who use a very simple bit of code to then find out where you are from down to a rough geopgraphic area but we are not talking house numbers here and as already mentioned depending on your provider the code may not work anyway.

If you go on slightly more er...dodgy/less reliable sites you will often get these messenger popups often in the bottom right corner of the screen. They are all BOTS! They maybe rude or very suggestive but its not someone spying on you. Its a computer running 2 lines of code and filling in the blank (where it thinks you are from). Its trying to make you believe that some person has actually found you and occassional it works!

Dave